What is self love?

“Self-love is a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from actions that support our physical, psychological and spiritual growth.”

Self love does not mean that you are self absorbed and only care about yourself. It is simply appreciating yourself as a person and respecting your individuality.

I have been practising what I preach for a while now; I was determined to find self love after realising that I relied on other people too much for reassurance and acceptance.

Self love is simply becoming mindful. You understand what you want and need as a person and acknowledge what you want from yourself, rather than what other people want from you.

You learn to focus more on what you NEED than what you WANT. You learn the difference between healthy habits and desires, and more what benefits you.

Self love is about excepting when you can’t complete every task you intended to do. It’s key to set boundaries: if you can’t go to the gym that day even though you told yourself you have to, forgive yourself, and understand that it’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up about things.

Finally, self love is about forgiving yourself. If a small child made a mistake, you wouldn’t shout and tell them horrible things, you would comfort them. You should have the same approach with yourself. You are human, can’t always do things 100% correctly, and it’s perfectly normal and acceptable. You don’t have to punish yourself; learn from your past to create a better future.