In our fast-paced life, we are always rushing through things. All of us are chasing something, be it success, money, or fame. And in this never-ending cycle of busy schedules, we often forget the most important thing. And you wonder what is that? It is to take care of ourselves. We tend to put a lot of effort into our duties and responsibilities towards others around us, our parents, our partners, our kids, or our friends. But how often do we take time to just for ourselves? How frequently do we tend to our own needs and desires? How much do we practice the act of self-love?
What is Self-Love?
The term ‘Self-love’ is pretty self-explanatory. Self-love is a profound and essential concept rooted in the practice of valuing, caring for, and accepting oneself unconditionally. It involves cultivating a positive and nurturing relationship with one's own self, both mentally and emotionally. It’s the act of loving yourself. It’s the act of showing the same compassion to yourself you would treat your loved ones with. Because more often than not, people tend to give the least attention to their own needs. They tend to get too hard on themselves. So letting go of this mindset and indulging yourself from time to time is called self-love.
Why is the practice of self-love important?
The practice of self-love positively impacts your life in a lot of ways. It helps nurture your relationship with your own self, thus boosting your mental, emotional, and physical health.
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Reducing Stress & Anxiety: The practice of self-love includes self-care and treating yourself with kindness. By acknowledging your emotions, setting boundaries, and prioritizing your needs without guilt, you can better manage the pressures of daily life.
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Boosting Self-Esteem: The practice of self-love boosts your sense of self-esteem and self-worth. You start to respect and believe in yourself more, gaining confidence to navigate your life on your own principles.
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Fighting Depression: Stress, anxiety, and the fatal feeling of worthlessness contribute a lot to the onset of depression. By consciously putting effort into self-love, you can better cope with stressful situations and can nurture a more positive outlook on life, thus fighting depression.
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Improving Relationships: With the practice of self-love, you can not only nurture your relationship with yourself but also improve your relationships with others. It leads to healthier relationships with others, as it encourages setting boundaries, effective communication, and a stronger sense of awareness about your likes and dislikes. These factors can lead to more positive and fulfilling interactions with loved ones.
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Enhancing Physical Health: Mental health is directly connected with our physical health. If you are suffering a mental setback, that will affect your physical well-being as well. Your body will seem weaker and you may fall sick more often. Thus taking care of your mental and emotional health will automatically improve your overall disposition.
How to practice self-love?
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Create a strong support group: Surround yourself with people for whom you matter. Keep a strong support system who have your best interests in mind, and on whom you can rely. A reliable support group can help in constantly motivating you to progress on your journey of learning self-love. They will provide you with constant support and words of encouragement. These people can be anyone, your friends, family members, or an organized community.
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Give yourself a compliment every day: Make it a habit to give yourself a compliment every day. No matter how small an achievement is, pat yourself on the back and say to yourself ‘I did great today’. Initially, it may seem superficial and inconsequential, but making it a regular habit will eventually train your mindset to actually believe in your words and consider these compliments as genuine and deserving. You will eventually learn to give yourself more credit. Even if you think nothing significant happened on a particular day to give yourself a compliment, just praise yourself for going through one more day successfully.
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Set Boundaries: One of the most essential steps to practice self-love is to set boundaries for yourself. Acknowledge your emotions, figure out your likes and dislikes, and know what triggers you, what you are comfortable with, and what you are not. All these things will factor into setting boundaries for yourself. Communicate your boundaries with people around you so they know to respect them. And don’t hesitate to take a stand and say no when you think your boundaries are being violated.
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Get rid of toxic relationships: Toxic people and relationships are like weeds that can completely ruin anyone’s life. Thus, in the path of taking care of yourself, you need to get rid of such toxic weeds. The relationships that do not bring you an ounce of happiness or comfort, and rather fill you with self-doubt, anger, resentment, and disappointment constantly, are not worth keeping. So, don’t hesitate or feel guilty about distancing yourself from such people for your well-being.
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Write down things you are grateful for: Another effective way to nurture a positive mindset is to make a habit of writing down things you are grateful for. You can keep a journal or just use sticky notes to write down about things or people you are grateful for. These notes will constantly remind you that there are a lot of good things in your life worth cherishing.
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Try meditation: One of the most effective methods for calming the mind is meditation. Meditating regularly, even for short periods of time, can do wonders for your mental health. It's a great way to calm the mind and relax the body. Practicing mindful meditation helps you see things from a fresh angle, which can be very illuminating. These new viewpoints have the potential to greatly improve your ability to deal calmly and effectively with many of life's most pressing challenges.
Stop engaging in negative self-talk: If you are one of those people who frequently engage in negative self-talk, then that’s pretty detrimental to your self-love journey. Negative self-talk only increases self-doubt. Thus, you need to make a conscious effort to stop engaging in such activity. You need to distract yourself with other things when you feel like spiraling down into a self-loathing phase. Go for a walk outside, reach out to a friend, or take a bubble bath. A lot of things can help.