10 tips for practicing self-love

Self-love is a state of appreciation for yourself that grows from actions that support your physical, psychological and spiritual growth. We have selected 10 tips to practice and inspire you to love yourself more. 

1. Consider your emotions as guides
Learn to be more in touch with what you feel and try to not judge your emotions. Allow yourself to feel them, to let them pass through you after which you will start to notice they will resolve, creating space in your system for new things. It’s easier said than done, but keeping a journal to write down how you feel and visualizing your emotions can be helpful tools to check in with yourself. Take your time and keep in mind that just like with training for a marathon, it takes practice. 

2. Use the power of affirmations
If you’re familiar with that self-critical and forever doubting inner voice, self-talk often tends to be negative. Learn to turn it around by saying wonderful things to yourself, out loud, daily. However foolish this may seem at first, doing it on a regular basis has been shown to create new connections in the brain, which means that after some time, you will start to feel and think more positive about yourself.

3. Move in the direction of joy
Not everything you do has to have an immediate result or function. By simply doing what brings you joy, you will bring movement into your system and this will help you find your way again.

4. Play and embrace your inner child
Just because you’re past a certain age, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the pleasure of playing. Allowing yourself a go at the swings, get messy,  blow bubbles or just play around automatically puts you in touch with a playful side of you that stimulates creativity, connection and most importantly: Joy.

5. Buy some flowers, just for you
Far easier (and cheaper) than hours of therapy, buying yourself some flowers is a simple act of self-love that guarantees beauty and pleasure for days, even on those days that aren’t easy.

6. Create time for yourself
Taking regular breaks from your responsibilities, especially as a new mom, will do wonders to connect to yourself. What you do in these time-outs is entirely up to you, what matters is simply creating the space to connect with your feelings as an investment in yourself.

7. Sharing is healing
A lot of us tend to isolate when we feel depressed, anxious or sad. But the simple act of sharing how you feel with another human will cause relief, facilitate healing and is a good reminder that you are never alone.

8. Learn to say no
Having healthy boundaries, means saying ‘no’. This demands practice, because saying ‘yes’ is engrained for many of us. Stopping to please others will eventually create better, more meaningful connections with others while also saving you lots of energy. What could help is setting the intention to practice saying no in advance, especially in situations where you know you will struggle. Or create time for yourself by saying: ‘Well actually, let me get back to you on this’.

9. Balance chores and rest
We think discipline is underestimated when it comes to establishing self-love. Taking a hot bath or getting a massage as a form of self-care are great ways of cultivating self-love. However, doing what needs to be done, from your taxes to doing laundry, from meal prepping to setting an alarm for physical exercise, generates self-love as well. It is about creating a balance between chores and rest that will make you feel good about yourself. Just don’t forget not to judge yourself when you fall off the bandwagon now and then.

10. Look at yourself in the mirror
Make eye contact with yourself through a mirror. Let every emotion rise and feel what it is telling you. The practice of mirror-work can be transformational if we simply allow all the triggers it is causing.