This guide to loving yourself was shared with 99FM’s MYD Heart by Elise Heikkinen-Johnstone, a Heal Your Life® Practitioner & Coach based in Windhoek.
How To Love Yourself from the Louise Hay Blog “Do You Love Yourself”
- “Stop all criticism. Criticism never changes a thing. Refuse to criticise yourself. Accept yourself exactly as you are. Everybody changes. When you criticise yourself, your changes are negative. When you approve of yourself, your changes are positive.
- Forgive yourself. Let the past go. You did the best you could at the time with the understanding, awareness and knowledge that you had. Now you are growing and changing and you will live life differently.
- Don’t scare yourself. Stop terrorising yourself with thoughts. It’s a dreadful way to live. Find a mental image that gives you pleasure (mine is yellow roses), and immediately switch your scary thought to a pleasure thought.
- Be gentle and kind and patient. Be gentle with yourself. Be kind to yourself. Be patient with yourself as you learn new ways of thinking. Treat yourself as you would someone you really loved.
- Be kind to your mind. Self-hatred is only hating your own thoughts. Don’t hate yourself for having the thoughts. Gently change the thoughts.
- Praise yourself. Criticism breaks the inner spirit. Praise builds it up. Praise yourself as much as you can. Tell yourself how well you are doing with every little thing.
- Support yourself. Find ways to support yourself. Reach out to friends and allow them to help you. It is being strong to ask for help when you need it.
- Be loving to your negatives. Acknowledge you created them to fulfil a need. Now you are finding new, positive ways to fulfil those needs. So lovingly release the old negative patterns.
- Take care of your body. Learn about nutrition. What kind of fuel does your body need to have optimum energy and vitality? Learn about exercise. What kind of exercise can you enjoy? Cherish and revere the temple you live in.
- Mirror work. Look into your own eyes often. Express this growing sense of love you have for yourself. Forgive yourself looking into the mirror. Talk to your parents looking into the mirror. Forgive them, too. At least once a day say: “I love you, I really love you!”
- LOVE YOURSELF – DO IT NOW! Don’t wait for until you get well, or lose the weight or get the new job or the new relationship. Begin NOW – do the best you can.
- Have fun. Remember the things that gave you joy as a child. Incorporate them into your life now. Find a way to have fun with everything you do. Let yourself express the joy of living. Smile. Laugh. Rejoice, and the Universe rejoices with you.”
Get in touch with Elise Heikkinen-Johnstone, Heal Your Life® Practitioner & Coach by emailing : elise.heikkinen-johnstone@iway.na
You can also find Elise through her website by clicking here : Life Connections Namibia
Or her Facebook page here : Heal Your Life Namibia
Or find more from Louise Hay by clicking here : Louise Hay Blog