Self-love Begins with Our Inner Thoughts and Manifests Outward
Healthy Living Blog
by Rachelle Tetreault, DAOM, L,Ac
Self-love is something we all could use more of and if done correctly will manifest in also loving others equally as well. Inner conversations we have with ourselves and reflections on our life journey should reveal our strengths, our resilience, and our self-love. This is done by owning our mistakes as learned experiences, honoring our individual struggles or shortcomings, and putting light on our accomplishments whether big or small. Finally, perhaps one of the most important factors in self-love and respect is the ability to be patient with ourselves in our growth and healing. This will eventually manifest in allowing others the same.
In Eastern medicine, our inner thoughts and constant rumination, are known to directly affect our heart and mind. If negative, these can eventually lead to many issues like anxiety, depression, insomnia, palpitations, and much more.
To begin on the journey to self-love, be conscientious of negative inner conversations with yourself. Make sure you are not telling yourself that you are not good enough but rather say you are more than enough and it takes time to master any task worth doing. If you lack the resources to perform well, you find a way and find new resources. If you dread the day ahead, assure yourself that this could very well be the most amazing day of your life. Lastly, speak healthy affirmations to yourself of health, strength, and beauty (both inner and outer).
To give good self-care, here are some good tips to help implement this in to a daily practice. Start with a self-gratitude list. These should include accomplishments both small and big manifesting good energy throughout your body and mind. Proper sleep and healthy eating should be major priorities to ensure you have good sustainable energy and rest for the day. Set time aside for what you truly love, whatever it is, make it a priority to enjoy life. Write out a list of goals for yourself that is true to who you are and the direction you want to see your life go in. Organize a special place designated for yourself and rearrange the furniture and décor to represent who you are. Having a sacred place with soy candles or pure essential oil, plants, pictures, and etc. helps restore all your senses and allows you the special space to do so. Honor yourself and always remember to honor those family and friends who still exist in your life .
It is recommended to also include daily breathing exercises of 4-7-8 (4 seconds of inhalation-7 hold-8 seconds for exhaling) to help clear the mind and reset daily. We very easily get caught up in old habits of thoughts, worries, negative self-talk and negative behaviors. This simple breathing exercise acts as a reset to help redirect our breath and mind. Also, be conscious of what media, talk, noise, negativity you are exposed to on a daily basis and provide yourself a healthy alternative to all these. Favorite music, healthy pod casts, time with positive minded mentors and friends, and healthy journals and books are all better choices. Don’t forget the power of connecting to nature which helps transform our mental negative energy into positivity.
Meditation is not only a powerful long-term strategy for changing brain function but it can also help restructure the mind in many ways. Many of our thoughts and behaviors started early in life and may have become a part of who we think we are. However, these can be replaced with a healthier way of thinking and manifesting into a beautiful way of loving ourselves by proper self-care. This starts with our inner thoughts and our daily self conversations.
Practicing forgiveness is needed for self-care. Holding on to anger and resentment only affects us in a negative way. Social connections and helping others help put everything as a whole into perspective rather than just focusing on our own problems and concerns. We are not are circumstances and must stay separate from becoming our problems. We all have struggles and they come and go as we proceed with life. Self-care is shown when we display empathy for others and support those around us and allow them to also support us. We all have struggles and hardships and need to be willing to both give and receive help when needed.
Self-love is also the food we eat like choosing unprocessed nutrient-dense foods to help fortify our body to be the best it can be. Choosing the right foods and having the right mind set both decrease the inflammatory cytokine markers in our body which thereby reduce disease and stress. Moderate exercise, whether walking, tai chi, dance, or sports regularly keep our minds and body in tune as well. Also, keeping connected to those friendships that nourish us and provide us with positive energy are a form of self-love.
Self-love starts from within and spreads to others. Acupuncture is a great way to help balance the mind and body and reset. It is often used to help nourish and restore both the mind and body. To help find balance in your life, call today to start your journey to optimal health and healing! 772-353-1397
