11 Simple Ways to Show Yourself Love (Right Now)

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Happy Valentine’s Day! 💖

It’s the day of love! This can mean love for anyone in your life – including yourself.

But what exactly does self-love look like and how do we show ourselves the love we deserve?

Do we show ourselves grace and compassion? Do we allow ourselves to rest? Or do we push ourselves to achieve more?

Do we let ourselves indulge in sweets and binge our favorite shows? Or do we eat healthy foods and get some exercise?

Honestly, self-love can be all of those things.

Self-love involves listening to ourselves – our bodies and our minds – and giving ourselves the love we’re craving. It involves showing ourselves grace, treating ourselves to things that we deserve, speaking kindly to ourselves, and more.

Self-love can be a complicated thing, and it’s something that I want to talk about more here on this blog.

But for now, I wanted to share 11 simple ways you can show yourself love right now!

1- Practice gratitude

Consider starting a daily gratitude practice. It can be something simple, such as naming a few things you’re thankful for every day. Or it can be more in-depth; you can start keeping a journal full of things that you’re thankful for, things that make you happy, and the good things you’re fortunate enough to experience in life. Acknowledging the things we’re thankful for and the things we love about our lives can make us so much happier and more content with ourselves and our lives.

2- Spend some time alone

Alone time is very important for several reasons, so try to schedule yourself some alone time this week – even if you have to cancel social obligations. Watch movies, meditate, pamper yourself, spend time on a hobby, or just do whatever you feel like doing. This will help you relax, grow, get to know yourself more, and love yourself more.

You might like: 26 Fun Things to Do Alone

3- Get your body moving

You know how important exercise is for both our physical health and our mental health. It can decrease your anxiety, increase your energy, and improve your mood, and it’s a great way to show yourself some love. You don’t have to get a gym membership or do any complicated workouts. Just go for a walk/jog, watch a workout video, do yoga, or find some other workouts online. Your body does amazing things for you and you should try to take care of it properly!

4- Express yourself creatively

Expressing yourself and letting your emotions out is healthy and it will make you feel great. So do something creative. Painting, writing, drawing, music, or whatever other creative hobbies you feel like doing. There are no “wrong” ways to be creative.

You might like: 30 Creative Hobby Ideas for Better Mental Health

5- Recite positive affirmations

Reciting positive affirmations can help boost your confidence and your happiness. You can say the affirmations out loud to yourself or write them down on a piece of paper and tape them somewhere where you’ll see them often, like in your mirror. Some people even stand in front of a mirror and compliment themselves out loud. It might feel awkward at first, but it’s a great way to show yourself love and boost your confidence. Positive affirmations can really do wonders for putting you in a more positive mindset!

You might like: 35 Morning Affirmations to Start Your Day Right

6- Be mindful of what you feed your brain

When all that you’re ever feeding your body is junk food, your body feels like crap right? The same thing goes for what you’re feeding your mind! Are you constantly watching depressing news stories, talking to negative people, or doing other things that aren’t good for your brain? Instead of reading about or watching the news, full of fear-based stories, read a site like this one and feed your brain positivity. Watch positive things on TV. And try to cut ties with toxic people as much as you can. Taking care of your mind is one of the best ways to show yourself some love!

You might like: 10 Tips for Dealing With Toxic People

7- Reward yourself for your accomplishments

So many of us give ourselves so much crap when we mess up or make a mistake – even the littlest mistake. But when we do something well, big or small, we don’t always give ourselves the credit we deserve. I think we should celebrate all of our victories, whether it’s reaching our biggest goal or crossing something off of our to-do list. I’m not saying to jet off on a vacation every time we complete an item on our to-do list, I’m just saying to acknowledge the things you do well and celebrate yourself. Show yourself some appreciation once in a while!

8.) Go to bed early

Sleep is important, of course. But if you’re anything like me, you have no problem staying up late into the night to get work done, even if it means not getting enough sleep. Whether you’re someone who stays up late to have fun or to get work done (again, if you’re like me, they’re one and the same) then one way you can show yourself love is to go to bed early tonight and get lots of sleep. You’ll wake up feeling refreshed and well-rested. Your mind and your body will thank you!

9.) Forgive and let go of the past

One big struggle on the path to self-love is holding stuff from the past against ourselves or others. This can seriously get in the way of our happiness. Maybe we feel bad for how we treated someone or how someone treated us. Maybe we made a mistake, or someone else made a mistake, that we haven’t gotten over. It’s important to let go of this emotional baggage if we truly want to be happy and full of love. You can journal about your thoughts, meditate on them, or even reach out to someone if you need closure.

10.) Stop caring what people think

From a young age, we’re taught to place so much importance on what other people think of us and this can be damaging to our self-esteem. If you can learn to stop caring so much about what people think of you, you’ll be able to love yourself better. And if you truly love yourself, it won’t matter what anyone else thinks of you. You’ll be free to be your true self.

You might like: How to Stop Caring What People Think of You

11.) Do something kind for someone

I know this might sound confusing, but self-love isn’t all about yourself. It’s also about spreading love to others. The more you love others, the better you can love yourself and the more you love yourself, the better you can love others. Helping other people, doing random acts of kindness, and spreading positivity around is good for everyone. Like I always say, life is too short to not be kind to your fellow humans!

You might like: Making a Difference with Random Acts of Kindness