5 STEPS TO LOVE YOURSELF MORE

Follow these 5 steps to love yourself more and improve the relationship with your inner-being.

Going to Shibu Onsen in Japan and Perfection. A broken vessel glued back together and marks in your body and face. What do they have in common? Well, by following Ayurveda and paying close attention to a Japanese tradition, I’ve learned to love myself and accept honestly all my flaws. This post is for you my friend if you feel your self-esteem is lower than normal! I wanna share with you my best 5 steps to love yourself more and get glowing with true inner acceptance again.

On my most recent visit to Japan, I discovered two things. One, I love me some Soba Noodles ( I will soon share an amazing recipe with you!), and two, how far we are in the West from understanding the real concept of beauty.

UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

You see, women have, for the most part throughout our history, been held responsible for looking and being perfect. Yes, perfect skin, hair, nails, children, relationships with our lovers, and on top of that we are told we should also build successful careers! When do we get the time to do all that? Why is it even important to who we are as a person? Why do we feel bad for our own beautiful and perfect imperfections? Sadly, however, we tend to be pretty disappointed of ourselves when we don’t reach those impossible expectations. And this is when my 5 Steps to love yourself more come in handy. You don’t have to reach those unrealistic hopes.

And I am saying this because we women are more and more trying to reach the “perfect” look”.  Fake eyelashes and nails. Fake relationships that look good in a picture that we post so we receive some likes in Instagram. Botox. Filters. When did we become slaves of all that crap?

I have decided to stop myself from caring about what other people think of me. I have decided that my opinion of me is what I care about. I’m being honest with you when I tell you that in following these 5 Steps to love yourself more, I have found peace and balance.

And coming to this conclusion was partly because of a beautiful Japanese tradition I was told in Shibu Onsen: Kintsugi

KINTSUGI

Kintsugi is a practice that started in Japan centuries ago by artisans, which basically says that when something gets broken, instead of replacing it with something new, the fractures are delightfully repaired with gold, silver, or platinum lacquer or urushi. The result? Well, by embracing the flaws and imperfections of the object, you have created an exquisite and “one and only” item. Which is basically what you will do to yourself by being more compassionate and following my 5 Steps to love yourself more.

Pretty different from what we normally do when something gets broken, ha? Even with our relationships.

This is an inspirational message that shouldn’t be ignored and that may take us from the darkness of hating our bodies to the light of embracing all about ourselves. Stretch marks and acne scars included. Cellulite and moles. All included

According to Kintsugi philosophy,  those marks or flaws are not imperfections, but a wonderful sign of resilience. They tell a story that evoke the battles we have fought and survived. They make us who we are. So no stretching marks, acne scars, wrinkles, or other blemishes should be considered ugly

APPLYING KINTSUGI AND AYURVEDA FOR SELF-LOVE

Accepting yourself is doable. Just follow these 5 steps to love yourself more and break the harmful patterns you’ve been following. Let’s just dust those marks and scars with the gold of our self-love, compassion, and respect towards ourselves and cover them with our patience and kindness. We can make them beautiful by just accepting they are there.

I wanna share with you some techniques I do to increase my own positive body image. I have struggled with it a lot in the past and whenever I feel like not giving myself the love I deserve, I turn to one or all of these 5 tips to love myself more

1. Stop comparing yourself with others

Ayurveda is huge on self-awareness. See, everyone looks happy and successful in social media. But that is not the point. Comparing yourself with others may put you in a spot where you feel inferior, which you are not, and start a self-negative talk. Do yourself a favor, and don’t spend so many hours a day scrolling down the feed of “perfect bodies” in Instagram. You deserve better! This brings me to my second point. I recommend you read this book by one of my favorite authors of all time.

2. Focus on your thing!

Instead of comparing yourself with others go and do something that makes YOU a better person. Like, do a face mask, prepare a healthy dinner, take a nice bath after work, talk to that friend that always makes you laugh, use that perfume that is all dusty waiting to be sprayed for the “special occasion”. You know, life is so short … go and enjoy it! Don’t postpone it anymore!

3. Meditate

The benefits of meditating are unbelievable! Basically, it starts that connection between you and your “inner being”. That is priceless and something that will make you feel genuinely your worth and value. It is also that “me time” when you get to focus only on YOU. Plus it rejuvenates you! Meditation also will help you control your “prana” or energy more efficiently. I mean, not loving ourselves is not the wisest way to spend it, right? Try my Easiest Breathing Techniques to take your meditation to the next level!

4. Don’t disguise your “imperfections”

Show to the world the real you. Don’t be afraid to not use makeup or to rock that bikini! Show those acne scars and stretch marks proudly. They reveal your story. Isn’t that wonderful? I know my own change is to leave fake nails. And if they break, so what?

5. Do daily Mantras

Put some positive mantra sticky notes on your bathroom mirror. Repeat. Them. Every. Day. as soon as you get up. Look deeply at your own eyes and say them like you mean it. Start falling in love with you! These are some of the mantras I use: “I love myself” and “My body looks beautiful,, healthy and young today”“I love my body” and “Today, my body looks beautiful, healthy and young”.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Self acceptance and self-love are at the core of living a happy and healthy life,  and if you’ve struggled with it for a long time just be patient. Change will come. Just start, right where you are, to take care of and love your body. Be proud of it. Follow these 5 Steps to love yourself more and see how your life changes.

You don’t have to be perfect!

Just YOU!!

I wanna know more about you! Tell me how you feel after doing my 5 Steps to love yourself more in the comment section below.