Claiming a sliver of happiness for yourself is a totally legit goal but you won’t get it if you aren’t kind to yourself. So what can you do to appease your inner self?
Of course, you want to feel and look great. Of course, you have a plethora of tools at your disposal. Clothes, make-up, perfumes, stick-on eyelashes, hair curlers…
But unless you feel a-okay inside of your body and mind, those tools will only help you so far.
Those tools will help you construct a mask that can easily slip off to show the cracks underneath. But to radiate true beauty, confidence, and your general magnificence, you must ground your efforts in self-love.
Let’s continue laying those solid foundations of true well-being.
Your self-esteem may suffer because of the way body image has dominated media. Sadly, it seems like people have lost their grip on reality and view the body in a distorted way.
The idea that it’s normal to have an ideally proportioned body, flawless skin, symmetrical face, perpetually glossy hair, and always polished nails, places us under the enormous stress of having to live up to an imposed beauty ideal.
‘’I don’t like standard beauty – there is no beauty without strangeness.’’
Karl Lagerfeld
You may be at the point where you feel depressed or even have developed an eating disorder because of your poor body image.
But you know what? You don’t have to live up to any ridiculous ideals.
What you really need is to focus on being kinder to yourself and your body.
The next few paragraphs will give you a few tips on how to be kind to yourself.
1. Get Lots of Rest
The first and most natural way to be kind to yourself is to make sure that you get as much rest as you need each day.
Proper sleep and rest are important for your body because your body is an ingenious machine. And like any other machine, it needs an opportunity to recharge, conserve energy and make some repairs to your cells.
If you don’t get enough rest, then your body will begin to fail in small ways, and you will begin to feel tired all of the time. As you become weaker, you will see a breakdown in the quality of your performance, and relationships around you will begin to suffer.
It’s hard to feel meaningfully connected to others when your mind hasn’t been allowed to rest properly. Studies have connected lack of sleep to a rise in apathy in some people. As the apathy increases, the subject (you) will begin to connect less and less to those around them until they are completely isolated.
So it’s extremely important to not only get enough sleep but also take some active rest. When you’re running around like a crazed ferret or sitting at a desk for solid 5 hours, take a break.
Get up, open the window, stretch, close your eyes, smile, breathe.
Repeat throughout the day.
Tip: If you really struggle with sleep, there are some amazing sleeping aids that will help you get that well-deserved blissful rest. Have you tried a white noise sound machine? They do work wonders. You can install a white noise sound machine in your bedroom, or you can get a portable one for your travels. You can also get handy pillow speakers to enhance the experience.
2. Let Yourself Have Fun
Do you ever feel guilty when you take days off or try to do fun things with friends and family?
A lot of people are in fields of work that force them to produce more and more work for their company. This culture of overworking yourself isn’t healthy and can lead to extreme forms of burnout.
The apathy that comes from sleep deprivation and general overwhelm by duties can also play a heavy role in diminishing your ability to enjoy things.
So this is a place where arresting and allowing yourself to have fun meet. When you are properly rested, you’ll be in a better state to have fun. If you allow yourself a little fun time, then you can get rid of a lot of the extra stressful baggage that you’ve been holding onto each day.
Have a girls’ night in, pizza, wine, movie, and all. Play hide-and-seek with your child.
My favourite secret fun thing when I’m on my own? Loud music, improvised dance, plus terrible but enthusiastic singing. I’m in stitches in under 5 minutes. Oh, how I make myself laugh! (But don’t tell anyone).
Tip: It’s hard to have fun when you’re tense and anxious. But sometimes it’s difficult to shake the stress off and you might need a little help to dissolve the tension. So calm down and destress with these nifty relaxation aids. I always have at least one of them at hand, depending on where I am: a weighted blanket, a massager, acupressure mat and pillow, light therapy lamp, essential oil diffuser, a headache relief.
3. Make Sure You’re Hydrated
How much water do you drink in a day?
Hydration is something that a lot of people overlook because living in a modern world tells you that everything you need to be on top of things is just a phone or a store trip away to make you feel fab.
But you have to make the right choices when it comes to health. A lot of people have fallen into the habit of consuming large amounts of soft or caffeinated drinks.
These drinks are made of mostly sugars and chemicals created in a lab. They don’t provide enough pure water to help you sustain your basic functions. You may not even realize that you’re dehydrated to a level that can make you feel ill.
Drinking more water was the very first thing I did when I started on my transformation journey. Because, apart from sleep, it’s the most convenient way to initiate a change in a lazy person.
I started with six glasses a day, gradually increasing the amount, while my body got used to it. Eventually, I wasn’t peeing every five minutes anymore.
As a result, my skin has cleared, became soft and supple. And didn’t feel hungry
ALL.THE.TIME.
Tip: If you’re like me, you probably forget to drink enough water as you about your day. Although I’m getting better, sometimes I can be really inconsistent. Which leads to headaches from not drinking enough, then ending up frequenting the toilet at an alarming rate due to over-compensating. So I thought that this tracking water bottle was a good idea. Unlike other products featured here, I haven’t tried it yet but I’m going to. If you beat me to it, let me know what you think.
4. Get Away from Technology for a Minute
Technology these days has been very good at devouring nearly all of the free and precious time that we have.
We’re all perpetually glued to our phones, laptops, and TVs. I am totally guilty of this too. Despite having a phobia of becoming a phone zombie, I too find myself habitually checking missed calls, messages, emails, new social media posts. It’s so hard to turn off!
Everyone is constantly being bombarded by adverts for games and new apps that boast a user-friendly environment and a new lease of life, but is this really true?
Studies have shown that constant engagement with electronic devices can actually cause a lot of stress and damage.
Social media has made it difficult for people to feel content with their daily existence. This doesn’t mean that social media is a bad thing, but it could mean that if we use social media a lot less, we just might feel a little happier.
To help yourself feel better, it would be a good idea to take a step away from social media so that you can focus on more pursuits that involve your well-being.
Try and refrain from using electronic devices at least one hour before going to sleep. Disengage several times during the day. If you have a few free minutes, don’t reach for your phone to check apps and messages. Look outside the window, breathe, and stretch instead.
5. Be Kind To Yourself And Pay Attention to Your Body
Self-awareness isn’t always something that comes naturally to people. Sometimes it can take a well-crafted effort for you to learn what you need and when.
This is partly because the world at large expects us to live for our desires more than their needs.
Once you’ve chosen to make a better acquaintance with yourself, you can begin to practice mindfulness. That way you can learn about the signals that your body puts out to let you know what you really need.
For example, when you’re eating a particularly delicious meal, you might already know that you’re full, but you keep eating anyway. Suddenly you feel so full that you begin to burp, and your stomach makes loud noises.
This could be a sign that your body has chosen to let you know that you’ve eaten too much. Learning these signals can help you to stay more comfortable and treat your body with greater care.
Be mindful. Take a pause throughout the day, breathe and notice how you feel. The breeze on your face, the tension in your neck, the ground beneath your feet, the way your body moves, the flow of your breath, the taste of tea, the sounds you can hear.
Pay full attention to the present moment, be kind to yourself and listen to your body.
Week 3 Summary:
- Pause (stretch, smile, breathe)
- Do something fun (a dance a day?)
- Drink water (8 glasses a day)
- Tech detox (minimize your time spent checking devices)
- Listen to your body (grab a few mindful moments)
For more ways to learn how to be kind to yourself, please read the articles below:
Self Love Program
Self-Love Week 1: 6 Simple and Affordable Ways To Start Practising Self-Love
Self-Love Week 2: 5 Ways to Build a Positive Relationship With Yourself
Self-Love Week 3: How To Treat Your Body With Kindness And Feel Happier
Self-Love Week 4: How To Have a Great Day Every Day? Wake Up Early To Avoid Panic and Meltdowns!
Self-Love Week 5: Start Living Your Best Life Now: Focus On Your Future, Not The Past
Self-Love Week 6: 5 Benefits of Positive Self-Talk For Life Change
Self-Love Week 7: How To Create a Daily Self-Care Ritual
Self-Love Week 8: How to Set Life Goals for Better Future After 40
Self-Love Week 9: How to Find Your Life Purpose in 5 Minutes a Day
@Feature Photo by Monstera from Pexels
Disclaimer:
This article was written by Zuzana Halliwell. I am not a doctor or health professional and cannot be held liable for the information written here. This article is meant to provide information about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. The content is based on my own personal experience and on information provided by medical professionals that is available to the public. It is not intended to provide medical advice. Do not use it as an alternative to seeking help from a medical professional.
