Self-love is the term I first heard when I was just a teenager from a 90’s Hollywood Romcom. In the movie, the lead actress’s mother talks about Self-love to the sulking actress who recently broke up with her high-school sweetheart. From that movie I learned: when you buy expensive stuff or go to a salon to get fresh manicure or even go to a fancy restaurant for an extravagant meal then that means self-love. I learned self-love is something that you do which brings joy to you. So, I started indulging myself buying expensive clothes and perfume, eating fancy meals and pastries and obviously partying all the time in the name of self-love. All these things were bringing joy to my life, so I thought I was practicing self-love but oh boy I was so wrong!
In my late twenties, I finally understood the real meaning of self-love so let’s begin by asking ourself – what is self-love?
Self-love is a simple but yet a complex term, misunderstood by so many ~ thanks to all the movies out there. Self-love is a practice of loving oneself both physically and mentally. It means accepting and appreciating your own worth, treating yourself with kindness and setting boundaries and taking care of your own needs and happiness without putting others first. It also means forgiving yourself for mistakes and embracing your imperfections and celebrating your strength.
Now let’s talk about how we can practice self-love in a day-to-day life. A good and basic example of practicing self-love can be as follows:
1) Doing oil pulling after you wake up ~ promotes your oral health in a long run
2) Going for a morning or evening walk for at least 10 mins ~ reduces Serotonin, reduces cortisol (stress causing hormone) and improves overall health
3) Doing daily 15/20 mins exercise and meditation ~ improves one’s physical and mental health
4) Practicing positive affirmations throughout the day ~ helps build up positivity and self-confidence and reduces stress
5) Journalling ~ writing daily key points, highs and lows and reflecting on those points
6) Engaging in your hobby
Above are a few examples of self-love. In today’s busy era, it is necessary to practice self-love in order to keep sane and to live life peacefully and happily. It is also necessary for us to teach our younger generation the meaning of self-love so that they can start practicing it from an early age.
I hope now you know the meaning of self-love and I hope you will start practicing it, if you haven’t already. Peace!
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