Love Yourself

Love Yourself

Valentine's day is depressing for some, as we look for others to share love.  Our expectations may not be met in this way!  This Valentine's Day, I encourage you to practice Self Love.  Blogger, Gala Darling provides 100 Ways to put this into practice.  When your inner voice is critical, as most are, try encouragement instead.  Add some of these to your life and see how it helps!
http://galadarling.com/article/100-ways-you-can-start-loving-yourself-right-now/

Stress Reduction

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another," William James

Anger

Anyone can become angry-that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way-that is not easy.  Aristotle

Change

Change

I believe change comes from love. When thinking about New Year's resolutions many choose weight loss, exercise, and financial fitness because we do not like our current body or money situations.  We want to change that which we do not like. Some people may even feel shame about these issues. So, we buy lots of fitness products, diet books, and gym memberships but our motivation doesn't last. Why not?  

Do we usually take care of things we don't like?  You don't like your car or house. Do you take care of it? Will we then take care of our bodies?

What if we decided to change because we want to take care of our body? We could decide to view our body as amazing and realize we are so grateful it works the way it does and allows us to do all that we do. We could nurture and care for the body by loving it, appreciating it and recognizing what it can do for us. Through this loving kindness we could feed it food that will make it run better. We can promote movement because the body is intended to move. We can breathe deeply and practice stress reduction because we respect ourselves enough to realize when it is too much. We put ourselves on our "to do"list because we matter and are worthy of love and self care. 

Talk to yourself like someone you love

"Talk to yourself like someone you love," Brene Brown.

Often in therapy we talk about the inner voice and how it criticizes, blames and would not always be our friend. It can be easier to speak to a friend, child, or family member in a supportive manner when they make mistakes, feel down, or struggle. Think of times in your life when you needed support from your inner voice, but instead you told yourself you looked fat, were not worthy or good enough.

Spend a moment with your inner voice and tell that younger you what you needed to hear instead. For example, "That was a tough time, but you will make it through." Tell yourself you can be brave, imperfect, and are worthy of love and belonging. Give yourself permission to be happy and fulfill your goals and dreams. Connect your relationships when they are disconnected. Tell the critic inside of your head to stop disrespecting you. You are not dumb or stupid. Be kind to you. This is a practice. Keep practicing.

Parenting Tip: Love them

From Sark, see more at www.planetsark.com