Since February is the month of love, it’s important to recognize all types of love. This week’s focus is self-love. Self-love is important for one’s mental and physical well-being, but it can be difficult to practice at times. Here are a few tips and practices that might help:
- Be gentle with yourself
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It can be super hard to go easy on yourself when you’re a college student with a million priorities, but realizing that you don’t have to have everything figured out all the time is a great first step to help yourself. Take breaks and pace yourself when working on schoolwork or other projects so that you don’t get overwhelmed as easily.
When faced with negative or confusing emotions, try to be understanding with yourself. It’s okay to not understand your feelings, but just let yourself feel them when you need to. You can feel it first and process it later.
- Don’t entertain things that are unhealthy
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It can be hard to let go of people or things that may not be in your best interest, but after you do it feels so freeing. Letting people disrupt your peace and the plans that you have set for yourself can be disappointing in the long run. If someone or something is taking more away from you and your life than they are adding to it, then it may be in your best interest to say goodbye.
- Find a calming activity
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If you’re someone that struggles with anxiety, it can be helpful to find something that you enjoy that will bring you peace in moments of worry. For me, cooking has been something that I have only recently started to enjoy. I find that going through the motions of preparing a meal is something that calms me and brings me comfort. This is different for everybody, but it’s important to find something that brings you peace when life gets chaotic.
- Pamper yourself
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Take a nice relaxing shower or bubble bath, give yourself a manicure and/or pedicure, do a face mask, apply essential oils. It’s so important to treat yourself and take care of yourself every once in a while. Sometimes we get so busy that we forget to take care of ourselves, but when we do it makes us feel more confident.
- Words of affirmation
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Affirmations are a great way to practice self-love. These words communicate your love and appreciation for yourself and others. It may seem cliche, but speaking things into existence is a practice that works. If you try to feed positivity to yourself, you will see that the outcome is rewarding.
Examples:
- “I focus on what I want.”
- “I have all the strength and confidence within me that I need to succeed.”
- “I am loved.”
- “I attract opportunities.”
- “I am a positive light.”
- “I am not my mistakes.”
- “I deserve love, compassion, and empathy.”
Loving yourself is not something that you miraculously achieve one day, it’s an ongoing practice. It’s okay to not feel like you love yourself all the time and everyone struggles to love themselves at times. I still struggle to love myself sometimes, but I have learned a lot about myself through using these practices. I have been able to better understand myself and listen to myself in order to do what I feel is best for me. I feel like that’s what self-love is really about.