Accepting Yourself As You Are

A large part of the journey towards loving yourself is self acceptance.

For most of your life you will have tried to reach goals of perfection, to be better at school, at work, to be slimmer, more organised etc.

Has anyone ever told you that you are good just the way you are?

The aim of self love is not to become obsessed with yourself but to develop a natural self love. You are a unique individual, no-one has ever been like you and no one ever will be. You are a one off, incomparable with anyone else. Your goal is to accept this, love this, celebrate this.

Love is only possible when there is a deep acceptance of oneself. It’s not easily achieved and should be approached in small steps, which if practiced everyday can lead to a total self acceptance and self love.

Steps to accepting

Choose to forgive yourself instead of harbouring guilt or anger over something that has happened. “I forgive myself for not being perfect.”

1 Stop comparing yourself to others. You are not them and they are not you. Embrace your uniqueness.

2 Define yourself by your achievements rather than your mistakes. If this is the stick you beat yourself with make a list every evening of the things you achieved that day.

3 Do things that inspire you daily, take a bath, change your thought patterns. Inserting a little joy into your life every day is a necessity. Even if it’s laughing at animal photos on-line.

Try this at home

Try this simple but effective exercise at home. Stand or sit in front of a mirror. This may feel a little odd at first but you need to look at yourself in the mirror as though you are a parent speaking to a beloved child. Out loud repeat the following affirmations to yourself. Look yourself in the eye while you say:

• “I totally and absolutely love you.”
• “I completely believe in you.”
• “There is nothing wrong with you and there never has been.”
• “I promise that I will always love you and I’ll never leave you.”

My next Love Yourself Yoga & Meditation workshop is on this Sunday 18th September. Join us if you would like to experience a practical start to your self love journey.