LOVE.
A word that’s often misinterpreted because it can have so many connotations. Someone can say that they love something, someone or somewhere with many different meanings. We’ve become a society that declares their “love” for a person, a pair of shoes, a favorite food or even a social media post from a stranger.
This has unfortunately diluted it’s true meaning, making it easy to forget that it all must begin on a foundation of self-love.
So, what is self-love anyway and how do we know if we’ve achieved it?
Many of us believe that self-love is the ability to look at yourself in the mirror and fall in love with everything you see. This usually creates frustration and disappointment in ourselves for not being “perfect”.
What if you were to shift your mindset and change the language from self-love to self-kindness? What if simply being kind and compassionate with yourself was all you needed to do in order to move closer to a place of acceptance?
A simple way to practice this would be to create a filter question to ask yourself before you make a decision, take action on something or use words that may hurt someone else or yourself. One filter question you might choose is:
Will what I’m about to Decide/Do/Say feel kind or harmful.
You can use this question in almost all areas of your life, from career to finances to relationships and, when it comes to food and your body.
How many times have you grabbed something to eat knowing it will make you feel awful, but you do it anyway? This most likely led to negative self-talk such as “I have no willpower”, “I can’t stick to anything”, “What’s my problem?”. This is all the complete opposite of self-kindness and, self-love.
What if you were to stop yourself before you eat and ask your filter question: Is what I’m about to eat a kind or harmful choice?
This puts you in a place of empowerment. You get to choose how you will feel and even if your decision is a harmful one, you also get to decide how you will react to it: with toxic self-talk and criticism or with kindness and acceptance.
Your body is a temple and although it may sound cliche, there is a lot of power behind that concept. In a temple, or a place of worship, you wouldn’t bring in destructive people or substances. Instead, you would treat the space with respect and dignity, so that you can continue to use that space.
The same applies to your body and to yourself as a human being. By treating yourself with respect and kindness, you can come to a place where you genuinely do love yourself and all of your perfect imperfections.
Want to treat yourself with a little self-love indulgence? Try our WildFit Red Velvet Molten Fudge Cakes!