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Practice Self-Love for your Mental Health
Self-love is an appreciation of ourselves that grows from actions that support our physical, psychological and social well-being.
Self-love is more than a temporary feeling – it is a deeply personal practice of reminding yourself of your needs over and over again.
Benefits of Self-Love
Self-Love is fundamental to living well. Here are some of the benefits of practicing self-love:
• Increased confidence - When we appreciate our good qualities, we start approaching life with purpose and self-assurance, and feel empowered to pursue our goals and dreams.
• Better Decisions - Self-love helps us to make more confident and healthy decisions for ourselves based on our inner compass - our values, needs, and boundaries.
• Healthier Relationships - Loving yourself allows you to set boundaries, communicate effectively, and recognize your worth, leading to more balanced and fulfilling relationships.
• Enhanced Physical Health - When you value yourself, you are more likely to engage in self-care practices like regular exercise, proper nutrition, and adequate sleep, which contribute to overall health.
• Improved Mental Health - Through reducing negative self-talk, boosting self-esteem, improving relationships and combating anxiety and depression, self-love helps us to build resilience to life’s challenges and protects our mental health.
Nurturing
Self-love could be a challenge for a number of reasons and one of these reasons is not knowing where to start. It could help to think of self-love as a seed that needs care and nurturing to grow:
• Preparing the Soil: Knowing Yourself - This requires a curious mindset. Take the time to reflect on your thoughts, emotions, strengths, imperfections, and to recognise what makes you you. When you know yourself, you can make choices that align with your values, rather than seeking external validation.
• Sowing the Seed: Accepting and Appreciating Yourself - Accept yourself and all of your dimensions without judgment. Remind yourself that your worth is not tied to your productivity, appearance, or achievements. Acceptance doesn’t mean settling or ignoring areas where you would like to grow. It means making peace with where you are today and acknowledging that.
• Watering the Soil: Daily Practice - Self-love is not a one-time decision but a daily commitment to prioritising your physical, emotional, and mental well-being. It is in the small, deliberate actions— like saying no to things experiences or people that don’t serve you, asking for help when you need it, and taking the time to rest without guilt.
IN A NUTSHELL… self-love means taking our happiness and well-being seriously.
Useful Self-Love Tips
Here’s how you can create fertile ground for self-love to flourish, and nurture it in the long-term:
• Spend Quality Time with Yourself - Take the time to reflect on your values, goals, needs and boundaries. Remember to reflect on your strengths and imperfections equally, and let go of judgment and comparison.
• Understand your Inner Critic - Reflect on which parts of your life and yourself you tend to be most critical of. What does that voice sound like? Remind yourself: would you speak to your loved ones this way?
• Write a Love Letter to Yourself - Use this to express gratitude towards yourself, your body, your strengths, and all the things that make you unique. Show yourself compassion for your ‘imperfections’ and use words of kindness and support.
• Practice Daily Positive Affirmations - Choose short and positive sentences that align with your identity and values. Repeat them - preferably loudly and to a mirror - daily, or whenever you need a quick motivation or morale boost.
• Live Intentionally - Let your knowledge of yourself act as a compass to guide your daily choices. Say ‘no’ to what does not align, and take daily action to give your body and mind what they need through self-care and strong boundaries.
REMINDER: There is a reason we say we ‘practice’ self-love. We do not ‘perform’ self-love because it is not something we do for others. We do not ‘do’ self-love because we do not just do it once. Rather, we must take the time to practice it consistently for it to grow.
Questions for Reflection
Not sure where to start? Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you understand and accept yourself.
• What are my core values and why are they important to me?
• What topics of issues am I deeply passionate about?
• Who am I when I am alone?
• What activities or experiences make me feel most fulfilled and alive?
• What life experiences have shaped who I am today?
• What are three things I admire about myself and why?
• What do I tend to be most critical of about myself or my life?
• How does my self-talk differ from how I talk to people I love?
• When was the last time I overcame a challenge? What strengths or skills di I use?
• What do I need right now, mentally and physically, and what steps can I take to support this?
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