Self-Love Empowers You

When you think of personal empowerment, you probably think of qualities like strength, confidence, courage and tenacity – but did you know that self-love is also an important aspect of empowerment?

When you truly love yourself . . .

• You treat yourself with respect and kindness.  You set firm boundaries in your life, you devote time and attention to proper self-care, and you consider your personal time to be a high priority.  Feeling loved and cared for automatically makes you feel more balanced and strengthened from within. 

• You expect fair treatment from others too.  No longer do you find yourself settling for less than you deserve or allowing others to take advantage of you.  Instead, a strong level of self-love gives you the courage to stand up for yourself.

• You have a greater sense of self-awareness and self-knowledge.  Loving and accepting yourself helps you to feel more connected to your authentic self, which inspires confidence and assurance in who you are.

There are many more ways that self-love can help you feel more empowered, but more important is knowing how to begin loving yourself.  If you’ve spent the majority of your life feeling negatively about yourself it might seem like an impossible task to suddenly bring forth feelings of genuine self-love, but it’s probably easier than you think!

First and foremost, it’s important to spend quality time alone on a regular basis so you can get to know yourself.  You can explore and discover your interests and passions, indulge in some favorite hobbies, write your thoughts and feelings in a journal, or simply dream and plan for your future.

Make time to relax and do the things you love.  Listen to uplifting music, read great books, stimulate your creativity by exploring your artistic talents, or take classes on topics that interest you. 

Nurture yourself as often as possible.  Go easy on yourself when you’re not feeling well, and pamper yourself when you feel the need for a little comforting.

Buy nice things for yourself.  Speak kindly to yourself.  Romance yourself!  Take long walks on the beach and gaze up at the stars at night.  Buy a beautiful greeting card, write an encouraging note inside and mail it to yourself.

Most importantly, be sure to look at yourself in the mirror every day and say, “I love you.  You’re a great person and you deserve the best that life has to offer.”

All of these activities are simply suggestions, of course.  Follow your heart and do what feels right to you.  As long as you’re doing things that make you feel loved and cared for, you can’t help but feel happy, fulfilled and empowered!

Visualize the Possibilities

If you’ve ever felt stuck and unsure what to do to improve your life, you’re familiar with the challenge of being short on possibilities!  Most often when this happens you’re not really short on possibilities, but rather your mind isn’t open to seeing the possibilities that exist all around you.

Creative visualization is one helpful technique that can stimulate your mind and increase your awareness of a whole new realm of possibilities to enhance any aspect of your life.

Before you begin, first take a few minutes to quiet your mind and relax your body so you can focus better.  You might take a few slow, deep breaths and concentrate on relaxing each muscle in your body until you feel completely relaxed, and then:

Close your eyes and imagine that you’re standing inside of a big map.  Unlike most maps, this one does not portray geographical locations but rather your life experiences.  Behind you, you can see all of the experiences and events you’ve had in the past; and before you the map is blank, representing your ability to choose the types of experiences you want to have in the future.

Once you’ve got a clear picture of this map in your mind, imagine shifting your perspective so that you rise above it and look down at yourself standing within it.

Notice that from this new perspective the front part of the map isn’t blank at all, but filled with limitless possibilities that you can choose for your life.  See each possibility as a pathway leading off from where you are currently standing, and affirm that they are all open to you.

Look closer at these pathways and open your awareness to what they are.  Do any of them pertain to your current situation?  See if you can zoom in even closer and open your mind to your current situation and the possibilities available to you.

If any insights or ideas occur to you, be sure to jot them down right away and explore them in more detail later.  If you don’t realize any new possibilities the first time you do this visualization, be sure to do it again as soon as you can (daily is best).  Several sessions may be needed before you’ll be able to fully relax and open your mind.  However, with practice comes deeper insight and eventually you’ll be able to see truly unlimited possibilities for improving any and all areas of your life!

This same visualization process can be used in situations when you feel confused about your next move or decisions you need to make.  Simply see yourself standing in a map with pathways leading off from where you are and imagine what those pathways may represent as far as opportunities and possibilities.  Most often you’ll notice that one pathway seems to stand out more sharply than the others, or you’ll get a stronger feeling about one and know intuitively that it’s the best choice.

The most important thing is to have patience and take your time with the process.  The more relaxed and focused you can be, the better you’ll be able to tune into your inner guidance and make the most beneficial choices.