“Self love is an ocean and your heart is a vessel. Make it full, and any excess will spill over into the lives of the people you hold dear. But you must come first.”
B. Taplin
Self-care is a concept that has many aspects to it and is a topic that I will continually discuss and try to shine a light on. This is a concept that is unfortunately foreign to many people - this was definitely the case for me for many years but as soon as I started to take care of myself both mentally and physically, my life began to change for the better.
For women it is especially hard to remember to take time for ourselves and that we too deserve just as much, if not more, attention and care that we give out to other people. It is generally ingrained in us from a very young age that we come second and this negative belief system then affects the way we live and treat ourselves for the rest of our lives.
If this is the case for you let me be the first person to tell you that that is WRONG.
You are the most important person in your life.
You are the first person you need love and take care of .
You deserve your time and attention.
The moment you start to believe and understand this, your entire life will begin to change and you will gain access to the incredible feminine power that is already within you, waiting for you to grab hold of it.
Self-care and Self-love go hand in hand and my hope is that through multiple posts on this blog I will be able to shed some light on what each entails and how you can start to include them into your daily lives.
There is a lot of misconceptions about what self-care is and what it means to take care of yourself both mentally and physically. Firstly lets take a moment to acknowledge the fact that taking time to care for and love yourself is by no means a selfish act and if anyone tries to make you feel that way please think about spending a little less time with that person. Self care should be an important part of everyone's lives, men and women, and we all need to support each other on this in order for each of us to live our best lives individually and as a collective.
Another misconception is what taking care of yourself actually looks like and entails. The media has a way of portraying self-care as something that requires beauty tools to be bought and spa treatments or tropical retreats to attend- and while yes these things can definitely be a part of your self-care journey, it is by no means the only way. Self care has many different paths you can take and be on and so its important to find and do what works for you and to choose the things that will bring you lasting love and inner peace.
Self care should first start from within. It starts by acknowledging your worthiness of your love, acknowledging your inner power and ability to change and acknowledging your strength to let go of anything and anyone that is holding you back and bringing you down. Once you start there it then requires practices and mind behavior changes to help sustain these changes and your new belief system. The practices you choose is completely up to you.
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We have all heard of the saying “your body is your temple” and as corny as it may sound to some people, this really is the case. Our bodies are the shells that give our souls a home and space to explore and learn from in this physical world. Because of this we should treat our bodies with the utmost care, respect and unconditional love. Taking care of our bodies therefore is an important part of self-care and self-love.
There are many ways that we can take care of our bodies, and again this is not always done in the same way for everyone. Body rituals are practices that involve showing love and care to your physical form and should be something you try to include into your daily life.
Body image is something a lot of people, and especially women, battle with and this comes from a lot of the unrealistic and harsh expectations put onto us through social media, magazines and movies. We feel a pressure to live up to what the mainstream media decides is “beautiful” and if we feel like we don't meet those expectations then we immediately feel less or that the person we are is not good enough. Taking care of your body does not mean extreme diets, intense workouts or being a certain weight. It involves loving yourself the way you are right now, nurturing yourself to ensure optimal health for a long and happy life and being grateful for every part of your body and what it does.
My body rituals routine is constantly changing and evolving- I like to change it up every now and then and enjoy trying out new things. When starting out I recommend picking just a few new routines to implement- change and new habits are made over time and in order for these changes to last it's important not to overwhelm yourself with too much at one time. Try making 3 changes or adding 3 new body rituals to your routine to start and then add to them as you go along.
Some of my current favourite body rituals are :
Meditation
Yoga
Dry brushing
Abhyanga (ayurvedic self massage)
Face masks
Ill be discussing each of these body rituals more deeply in other posts because each ritual is extremely useful and beneficial and so deserves a lot of time and explanation.
Again, please remember that self-care does not look the same for everyone and what I do is in no way what everyone should do. Take some time to research and explore different body rituals and self-care practices and do what feels right for you and what will bring the most value into your life.
This post is the first of many on the topics of self-care and self-love. These are topics and ways of life I am very passionate about and feel called to a shine light on. Women are incredibly powerful beings and gone are the days where we no longer stand firm in this power. My hope is that this post and the others to follow will inspire you to start your journey of self-love , to start living in your feminine power and to start embodying the strong woman you already are. May we all have the grace to love ourselves a little more today and everyday.
“This is the beginning of loving yourself. Welcome home.”
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