
Valentine’s Day is coming up, and I thought that now would be a good time to do a post on love, but what kind of love? Self-love. Loving yourself is kind of a trend, a movement where people are starting to embrace themselves for the way they are, and it is beautiful. For such a long time, we have been told to look a certain way, act a certain way, and to be a certain way, but finally, thanks to social media and some very influential people, things are changing. Learning to love yourself and embracing the way you are is a new and beautiful thing! There will always be people who tell you differently, but let me be one of the voices to combat that. I want to let you know that you are perfect just the way that you are. I do realize that it can be very difficult to get to that point of self-love when you have been told otherwise for your entire life. I am writing from experience with this. Here are some things I have been doing, and that you can do to increase your self-love.
Positive Affirmations
Have you heard of these? Positive affirmations are ways to positively speak in order to combat negative thoughts. I have had a really easy time with negative thoughts about myself, so changing the way I think about myself and the things that I say to myself has really helped me. Instead of saying “I haven’t lost the baby weight,” I say “My body is amazing. I was able to grow and give birth to 3 babies because of it.” I will admit, this is something I am still practicing. I am starting to notice more when I speak negatively about myself or my situation. When I notice this, I stop, and I turn the statement into a positive one. This is helping me a lot. I feel better equipped to handle the day. I am more confident in myself and my abilities in all of the roles and responsibilities that I have.
Routine
Now, I know that this is not always possible, especially if you have little children or babies in your home. I have found that having a flexible routine in the morning and at night before bedtime has helped me so much. I feel more prepared for the day when I am able to get in the routine I have set up for myself in the morning, and I go to bed easier and sleep deeper when I do my nighttime routine. I don’t have an elaborate routine where I need to spend 2 hours in the morning and another 2 hours at night, but I do have short routines where I can add more things that day if I have time. My morning routine is just for me to get ready for the day. That can look very different depending on what I have going on that day, if my kids slept through the night, and if I was able to wake up before my kids. It’s frustrating some days, but having a simple routine in place has really worked for me on those days I need to be flexible. The same thing goes for my nighttime routine.
Clothing
Hear me out. I feel much more confident and comfortable in my skin when I am wearing clothes that fit me properly, and I like. For a long time, I waited to get back into my “pre-pregnancy” size. I stored my clothes for over 2 years, hoping that I would be able to wear them soon. In the 2 years that I was storing them, I wore clothing that was too tight and uncomfortable, or sweatpants. Nothing fit me, but I refused to buy clothes in the size I was because I didn’t want to be that size. Plus, I was supposed to lose the baby weight according to all the . I was depressed, lacked confidence, and was overwhelmed when I needed to get dressed in the morning because I was not comfortable in any of my clothes. Well, I ended up giving in, and buying clothes that fit me. You know what, I am much happier in them. I don’t have to worry about being uncomfortable in my clothing, and it is great.
I have lots of other self-love tips, but these are the three I wanted to focus on for this post. I hope that this will help you in your journey of loving yourself.