I hate the stigma around self-love. In today’s society its common for many people to see it as an accomplishment that they survived the week on 3 hours of sleep fueled by mass amounts of coffee and sarcasm. Yet these people make very little effort to nourish and care for themselves. Why? Because today’s society tells us that it is selfish to love and care for yourself, and to put yourself first. People are droning through life exhausted, battered, bruised, and depressed. Many people I know secretly have feelings of inadequacy, unworthiness, and powerlessness. They are afraid to engage in any type of self-care, or they make excuses as to why they can’t take care of themselves. Many see self-love as an act of selfishness and “pampering” or spoiling themselves. The mainstream media promotes pampering and self-love as a luxury for the spoiled and wealthy. I strongly disagree. Loving and taking care of one’s self should be a guilt-free practice that we all engage in. It is not wrong or selfish for you to spend time nourishing your own body and soul. The Inner Child (the truest, most innocent part of your being) needs this nourishing self-love to thrive, not only emotionally, but spiritually as well. Our physical bodies need to be properly nourished and cared for to be healthy and full of vitality, but self-love isn’t just about caring for yourself physically. When you do not truly love and take care of all aspects of yourself, you give your power away. A big part of self-love is setting personal boundaries. If you are too physically, emotionally, and mentally tired to stand up for yourself, you allow others to control and manipulate you. When you allow others to control and manipulate you, you give them power over what you do and who you do it with. Self-care is also accepting your flaws and imperfections and learning to love yourself there. None of us are perfect, but we can strive to be better each day by engaging in personal growth and development. You need to learn to love and nurture yourself, not only by taking care of your physical body, but your mind and spirit too. You must know without a doubt that you have value and are loved. You can’t rely on others to fulfill you and care for your needs. YOU have to fill your own well. You can’t give if your well is empty, but don’t wait until your well has run dry to make it rain. You have to continually fill yourself with nourishing love, encouraging positive self-talk, and uplifting joy and happiness. There is absolutely NO guilt in taking care of your own needs. Think of it this way. When you are injured physically you know you have to nurse and properly care for the wound in order for it to heal. If you don’t care for the wound, it becomes infectious, takes much longer to heal (if it heals at all), and spreads toxins throughout your body. Your emotional and mental health, which directly governs your sense of self-worth, must be meticulously cared for and nourished in the same way, otherwise emotional and mental toxins infiltrate into every aspect of your life. Guilt-Free Self-Love Challenge I challenge you, this week and moving forward, to start practice guilt-free self-love. Here are just a few ideas you might like to try. I encourage you to come up with some of your own ideas as well.
Enjoy every moment. I’d love to hear about how you participated in my Guilt-Free Self-Love Challenge in the comments below. Brightest blessings, my Lovelies, Teigan
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AuthorTeigan Draig - Empowering women to live from their inner truth with boldness, confidence, and strength. Categories |