WAYS TO *ACTUALLY* PRACTICE SELF LOVE | healing guide + inner work & being your own best friend

Key Concepts

Self-love, inner work, radiating love, romanticizing life, self-worth, boundaries, journaling, self-compassion, inner child, mindful movement, nourishing your body, embracing solitude, affirmations, radiating love outwardly, acts of kindness, self-concept, shadow self, emotional intelligence, grounding, quality time.

What Does Self-Love Really Mean?

Self-love is defined as appreciating oneself through actions that support psychological, emotional, physical, and spiritual growth. It involves holding oneself in high regard, taking care of oneself, and being happy with one's current life situation. The opposite of self-love involves shrinking oneself to conform to others' expectations, lacking boundaries, engaging in negative self-talk, maintaining unhealthy relationships, not prioritizing self-care, overworking, and harboring self-doubt.

Benefits of Practicing Self-Love

Incorporating self-love habits and rituals leads to numerous benefits:

• Increased Confidence and Expanded Aura: Radiating self-love attracts opportunities and people.
• Improved Quality of Life and Mental Health: Healthy habits lead to feeling better and improved mental well-being.
• Increased Motivation, Productivity, Creativity, and Authenticity: Self-love provides an energy boost to tackle life with a better attitude.
• Attracting Quality over Quantity: Higher quality friends, people, situations, and opportunities come into your life.

Actionable Ways to Practice Self-Love

1. Setting Boundaries

• Prioritize yourself: Choose yourself first and cut out anything that is not serving you anymore.
• Protect your energy: Distance yourself from energy-draining situations or people in your work, social, or family life.
• Setting boundaries is not rude: It is completely valid to set those lines if it is taking away from your life or energy.

Example: The speaker's spiritual healer recommended setting more boundaries to protect her energy.

2. Journaling

• Process emotions: Journaling allows you to work through feelings and realize situations may not be as overwhelming as perceived.
• Develop emotional intelligence: Get to know yourself better.
• Brain dump: Set a 5-minute timer and write whatever is on your mind.
• Self-love Journal Prompts:
  • What are you most proud of yourself for?
  • What are you most grateful for?
  • Describe your perfect day.
  • What features do you like about yourself most?
  • What are your favorite personality traits?
  • What is one thing I can forgive myself today for?
  • What beliefs do I hold about myself that no longer serve me?
  • How do I speak to myself when I make a mistake?
  • What activities make me feel most connected to my authentic self?
  • In what areas of my life do I feel most confident?
  • In what areas of my life am I the hardest on myself?
  • What childhood experiences shaped my current relationship with self-love?

Example: The speaker bought a new journal after her acupuncture appointment and has been journaling more frequently.

3. Practicing Self-Compassion

• Accept yourself: Show up authentically and embrace the version of yourself that is right now.
• Avoid being your harshest critic: Don't hold yourself to unrealistic standards.
• Imagine your inner child: Take care of it and avoid being mean to it.

Quote: "I'm never going to get this version of myself again, so let me slow down and be with her for a minute."

4. Nurturing Your Inner Child

• Reconnect with childhood hobbies: Embrace activities you loved as a child.
• Fulfill childhood desires: As an adult, you can provide yourself with things you always wanted as a child.

Examples:

• The speaker used to love fashion but didn't have the money to buy the things that she liked. Now that she's older, she can buy the things that she wants.
• The speaker used to love making things out of polymer clay, but the clay was so expensive. Now that she's older, she can buy the nicest quality polymer clay.

5. Mindful Self-Love Activities and Movement

• Self-love guided yoga or breathing exercises: Affirm positive thoughts and retrain your mindset.
• Yoga or dance: Embrace feminine energy and feel more connected to yourself.
• Move your body: Let energy out and let it flow through you.

6. Nourishing Your Body

• Eat foods that make you feel good: Choose foods that provide proper nutrients.
• Avoid foods that make you feel bad: Avoid foods that you know you have intolerances to.
• Cook for yourself: Take the time to make something for yourself and present it beautifully.

Example: The speaker started a high-protein diet and feels significantly better.

7. Romanticizing Your Life

• Make your life beautiful: Go out of your way to romanticize every little thing about your life.
• Take the time to get ready every day: Listen to your favorite music, watch your favorite movies, and journal.
• Make little moments meaningful: The way that you spend your days is the way that you spend your life.

Example: The speaker's friend makes extravagant meals for herself and takes the time to get ready every day.

8. Spending Time in Nature

• Nature is healing: It has a calming energy and provides inspiration.
• Grounding: Take your shoes off and be in the grass.
• Go on a walk or hike: Anything that involves being in nature will make you feel better.

Example: The speaker did a photo shoot in the VanDusen Botanical Garden and felt healed after running around barefoot.

9. Embracing Solitude

• Spend time alone: Learn about yourself and reframe your thoughts.
• Schedule me time: Make time for yourself and make it intentional.
• Enjoy quality time with yourself: Take yourself on a date and enjoy the time that you have with yourself.

Examples:

• Going out for food by yourself.
• Going to coffee shops and getting your work done there.
• Going to the park and laying in the grass.
• Going on a hot girl walk and listening to music.

10. Affirmations

• Notice your thoughts: Write down the thoughts that you have most often.
• Change negative self-talk: Make the conscious decision to change negative thoughts.
• Add in affirmations: Remind yourself of the qualities that you have and the way that you want to speak to yourself.

11. Radiating Love Outwardly

• Do acts of kindness: Give love to others and embody it fully.
• Give compliments: Compliment other people when there's something you like about them.
• Be grateful: Let the people around you know that you're grateful for them.

Example: The speaker and her friend bought flowers and gave them out to people, wrote sticky notes with positive affirmations and put them all around the city, and baked cupcakes and handed them out to her neighbors.

Conclusion

Self-love is an inner journey that requires healing and inner work. By practicing self-love, you can change your life, move through the world differently, and attract your dream life. The key is to love yourself first, and that love will come your way.