Love You!

Your greatest work is to love yourself

Loving yourself isn’t an easy task. Sitting with yourself without being pulled away from you and into other people’s business can be quite challenging and the most rewarding work you’ll ever do.

Loving the self requires an inward journey. It demands that you get to really know yourself. What brings you to joy and what takes you down toward depression. It requires patience, practice, and knowledge. When you don’t feel worthy — It may take extreme measures to get you to face yourself in love.

Fortunately, I’ve witnessed many crises that have forced people to take a self-love journey. And I’ve seen so many people come out on the other side holding the gifts of self-love — peace and joy. I’ve concluded that Improving your self-love life no matter what brings you to face yourself is so worth it.

My self-love story

I’ve always been a caretaker. I was trained to take care of my bipolar mother at a very young age. My role in the family was to stay home with mom, be her companion and help her. If I must say so — I was really good at my role.

I was so good at taking care of my mentally challenged mother that I took that skill into adulthood and took care of those I was closest to — my intimate partners. Unconsciously choosing partners because they had similar characteristics as my mother — bipolar and unstable. I chose the same type of partners over and over again until I hit bottom and reached my edge. I was so depleted from living my life focused on needy people that I let go.

Let go

Yes, just like that — snap– I released my grip on focusing first on my needy partner, friends, and family members. I found myself spinning in the unknown. I was in completely uncharted territory. It looked and felt like I was having a breakdown. When asked what was happening to me I answered — I don’t know.

The only thing I knew to do was get on my mat. First thing every morning. I would move, breathe, open, close, be still and flow. Slowly, slowly something shifted and I began to know. At first, it was little glimpses of — Oh, I like that, but I don’t like this. Those little flashes grew into definitely yes to that and no way to this. Which grew into heck yay to this and heck no to that!

I grew to know myself really, really well. To know what I wanted without outside input and to choose what I wanted despite what others thought or how they reacted to it. To think of me first.

It slowly dawned on me — this was love — loving myself. I have to say because I’m in relationship with myself in a loving way — I’m able to love others just as they are without taking care of them. Everyone around me has changed because of the love I have for myself. All my relationships have improved.

Improve your self-love life

To fall in love with you is so, so worth it!

#1. Spend time with yourself every morning. Get on your mat, roll balls, breathe and move to feel you. To get to know all of you. Learn what that pain wants you to pay attention to, why that ache continues, what keeps you stuck and what frees you up.

#2. Once you know yourself a bit — It’s time for you to set down anything and everything that doesn’t work for you. The foods that don’t support your health, the drinks that poison you. the drugs that hurt you, the behaviors that cause you pain, and the people that make you feel small.

#3. Ask yourself before you make a choice or decision  — Does this thing really work for me? Will it bring me up to joy or down to depression? If the answer is– yes this works for me and it will bring me joy — Do it! Now, if the answer is this doesn’t work for me and it will bring me toward depression — Don’t do it.

It’s that simple

You’ll love this week’s Ageless Movement Practice it will guide you to love on yourself, help you let go of what doesn’t work for you and kick start you into choosing what brings you joy. Soon — You’ll bask in the love you have for yourself and have that love to share with others.

What stops you from improving your self-love life? Let us know in the comments section below.