Looking for ways to practice self love? Why is self love so important? We live in such a fast paced society that sometimes our areas of self care and self love practices get put on the back burner.
Just like self care, self love is essential to living a life of happiness, balance and fulfillment.
It’s what we need to navigate all the changes of life, the ups, the downs and everything inbetween.
Below I have some great self love practices that you can try out for yourself, but first, let’s talk a bit more about the importance of self love.
Why Is Self Love So Important?
Without self love, the dependency on others becomes amplified. We need to learn how to be comfortable with who we are and to know that we hold the key to our own happiness and fulfillment of life. That we have the ability to make ourselves feel whole.
Psychology Today has a great way of explaining the importance of self love:
“It means recognizing that most human beings hurt, and they pass this hurt along to other people. Understanding this can help you turn your attention from waiting and wanting someone to make you whole, to realizing you have that ability inside of you.”
– Psychology Today
Learning how to practice and build up our self love gives us much more strength and stability than completely leaving it in the hands of someone else.
9 Self Love Practices To Love Yourself First:
Practice Self Care
Self care is important and something that needs to be done every single day. It can be as simple as having some time to relax and read a good book to having a full on day at the spa. The point of self care though, is to tune into what your body needs and make yourself a priority by fulfilling those needs. No, that doesn’t mean going to the spa every day (although that could be nice), it means setting aside some time in your day to tend to your health and wellbeing. Your mind, body and soul will thankyou.
Create healthy habits
What you eat, how often you exercise, and what you spend your time doing are all ways in which you can increase your self love. Fill your body with nutritious food, pick up a yoga class, make time for the people you truly care about doing the things that you love. Creating habits and building healthy routines can come with many benefits for you now and in the long run. The better you take care of yourself, the better you’ll feel.
make time for alone time
Making time for alone time can be a great way to discover who you are. But not everyone really enjoys or understands the importance behind it.
When was the last time you dedicated some quality alone time with yourself?
I don’t mean on your way to work, or when you’re taking a shower. I mean like a date, with yourself. Where you can tune everything out and just be present with yourself and the things you enjoy.
Maybe it sounds a little funny at first, but spending some time alone, and actually enjoying that time, can be rewarding and proves to yourself that you are infact capable of making yourself happy.
Change your inner dialogue
How you speak to yourself can be very powerful to how you live out your life.
Is your mind full of negative and self-depreciating thoughts or positive and empowering ones?
Making space for more positive and empowering thoughts is going to benefit you in the long run and get you to where you want to be. Reading and repeating self love affirmations and self love quotes are great ways to change up your inner dialogue.
Try changing these negative thoughts:
- That was so stupid of me.
- I can’t do this.
- I will never amount to anything.
To these positive thoughts:
- I’m still learning and will get better.
- I can do this, I might just need more time.
- I am capable of anything I set my mind to.
Your inner dialogue matters. Be kind to your mind.
Set Boundaries
You’ve probably seen the movie Yes Man.
(I know, it’s an Ace Ventura clip, but I couldn’t find one for Yes Man 😆)
And as much as we might want to say yes to things (maybe because of FOMO or just wanting to please others), it’s not always good to.
That’s when boundaries come in. We set boundaries as a reminder to ourselves and others of our limits. It’s knowing when a line is being crossed, whether by someone else or by ourselves, and being able to take a step back and say no.
Someone asked you to go out for the 3rd time in a row this week but you’re feeling exhausted? Simply reply “no thanks”, and take care of you. Even if this individual shows discontentment with your answer, it’s not about them. It’s about staying set on your boundaries, listening to your needs and practicing self love.
reflect on your relationships
Self love is also about who you spend your time with. Practicing good self love would look less like surrounding yourself with toxic, negative people and more like supportive and positive people. This doesn’t mean your circle is filled with people who never have hardships, it means you feel comfortable, loved, supported and HAPPY being around these people even despite the hardships.
People who are constantly negative can be toxic and draining to be around. Be sure to not only set boundaries with this kind of behavior but also surround yourself with people who make you feel good to be around.
Stop comparing yourself
Comparison is the thief of self love and joy. Usually when we catch ourselves comparing, it doesn’t leave us feeling very good, does it? We tend to take the things we find flawed or that we lack in ourselves, to someone else’s greatest parts and successes. It’s just not a fair way to think and is definitely not an act of self love.
The next time you find yourself comparing, ask yourself if you truly know that person’s story. Do you know what they’ve been through to get where they are or how they actually feel about themselves and their lives? The truth is, we never know what someone’s actually feeling behind a picture or a post. The best thing you can do is focus on your own successes and personal growth while cheering yourself and others on, too.
Your grass will only get greener the more YOU decide to water and care for it. 🌱
Practice self compassion
Life isn’t always going to be rainbows and butterflies, so it’s important to accept that realization and work on how to be more compassionate with yourself when things get tough.
Think about how easy it is sometimes to be understanding and compassionate to someone you care about in a given situation.. don’t you deserve that same kind of self love back?
So when rejection strikes, you fail at something, you don’t get the job you wanted, or things just don’t go as you planned, try loving yourself, forgiving yourself, accepting the situation for what it is and moving forward. Because we all make mistakes and life isn’t perfect, but we get to choose how compassionate we are through it.
put yourself first
Self love is not selfish, friends! Put this at the forefront of your brain.
We ALL need self-love in order to function in a happy and healthy way. Every single one of us.
We tend to put the needs and wants of others infront of our own. And although sometimes this is fitting, other times it’s not and can become a habit which can be costly on our mental health and wellbeing.
Take self care seriously, and find ways to relieve your stress and decompress. You will be of better company and support to yourself and others when you feel your best.
Practicing self love is like strengthening a muscle in our body, it takes time and effort but eventually it becomes stronger and the results will be more clear. Make self love a daily practice and begin enjoying the benefits it will have on your life.
What are some ways you like to practice self love?
Share in the comments below!
Tiffanie 😊
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