Hey Friend,

This week we’re going to focus on how to use self-love to learn how to take care of our bodies and increase positive feelings about our bodies.

Your body is your home, your vehicle, and your partner in life.

It deserves your love, respect, and gratitude for all that it does for you every day.

Taking care of your body means meeting its basic needs while also nourishing it with healthy habits, positive thoughts, and joyful experiences.

Taking care of your body is not selfish or vain. It is actually a form of self-care and self-respect that benefits not only you but also the people around you.

When you love your body and take care of it, you are more likely to be healthy, energetic, confident, and happy. You are also more likely to inspire others to do the same.

It’s important to practice self-love and take care of your body. Here are some tips on how to do that:

1. Eating Well

Eating well means choosing foods that nourish your body and make you feel good.

I’ve been more intentional about spending more time listening to my hunger and fullness cues to avoid emotional eating or binge eating.

I can vouch for intermittent fasting and eating nutrient-dense foods like sea moss to keep my body nourished and healthy.

2. Drinking Water and Minding My Business

Drinking water is essential for keeping your body hydrated and functioning properly and is one of my favourite self-love habits.

I usually drink 1 gallon per day and I love it. Water helps regulate your body temperature, flush out toxins, lubricate your joints, and transport nutrients and oxygen to your cells.

It also boosts your metabolism, improves your skin, and prevents headaches and fatigue.

I’d say aim to drink at least eight glasses of water a day, and definitely more if you exercise or if you are outside within these heat waves we have been experiencing in Grenada

3. Move Your Body

Shake a tail feather friend!

Yes! Movement is such a loving thing to do to your body.

It can be anything from walking, running, cycling, swimming, dancing, yoga, pilates, or any other sport or exercise that you enjoy.

Moving your body strengthens your muscles, bones, heart, and lungs and improves your mood. Our brains love the endorphins that exercise produces and it helps to boost our memory, creativity, and self-esteem.

I dont know about you, but I can literally feel the difference.  My ability to recall things quickly, solve problems, and create and my self-esteem are just not the same when I am not doing regular exercise.

4. Resting Your Body

I’ve mentioned this before and will again and again. Resting is an essential part of expressing self-love.

The majority of us lead hectic lives, we get up early, our days are filled with mental and physical challenges and our nights are filled with doomscrolling. That’s why it’s so important to rest your body and give it enough time to recover and rejuvenate.

Ideally, we should sleep every night for at least seven to nine hours. I only get about 6 but I’m serious about taking naps or breaks during the day when I feel tired or stressed.

Resting your body can also look like relaxing your mind and muscles with activities such as meditation, breathing exercises, massages, or stretching.

As we get older, resting our body can be considered preventative health care.  It helps reduce inflammation, boosts immunity, enhance performance, and prevent burnout.

5. Appreciating Your Body

Honestly, this tip is one of the hardest tips for me to honour.

I love my body, but so many times I find myself pinching at my stomach and changing 10 outfits before going out.

As I continue on this self-love journey I recognise that appreciating your body means acknowledging its beauty and uniqueness.

It means accepting its flaws and imperfections without judgment or comparison. It means celebrating its strengths and abilities without arrogance or insecurity.

Fun trick is expressing gratitude for all that it does for you every day.

You can do this by writing a thank-you note to your body, looking at yourself in the mirror with kindness, or, my favourite, complimenting yourself on something you like about your body. I am not above telling my hair it looks shiny, my eyes that they look dark and mysterious and my cheekbones that they look sharp.

Remember that self-love is feeling good about yourself and doing good for yourself. By taking care of your body with self-love, you are honoring yourself and your health.

To help you with this process I have created a special meditation for you that will guide you through the steps of taking care of your body with self-love. You can access it by clicking on this link.

 I love my body and I take care of it.

I encourage you to listen to it today and whenever you need it.

I believe our words create our world, so here is an affirmation for this week:

It’s a reminder that your body is a beautiful gift and it’s ok to be in love with it. You can repeat this affirmation throughout the day especially when you feel tempted to neglect or criticize your body.

Write it down on a sticky note and put it somewhere you can see it often. Say it out loud or in your mind with conviction and enthusiasm.

Thank you for reading and I’ll see you in the next post.