Ah love. What a beautiful word.
When I think of the word love, I think of so many people, places, and experiences.
However, most of the time when I think of love, I rarely think of myself.
It’s sad isn't it? That we don’t think about loving ourselves, and being proud of our accomplishments.
Our society has made it seem that loving yourself is a bad thing. That we are conceited or self-centred if we think of ourselves as beautiful, strong or amazing.
I want to change that!
I want all of us to change that!
There is a beautiful mindfulness practice that I have tried to adopt into my life that focuses on self-love. It is about reminding yourself that you are an incredible person!
At some point during the day (best to aim for the morning to give yourself a positive start to your day) or you can repeatedly do this practice throughout the day.
Start by looking at yourself in the mirror, tell yourself something positive about YOU, send a little love your way! If a mirror is not your friend today, just envision yourself in your mind's eye and talk to yourself that way.
Tell yourself:
I am strong
I am beautiful
I am going to rock this day
It can be anything you want!
You can use the same positive affirmation daily, or switch it up. The rule is, it has to be positive! I guarantee you that you will be feeling more lifted and happier, especially as your practice continues.
This practice reminds us how incredible we are.
We all have something amazing to give this world and it's great to remind ourselves of all those things.
Our brain can be nasty to us, it can say mean things and create false images of how others see us. When we refocus our brain, we can begin to adjust how it sends messages to us. Try to think of how friends or family members would describe you, and go from there!
(*note: This is a forever practice, our brain will always test us but with practice, patience and persistence we can begin to ignore the rudeness of our mind a little better.)
If you are an educator or a parent, I encourage you to do this practice with your students and / or children as well. Depending on the child’s age and personality will depend on how you introduce this to them, and how you continue this practice.
You may wish to start by telling them something positive every day about themselves. This will help them gain vocabulary and see what the intention of the practice is (feeling good).
Then you can introduce the idea of them coming up with their own self-love affirmations or using prompting cards, such as the ones from Love Powered Co. Eventually, once the routine has been established, you can encourage the child to look in the mirror as they say the affirmations.
Another idea is to make an activity out of the affirmations. For example you could make empowerment cards, like the Love Powered Co. cards. (See above image of when we did it in one of our workshops).
Aim for a consistent practice within your classroom and home, and watch as their confidence and self-love grow!
Let’s change the way children and adults view themselves, let's remind every human that they are beautiful and loved.
Visit Mindful Little Things for past blogs and other great tips for incorporating Mindfulness and Play Based learning in your classroom, home and in your daily life.