“Self love is not selfish. You cannot truly love another until you know how to love yourself.”
-Anonymous
The world is a place with stresses that can’t be avoided but what we can do is learn how to deal with them. Learn to be aware of our own body and mind. To acknowledge when it’s time to take a step back from everything. It’s important to create a routine and self love habits you know you can rely on to re energize your mind, body and soul. To get to a place you feel at peace with yourself and the world that surrounds you.
Move Your Body
In order to truly feel your best you must take the time and invest in your own body. Care for it because it’s the only one you are given. Put in time and effort to move and become stronger. To live in a body you feel proud and confident about. Not only to gain confidence but most importantly for your health.
You’ve probably heard many times that exercise helps relieve stress through the release of endorphins. For that reason I won’t go into too much detail but exercise is definitely a great start to your self-love routine. It doesn't have to be painful or dreadful and you don’t have to be spending 2 hours in the gym every day to see results. In fact, it isn’t realistic for the majority of people. Spend whatever time you can being active. You simply have to find something that works best for you. If you don’t like running don’t do it. It’s as simple as that. If you want to be in touch with nature, hiking is a great way to spend time outside and to get some steps in. There are so many physical activities you can do, to almost immediately relieve some stress and anxiety which is why it’s crucial to make exercising a part of your life.
Become One With Your Thoughts
Your mind is a powerful tool, sometimes it can be a weapon used against you. Through meditation you can learn how to truly connect with yourself. To be aware of your own thoughts and feelings in this present moment. You will not only strengthen the relationship with yourself but also the relationship you have with others.
To get the most out of your meditation session it’s important to sit down with your thoughts and acknowledge how you are feeling in that present moment. Do this for 5-15 minutes a day in a comfortable and quiet place where you won’t be distracted or disturbed. This may seem scary or unpleasant to some because we tend to try and avoid or move past our feelings but once you continuously do it you will see a positive increase in your mood and learn to be more aware of your own thoughts and feelings. It takes effort to set aside time out of your day, but it’s proven to be a very powerful and effective habit to implement into your daily life in order to have a more positive energy and outlook.
Do What You Love
Discover something that will encourage you to get up in the morning. Through finding your passion you will be on your way to discovering your purpose. Find an activity you enjoy that can allow you to express yourself and take your mind off anything going on in your life that is causing you stress and anxiety. You will feel a sense of accomplishment, pride and as though you've used your time effectively. It is crucial to self development and growth.
This can be a difficult one for some, but I cannot stress enough how important this is. To find a hobby or an activity that you enjoy doing. Maybe try and learn a new instrument, pick up a camera and experiment with it, maybe numbers is your thing or you want to learn coding. Anything that might peak your interest and brings you joy, give it a try and keep doing it as much as you can. Life will pass you by if you aren’t doing the things you love.
Surround Yourself With Positive People & Break Through Barriers
Create connections with people around you. Being open to meeting new people,
you are not only learning about them but you are also learning about yourself, Step out of your comfort zone. Be open to having in depth conversations with strangers, it’s the best way to get to know them and to get to know yourself. Surround yourself with people who support and uplift you. This will encourage self growth.
Getting out of your comfort zone is probably one of the best things you can do for yourself. It will allow you to grow and ultimately allow you to feel proud of the person you’ve become. It may seem like an odd thing to add to a self-care guide but it will elicit growth and change. Try every day to do something that scares or challenges you in any way, shape or form. It could be the actions but after time goes on you will notice things that once scared you, don’t seem that bad anymore.
Pamper Yourself & Dress Well
In this fast paced society it’s easy to lose track of time. To spend quality time with yourself is crucial. Schedule time out of your busy week to do the things that make you feel refreshed and energized, whether that’s doing your hair, applying a mask, relax watching a movie, or taking a bath with some nice candles.Treat it as though you have a big and important event to go to and prepare for. It may seem like a lot of work but dedicating time to doing this will allow you to feel your best. Also, take some time before going to bed or wake up earlier in the morning to plan your outfit and put together something you know you feel confident wearing, because when you are wearing something you feel confident in, you feel like the best version of yourself.
Envision The Life You Want
Have you ever imagined yourself doing something or played out a specific scenario in your head? If so, you were utilizing visualization. You must learn how to use it correctly to play in your favour. Create your dream life using your imagination.The image must be clear in your mind for your thoughts to become reality. In this very moment, picture yourself on the beach feeling the sand under your feet. Is it warm? Is it cold? Are you alone? Do you hear the waves crashing on the shore? The law of attraction is powerful, use it to your advantage and create the life you want.
The book “The Secret” is a great tool that I would recommend to anyone. To give a quick summary, it provides insight on the law of attraction and feeling gratitude in order to attract what you want in life, this is known as visualization. If you are wanting to travel the world or attain a specific career goal picture yourself in that specific scenario. It’s important to visualize all the details, even the smallest ones. It’s up to you to choose. How will you create the life you want?
I hope you were able to take away at least one if not all of these habits and apply them daily in order to get you feeling your best. It’s important to keep in mind that change does not occur overnight and if you are reading this because you are feeling stressed or feeling unmotivated, remember to hold onto the things that make you happy and life will indeed get better. You are not alone in the struggle. It’s important to take time out of your day to care for yourself. You are worth the time you spend on yourself and if you are feeling down there is no shame in sharing how you feel with trusted friends, family or even professional help if you think it’s necessary.
If you have any suggestions or want to share what you do in order to feel your best, leave a comment down below so we can all help each other.
-The London Styler Team