Self love is this weeks intention for our New Year New Mindset series. And hopefully a new life long intention for you. Being a mother is one of the most selfless jobs on the planet. While this is beautiful, it can also be destructive to how we take care of ourselves. If you’re anything like me, kudos if not, when my daughter was born I went into instant unrealistic momma bear mode. That means I only did things for my daughter, completely forgetting that I was a person that needed care too. After my struggle with post partum depression and a life time of not feeling worthy, I realized I stopped loving myself and wondered if I ever did. It was like a spark going off in my head. I’d tried so many weight loss programs and exercise plans but I did it from a place of not loving myself or the skin I’m in. So how could I be surprised I didn’t get the results I wanted so bad? It was then that I realized a life of health and wellness begins inside with self love.
Our minds are extremely powerful. What we put in, comes out. Telling yourself you hate your body, you don’t feel good in what you wear, or you’re not beautiful translates to the terrible emotions that makes you feel that way. The great news is that YOU HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE that negative mixtape playing in your head. How? Practice my friend. When our little babies start walking and they fall, we don’t tell them they suck and to give up. We encourage, comfort, and nurture them to keep going. So why don’t we do the same for ourselves? In most cases we genuinely forget what it’s like to love ourselves because it’s been so long since we have.
This is where practice comes in. We have to practice self love just like our babies have to practice everything before they’re good at it. This is also where my passion comes in because I love seeing women transform from who they think they should be to the women they want to be. It all starts with going inward and dedicating time to yourself. Yes you, gorgeous. You deserve just as much love and adoration from yourself as you show others. If you’re ready to dive into some self love check out my tips below to cultivate a self love mindset.
- Start your day with positive affirmations about yourself. Pick a few characteristics that you love about you. Write them down and post them where you get ready in the morning for and instant self love pick me up.
- Pencil yourself in. Literally set aside time in your busy schedule just for you! No interruptions no distractions just you and whatever you want to do. You don’t have to leave the house if you don’t want to but if you do go for it! I know if you have kids it can be hard but they’ll be okay for 10 or 20 minutes. When you dedicate time to yourself and create healthy boundaries, you are modeling positive behavior for them.
- Remove or ignore any negativity trying to come your way. Do you have a negative friend that seems to mean well but you feel drained after talking? Or a family member? I’m not saying to cut off loved ones, but if need be do so! Your health is dependent on it and your kids depend on you being healthy. See the trickle effect? Our kids are watching our every move and if they see us sacrificing our own happiness for others what do you think they will do? Sacrifice their own happiness at others expense and we don’t want that. We want them to have healthy relationships and to know it’s okay not to deal with negativity from ANYONE. While removing negative people isn’t always possible, ignoring the negativity is always an option. We cannot control what others do, but we can control our reactions. Take their power away by harnessing it inside of you with self love.
Self love is so important to me because once you have it you are truly unstoppable. Self doubt doesn’t stand a chance when you are operating with love. I pray you find the love inside of you FOR you and start using it. Comment below something you love about yourself! You can take it a step further and show your body a beautiful form of self love with yoga! It’s my first video and I’m so thankful I get to share it with you. Start your self love today with a quick beginner friendly yoga sequence.
