By Wajiha Ahmed Ali
GOD has installed a variety of emotions in every human being. The most powerful and beautiful emotion that we all are blessed with is Love. Love is ingenious and has the power to make you walk on air and contrariwise can tear you down into pieces. It is relatively easier to overcome love breakups if we are already in love with ourselves before anything and anyone else. It doesn’t mean that one becomes narcissistic and self-obsessed with oneself but it’s more about taking care of your own peace of mind, well-being, and happiness. I know it’s easier said than done and could be challenging for those who are already struggling with the hard knocks of life. But by following some of the 10 powerful ways of practicing self-love, I’m sure that we would be able to find serenity amidst adversities.
10 Powerful Ways To Practice Self-love
1- Eat Healthy
The food you eat reflects on your face. If we eat healthily, it surely put a great impact on our quality of life from brain function to physical performance.
A well-balanced diet includes protein, good fat, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. You need to be mindful of your eating habits and make sure to select the healthiest option from each category of food groups. Healthy eating doesn’t require you to give up on the food that you enjoy and make yourself deprived by a major diet overhaul, rather it is about making realistic, small, and manageable goals to achieve better results toward your health. From adding a half portion of raw salad to your meal platter to adding more glass of water to your daily water consumption, sounds petty but can make a huge difference to your healthy and balanced lifestyle.
2- Take Care of Your Body
While we are busy in our lives and it’s endless chores we forget to take care of ourselves and our bodies. Whereas it is the most important point while practicing self-love. The first step is to accept and embrace the way God has created you. And believe that you are the best of God’s creations. The most important aspects of looking after your body are getting enough rest and sleep, eating healthily, and exercising.
People find it hard to take care of their bodies. They often think that it requires an exuberant amount of energy and effort to attain a good physique and that’s true in some way or another other. However, if we decide to do a bit more exercise, or get a bit more sleep and stop ourselves from eating unnecessary sugary food is likely to be worthwhile efforts.
Once in a while, it’s ok to eat your favorite ice cream or a fatty piece of a chocolate bar and be lazy all day but making it a habit will end up in drastic weight gain.
Being overweight or obese is itself a disease and is nowadays said to be the main cause of many chronic and poor lifestyle diseases, such as; adult-onset diabetes, heart conditions, high blood pressure, and many forms of cancer.
So, it is advisable to indulge in some sort of exercise, be it a walk or any kind of sport. Do whatever keeps you busy mentally and physically. Any exercise is better than none at all. Taking a small amount of physical activity, maintaining a balanced and healthy diet along with a good sleeping pattern can make your body function efficiently.
3- Develop a Habit of Gratitude
It is very important to count our blessings and be grateful for all that we have. Gratitude has many positive effects on the physical and psychological well-being of a person. It makes us appreciate all the values that our life has stored for us. And by valuing every bit of our blessings we are less likely to take things for granted. Gratitude certainly brings positivity to our life. We start noticing the positive sides of everything more and that directly brings pleasure and satisfaction to your life.
Life is not perfect for anyone. We all go through dips and trails throughout our lives. But when we practice gratitude, it allows us to think about all the goodness about life as a whole. It is one of the best 10 powerful ways that you can try in your life.
4- Stop Comparing Yourself
We all know that comparison is a thief of joy and we shouldn’t be comparing ourselves with others at any cost. Comparing yourself with others is like fueling the fire with your own hands. It can be destructive and ravaging for your personality. To stop comparisons you should know your worth, uniqueness, and individuality. Everyone is incomparable to another individual and the same is the case with your life situation. The path you choose to follow your goals doesn’t need to be the same for someone else. Even though you both have the same goals to follow. Maybe your path is longer and harder than theirs but that doesn’t make your efforts and your approach any lesser.
If you spot someone to be standing at the point where you think you should be, instead of thinking bad about yourself or your situation you should think that I would achieve that spot when the time is right for me.
Value your time and your energy, it’s sacred, it is worthy of more better and productive things to do. Stop wasting your precious time thinking about others’ achievements when you are far more capable of building your own castle. We found this useful among the 10 powerful ways of practicing self-love.
5- Walkout of Toxic Relationships
Walking away is always hard. But being with someone who is toxic is far more disastrous for your mental and physical health.
Let’s accept the fact that you can never change a toxic person. Your benevolence your kindness your considerateness and even your forgiveness would never bring even an eensy-weensy of a change in their nastiness. They would always play the victim to make you feel unnecessarily guilty of the things that you didn’t even do or mean. Toxic people are always hurtful and criticizing. They love to hurt the sentimental by throwing unwanted and insensitive comments at people around them. Because they think they are utterly flawless in their skins.
These people are like cancer that is capable to destroy your inner peace and your life. The best way to get rid of them is to cut off all ties before they cause more damage. It is one of the best 10 powerful ways to practice self-love.
6- Turn down Negativity
Sometimes life doesn’t go according to what we have planned. Failures can bulge your heart with negative emotions. At that moment you need to train your mind to focus on the positive sides of your efforts. Failure is part of everyone’s life and from those failures, we need to learn the positive things rather than dwelling on negativity. Every success and failure has something to learn from. Be it an experience or about a person, there is always knowledge you gained from it. Negativity can drain all your energy and push you to the edge of your sanity. Some of the major negative emotions are judging yourself and others, doubting your abilities, assuming the worst to happen, and worrying about unforeseen. always complaining about your situation and circumstances, and trying to control what is not in your reach.
These negative thoughts can lead to uncalled anxiety and depression so it’s really important not to let the negativity overcome your mind and soul.
7- Be Creative
Creativity is also a way of self-expression and can be very therapeutic most of the time. It’s like translating your thoughts into your creation. The best way to unwind your mind and soul is to indulge yourself in some kind of creativity. Try to find a way to be creative, be it through photography, painting, writing, dancing, or drawing, it really helps you to express what you’re experiencing now. Everyone has a little bit of creative instinct inside that needs to be explored through experiencing different creative ideas. After all, it’s about starting with something small, making mistakes, and constantly adjusting your work until you attain perfection. It is one of the best 10 powerful ways that you can try.
8- Let Go of Past
Moving on from your past is sometimes difficult for many people due to the fears and concerns that are holding them back to move forward in their life. Being stuck with your past can never let you heal from the pain that you have experienced.
Lisa Oliver, a very famous licensed therapist says, “When we start practicing being present, our hurts have less control over us, and we have more freedom to choose how we want to respond to our lives,”
The sooner you decide to move forward from your past the better it is. Once you have stepped out of your painful memories your mind will start functioning positively and you will be able to make a powerful comeback to your life.
9- Celebrate Your Achievements
When you learn to practice self-love it becomes an essential part of every aspect of your life. You start celebrating your own achievements. Be it small or big, a material thing, or just acquiring a new positive habit, they all are worthy enough to be labeled as an achievement. By doing so you feel motivated and confident. You feel an instant thrive to achieve more than what you’ve already had.
As B.J. Fogg, a famous psychologist at Stanford, says, “Emotions create habits…when you complete your tiny habit, reward yourself with an ‘Awesome!’ or ‘Good for me!’ to affirm to yourself this is a behavior you’re proud of.”
Remember, happiness and celebrations are contagious, when you feel happy and accomplished it inspires others as well. When they join you in your celebrations they get motivated for their own goals.
10- Be Kind & Respectful
Kindness and respect are the foundation of our basic manners. We should treat everyone with kindness and respect not because they deserve it or they have earned it but because that is who they are. Sometimes we don’t get the same amount of respect from the other side but that’s ok. Because it’s not about you it’s about them. And you hold pretty high standards for yourself.
These are the 10 powerful ways that you can try. If you pick any two or three of the self-love practices from here you will start feeling good about yourself. The more you practice self-love the merrier you will be in your life. Self-love does not happen to you overnight but with time and constant practice, you will learn it. It’s a lifelong journey of self-discovery. Love yourself first, everything else comes afterward.