Who's ready to dive right in?! I am, I am!
Great! Now that I have your attention what IS loving yourself?! What is self-love? Is it selfish? Or is it finding that space in between loving yourself and finding out who you are inside?
Something happens when we decide to truly SEE ourselves. I remember the first time I realized that I had been hiding how analytical I can be, and I pretended to act like the woman who "goes with the flow." In reality, my analytical mind can solve a problem, heal an emotional wound, and she can learn to love every single part of herself through shadow work, those pieces we keep hidden, so why hide that?!
In part, I've learned to find myself through wellness. I exercise, I eat healthy, and I try to align myself with my passions and purpose. I moved from having a corporate job to giving birth to my son, then to eventually taking a risk and opening my wellness business. I did not love my body or my journey or who I was inside. I learned how to do new and hard things, especially when they're so scary because I'm standing up for ME, which I of course had to first convince myself that I was even worthy of doing that.
I moved, changed my friend circle and my routine. One of the scariest things I could've done for myself was ALL OF THOSE! However, when you know there's better out there for you and you know that something is missing in your life (for me anyway), I couldn't turn back. I run towards the goodness and past the fear. Being authentically and unapologetically me is one of the scariest things I could think of doing, but I refused to live any less for myself.
I've tried to be the "cool girl" my entire life, but really "cool " is just a mindset. Am I happy every single day and motivated? Absolutely not. But on the days that aren't the prettiest, I keep up with my self love routines: exercising or movement of some sort, choosing healthy nutrition options, and trying - the key word is "trying" - to be more gentle with myself. What do you do to give yourself some space during the day?
Self-love could be a hot bath on a Friday night with a book, it could look like a self-love date to a local restaurant. Who wouldn't want to take YOU out?! It could be a walk around a lake or coloring. (Yes, there totally are adult coloring books and they're fabulous!) Self-love doesn't look the same for everyone and it can even look different for you on a weekly basis. You can literally do anything you feel called to do without fear of judgment from others, because I know we focus on that a lot.
I'm still learning about what behavior patterns I have that no longer serve me, but at least now, I'm transforming them into productive behaviors. When we no longer seek validation from the outside, the inside becomes inevitably loved.
In February, the month where we celebrate love, let's encourage each other to look into the depths of who we are, and to embrace and wrap our arms around every single piece of the real YOU. That's AMORE! Don't forget to have fun along the way; what's a journey to a beautiful and transformative destination without some excursions, right?
Aimée Laitman is a Certified Personal Trainer, Wellness Concierge, and Nutritional and Emotional Coach
You deserve to be treated as the unique and fantastic individual you are!
