Doing something every single day to show yourself some love is really important. Just as you would nurture a relationship with a spouse or a friend, you should also be nurturing the relationship with yourself. Simply taking a shower can actually be an act of self-love if you take the time to be mindful of the experience. Feel how good the hot water feels on your skin. Use a fun, bubbly soap to suds up your skin. Do little things to make it more than just a run-of-the-mill shower. Try to really be in the moment and not focused on your to-do list or that scary meeting you have later or how much the kitchen needs to be cleaned. Be present during the shower and even that becomes a little love note to yourself!
Below are some other quick and easy things you can do every day to show yourself how much you love yourself. Change it up every day if you can. Try to fit in more than one and do each activity mindfully and fully present.
Make an “i’m grateful” list
Take a few minutes to physically write down things for which you are grateful. This list doesn’t have to be epic or really even noteworthy to anyone but you. Sometimes this is harder than others, but you can always come up with at least 5 things that your life would suck without. It can be as simple as “I’m grateful I have a car to get around in.” Maybe your car is a complete piece of crap, but how much would life suck without it?
sing in the car (or anywhere private)
Singing at the top of your lungs is so much fun! Really belting out your favorite song has the ability to completely take you away emotionally. I find it almost impossible to be in a bad mood if I put on a fun song and just go nuts. I’m not even a particularly good singer, but who cares? I’m completely alone and no one can hear me anyway.
organize something
If you are like most people, being more organized just feels good. It will also help you be more efficient, less stressed, and is super empowering. Short on time? Taking 5 minutes to organize your desk, kitchen, home office, craft room, etc. doesn’t mean you will necessarily finish organizing it, but even just getting started is a step in the right direction. Sometimes looking at that area that is so out of control is just too overwhelming to contemplate so instead of trying to tackle the whole project, just put a couple of things away or come up with one system to better organize your stuff. The next time you try to deal with the area, it won’t be so bad and if you keep doing little bits at a time, it’s done before you know it!
Breathing exercises
Breath is life. The average person can’t go more than 30-90 seconds without taking a breath, but most of us never think that much about our breathing. It’s just something that naturally occurs. You can actually learn to breath more effectively and efficiently though and there are also breathing techniques for specific issues like reducing stress, improving focus, better sleep, and quicker recovery from exertion. Click here for some of my favorite techniques.