A Balanced Approach to Wellness!

Posts tagged ‘self-love’

Loving ourselves joyfully!

hugging oneself

“Joyful love is love that is bestowed without conditions and without expectations. Joyful love can be felt when overcome by the beauty of nature, when immersed in the attention of a playful animal, when mesmerized by the exquisiteness of an infant, and when experiencing the love of a person who has strong feelings of love in return. Joyful love is felt more strongly when it is allowed to spread and is given towards oneself as well.” –from the chapter “Unexpectant Love” in Exploring Energy Guidance Complete, My Journey

Loving oneself joyfully is not so simple. It requires acceptance, appreciation, and action. The three As.

Acceptance is needed for love to grow boundlessly. Acceptance of physical handicaps, annoying habits, and learned criticisms is key to feeling loving towards oneself. Each person has physical handicaps, with some being more apparent than others. Accepting them and then working with or around them is joyful behavior. Each person has habits that irk others and oneself. Acknowledging these habits and either working to change them or embracing them is joyful focus. Each person has learned criticisms from caregivers, society, and authority figures. When the criticisms are internalized, they can cause emotional and mental damage. Understanding that the criticisms are harmful and then accepting and moving past them is joyful intention.

Appreciation is needed for self-love to be possible. Seeing oneself clearly and ignoring noise that calls for criticism is necessary for appreciation to occur. Noticing accomplishments–large and small, plus remembering to express gratitude for capabilities are necessary for self-appreciation and joyful expressions of confidence.

Action is required to create expressions of self-love. The actions can be an intangible or tangible pat on the back, a daily ritual that includes acknowledgement of being alive, a prayer of thanksgiving, joyful activity (jumping for joy, dancing around, laughing, or silliness), and a vocal or silent statement of love for oneself.

Notes: This information has been spiritually received. I’m reading through Exploring Energy Guidance Complete, My Journey and delving into some of the topics. This book is available here.

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I love ME!

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Post 76-loving oneself

In the book The Gift of Intuitive, Dedicated Comfort, it says:

“…Finding ways to bring joy, love, movement, challenge, acceptance, patience, warmth, and balance should be pursued.”

These goals lead to loving oneself, purposeful living, and calm. These goals are doable. These goals should enable satisfaction in one’s life. Not to a simple or easy life—that is not the goal. The goal is to have the ability to weather whatever comes and to live with vitality and determination.

Each person determines the way to these goals. There are no exact directions for everyone. In general, smiling often is better than frowning and lifts one’s spirits. Remember to smile.

Moving can bring change—not moving to a new location—no! moving one’s body! Often, especially in dance or out in nature. A treadmill is fine, but a walk in nature is better. Moving in a group is very invigorating—in a dance class or exercise group or on a hike or in the water. Group dynamics can increase the mood benefits. But a group is not required to move. Taking computer breaks OFTEN and stretching—very important! Encouraging others to move –important too. In the book, Pond a Connected Existence, the human need for movement is number 5! Remember to move.

Balance can seem like an illusive goal, but it is not if you are open to balancing ALL the components of health—physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Being open is better than being determined to oppose. So much occurs that is not in our realm of understanding; why expect to understand everything? Balance through eating healthfully, working through negative emotions, challenging the intellect, and opening to spiritual possibilities.

And yes—being patient. Not an easy thing to be in our instant gratification society. Working towards a goal takes time, dedication, perseverance, and time. And more time. And more perseverance and time. And being prepared.

“Being prepared means readying for whatever—whatever happens, whatever doesn’t happen, whatever presents itself for opportunity or for disaster.” from Oneself—Living (soon to be published).

Self-love is possible!

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Loving oneself—it can be done

Post 76-loving oneself

Loving oneself can occur and does occur when the awareness of its importance is brought to light. In the book, Pond a Connected Existence, the ten most important things that the average human requires are listed in the order of their importance. Self-love is number 8!

Self-love is not simple to achieve, especially for those who grow up in societies that do not value its importance. Nonetheless, people must strive to love themselves so that they can move on and love others.

What is self-love? It is described in the book Oneself-Living (soon to be published):

“Self-love, like [deep love of others], has six requirements: #1 obligation #2 appreciation #3 attraction #4 devotion. #5 flow #6 admiration

1  obligation to assist, support, and be available physically
2  appreciation of assistance, support, and character
3  attraction to inner and outer
4  held in close consideration at all times (devotion)
5  openness to surprise, acknowledgment of mortality, accommodation of cultures, and thoughtfulness
6  admiration for kindnesses, assistance, and acceptances done for others and for self”

The requirements of self-love

  1. obligation to assist, support, and be available physically: assist and support oneself when feeling unable to achieve goals or daily tasks and care for one’s physicality so that the body can be able to provide support for one’s tasks and goals.
  2. appreciation of assistance, support, and character: be able to see one’s assistance and support for oneself and be able to appreciate the variation of character traits (and not focus on negative traits).
  3. attraction to inner and outer: feel a sense of pull towards one’s physical appearance and one’s character traits. Especially for women, this requirement is important when the advertising and entertainment industries push unrealistic beauty indexes.
  4. held in close consideration at all times (devotion): remember to include one’s own needs when living life (not put other people’s needs first). Even a mother has to put her needs above her baby’s needs if she is going to tend to the baby properly. This requirement is not easy because it can be confused with being selfish, which it is not.
  5. openness to surprise, acknowledgment of mortality, accommodation of cultures, and thoughtfulness: all of these requirements are connected because they all require consideration of life’s realities.
  6. admiration for kindnesses, assistance, and acceptances done for others and for self: notice what one does for others (being kind, providing assistance, giving way when others’ needs require it) and applaud oneself for caring for personal needs and dreams.

Self-love is the basis for balanced living. Without it, one is always askew no matter how well one eats or exercises or volunteers.

“When we …are able to heal ourselves then only are we ready to help others.” by Ann Wigmore in the Naturama living textbook.

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