Can I let you in on a little secret? You don’t need to ADD more to your already full plate, to enjoy the magic of self-love. You don’t need to journal each day, take bubble baths every other night or spend hours in meditation… unless of course you want too…

Instead, you can sprinkle love into what you ALREADY do each day. Whether it’s your morning cuppa tea, folding the laundry, or that five minutes stuck in traffic, you can turn the ordinary, into opportunities for love and connection. So you can grow your love for yourself, one mundane activity at a time!

If you’re someone whose struggled to fit self-love into your busy lifestyle, or you simply want to know how to infuse your whole life with a little more love… So you can expand beyond your current self-love practices…

Then grab a cuppa tea, settle in…. or listen to this episode on the go… Whatever works… Because today on I Love Me the Podcast, you’ll be learning how to turn your daily routine into a self-love ‘immersion’.

 

Hello gorgeous, it’s Tamra here with the first episode of Season 3… on the eve of International Self-Love Day.

If you’ve never heard of International Self-Love Day, it’s celebrated on the 13th of February every year, to highlight the importance of self-love and self-care.

The reason it falls the day before Valentines Day, is to remind us that our most important relationship is with ourself.

And it’s through self-love, that we can cultivate that relationship, so we can experience deep inner happiness and overall wellbeing.

So today, in preparation for International Self-Love Day, I’d to offer some simple ways to invite more self-love into your life, that don’t take any extra time.

Because while it’s easy to say: I don’t have time for self-love.

The truth is, we don’t always have to do big grand self-loving gestures or elaborate practices to experience the nourishing benefits of self-love.

You don’t need to add another thing onto your to-do list, if that feels too much for your right now.

All you need, is take a ‘fresh approach’ to what you ALREADY fill your day with.

For it’s not so much ‘what’ we fill our day with, but ‘how’ we approach those things, that either drain us, or fill our cup.

Change the energy or intention around what we do, and voila, self-love on tap!

So how do we make the mundane, magical?

Well, self-love can begin before you even get out of bed!

You wake up, and before you do anything else, you give yourself a big juicy hug.

Just because.

Just because you are so very worthy of that.

Instead of pressing snooze on your alarm, and falling back asleep, perhaps you do a few stretches or hold a delicious yin yoga posture, to help gently ease your body into the day.

And then you begin with your morning routine…

As you get in the shower, you imagine the water being like a waterfall of love, cascading down onto your body, washing away anything that no longer serves you…

When you put on your moisturiser, instead of just slapping it on without another thought, you massage it in with love.

Image that you’re quite literally massaging liquid love into your face.

As you look in the mirror to make sure it’s all rubbed in, say to yourself:

‘I love you.’

Whatever your morning beverage of choice is, invite in some loving presence.

Instead of scrolling on your phone, close your eyes for a second or three and really taste your morning cuppa, or glass of water, or whatever it is you use to hydrate yourself in the morning.

Feel the warmth, notice the flavour, and maybe even tell yourself:

‘This is a little self-loving hug in a mug’.

Boom!!

Instant self-love, no extra time required.

As you eat your meals, do so with gratitude.

Gratitude for the nourishment this food will give you for your day ahead.

There are soooo many delicious benefits of being grateful for what we already have, so if you’d like to learn more about how being grateful can completely change your mental and physical state, have a listen to Episode 29: Could practising gratitude make you a happier person?

Now, onto what most of us find, not-so-fun…

Chores!

We’re talking laundry, dishes, vacuuming…

Imagine your vacuum cleaner being like your self-love sidekick.

Instead of just cleaning the floor, visualise yourself cleaning out all the mental clutter from your week.

All the stuff that’s no longer serving you being sucked up and away, so it no longer needs to clog up your mind.

With each swipe of the vacuum, you may like to say a little affirmation like:

‘I let it all go.’

‘I release my week.’

‘My mind and space are clean and free.’

If you have some favourite songs, pop them on while you vacuum, and let your vacuum be your dance partner, as you clean up your mental and physical dirt.

Each time you do the dishes, or wash your hands, you can invite in a little affirmation like:

‘I’m washing away stress and inviting in calm.’

Or when you pop on your shoes, a great affirmation to use, is:

‘I’m stepping into a great day.’

Little phrases like this can totally shift our mindset, and they take NO extra time out of our day.

We simply need to make a decision to sprinkle them throughout our existing activities.

If you commute to work, this is another golden opportunity for self-love.

Whether it’s a traffic jam or a walk to the bus or train station, use this time to sneak in a little self-love.

Play a podcast – like this one! – crank up a feel-good playlist, or just roll down the windows and belt out a song like you’re auditioning for a musical.

Don’t worry about being off-key.

The medicine is in the singing, no matter what is sounds like.

Or maybe, you want to fill yourself up with love, like I teach in Episode 3.

In that episode – Fill yourself up with love. Your got-to tool for self-love – I teach you a nifty little meditation called the Love Wrap, that you can turn into a mini practice you use throughout your day, as you go about life.

Whenever you find yourself with a little time between activities, or waiting in queues, you fill yourself up with love.

This little practice is a powerful way to fill yourself back up.

To help you recenter.

To help you come home to yourself.

What about at work?

You arrive to an inbox full of emails…

Instead of allowing stress to overtake you, and essentially slow down your productivity…

Take a 60-second self-love pause.

Close your eyes, or simply soften your gaze if that feels more comfortable.

Then take three slow deep breaths in through your nose, imagining you’re breathing into your heart, and then releasing the breath out through your mouth, as you envision the tension simply melting away.

Then whisper or think to yourself:

‘I’m doing enough. I am enough. All is well.’

Taking a 60-second pause amid a busy day will create a shift in your mindset; the kind of shift that calms your nervous system so that you can enjoy the relaxed state that allows you to get more done in less time.

When you start to feel tired, instead of walking to the snack machine for a chocolate bar, you gift yourself five minutes to get up, take a self-love break, and go for a short walk, or move your body, do some stretches or some conscious breathing, to help breathe life back into your beautiful body.

Maybe eat an apple or make a cup of herbal tea to reinvigorate you for the afternoon ahead.

Give your body something that can support it, in supporting you.

What I want to highlight here, is that…

Self-love isn’t something you have to earn.

It’s not a spa day reward or luxury for ‘when you have time’.

It’s the little moments, the small kindnesses you show yourself, day in and day out.

And as you’ve heard, that needn’t take any extra time out of your day.

The simple truth is…

Life can be busy, chaotic and unpredictable at times…

But when we can approach it from a place of love, and let love weave its way into the the daily grind – through heartful moments, affirmations, being grateful – you’re reminding yourself that you really do matter.

While I love to do dedicated self-love practices every day, it’s how we are outside of those practices that helps adds up to how happy and peaceful we are.

So start there.

Start with inviting love into what you ALREADY do each day.

Maybe it’s focusing on one thing a day, making it a habit, and then adding another.

Or maybe it’s by setting the intention to invite love into ALL that you do..

Start where feels doable for you, so you can build a foundation of self-compassion that supports you through life’s ups and downs.

When you choose love – especially for yourself – you’re not just improving your day…

You’re building a life that feels fuller, bright and more aligned with who you truely are.

So my invitation to you, is to take what I’ve shared with you for a test drive.

See how much love you can infuse into your day.

You don’t have to bring loving attention to your whole day.

Maybe just focus on one of your usual daily tasks, wait for it become a habit, and then build from there.

Or perhaps let eating be the time you let love come in.

In fact, next week, if you struggle with binge eating, or have an iffy relationship with food, I’ll be sharing my personal journey with binge eating, and what I needed to do, to enter into a healthy relationship with food.

And don’t forget, tomorrow, International Self-Love Day.

See if you can let this day be your invitation to set out on, or deepen into, your own personal self-love path.

Thanks for joining me today.

If you’re loving what I’m sharing here on I Love Me The Podcast, and want to dive deeper into self-love… I’d love to be your tour guide home to yourself…

Simply take a peek at my online school Gettingnaked.com.au where I teach you how to strip off the layers of childhood conditioning, so you can fall in love with you.

Sign up for your FREE Self-Love Starter’s Kit there, and if you do enrol in any of my programs, know that a percentage of profits go to planting trees, so together we can re-robe Mother Earth.