Self love is one of the most important things that we can practice as human beings. Having a healthy amount of self love means:

  • Higher self esteem
  • More confidence
  • Increased happiness
  • A greater sense of wellbeing

There are many more benefits, but a LOT of people sadly don’t get to experience any of them – because they don’t practice self love. Many people find it a tricky concept to get their heads around – does it take a lot of time? Does loving myself make me a narcissist? No and no!

In this post, I’ll be sharing easy ways that you can start practicing self love more in your life, and watch yourself bloom into the most beautiful version of yourself!

1.Write yourself a love letter.

Take 10 minutes each week or month to write yourself a love letter. No one else has to see it, it’s just for you. It’s a great way of complimenting yourself and appreciating everything about you. Write out anything you’ve done recently that you’ve felt proud of, including all the little victories you’ve accomplished. Imagine you are seeing yourself as an outsider (or admirer!) – what would they say about you? They love your new hair? You’re a great friend? Compliment yourself as if you’re your own best friend. Becoming your own best friend is the main aim of self love.

2. Practice affirmations.

I’ve mentioned the benefits of affirmations in a LOT of my posts (read my favourite 30 affirmations here). Well, no where is it more appropriate to talk about affirmations than when discussing self love! Repeating affirmations such as ‘I am enough’, ‘I love myself’ and ‘I am beautiful’ all have a profound effect on the way we see and feel about ourselves. Spend at least a few minutes a day repeating affirmations that you feel you need to hear. For even better results, say them to yourself while looking in the mirror! You can even write out your favourites on post it notes and stick them around your home!

3. Be selective.

This is a BIG one for self love. Be SUPER selective with as much of your life as possible. You’ve been invited to an event on a Friday evening but you had a super busy week and know you need a break- ask yourself ‘is this event more important than my physical and mental wellbeing? Will I feel better or worse if I attend this event?’ If you know that you should just rest at home, and the only reason you’d attend is so that you wouldn’t offend the host – DON’T GO! This is just one example – be selective in your relationships, not settling for something far from ideal. Be selective with your diet – feel pressured to eat your mother in law’s macaroni cheese even though you’re SEVERELY lactose intolerant? COME ON! Politely decline, and do what’s best for you.

4. Look after your body.

We tend to feel more confident and -into ourselves- when we feel good on the inside, and look our best on the outside. Get your health on track, both physical and mental – be strict about getting a lot of water, straighten out your diet, try to find some kind of movement you enjoy, check in with your feelings and emotions. Then onto the outside – appearance DEFINITELY isn’t everything, BUT by taking some time to look our best, even in little ways, it can make a big difference to our confidence. Just take some simple hygiene steps – look after your skin, keep your nails neat, shower regularly etc. If you want to take it further, book yourself some treatments every now and again – go to a spa, or throw yourself an at home spa evening once a month. Not essential, but a bonus.

5. Remove any self love blocks you have.

Take some time to think of the things that have made it, up until now, hard to love yourself. This can be a difficult task, and it’s essential that you are 100% honest with yourself, even if you don’t like the answers. Is there any person in your life that doesn’t make you feel great about yourself? If this is a friend or family member, this can be tricky – talk to them to explore why they say or do things that bring you down. A lot of the time, our self love is limited by people we don’t even know, namely celebrities and people we see on social media. If you relate to this, consider unfollowing any influencers that make you feel unworthy – you’ll feel much better for it. And finally, the biggest self love block people have is normally their own limiting beliefs. Explore your relationship with yourself and analyse your self talk. Is it how you would talk to a best friend?

Be kind to yourself. You are enough, and you are worthy!

Lots of love,

Natalie xx