7 Powerful Shifts: Love Yourself & Live Happier
When was the last time you looked in a mirror, smiled, and said I love you?
Your stomach may be twisting in knots at the idea.
But the truth is, this should feel totally natural.
Imagine that, since birth, you’ve had an invisible mirror in front of you. It reflects how you see yourself and the world.
At first the image is shiny, flawless. Little you looked at it with curiosity, wonder, and delight. Loving yourself was not only an easy, but innate quality.
Then life happens. With every negative comment, every mistake, every comparison between you and other people, the glass is smudged. How grimy has your mirror become?
The good news: those stains don’t have to be permanent.
I’ve laid out seven meaningful shifts that will enable you to live in alignment with self-love.
So grab your cleaning supplies, and let’s get to work.
Your World as a Mirror: What is it Reflecting?
When looking through the mirror of your life, what do you see? What people and situations are you attracting? It’s time to notice the patterns.
Loving yourself involves observing your outer world – relationships, career, physical health, living space, everything. Each aspect contains clues for how to better care for yourself.
Notice your personal space, for example. If it’s cluttered or messy, ask yourself: is your mental plate too full, or holding on to things it’s time to release?
2. Affirm After Me
You say or do something you feel embarrassed about. You ask what is wrong with you, why you’re so stupid, over and over. Sound familiar?
Words hold incredible power. So why are you bullying yourself? You can override years of habitually negative self-talk with positive affirmations. Start with “I am,” and redirect.
I’m stupid becomes I’m human. Listen to YouTube videos. Fill a notebook page a day. Consistently repeat positive phrases; they’ll inevitably replace outdated inner dialogue.
3. Match Your Body’s Energy
Your body loves you. Don’t believe me? Let’s recall the many all-nighters, the fried foods – pick your vice. Despite that, your body constantly works at staying healthy. Is the effort one-sided?
Loving yourself includes your body. Time to accept, appreciate, and – even more challenging – take responsibility. Examine and redefine your relationship to body image, food, and exercise.
Little changes, over time, create huge impacts. Use positive affirmations. Swap the skittles for grapes. Find movement that feels like fun instead of work. You’ve got this!
4. Meditation: Game Changer
Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years. It’s an amazing tool for:
• stress relief
• emotional healing
• simultaneous physical & mental rest
• self-awareness
YouTube contains hundreds of free guided meditations. You can even search by objective: sleep, self-love, abundance, gratitude, mindfulness. Just make sure you’re not disturbed – as best you can!
Meditation has been integral to my self-love journey. Guided or not, meditation works to clear mental and emotional litter, paving your road to inner peace.
5. Just Give it Up
Specifically, the things you can’t control. Wanting constant control straps you into a self-created, stress-inducing rollercoaster. And 90% of disease is stress related! Instead, embrace control’s opposite: acceptance.
Your past, other’s opinions, work traffic. Practice acknowledging and releasing negative feelings around things you can’t change. Guided meditations are a wonderful starting point.
The more you practice, the better you’ll handle unexpected twists. Because life is a rollercoaster. Will you kick and scream, or ease into its turns?
6. Stop Carrying Your Past
There’s an iron ball chained to your ankle. When you’re wronged by someone, the ball gets heavier. How much weight are you dragging around?
I get it. Forgiveness can feel difficult – even impossible. But carrying anger only hurts you. Forgiving someone is not excusing behavior, but accepting and releasing what happened.
Again, guided meditations are incredible resources. They’ve helped me navigate painful, deep-seated resentments. That iron ball? Feels more like a marble. With time, yours can too.
7. Transform the Mirror From Splotchy to Sparkling
Remember how everything is a reflection? Polishing your mirror starts within. Flex your self-love muscle by being intentional with your actions. Notice what serves you, and what distracts.
Distractions are anything you indulge in excessively: social media, food, shopping, gossip, etc. Observe your relationship with your go-to’s. Are they used to mask unpleasant feelings?
I’ve been guilty of overeating to mask my anxiety. Once I understood this, my relationship to food became way healthier. So start small and remember – everything in moderation!
Through the New & Improved Looking Glass
Loving yourself is showing up for yourself in ways that support growth, healing, and inner peace - just like the ones from this list. And you totally deserve the effort!
If you’re overwhelmed, don’t worry. You don’t have to transform overnight.
Pick one or two things to start and really commit to them. Sacrifice a little Netflix to meditate. Listen to positive affirmations in the car. Work toward taking a deep breath or two instead of cussing out strangers on the highway.
It will take some time.
And elbow grease.
But if you’re willing to roll up your sleeves, get a little dirty, and be consistent, imagine what your reflection will look like in that clean, clear mirror.
A wonderful, capable person. Doing your best like everyone else.
Perfectly imperfect.
Always worth loving.
What would you add to this list? Which of these is the biggest struggle? Let’s talk about it! Drop your feedback below. 😄