Happy Valentines’ Day! It is a day full of love that is spent with your loved ones, from family to friends. But that is not all, as you should also show some love for yourself. In fact, that is the most important love of all, as loving yourself gives you strength and power to love the people that surrounds you.
Here are ways to love yourself this month:
Day 1: Empower Yourself
Words have a powerful effect on us. Which is why you should take advantage of its effects by raising your hands up in the air and repeating โI am powerfulโ. Doing this will change your state of mind, therefore changing the ups and downs of how you will face the day.
Day 2: Meditate at Work
Things can be hectic at work, rendering you exhausted mentally. Which is why you should give yourself some rest by meditating specifically for 2-5 minutes during your work hours. Meditating has the effect of calming your mind and taking out the stress of a busy work day.
Day 3: Practice Self-Compassion
For self-compassion, speak kindly to yourself. There are times in the day where negative self-talk occurs and you wonโt be able to stop yourself from the negativity that has clouded your mind. Take a moment and speaking kinder words to yourself will reduce the impact of the negative self-talk, and you will start feeling better about your day.
Day 4: Clean up your Bedroom
Your bedroom should be considered to be yourย sanctuary, a place where you can relax and unwind after a long day of stress. For that reason, cleaning up your bedroom, decluttering or reorganizing your room will go a long way to fix your mood.
Day 5: Journaling is the way to go
Having a journal will undoubtedly create changes on how you view yourself. Increase your self-confidence by writing positive things about yourself. For instance, you can list down what are your talents and capabilities, what you love about yourself and so on.
Day 6: Love yourselfโฆjust as you are
Try looking in the mirror. Sometimes, negative thoughts pop up immediately to comment on your appearance or anything about you. To be happy, you need to accept yourself entirely from your appearance, personality traits and so on. So try it again, and this time give yourself 5 compliments.ย Doing this will give you self-confidence and make you accept yourself just as you are.
Day 7: Do things that make you happy
For a dose of self-love, do the things that make you happy on this day. You can start by listing down 5 things that make you happy. Make a choice between dancing, watching your favorite movies or going shopping!
Day 8: Be self-aware of your state of mind
For self-awareness, place your hand on your heart and ask yourself how you are doing. Give yourself a pause to think about it, then ask yourself, โwhat do you need?โ. This is the surest way to clear your head for whatever you are facing.
Day 9: Indulge
Love cookies? Then bake it by the batch and indulge in your favorite food. Use mindful eating techniques as you enjoy and savor each bite. This allows you to eat more purposefully and enjoy your food more, rather than eat in a rush.
Day 10: Writing Positive Affirmations
Other than journaling, writing positive affirmations can also help with your state of mind. Let your mind become more positive by writing 3-5 positive affirmations on sticky notes. Then, stick it somewhere you can see it on the daily.
Day 11: Enjoy the peace and tranquility of silence
Self-love does not only mean doing things continuously to make yourself happy and your mind at peace. Another tip is to give yourself some rest, learn to enjoy the still, the peace and silence! This can be especially hard to do in this busy world where there are always things to do and tasks calling for your attention.
Day 12: Send Yourself A Love Letter
A love letter is one of the ultimate expressions of love. A person can pour their heart out and the receiver will receive the love of the sender themselves. This time, why not write a love letter to yourself? Show your mind some self-love by writing yourself a love letter and pour your heart out.
Day 13: Count your blessings
When you are feeling down, one of the ways to change up your mood is to count your blessings. It can be the simple things like eating your favorite food or even having a good circle of friends. Grab your journal and make a list of 10 things youโre grateful for.
Day 14: Create a Vision Board for Self-Love
A vision board is meant to represent what you want in your life-that could mean anything from life, career to even love. Creating a vision board for self-love would remind you that youโre worthy of love from yourself and that self-love is available to you at any time of the year.
Day 15: Take a 30-minute walk
Give yourself some self-love by taking care of your body. One of the things you can do is to take a 30-minute walk in nature. Exercising can do a multitude of things to your body such as help maintain overall body health as well as help improve your mental health and mood.
Day 16: Enjoy a Relaxing Bubble Bath
Take a long relaxing bubble bath. A bubble bath may seem like a clichรฉ for self-love, but its benefits cannot be denied. It has the ability to relax both the muscle and the mind, which helps control and regulate your mood.
Day 17: Try Yoga or an empowering workout
Yoga doesnโt only increase flexibility and improve muscle strength or tone, but it can also empower your mind. Similar to meditation that can promote emotional health, yoga is an exercise that can create changes both to the mind and body. Alternatively, you can join an empowering workout that can energize your body and mind at the same time.
Day 18: Cook a Healthy Home-Cooked Meal.
Nourish your body with a healthy home cooked meal. Health and vitality does not only depend on the exercise we do, but it also depends on the type of โfuelโ you provide for yourself. A healthy, home cooked meal makes sure that your body will get the right amount of vitamin and minerals for all its workout sessions.
Day 19: Listen to upbeat music
Music, as underrated as it may be, has the ability to change moods and atmospheres. Which is why listening to your favorite music can immediately change the flow of your day. Otherwise, you can also listen to a song or album that contains happy memories from the past.
Day 20: Unplug for the whole day
In this busy world, unplugging for the whole day may seem like an impossible thing to do. But once you do it, we guarantee you will feel an absolute sense of freedom.
Day 21: Get yourself some flowers
A bouquet of flowers are generally given to someone for a special occasion. Donโt wait for that special occasion, and instead buy one for yourself. Put it in your desk or at the dinner table to brighten your day. This is a great way of showing self-love for yourself.
Day 22: Create A Good Habit
Good habits, like any habit, cannot be acquired easily. It needs effort and consistency for habits to finally stick to our memories. You can start small, by setting achievable small goals every day for the next two weeks. After successfully achieving that, you can then create more goals that are also much more difficult.
Day 23: Forgive yourself
Everyone has regrets that they wished they could fix. But the past is what it is, and nothing can fix it. At the end, you will have to forgive yourself for the regret you had rather than hanging on. Let it go and you will find the weight of your shoulders disappear.
Day 24: Give more to get more
Science has proven that giving more does indeed mean getting more. Whenever you give, people experience bodily changes such as decreased amount of cortisol (stress hormone). Some things that you can do include visiting an orphanage or volunteering for the red cross.
Day 25: Pamper yourself
Pampering yourself is a part of self-love. You will certainly feel better if you do the things that brings forward your self-confidence. So put on that dress, apply some makeup, do your hair-anything that will give you a confidence boost!
Day 26: Make a list of your accomplishments
Journaling does not only mean revealing the most intimate and vulnerable parts of your life, but it can also be used to motivate you. Show yourself some self-love by writing down your list of accomplishments. You will feel happier as your self-esteem rises.
Day 27: Plan your dream vacation
Taking a vacation is one of the most effective way to reduce stress and create happiness for yourself. Whether it is solo, with friends or with family, planning your dream vacation can be a source of happiness in which the memories will last a lifetime.
Day 28: Clean out your closet
Cleaning out your closet can seem like a tedious task, but the feeling of freedom and accomplishment will follow soon after you are done. More so is the case if cleaning out your closet is something that you have been putting off after a long time.
Day 29: Try New Hobbies
Never had the time to do your hobbies? This is the perfect time to do so! Set aside some time in your busy schedule to do the things you love. You can try painting, playing a musical instrument or learning a new language to satisfy your curiosity.
Day 30: Celebrate!
You have done well to go through with this challenge. You deserve a pat in the back for your dedication and consistency for following through for a whole month. Celebrate it and treat yourself!
