“You can eat the kale, drink the alkaline water, take the supplements, or do yoga, but if you don’t deal with the stuff going on in your head and in your heart, you’re still unhealthy.”

Self love is not only providing your body with the proper nutrition. Although that is a form of self care, there are so many ways to practice self love on every area of your life. Some may be normal for some people, but a lot of people, including myself,  struggle with most of these. Self love is how you take your power back.

Here are some things you can do to practice self love:

 

Nutrition

Eating healthy and drinking plenty of water is essential to taking care of yourself. You would be absolutely amazed at your mental state when providing your body with all of the nutrients it needs.

Hygiene

This is something that I personally can struggle with when I get into a depressive state. This includes showering regularly, washing your face every day, brushing and flossing every day, keeping clean finger nails, and taking care of your hair. These changes will have dramatic effects.

 

Seeing Your Doctor

Even if you feel healthy, you should go to your Primary Care Doctor at least once a year and your Dentist 2 times a year. I know these visits are not always exciting but they are more than necessary. Remember that your physical and mental health go hand in hand so getting your health checked by a medical professional is absolutely self love and your body will thank you.

 

 

Keeping Your Home Clean

A wise woman (my Mother) once told me that if you are surrounded by chaos, your mind becomes chaos. I have never heard anything more true in my entire life. Not only does it lessen chaos in your life, it makes your home a safe space where you can relax and not have the weight of cleaning it on your shoulders.

 

 

Surrounding Yourself With Good People

This is a big one! If you have people in your life that are bad influences, do not support you, do not motivate you, make you feed negatively about yourself or second guess yourself, or they just don’t provide an equal amount of effort, they do not deserve a place in your life! This does not matter if they are family, friends, or partners. Surrounding yourself with positive people that add something to your life will make a huge difference in your life. Sometimes it can be a lonely road, but I would rather have a couple amazing people in my life than 100 people who don’t appreciate me.

 

Go Outside

Even if you don’t want to leave your house, make yourself go, even for a little bit. In the Summer, you can go for a walk at a park and in the Winter, you can drive around country roads listening to your favorite music. Make the decision for yourself! Connecting with nature and feeling sunlight does incredible things to the human body and mind.

 

Try New Things

This really opens the door to recognize creativity where you never thought it existed. I created a list of things I want to try in the next year or so and I cannot wait to get to each and every one. Some things are big (go on a 3 day hike), and some are small (paint along with a Bob Ross painting).

 

Help Other People

The true feeling of happiness is making other people happy. I am going to start volunteering at my local cat shelter to make a family’s dream come true. Some of the things on my “Try New Things” list are things to help other people, like making cookie jars and wreaths for my loved ones for Christmas.

 

Face Your Enemies

This isn’t necessarily about actually confronting people that you don’t get along with, but instead the facing enemies in your head. This is the hardest one by far. I have to face childhood memories, bad relationships, and all of the demons that come into my head telling me cruel things to keep me down. If you can change the voices in your head, you have mastered self love. It is a journey not a destination. It is something that needs to be worked on throughout your life.

Always remember that it is easier to keep up than to catch up.

You are who you choose to be. 

 

I hope this helps and I wish you nothing but the best on your self love journey.

 

Do you think you love yourself? Have you tried the self love approach? What do you do to love yourself?

I’d love to hear any thoughts or questions!

Leave a comment below!

 

See also:

Do You Love Hiking?

What is Keto? – Beginning Your Journey

Diet and Depression

Self Love Nightly Checklist

Why try Yoga?

Personal-My Journey So Far