Cultivate your mind and heart to that depth
That it can give you everything
A warm body can.~Hafiz
Losing weight and improving your health begins with loving yourself inside and out. Each of our thoughts informs our energy, and our energy transforms into our experiences. In this article, Dr. Lara shares a four-step roadmap along with tips to help you practice self love and raise your self esteem.
4 Steps to Practice Self Love to Raise Your Self Esteem & Transform Your Life
1. Accept Your Past
Love Your Journey
None of us has the power to go back and change our past. But we all have the power to chose what stories we tell ourselves about it, and whether those stories are empowering or disempowering. Choose to write yourself the most empowering story possible about your journey so far. Love yourself the way that you are. Appreciate what brought you to this moment, even the hard parts. Release the negative emotions that have been weighing you down and holding you back, so that you can move on and claim the bright future that is waiting for you.
None of us has the power to go back and change our past. But we all have the power to chose what stories we tell ourselves about it.
2. Cherish Your Present
Develop Self Care
It takes time and patience to achieve visible results in any worthwhile pursuit, including weight loss. Your body needs time to adjust and rebalance, and your mind needs time to develop new thoughts and habits.
But, you get to give yourself a gift to start enjoying right now in this moment. That gift is self care.
While you’re waiting to see the results you ultimately want on the outside, use this time to develop your self care practice. Self care will give you things to look forward to and enjoy each day, while providing the practices that will ultimately sustain your long-term health and wellness.
Practice Self Love Through Self Care
- Focus on nutrition first. Nutrition is the foundation of a healthy lifestyle. Choose whole, organic foods. Optimize your nutrition with high-quality supplements. Learn to cook new healthy recipes that you love.
- Stay hydrated.
- Make time for daily movement. It doesn’t need to be strenuous. Even gentle movement does wonders when performed with consistency and attention.
- Enjoy the benefits of nature. Spending time outdoors will help you connect to the natural rhythms and harmonies of life. Fresh air, sunlight, saltwater, and forest terpenes are free gifts from mother nature that restore our spirits.
- Identify stress triggers and develop simple cues to overcome them.
- Create a calm, clutter-free, and quiet environment for yourself at home. Enjoy soothing music and miracle tones.
- Take a hot shower. Treat yourself to a massage. Practice yoga. Meditate.
- Rest.
It may feel indulgent to take time out for self care and rest when there is so much work to be done. If this sounds familiar, reframe the situation and remind yourself that self care and rest are not escapes from your work, they’re vital parts of it. If you don’t take care of yourself now, ultimately you won’t be able to be there for your family, your job, or your community.
Self care and rest aren’t escapes from your work, they’re vital parts of it.
3. Claim Your Future
Visualize, Believe, Actualize
From a place of accepting and loving your past journey, and cherishing your present reality, you can begin to clearly envision and claim the future you ultimately want for yourself.
- Visualize - Picture the future you want for yourself, in as much vivid technicolor detail as possible. Many people find it helpful to make a personal vision board.
- Believe - As the picture you want for your future becomes clear, the next step is to believe you can achieve it. Develop positive affirmations. Chose to surround yourself with people who support and encourage you on the way to your goals.
- Actualize - When you can picture the future you want, and believe you can achieve it, you’re 90% of the way there. YOU alone have the power to manifest your own destiny. Now is the time.
When you can picture the future you want, and believe you can achieve it, you’re 90% of the way there.
4. Practice kindness
It all comes back around, full circle, to kindness. Loving and being kind to others is a natural side effect of learning to love and be kind to ourselves. As you transform your own life, stay in-tune with the lives around you and look for ways to repay the gifts you’ve been given, and keep the positive cycle going!
Remember, weight loss and wellness is a journey, not a destination. You can only reach your goal so quickly. But you can enjoy each step, staring with your next. If your next steps include losing weight, I encourage you to learn more about our 12-Week Weight Loss Awakening, and schedule your weight loss consultation.