A Guide To Self-Love & How To Practice It

The longest relationship you’ll ever have, is the one you have with yourself. Yet so many of us spend half our lives prioritizing other relationships before realising the importance of the relationship with ourselves. But, it’s never too late to start working on this relationship, and to nurture our Self-Love.

Self-love is such a broad term, and it goes beyond “loving yourself”. It most definitely is not a place you arrive at, but more like a baseline from which you show up for yourself, daily. Self-love is a journey towards our most authentic selves. It is the practice of nourishing your mind, body and soul for the journey that is life.

So how does one go about practicing Self-Love?
(key word here: practicing! )

It begins with Self-Discovery

In order to determine what YOU feel and what is right for YOU (instead of following the opinions and actions of others). Self-Discover is the act or gaining knowledge and understanding of your abilities, feelings and character. In order to gain said understanding, you can ask yourself questions like:

• “What do I like doing for myself?”
• “What makes me smile? How can I add a bit more of that into my daily life?”
• “What is ONE thing I can do for myself right now?”

If it helps, you can think in terms of mind / body / soul. Though this is a powerful mental exercise, grabbing a pen and paper is always way more potent and makes this exercise really stick!

After this exercise of Self-Reflection and Self-Discovery comes action .

It can become overwhelming to think of all the things you can do for yourself. You don’t need to do 100 things for yourself every day and have a 3 hour self-care routine. It’s better to do one thing for yourself everyday, than 50 things for yourself, once every 3 months.

Here are some examples of things you can do any given day in order to nurture your relationship to yourself. Feel free to add to this list with things that YOU love doing.

For my MIND, today I will:

• Create a list of things that make me happy
• Take a mindful walk
• Read a chapter of a book
• Try something for the first time
• Watch a TED talk
• Find a home for things I don’t use
• Organise my digital files
• Delete an app I don’t use
• Book an appointment with a Therapist
• Have a phone-free night
• Rearrange something in my home
• Plan a weekend getaway
• Create a vision board
• Free write for 10 minutes
• Create a morning or evening routine
• Clear your workspace

For my BODY, today I will:

• Go to bed a little bit earlier
• Eat a healthy breakfast
• Take a long shower
• Go for a long walk
• Practice yoga
• Get some sun
• Go on a hike
• Cook a colorful plant-based meal
• Try a new form of exercise
• Dance it out to 1 song
• Drink 8 glasses of water
• Take a long bath
• Get a massage
• Take 5 minutes to breathe deeply
• Put on some nice clothes
• Apply a face mask

For my SOUL, today I will:

• Burn a candle
• Attend a Wine & Paint night
• Change my sheets
• Do something that makes me laugh
• Ask for a day off
• Plant a seed or propagate a plant
• Write about something good that happened
• Spend an hour in nature
• Watch the sun rise
• Watch the sun set
• Connect with a friend
• Sing along to a song I love
• Unfollow 3 social media accounts
• Pay attention to how I talk to myself
• Allow my emotions to unfold and journal
• Do something nice for someone

All of the actions above can seem small, and that’s because they are. But if you add all of these small actions through the weeks, months, and years of your life, you’ll see these small things morphing into something much bigger, much more meaningful than you might have ever envisioned: A loving, self-care practice that infuses love and intention into your day to day life.

Never underestimate the importance of dedicating time to yourself. Even 5 minutes go a long way! But this time will not be given to you; you must MAKE it. You must allow yourself the time and the space to practice these loving actions. And if you can’t make the time today, there’s always tomorrow. It’s never too late to start actively working on your relationship with yourself, one small step at a time.

About The Author Nati Valderrama is a healthy lifestyle blogger and certified Health Coach. Nati seeks to empower women to invest in their health and wellbeing. Website: https://www.nativalderrama.com/about Instagram: @nativalderrama