SELF LOVE

1. Move that gorgeous body of yours every single day. You will learn to love the skin you’re in. You can’t hate your way into loving yourself.

2. Stop the comparisons. There is no one on this planet like you, you are absolutely unique so you cannot fairly compare yourself to someone else. The only person you should compare yourself to is you.

3. Embrace and love the things that make you different. This is what makes you special.
   Follow your passion. You know that thing that gets you so excited but scares you at the same time. The thing you really want to do but have convinced yourself it won’t work. You should go do that!

4. Be patient but persistent. Self-love is ever evolving. It’s something that needs to be practiced daily but can take a lifetime to master. So be kind and support yourself through the hard times.

5. Follow your passions. You know that thing that gets you so excited but scares you at the same time? The thing you really want to do but have convinced yourself it won’t work. You should do a little bit of it daily.

6. Treat others with love, grace and respect. It makes us feel better about ourselves when we treat others the way we hope to be treated. That doesn’t mean everybody will always repay the favor, but that’s their problem not yours.

7. Find something to be grateful for every day. Say it out loud or write it down. It’s inevitable that you are going to have your down days. This is fine and very human. It’s especially important on these days to find at least one thing you are grateful for as it helps to shift your mind and energy around what’s going on.

8. Forgive yourself. You know that thing you did one time (or maybe a few times) that made you feel bad, embarrassed, ashamed? It’s time to stop avoiding them so you can let them go. You can’t change the things you have done in the past but you can control your future. Look at it as a learning experience and believe in your ability to change.

9. Give up the need for approval from others. Like Dita Von Teese said, “You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there’s still going to be somebody who hates peaches.” Do you love yourself more today than yesterday? Then that is enough.

10. Be realistic. There is no person on this earth that is happy every single moment of every single day. Because we are all human. We make mistakes, we feel emotions (good and bad) and this is OK. Allow yourself to be human and feel what you need to feel.

Do you treat yourself the same way you treat a best friend?

Most of us are already quite skilled at being kind, understanding and compassionate to those we care about.
We let them know it’s okay to be human when they fail. We reassure them of our respect and support when they’re feeling bad about themselves. We comfort them when they’re going through hard times.
Most of us are very good at being understanding, kind and compassionate toward others.

When we turn that inner voice of a supportive friend towards ourselves, we feel loved, safe and accepted enough to see ourselves clearly and make the changes needed to love and accept our strengths, weaknesses and reconciling the conflicting parts in our inner world is critical to our health and happiness.

Try answering the questions below, either by thinking about them or writing them down.
Asking yourself difficult questions is the first step towards understanding how and
what blocks you from loving and accepting yourself completely

1. Are you as compassionate to yourself as you are to others? Why?

2. How often do you tell yourself you are beautiful?

3. How often do you give yourself encouragement when you need it?

4. Have you ever told yourself that you love yourself out loud? Was it uncomfortable?

5. Have you considered where your definition of love have been formed?

6. When someone compliments you, how do you respond and why?

7. Do you deserve to be loved?

8. How often do you say no to people around you?

9. Do you need to hear that you are special in order to hear you are valued?

10. Have you ever looked at a social media post and said to yourself “why not me?”, “when will it be my turn?”,
    ”I could have done that better” or “I could never do that”?