Self-Love <3

“How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you” - Rupi Kaur

Self-love is very important all year round and here are some ways for you to grow and improve yourself, for yourself.

Positive affirmations (our inner critic is the meanest person we know) – Positive affirmations help us overcome self-sabotage and negative thoughts. Repetition is key, but for them to truly work, you need to believe them. Positive affirmations vary for everyone and in different situations, so you need to make your own based on what you feel you need to grow on or change in your life. Some examples of positive affirmations are: “I am confident!” “I can, and I will.” “I will not compare myself to others, I am beautiful the way I am.”

Get moving in a way that makes you happy – moving for just 5 minutes a day can make you sleep better and have more energy throughout the day. You can workout, go for a walk, learn a dance, do whatever makes you happy!

Surround yourself with positive people – The people closest to you should make you feel wanted and feel like you are the best person that you can be every day – no exceptions. You should put yourself first, and talk to others if there is a problem.

Celebrate your wins - Big or small, they are all important. A win can be getting up in the morning, completing your to-do list, finishing difficult work or winning a competition. Anything that brings you relief and happiness deserves to be treated as a win, because it one!

Beauty isn't defined – Social media is very influential, but not always in a good way. It creates and expresses society’s unrealistic expectations for bodies and lifestyles, but it rarely shows the truth. The people you normally see on Instagram aren’t the definition of beauty, and you shouldn’t expect to look like them. Everyone is different, and beautiful. A social media detox is never a bad idea, especially if you aren’t feeling very confident. You can clear out who you follow; such as unfollowing those unrealistic influencers that make you feel self-conscious, and follow people who bring pure joy and show their real, natural body, such as rolls. For some people, just leaving social media completely can make their minds a lot clearer and this means you can focus on yourself.

Take time off – Like the 5 minutes of movement a day, you also need to take a break every day. Clearing your mind and destressing is very important, and some days you might need to do it more than once. In this break, do something that makes you happy, somethings relaxing. That could be a break to watch Netflix or to do something creative or even some meditation or yoga.

Do what you love – who cares if someone else thinks what you do in your spare time is weird, as long as it makes you happy and helps you, then it doesn’t matter. Society has set “rules” and ages at which you can do things, but who really cares what you do, as long as you don’t harm anyone!