February is traditionally the British Heart Foundation’s – National Heart Month It is also a month where we celebrate love and this doesn’t just mean how many Valentine cards or gifts we did or didn’t get! 

Learning to love yourself means looking after yourself and is one of the hardest loves to achieve. However, it is a reality that you cannot take care of others unless you take care of yourself! Self-love means that you are not dependant on anyone else for your happiness and therefore will experience a far more fulfilling life. Of course, learning to love yourself takes time as it means putting your own needs first. Self-love is an action that shows others how to love you.

Master the Art of Self-Love with These Strategies

Learning to love yourself is achievable, so we’ve put a few pointers together to help you get there!

Care for yourself as much as you do for others

Our own needs are just as important as other’s needs. Although this may feel selfish at first, having compassion for yourself is the first step to self-love. Try taking some time out each day just for yourself to make sure your mental and physical wellbeing are in kept in great shape!

Know yourself!

Discover who you are and what your values and beliefs are! If you know yourself, you will know how to take care of your own needs before you take care of others. This article looks at 5 questions helping you to discover who you are and what will make you happy!

Be honest to yourself

Being honest is key to lasting healthy relationships. So being honest to yourself is vital if you are to truly embrace self-love and live your life to the full! Honesty helps you to detect self-deception and face problems you may well be masking. Being honest with yourself will help you to have a positive mindset that will not only impact you but those around you too.

Take responsibility for your own feelings

Our feelings are our own property and although another person may have caused a negative emotional reaction in us, it is how we deal with that reaction that matters. Learning how to take responsibility for your own feelings when they have been triggered by someone else’s actions, will help you to embrace those feelings without blame.

Create boundaries

Setting personal boundaries will help to define who you are. In a way, they are a set of guidelines or limits that you can create to ensure reasonable and safe ways that others behave towards you. It will also help them to understand how you will respond if those boundaries are broken. They are essential to healthy relationships and the maintenance of your own health and wellbeing.

Be forgiving to yourself

Learning to forgive yourself will help you to accept what has happened in the past. It is about facing what we have done, taking some personal responsibility, learning from our mistakes, and taking back control. Fixating on negative emotions will impact your mental wellbeing, and can cause anxiety and chronic stress. Talking therapy can really help to overcome negative thinking, to find out more click here.

Practice gratitude

Gratitude is a simple way to focus on what is good in your life and in yourself. Write down 3 things you’re grateful for each morning. It will help you to feel more positive about yourself which will in turn boost your relationship with yourself and with others too! For more information on how being grateful is good for us, take a look at our blog Gratitude is good for your wellbeing

Acceptance

Try to avoid thinking of situations as being good or bad but rather accept them for what they are! Developing a habit of looking at life with a positive mindset will help to overcome this. And accepting that you cannot please everyone will also help you to be your authentic yourself!

At Wellbeing People, we firmly believe in the power of individuality when it comes to health and wellbeing - because no two lives are the same. Our online wellbeing programme uses a tried and tested approach to help you prioritise what truly matters to you.