Loving Yourself More - Your Guide To Practicing Self Love
"You can not hate yourself into a version you love"
Wow. Even as a writer, I am constantly in awe at the power of words.
Those words appeared draped across the screen as I scrolled through social media; Not just once either. That's because as individuals we are waking up to the reality of those 13 truth soaked syllables,
"You can not hate yourself into a version you love."
You can however, LOVE yourself into a version you love. For that reason, Self Love hasn't just become a headline across the fronts of magazines but a lifestyle practice and movement that can help each of us develop the supportive relationships we need with ourselves in order to create and live the soul fulfilling lives of our dreams.
So What is Self Love?
Self love - Though claimed by marketers with imagery of spa days and shopping sprees - ( yes, self love can include those things) - those beautiful curated images do little to describe the empowering effect that practicing Self Love can have on our minds, bodies, and spirits.
So what Is Self Love?
Self Love is the prioritization of one's own health, well-being and happiness.
Self Love is a way of claiming back our personal power. It is a practice which teaches each of us how to recognize one's self as someone worthy of receiving our own kindness and compassion;
Someone worthy of our and patience, understanding and forgiveness.
Self Love helps you witness your own growth and to recognize your potential;
To invest in yourself.
We are absolutely entitled to seeing and treating ourselves that way.
Why Practice Self Love?
You see, where parts of our society has painted the prioritization of our own health, well-being and happiness as narcissistic, Reality has endorsed the need for Self Love and Self Care if we desire to reach our fullest personal potential and/or serve others at our greatest efficiency.
Have you ever heard the phrase, "One can not pour from an empty cup" ?
Well Self Love is the way to fill up that cup so that you can
Have the Energy (the Body)
Have the Mindset (the Mind)
And
Have the vibrational alignment (the Spirit)
To pour more magic into your life and empower you to create the life of your dreams.
5 techniques for practicing Self Love
While it seems that Self Love would be self explanatory, for some reason we find it much easier to love others than we do ourselves. So here are 5 techniques to begin practicing Self Love.
Identify Your Values
It is difficult for negative self thoughts to take root when we are connected to the foundation of being in the forms of morals and values.
What do you value? Take time to think it through, write those values out or say them aloud. Now know…YOU are valuable because you value those things - it is your role upon this Earth to embody them. Now whether you have embodied those qualities in the past is irrelevant to how you can live your life and embody them today. However, the first step is learning what those morals and values are in the first place.
Boundaries
Of course it is important to say No, but take it a step further and really lean into the energetic boundaries behind what you are saying. Those Values that you listed above? Set boundaries for yourself - to hold beliefs, thoughts, and to behave in ways which align with your values.
If you have dreams and desires that you wish to make part of your reality - set boundaries to resist beliefs, thoughts and behaviors that do not support the vision you have for yourself or your life.
Self Talk
Words are an inexhaustible form of magic (Shameless Harry Potter reference, I make no apologies) - that which we hear from others, that which we say to others and even ourselves can effect the way which we experience our realities.
Listen to your thoughts, the things that you say to yourself and look for negative structures. Each time you say "can't" follow that up with a WHY? At the end of that line of questioning, you will unearth a limiting belief. Once we find the root cause to those destructive thoughts, we can treat the symptom - the reality of what you are experiencing now. (Law of Cause and Effect)
Affirmations
We can consciously shift what we are experiencing though those avenues as well. One of the easiest rituals one can get into is affirmations.
Begin by replacing negative self talk with a constructive or loving affirmation.
Again the values above? Use them in your affirmations. I am confidence. I am honest. I am authentic. I am passion. I am courage.
On a side note, An issue that so many, including myself, face is the lack of love that we have for our physical bodies. As such a great way to promote more body positivity is to again re-frame the limiting beliefs surrounding our bodies with loving affirmations.
"I am beautiful in a way in which only I can be"
Feeling uncomfortable with a particular aspect of your body? Re-frame. For example when I am feeling self conscious about the crookedness in my smile, I say to myself, "I have shared this smile with every person I have ever loved" . I repeat it to myself until I am connecting with the emotions of that statement more than those negative feelings.
Make Self Love a Piece of your Spiritual Practice
Prioritize love in the Universe by starting with yourself. Incorporate YOU into your own practice.
Acknowledge your higher self in your workings and prayers, in honoring that being, you honor yourself.
Call upon Deities to work with you on a particular aspect of your self love journey - Aphrodite? May she bless all you to see the beauty in yourself and others. St. Veronica? May she help you to be more kind and compassionate towards yourself.
Add Self Love Prompts to your Journal or Book of Shadows
Some of the prompts I use in my own journal incorporate the Elements alongside Self Love to acknowledge and nourish the many aspects of myself. (Elemental Magic)
Earth (The body) - What am I doing because I Iove my body? This may be exercising, eating a nutritious diet, drinking more water… or it may look like a skin care routine or prioritizing sleep.
Air (The Mind) - What am I doing because I love my mind? This can be anything to enrich my knowledge base, that expands my understanding of the world or steps for cultivating mental wellness such as meditation or visualization.
Water (The Heart) - What am I doing because I love my heart?
Fire (The Soul) - What am I doing because I love my soul? No surprise, but this one is my favorite. For me, and it very well different for you, what I am doing to enrich my soul is drinking a fancy coffee, eating delicious meals, being artistically expressive - just creating to create, it’s listening to music, it's travel..
What am I doing because I love Spirit? What am I doing to cultivate my relationship with divinity? Whether you view that as a higher version of yourself, an individual entity, a secular energy? This could be prayer, trance, tapping into your intuition through tarot and pendulum work and religious ritual.
Align your vibrations to include Self Love as a part of your aura through correspondences by incorporating them into your practice.
Self Love Correspondences
Elements: Water - Element of Love and Intuition; shells, pearls, sand.
Color: Pink, White, Pastel Purple
Stones: Rose Quartz, Rhodonite, Aquamarine and Himalayan Pink Salt
Herbs: Pink and White Rose. Carnation, Pansies, Lilac, Lavender, Chamomile, Strawberry and Phlox
Flavors and Scents: Vanilla, Chocolate, Honey, and Sugar
Remember, "You can not hate yourself into a version you love."
You can however, LOVE yourself into a version you love.
Begin to LIVE MORE MAGIC by Loving Yourself More; Practice Self Love
To claim your personal power.
To recognize yourself as someone worthy of receiving you own kindness and compassion; Someone worthy of you patience, understanding and forgiveness.
To guide your awareness to your own growth and to recognize your potential; To invest in yourself.
To develop the supportive relationships you need with yourself in order to create and live the soul fulfilling lives of our dreams.
If you just choose one or two of these steps, those efforts will become part of your life. You are setting the intention, taking the actions, and thus it literally CREATES it within your reality in both a practical and magical manner. (And of course, that’s what Earthstars is all about - Practical + Magical Inspirations for Life)
So do it - Love Yourself - and experience how creating that supportive relationship with yourself, allows you to pour more magic into your life and can empower you to create the life of your dreams.
Is Self Love part of your practice? Help our community find their own practice by sharing your own techniques in the comment section below!
Or send me a DM over on Instagram to have your favorite tips shared in our newsletters and upcoming segments!
Truly, wishing you ALL the Loving Vibes!
Until Next Time,
Much Love and Blessed Casting,
Randi Ruby
Welcome to The Universal Laws - Part 1! In this section we will explore the history of the Universal Laws as well as exploring the 3 Immutable laws - Mentalism, Correspondence, and Vibration. Learn to master your magic and create your reality by harnessing the power of these ancient principles.