As young women of the 21st century, the pressure to constantly strive towards perfection whilst jumping over steep hurdles on the route to success (patriarchy who?!) can be overwhelming. Here at Her Campus DCU, we are dedicating the month of October to self-love, the importance of it and how to incorporate it into your daily life.
In the hustle and bustle of balancing a work/college – life balance, relationships, family, friends, and other responsibilities, too often we overlook the most fundamental key to happiness; loving yourself, inside and out.
This comes in many forms and it can take a lot of time and energy to unpick the toxic messages sold to us by advertisers avidly trying to sell us a better, more polished version of ourselves. Loving yourself unconditionally is not narcissistic or self-absorbent; it is about getting in touch with your emotions and your well-being and identifying the parts of yourself that make you truly, wonderfully unique.
We practice self-love to discover what makes us happy and push ourselves beyond the limits we may have created for ourselves in our minds.
In the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown, the cancellation and closure of pretty much *everything* has led us to be on our phones more and absorbing more content on social media, leading to an overload of images we inevitably compare ourselves to.
Home workouts and the idea of the ‘quarantine fifteen’ seemed to permeate the internet and slowly seep into our attitudes towards ourselves. This has led to a lot of young people feeling more conscious of weight gain and their appearances than ever.
This toxic myth of the unattainable ‘ideal body type’ is completely destructive and only serves to detract from the truth; if you are happy and healthy, that’s all that matters. Comparison is the thief of joy and confidence and accepting that you are unique and unlike anyone else is key to loving yourself.
The idea of ‘practicing self-love’ can seem abstract, and you might not know where or how to begin. A great way to start is to begin each day with self-affirmations. Though it might feel silly at first, looking at yourself in the mirror and saying one thing you love about yourself every day will eventually become easy; the more you tell yourself all of the things that you value most about yourself and your body, the more you will begin to believe them.
If you are struggling to accept yourself and find yourself constantly comparing yourself to others, reducing the time you spend on social media can help to curb this source of negativity. Cutting an hour of your time spent swiping on Instagram puts you back into the real world, with real friends who appreciate the real you.
Fill your body with nourishing food and move it every day, step outside of your comfort zone and try new things, make the time to relax and unwind, reflecting and embracing the things that make you different.
Express yourself in the things that you find passion in, make a list of your best accomplishments and most importantly, have fun!