Times can change the way things happen around us and how we respond to them. With minimum social interactions in these tough times, we come to realise many aspects of our individuality that have been missing in the regular life we had before COVID or that we have been ignoring ever since. Self-love is one such aspect most of us never cared much about. Lets celebrate the spirit of self-love this week and learn some tips on how we can care about ourself more and stay happy and healthy.
We need love to grow and thrive in our lives as complete human beings, to spread love we first need to learn to love ourselves. Self-love impacts us psychologically as well as physically which affects our personality, our health and our attitude towards life. Self-love can have several meanings for several people as it is not restricted to one specific activity or routine. For one, self-love can mean rewarding themselves for their achievements, no matter how small or big that achievement is and to another, self-love can mean following a skincare routine or a healthy diet which makes them feel confident about themselves. The means of expressing love to self can be many and is not limited to any specific activity but the basic premise remains the same, which is to feel good about ourselves, being happy for ourselves before anyone else. This might sound selfish but it is not. The way we are asked to put on our oxygen mask before helping anyone else in case of emergency in an aeroplane, the same way it is necessary to care about oneself first; the exception being self-love is not for emergency situations but is necessary at all times.
This pandemic has brought in many uncertainties and have made things difficult for us. Surrounded by panic and fear we are being put to test every moment which calls for us to go an extra mile for our mental health and take a deeper look inside ourselves, explore all the aspects of our personality and grow with positivity. Self-love is the most important step in this journey towards peace and happiness. The need of the hour is to focus more on ourselves and our health to thrive in these times.
Self-love includes indulging in activities which makes us feel good, taking the stress off our mind, something that makes us feel nourished and enriched with energy and takes care of our needs. Above all allowing ourselves to be what we are with no boundaries and restrictions is SELF-LOVE.
Let’s now dive into the ways we can practice self-love and feel its power
1. Knowing/Discovering Ourself
Being mindful and knowing ourself is the first step towards practising self-love or self-care. For a better understanding, we can take the following example, for making a tasty dish one needs to know the recipe but we can only follow the steps if we know what taste we desire. Should it be sweet or sour or spicy or a unique mix of these all? Thus, knowing ourself, knowing what we think, what we enjoy and what we don't is all very important to move to be able to love oneself. Discovering oneself is like taking the first bite of our favorite dessert.
2. Taking action
This is the most important part of the process. You can’t taste if you don’t cook and this is the part where we take actions, undertake activities that we love based on what we like. And to cook well we need to know the right recipe.
Here are some ways to do this, and since this does not apply to everyone we can pick what suits us the best.
Reading what we like
Exploring our interests
Learning a new skill
Listening to the music we love
Dancing with joy
Moving slowly
Taking deep breaths
Following a diet which makes us feel good and fresh throughout the day
Playing with our pet, throw around some pawsome love
Meeting friends and talking (online). Sharing our experiences, listening to theirs
Sipping tea/coffee
Spending time in nature
Pampering ourself
Meditating
Going for a walk or exercise
Cooking our favourite meal
Having a dessert
Spending time with children
Drawing and arts
Revisiting old pictures/memories
Playing childhood games
Taking a break from gadgets and social media
Enjoying an icecream in a chilly weather
Road trip
Learning about different cultures
Celebrating small achievements
3. Believe Self
The last and final step of the process is tasting the treat and relishing it, which means experiencing the power of self-love and enjoying the experience of being yourself, being wholesome and happy. This can only be achieved if we love ourselves to the fullest and believe in ourselves to the core and not let us get affected by people’s opinions.
Be kind to yourself, be compassionate and you will instantly feel the power of self-love.
In these tough times, self-love can help us get past the negativity and find the best in ourselves. This is the time when we must start thinking about ourselves, the person we spend all our time with. Let’s start to love this person and shower more and more love to self. Let's start with giving ourself a tight Hug <3
P.S. Don’t forget to smile at self!
Authored by Arsh Aggarwal (Intern with Clownselors)
Edited by Clownselors
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