Ways to Practice Self Love

Self Love has been conceptualized both as a basic human necessity and as a moral flaw. Some people see it as a positive, a way to love yourself, and others see it as a negative, associated with selfishness. I see it as a positive because I believe that self-love is the most important kind of love. In order to truly feel happy with yourself, you need to have self-love. 

Today I'll be highlighting things that will genuinely help you practice self-love. Not just having a bubble bath or reading a self-help book. But actually doing things that will make you feel great and enable you to take better care of yourself. 

1. Take time out

In a society where hard work is encouraged and burnout is real, it's important to take time out for yourself and just relax. You need to realize that there's more to life than work, work, work. Yes, working is important but your mental health and wellbeing are so much more important. If you don't take care of yourself, who will take care of you? Make sure you give yourself enough time to relax after work and have enough sleep. Take the weekends off and do what you want to do. 

2. Listen to your heart

This may sound cliche but it's important. We all have an intuition or instinct about a situation that we know deep down is signaling something. But we often choose to dismiss it and carry on with our day. So the next time you feel a certain way, reflect on it because you will never know what it could lead to. Think about what it's telling you, allow it to speak up, listen to what it wants. 

3. Let go of toxic relationships 

I've spoken about this before because it's so damn true. Toxic relationships are a lot of work and they drain you to the point where it's all you can think about. You deserve to be treated with love and respect and if people can't do that, they need to go. You can either cut the individual(s) off or limit contact. These kinds of people are never happy with anything and they really are not benefiting you in any way. Surround yourself with people who love and support you instead.

4. Celebrate the small wins

Life is too short for you to not celebrate the small wins. Most of us ignore them and wait to celebrate big things like birthdays, holidays, and promotions but forget that the smaller victories should also be celebrated. This is a way to count your blessings and be grateful. You will feel so much better and won't have to wait a long time to feel joyful and excited. 

6. Be YOU

This is the BEST thing you can do for yourself. Do you love watching horror movies? Do you love doing your makeup? Do you love dressing a certain way? If you continue doing these things, it will only increase your self-confidence and allow you to be yourself wherever, whenever. You have so many amazing qualities and traits that make up who you are. You have people who love you. You are beautiful just the way you are, and you have every right to be you.

7. Find your happy place 

We all have some place on this earth where we feel happy and positive. Whether that's cuddled up on the sofa at home, sitting on a hill, on holiday lounging by the pool, with friends having dinner. It can be anything. Find your happy place and spend more time there. This will give you the space to relax, unwind, power down and get away from anything that could be affecting you.  

8. Go after your goals

There's nothing like working towards something for a long time and accomplishing it. If you can imagine that sweet feeling of satisfaction and want more of it, start working towards your goals. Even if it's dedicating 10 minutes a day towards a certain goal, do it. It all adds up and if it's really important to you, you will make time for it. Going after your goals is one of the biggest acts of self-love out there.

9. Let go of expectations 

Expectations are not always a bad thing, they can have a positive impact on your life, but having high expectations can lead to dissapointment in the long term. Trust me. I've been there. It's often better to have less expectations, or no expectations to avoid this. Learn to let go and live in a more flexible way to feel happier with your life, and yourself. 

I hope this blog post has helped you learn more about yourself and understand what you can do to love yourself. The past year has been incredibly tough for so many of us so we could all do with being that extra bit kinder to ourselves. Remember you can always ask for help and there are people out there who love you. Feel free to dm me on Instagram if you ever need to talk. You don't have to live a life where you feel depressed, anxious, or lonely. You deserve way more than that. Show yourself love every day and talk to people when you need to.

Adeeba x