This Valentine’s day, love yourself first
0If you were asked “who do you love most in the world” you would say any one of the following – your partner, your spouse, your mother, your father, your child, your lover, or perhaps someone famous. When the answer is actually ….you! For if you don’t love yourself than you can’t love another sincerely, genuinely and wholeheartedly.
Loving the self is not about conceit nor is it about arrogance. Loving one’s own self means liking yourself, liking what you do, being proud of your actions, having good thoughts, having good intentions and feeling the peace between the mind and the heart. Here are four ways to ensure that you LOVE yourself first !
Beliefs
What we believe about ourselves is what happens to us. If we believe we are useless we will act as if we are. The answer is to focus on the good things someone may have told us about ourselves. For example if people say you are intelligent but one person says you are dumb, choose the compliment that you are intelligent and BELIEVE it. Be careful not to allow the belief of being dumb take over. Avoid calling yourself stupid, clumsy or other negative label. Choose the voices in your mind that confirm you are invincible, you are strong, you are caring etc. Start with “I am loveable” as an affirmation repeated all day long in your mind until the phrase plays in the background of your mind.
Healthy eating
Our body can only be made up of the food you feed it. If you eat junk food and artificial processed foods, then the cells and tissues in your body will be made up of these toxic, non-nutritious chemicals. Your body is constantly replacing itself with new cells made up from nutrients it receives. Before you eat anything, ask yourself if what you are about to eat will benefit your body tissues or not. You would not build your house out of fake bricks! Choose the healthier option from nature to build a healthy body.
Exercise your body
This does not mean you have to run a marathon. Simply be aware if you are walking, going up stairs or doing chores during everyday activities, then tell yourself ‘this is exercise’. An experiment was carried out with housekeepers in a hotel where one group was told that making beds and cleaning the rooms would help them loose weight, while the other group was not told that. It was proven that the group who thought they were losing weight and benefitting from the exercise of cleaning the rooms, actually did feel less tired, more energetic and lost weight. If you actively exercise your body you will benefit from the release of natural endorphins – i.e. feel good hormones.
Pamper yourself
Whatever makes you feel good is something you must do regularly. If you expect or wait for others to pamper you, your expectations will let you down. Learn to plan to have a massage, or organise a swap massage with someone, or massage your own feet, hands or body. Have a bath, lie down for a quick nap, daydream for ten minutes (instead of drowning in Facebook for those same minutes ). What this pampering does is make your soul feel nourished. We thrive on love and when we take care of ourselves by pampering, we are loving ourselves. When we enhance these actions with aromatic oil or lotions we increase the value of the experience.
Loving yourself enables you to give love to those close to you. You will also be kinder to those close to you and happier in your day to day life.
About the Author
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Doryce Sher, co-founder of Aromatic Apothecary, is one of South Africa’s leading advocates on the regulation of complementary medicine, with a particular interest in Aromatherapy.
Serving on and representing various health boards in South Africa, it is her passionate aim to ensure people are aware that there are choices when it comes to health and well-being.
Doryce would love to hear from. If you have a question, comment or would simply like to tell her your story, do so below. We look forward to hearing from you.