Self-Love

What is Self-Love?

Although many refer to self-love as the appreciation of oneself, it goes much deeper than this. Self-love is loving who you are in every way. It is practicing acceptance, respect and forgiveness with our perfect and imperfect parts, our strengths and our weaknesses, our wounds and our scars. 

Self-love also represents honoring our limitations, setting boundaries, and taking care of our physical health and our emotional well-being. Finding balance within mind, body and soul. 

Learning to love ourselves can be a difficult journey. We condition ourselves to believe the negative narratives that play on loop in our minds, things like we are not good enough or smart enough to achieve our dreams or secure success in our lives. 

We tell ourselves stories like I can’t change jobs because I will never get hired, I am not young enough or have enough education. As the damaging thought loop continues, we remain stagnant, getting further and further away from our true nature and purpose. 

We can take our power back and rediscover who we really are. Underneath all the negative talk are our fears, insecurities and negative tribal belief patterns. When we love ourselves, we have the ability to trust ourselves, allowing us to see beyond the illusions of our fears. 

Benefits of Self-Love

Self-love can cultivate inner strength, allowing us to view our experiences symbolically. We can release ourselves from the burden of the pain, understanding that every person and experience is put on our path to serve as a teacher on our journey. With this knowledge, we can retain the wisdom from the experience, our Soul Life Lesson.

In the emotional landscape, when we love ourselves, we have the ability to love others freely and authentically. Love starts within, at the core of our being. When we cultivate a loving relationship with ourselves, we develop self-esteem and self-confidence, we can accept our limitations with grace as well as the shortcomings of others. Fostering authentic connections and deeper relationships.

Self-love can provide a healthier mental landscape. As we foster authentic connections with ourselves and others we feel empathy, compassion, and understanding in a deeper way. We no longer feel the need to judge, and we find it easier to forgive ourselves and those around us. 

Inner Work Practices

Practicing self-love is an important tool on the inner work journey. Without a healthy self-esteem and self-worth, digging into the core of our being could be a dark time. As we get to the root cause of our fears, insecurities, tribal beliefs and negative behavior patterns we must face the truth of who we are and what we have become. 

Engaging with a self-love practice regularly can help build inner strength, confidence and self-esteem giving us the courage to endure the challenges of the journey.