10 ways to practice self love

We’ve all been there before, standing in front of the mirror poking and prodding ourselves as we berate ourselves over our flaws. Why aren’t I skinnier? Why does my skin look like this? If only I looked like so and so, all my problems will go away. Now it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see effect that such negative thinking can take. Constantly being unhappy with yourself, whether it’s your appearance, life choices or relationships is bound to have an adverse effect.

Luckily we are living in 2018, where the self love movement has come through in leaps and bounds. Here are some helpful tips to love yourself when you just aren’t feeling yourself.

Meditate

Instead of starting your day off with social media or the internet, allow yourself to begin your day with some quiet meditation. Think about what you want to get done that day, what do you have to offer, and how you’ll make that day an experience for growth and happiness!

Journal

Something that can be very beneficial towards negative thoughts is journaling. Take all those self deprecating thoughts and put them on paper! 9 times out of 10 being able to visually see your own thoughts on paper helps to remind you how small those thoughts actually are. Ask yourself if there’s any truth to them, where do these thoughts come from, how can you turn them into a positive?

Feel your emotions

A common misconception about being body positive and practicing self love is that you have to love yourself all the time. That is so unrealistic! Sure, there’s a fine line between hating yourself and feeling a little low, but that’s totally normal! No one feels 100 percent all of the time. If you feel like you need a good cry, let it out! Grab your Netflix and ice cream and veg out! Just keep in mind there is a balance to everything, while it’s okay to partake in those activities every once in a while, try to do something productive and positive afterwards!

Words

The way we speak about ourselves tells us a lot about how we view ourselves. The language you use to describe yourself or your situation does actually have an effect on how you view yourself as a person. If you find yourself using negative or harsh language towards yourself, lighten up! Try to be mindful as to what you say when you’re feeling down. You wouldn’t talk that way about your best friend right? You should see yourself as your own best friend who deserves nothing but praise!

Surround yourself with like minded people

If you find that you feel worse about yourself around certain individuals then let go! People who make you feel lesser or insignificant are not there to help you progress and grow and are holding you back. Surround yourself with people who show love and support in all the things you do!

Be Patient

Loving yourself doesn’t happen overnight, especially when we’ve been force fed this idea of comparing ourselves to everyone else. Allow yourself to go through the process of change and remind yourself that all things have processes, nothing happens instantaneously!

Be appreciative

Take some time to appreciate what you do have instead of what you don’t. It gets so easy to focus on all the things we lack, but even harder still to appreciate the things we do have. Go for a hike, take a walk, being in nature has a way of humbling persistent thoughts. Appreciate the fact that you are alive! That’s a major plus!

Forgive yourself

We are all human beings, we all make mistakes that’s the beauty about what we are, nothing is ever perfect. Allow yourself to mess up and rebuild that the process of life! Rome wasn’t built in a day, give yourself some slack and allow that inner love to push you forward rather than scare you.

Manifest

Visualize your worth and the way that you want to see yourself. Eventually (the more you do this) you’ll find that image you’ve had in your brain is an actual reality. The more you focus on a goal, the more you can visualize and act on it, the more of that energy will manifest into what you want!

Find something you love

Do you like painting? Are you an avid bicyclist? Do you have a knack for growing things? Everyone has some special thing that they love to do. So try doing that thing that makes you happy, that you do for just you and no one else. The more you stick with something and hone your craft the more confident you’ll feel in yourself!