10 Ways to Practice Self-Love Off the Mat
By: Steph Ball-Mitchell, ERYT500, RPYT, RCYT, YACEP
10 Ways to Practice Self-Love Off the Mat
By: Steph Ball-Mitchell, ERYT500, RPYT, RCYT, YACEP
10 Ways to Practice Self-Love
Valentines Day is approaching and everyone is focusing on love. One of the most important forms of love is self-love. One of the ways you can practice self-love is through your yoga. Be sure you try our yoga sequence for self-love. There are also many ways that you can practice self-love off the mat. With every breath you take, you are teaching other people how to treat you by the way that you treat yourself. For this reason and others, developing a self-love practice goes hand in hand with living in peace.
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| Practice Self Love |
1. If It Feels Wrong, Don't Do It
Follow your inner wisdom. It won't lead you down the wrong path. If you have a gut feeling that something isn't right, don't do it. So often we go along with others to keep the peace which results in inner conflict. You have to honor yourself and honor your intuition.
2. Say What You Mean & Mean What You Say
Being clear and concise in your communication is important when practicing self-love. Otherwise, you are not being true to yourself and you are not protecting your own needs and desires. Every now and then you may feel like your words are getting choked up or you are not able to speak your truth. In these times, you can focus on your throat chakra and keeping it clear so that you can say exactly what you mean and mean what you say.
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| Know That You Are Enough |
3. Have Boundaries
Self-love includes not only establishing distinct boundaries in your life and in your relationships, but also the willingness to enforce these boundaries. A boundary is simply that place where you end and someone else begins. It's you identifying where you begin and end. Healthy relationships have boundaries and happy people set boundaries.
4. Use Your Words to Lift Yourself Up
Always keep your words sweet and use them in a way that empowers you. When you speak to yourself, your words should always be uplifting and never unkind or discouraging. Always speak inspiration and positive ideology into your life. Replacing negative self talk with positive self talk is a powerful and important step.
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| Positive Self Talk Is Practicing Self-Love |
5. Never Give Up On Your Dreams
To stop dreaming is to stop living. We know from yoga philosophy that it is important to find contentment. However, this does not mean we should give up all ambition. It is important to have dreams and follow them. Create plans to bring your dreams into reality, and if now is not a good time to make your dreams come true, keep your dreams alive. Your time will come.
6. Don't Be Afraid to Say No (Or to Say Yes)
You must always honor yourself, and sometimes this means saying no even if someone else will be disappointed. It is ok to say no. Healthy relationships leave room for both parties to say no when they need to without changing the nature or quality of the relationship. On the other hand, don't be afraid to say yes sometimes. Sometimes it can be refreshing to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Growth does not happen in our comfort zone.
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| Be Kind to Yourself |
8. Be Kind to Yourself
Treat yourself with the same kindness and compassion that you would treat anyone else who you love. You are worthy of love and kindness. Resist the urge to self-sacrifice and shower yourself with the same loving kindness that you would give to others. You deserve it.
9. Let Go of What You Can't Control
Do your best and let go of everything else. When things are not going the way you anticipated that they would, take a moment to step back and assess the situation. Identify the factors that are in your control and those that are not. Release yourself from everything that is outside of your circle of influence. Stressing about things you cannot change will never be productive or helpful. It will only lead to high levels of anxiety and health issues.
10. Love
The best way to cultivate a self-love practice is to love always. A wise woman once said that an empty wagon makes a lot of noise. You want to make sure that your life is full of love, life, peace and joy. By walking in love and giving love freely to others, you are better able to love yourself because you are taking an emotion you already practice and turning it inwards.
Wishing you all much love! Namaste, yall!
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About the Author
Founder of Online Yoga School and Yoga & Ayurveda Center
Steph Ball-Mitchell, E-RYT-500, RPYT, RCYT, YACEP, CAADC
Steph has over 25 years of experience in yoga and movement. Her understanding of yoga and the human body has been influenced by lifelong dancing and holistic health. She found her life’s purpose in helping people become happier and healthier through her own healing journey. Steph assists her students in knowing the joy and wonderment of integrating the mind and body through accessible yoga. She encourages an authentic and life-nurturing practice, one that brings greater consciousness to each moment and every movement of the body with a heavy emphasis on breath.
With a masters degree in counseling, Steph brings awareness, acceptance and a down to earth approach to her classes. She studied with Maty Ezraty and later completed her second 200-hour training with Nancy Candea at Yoga Impact in New Jersey and her 300-hour training with Chris Loebsack at Boundless Yoga Studio in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. The perpetual student, Steph has studied with Leslie Howard, Travis Eliot, Bryan Kest, Donna Farhi and countless others. She has extensive training in pelvic floor yoga, restorative yoga, yin yoga, power yoga and accessible yoga. Most recently, Steph was certified as a Grand Master of Meditation through Swami Vidyanand.
Steph founded Yoga and Ayurveda Center with her husband. She later launched Online Yoga School to support her local trainings and has recently launched a virtual yoga studio to accommodate the international community of trainees.
When she isn’t on her mat, Steph can be found volunteering, enjoying her husband and children, dancing and cooking. She currently enjoys serving on the board of World Yoga Federation and Meditation Alliance International and previously enjoyed serving on the Education Committee of Yoga Alliance and places a strong emphasis on inclusivity in her teacher trainings.