You will feel your best when you love yourself. You can give more to the world this way. It is much more satisfying to treat yourself well and with love. This is more important than eating right and exercising. Self-love is an interesting state of appreciation that grows from psychological, physical, and spiritual growth.
Loving yourself is a dynamic state of mind and grows by actions that help in maturing you. You need to learn everyday to do the things that you love. You could read a book or spend five minutes catching up on the things that you love. It can be a tiny task, such as watching the news or reading poetry that you enjoy. These are a few ways you can start loving yourself, which include self-love exercise.
1. Minimize Screen Time
The first thing you need to do is to look up from your phone or any other device you have in hand. There is a beautiful world around you and you need to be part of it. The only way you can indulge in self-love is if you take out the time to look at the outside world. There is a lot you can miss out on when you stay engrossed in your phone.
2. Practice Meditation Regularly
Your mind is always functioning in a zone of duality. It is normal to feel superior and inferior at the same time. However, you need to be conscious of how you think about yourself in your own mind. This is why you need to meditate and focus on your inner self (on top of prayer). You can either choose self-meditation or guided meditation.
Always pay attention to your inner voice and what it is trying to tell you. You should be aware of how to treat others and yourself. Loving others is an important step in self-healing and self-love. Never concentrate on demeaning thoughts. Meditation will help you towards this direction. It will help you direct your actions and mind towards positive behavior.
3. Declutter Your Mind
Observe your current beliefs and values. Try to understand the motivations behind your beliefs. Remember not to carry other people’s value system or beliefs in your mind. You should always be true to yourself.
However, there are always certain beliefs that may not serve long-term good. You should question your purpose in holding onto them. You need to clear your mind of the cobwebs and stay true to yourself.
4. Take Care of Yourself
Self-love literally starts from good care. You need to take care of yourself with healthy social interactions, healthy activities, exercise, proper sleep, good nutrition and lots of mental exercises. You should also leave room for relaxation, adventure and fun.
You will see a renewed vigor in the way you behave when you give your body the right kind of fuel and nourishment. The body needs more than mental loving. You need to pamper yourself physically as well. This will help in building your self-esteem. Looking your best self helps release endorphins that bring out the best in yourself.
5. Practice Energy Healing
Energy healing training and therapy is a proven way of restoring the flow and balance of energy through your mind, body and soul. This approach to self-love helps in dealing with your emotional, physical and spiritual side directly. It encourages well-being and a healthy mental setup. Energy healing is a traditional system that has been around to treat several medical conditions.
It addresses mental health issues that can be caused because of a disturbance in the flow of energy within the body. Practitioners believe that when the energy flow within the body gets fixed it automatically cures mental troubles. Energy healing is of different ways and you should always work with a reputed practitioner to balance your energy flow.
6. Protect Yourself by Setting Boundaries
Loving yourself is just one of the steps. You need to learn how to protect yourself as well. You should identify what is good for you by attaining clarity. You should understand the things you like and the things you don’t want to accept in your life. When you start loving yourself, you will realize whenever someone starts treating you like a doormat.
You should never accept being treated like one. Know your worth and own your mental headspace. Remove the wrong people from your life and make space for the right people. They should reflect your ideas, reputation, and self-respect. Know your intentions and live in a way that is true to your design and purpose.
7. Engage in Spirituality
You don’t need to be religious to be spiritual, but it helps and everyone should read the book Dear and Glorious Physician by Taylor Caldwell. Faith is the backbone and foundation for self-love. You need to believe in something if you want to open your soul to the beauty of trust and belief. Being spiritual is similar to meditating. You will be taken on a journey of self-healing and love. You will learn new things about yourself.
These raw emotions, thoughts, passions, and feelings will allow you to develop a better appreciation for who you are. It will help you be authentically yourself in every way. And, there is no better way of falling in love with yourself than when you stop pretending. You will be able to improve your intuition and make decisions based on your gut feelings.
8. Don’t Be Too Hard on Yourself
Self-love is an ongoing journey. You will fail at it from time to time. You will make mistakes when you lose yourself. The thing is you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself. You need to look internally to figure out why you made the mistake in the first place.
Were you insecure, happy, or frustrated? Why did you lose that one moment where you could have loved yourself more completely? Don’t go on a guilt trip or give in to the duality of human nature. Instead, concentrate on addressing your issues and dealing with them so that you never repeat the same mistakes. Also, don’t give into the temptation of projecting your insecurity and uneasiness elsewhere. This will help you stay happier in the long run.