Mindvalley
Can you remember a time when you were disappointed in yourself, wondering: “What’s wrong with me? Why do I feel like a failure?” Then you frown, going deeper down into the rabbit hole.
“I’m making too many mistakes; I just don’t get it right. I often fight with others, I never stop complaining, and I hate myself for what happened that day, so long ago, when it was all my fault. I let myself down too often. How can I trust myself to ever do the right thing? Come to think of it, I actually don’t even like myself. Loser…”
This is where we enter the self love dilemma.
True Self Love Gives You The Fortitude And Grit To Withstand Any Difficulty In Life
This typical trail of thought is how most people tend to treat self love: as a reward for finally becoming the person they want to be. This behavior implies that their self love is subject to them being objectively ‘good’ or ‘successful.’
However, as Aristotle stated: “Humans, deep down, love the self more than their favorite others (family and loved ones). But, as cultural animals, they can come to believe that they love their favorite others more than they love the self.”
Which means, you already love yourself…
Just as Rumi stated, “Your task is not to seek for Love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
And this scripture example from the Christian Bible shows, Jesus is not commanding self love – but assuming it, evident in the text: ‘Love your neighbor as you (already do) love yourself,’ which means: Jesus assumes that every human being by nature loves himself.
You don’t have to learn to love yourself – you just need to remember, unpack and believe it.
To Love Yourself Is The Key To Happiness
Self love is confident, warm and caring. It’s the complete acceptance of who, and what you are – the appreciation and affirmation of yourself.
It’s the unconditional support, self-care, and compassion you give yourself that ultimately translates to good health, great self-esteem, happiness, total balance and well-being.
Self love is thus a basic necessity, a fundamental positive value that leads to inner peace and happiness.
What True Self love Looks Like
What Self love Is Not
Self love is not that desperate need to be better or more deserving than others. It is not being selfish or vain. It is not conditional on certain desired outcomes. And it’s not the exaggerated sense of importance that stems from classic narcissism.
What True Self Love Is
Self love is open and honest.
It’s the ultimate commitment; to get to know and accept yourself as you are. To fully experience life as it happens to you. To continually seek ways to physically, psychologically and spiritually grow from these experiences.
True self love is giving yourself unconditional respect, appreciation and evaluation of being great. It’s reminding yourself that you deserve to have all your personal needs met, while considering yourself as worthy, valuable, and deserving of happiness.
It’s fully knowing – no matter what you do, or neglect to do, right or wrong – that you’ll always love yourself and be true to who you are – no matter what.
Why It’s Important To Love Yourself
You simply cannot take care of others until you take care of yourself first. When you truly, unconditionally love yourself, you can move through the world with deeper compassion for others, with a deep sense of joy and pleasure within the act of giving.
Self love is therefore your fuel and foundation. If it’s not there, your entire life will be unstable and uncertain. But if you truly love yourself, life moves forward with ease and everything magically falls into place.
You’ll have greater resilience to withstand any challenging life event or personal adversity. Depression, anxiety, stress, and the obsession with perfection, will vanish in the face of pure optimism that self love creates.
You will always know that this moment shall pass and say, “I am okay, because I will treat myself fairly no matter the situation.”
To Love Yourself Is A Lifelong Romance
Oscar Wilde once said, “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.”
Which means, it’s a not a destination – it’s an everyday practice.
But before we get to daily self love techniques and exercises, here’s what you first need to know:
You are the center of the universe – It all starts with you and ends with you. You’re going to be with yourself for eternity. Which means, you want to operate from a place of self-loving, rather than self-loathing.
You care for yourself the most – No one else is interested in you – your well-being, safety, health, happiness, and existence – more than you. No one knows better than you, what makes you happy, or what hurts you most. No one thinks of you, or exists ready for your rescue, support or comfort. No one can make better choices for you, or give you a better opinion of what you need to do – other than yourself. No one is here for your spiritual growth – but you.
The love you seek does not exist – but within you – Herein lies one of humanity’s biggest deceptions. Love is a desire, of what (pleasures) you momentarily felt or experienced before, and hope to have again – all of the time. But this desire for love from others in itself cannot make you happy. Love from other people can only make you happy if it adds something new, or expand on- or at the very least reflect your own self love. And loving others, can only originate from self- love: a reflection or expansion of the love you have for yourself.
5 Self Love Techniques And Exercises
Mind your inner voice – The mind is always operating from a place of duality, so to feel inferior or superior is normal. Become aware and conscious of how you treat yourself in your own mind. Pay attention to your self-talk and how it makes you feel. Discard the demeaning thoughts and direct your mind and actions to positive behaviors.
Clear your mind – Observe and understand your current beliefs and values, and the real motivations behind them (make sure you don’t carry other people’s beliefs and values). If your beliefs and values are not serving your highest good, question why you’re holding onto them.
Invest much time in good self-care – Nourish yourself daily with healthy activities; good nutrition, exercise, proper sleep, intimacy and healthy social interactions, with lots of time for fun, adventure and relaxation. When you fuel and take care of your body properly, you’ll have optimum energy and vitality which builds upon self-esteem. Self-esteem and self love go hand in hand, and participating in things you’re good at will boost endorphins and bring out the best version of yourself.
Set boundaries and protect yourself – Identify what is, and isn’t good for you, and gain the clarity you need to understand what you will, and will not accept in your life. Don’t ever tolerate being treated like a doormat. Bring the right people into your life who reflect your own self-respect and reputation. Live intentionally with purpose and design.
Explore your spirituality – Faith is the foundation for self love, no matter what religion or system you believe in. Believing in something opens up your soul to the beauty of belief and trust itself. When you explore your spirituality, it will take you on a journey to learning things about yourself and those new thoughts, feelings, passions, and raw emotions will make you appreciate yourself for being authentically you. This will enhance your intuition and help to make decisions based on your gut.
Self Love Meditation
Guided Meditation For Self Love
Meditation is when you’re focused on a virtuous object to become peaceful and calm. Since your happiness co-depends on experiencing inner peace, incorporate any form of meditation into your daily life. Gradually reduce and eliminate your negative, disturbed states of mind and replace them with positive, peaceful states.
Self Love Meditation Script
This short transcript is simple and effective, which you can quickly record in your own voice, and listen to whenever you meditate:
Close your eyes.
Bring your awareness to your breathing – just breathe in…and out. Be totally aware, do not manipulate it – just follow your inhalation and exhalation.
Allow your mind to settle into your breath – Bring your awareness into your heart.
Now mentally repeat to yourself three times:
I love myself just as I am.
Breathe in and out. Mentally repeat to yourself three times these words (by Og Mandino):
I am nature’s greatest miracle.
Since the beginning of time never has there been another with my mind, my heart, my eyes, my ears, my hands, my hair, my mouth. None that came before, none that live today, and none that come tomorrow can walk and talk and move and think exactly like me. All men are my brothers yet I am different from each. I am a unique creature.
I am rare, and there is value in all rarity; therefore, I am valuable. I am the end product of thousands of years of evolution; therefore, I am better equipped in both mind and body than all the emperors and wise men who preceded me.
Slowly open your eyes.
If you want to overcome a certain aspect or situation to accelerate self love, use the mantra, “Even though I (insert your problem), I always deeply and completely love and accept myself.”
Positive Affirmations For Self Love
Self love affirmations are powerful statements with the ability to change your beliefs about anything. For the greatest impact, speak them aloud first thing in the morning or right before bed, so the words can sink into your subconscious.
Write some of the following affirmations that resonate with you in a notebook, in a daily journal, or on sticky notes and leave them around the house to see all day.
I am worthy of love
I carry strength, courage and resilience within me
I have the ability to overcome any challenge life gives me
Abundance and love flow from me
I am pure beauty
I am cocooned in the loving energy of the Universe
I love myself beyond comprehension
I am worthy of infinite and unending compassion
My life is a celebration of my accomplishments
Love rises from my heart in the face of difficulty
The love within me flows through me in every situation
My body is a beautiful expression of my individuality
I am authentic, true, and expressive
Love brings me youthfulness, energy, and rejuvenates me
I honor and respect my limitations and thank myself for the capabilities I do have
My life is founded on respect for myself and others
I am confident in my individuality
I am love, compassion, and empathy
I am enough
I am exactly who I need to be in this moment
I am love incarnated
A Self Love Quote
Loving yourself is powerful.
It’s that divine relationship you build with yourself, which will help improve every single aspect of your life.
In closing, here’s a piece of writing from English comedian actor and film director Charlie Chaplin for more self love inspiration in meditation and affirmation:
As I Began to love myself… By Charlie Chaplin
As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth. Today, I know, this is AUTHENTICITY.
As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody if I try to force my desires on this person, even though I knew the time was not right and the person was not ready for it, and even though this person was me. Today I call it RESPECT.
As I began to love myself I stopped craving for a different life, and I could see that everything that surrounded me was inviting me to grow. Today I call it MATURITY.
As I began to love myself I understood that at any circumstance, I am in the right place at the right time, and everything happens at the exactly right moment. So I could be calm. Today I call it SELF-CONFIDENCE.
As I began to love myself I quit stealing my own time, and I stopped designing huge projects for the future. Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness, things I love to do and that make my heart cheer, and I do them in my own way and in my own rhythm. Today I call it SIMPLICITY.
As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for my health – food, people, things, situations, and everything that drew me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude a healthy egoism. Today I know it is LOVE OF ONESELF.
As I began to love myself I quit trying to always be right, and ever since I was wrong less of the time. Today I discovered that is MODESTY.
As I began to love myself I refused to go on living in the past and worrying about the future. Now, I only live for the moment, where everything is happening. Today I live each day, day by day, and I call it FULFILLMENT.
As I began to love myself I recognized that my mind can disturb me and it can make me sick. But as I connected it to my heart, my mind became a valuable ally. Today I call this connection WISDOM OF THE HEART.
We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations or any kind of problems with ourselves or others. Even stars collide, and from their collisions, new worlds are born. Today I know THAT IS LIFE.
For more on the importance of self love and praise, listen to these wise words from Mindvalley Masterclass instructor, Marisa Peer:
Source: https://blog.mindvalley.com/self-love/