Prioritizing Self-Love

How do you show yourself love? Is it speaking positive words of affirmations to yourself? Maybe taking small steps to break habits that no longer serve your highest good? Could it simply be getting out the bed in the morning and drinking a glass of water or painting your toes while watching reruns of your favorite TV Show after a long day at work?

As women, making ourselves a priority again can be the biggest step of self-care and self-love that we can ever partake in. We are natural healers, nurturers and emotional laborers and sometimes we easily give away our gifts to others and hesitate to give ourselves the same treatment. I recently found myself in a relationship that was emotionally, physically and spiritually draining. Like many of you reading this, I am a healer of self and find joy in assisting others in their healing journey. Since spirit loves to send us exactly what we need to learn to love and grow, I attract people who A. are inspired by my gifts (whether consciously or subconsciously) and B. who push and test my boundaries (oh boundaries, we will discuss you in another post). Anyways I found myself in a relationship –that I didn’t really want but kind of spiralled into one before my eyes..it all happened so fast — with someone who took all they could out of me with no intention of returning it. I held space for them to heal, to be nurtured and to express emotions that the world would have shamed him for. Lumps grew in my breast as a physical result of over mothering and nurturing someone who didn’t have the common courtesy to treat me with dignity and respect; not because I was his lover but because I am a person who should be afforded these things anyways. Blockages were showing up in my relationship with my family, finances and ultimately with myself as a result of this relationship.

When it’s time for me to make a change in my life I personally find words of affirmations a great place to start. Everyday I repeated an affirmation from the book “I can heal my Life” by Louise Hays: “I am Important. I count. I now care for and nourish myself with love and with joy. I allow others the freedom to be who they are. We are all safe and free!” Ladies I kid you not the lumps literally disappeared as I spoke these words into my life and I felt more empowered and reassured to let go of that toxic relationship by any means necessary. Now that I am free from the relationship (which wasn’t easy and I give thanks to my Tribe for the continuous love, support and accountability), making myself a priority has looked like styling my hair, making myself dinner and eating on the porch, morning affirmations and reiki, and Youtube belly dancing workouts.