It’s Valentines day and I’m going to talk to you about self love.

I could go on about how Valentine’s day is a social construct, a commodity cashing in on the media represented pressure of displaying affection on this particular day of the year.
But that isn’t something I am going to delve into today.
If you want to celebrate the day with your loved ones then hey, that’s great!
What I really want to focus on is something that will perhaps speak more to those who feel lonely or out of touch on this day. That of course in no way excludes those who are in a couple.
This isn’t a new concept but one that so many still seem to lack in.
I for one lacked it for quite some time.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, then I hope you have noticed that I try to write frankly about my experiences with depression, anxiety, confidence and body image.
I always knew that self-love was important but I struggled with it SO much. There was not one ounce of myself (body and mind) that I was happy with.
When asked “what do you like about yourself?” I genuinely could not think of an answer. Not because I was shy or wanted to be modest, I honestly could not think of one. Single. Thing.
Fast forward to now and ask me and I can happily gush that I like my eyes, my hair, my smile in spite of my snaggle tooth, I like my arms and my boobs and my belly and even my legs and bum right down to my feet. It’s not a perfect body but it’s MY body and I genuinely wouldn’t change it even if you offered me the chance.

I like that I am firey and I’m not ashamed of it anymore, I delight in having a mostly sarcastic humour but you know what? I am genuinely a nice person and even if it’s the first time we’ve ever met I will go out of my way to help you.
I had been in pursuit of self love for a while. My revelation came when I was doing yoga classes on the beach on a Thai island and my instructor said “wow! You have such strong legs!”
My legs and bum had always been my biggest body hang up from as far back as I could remember.
What I realised was that my most hated aesthetic feature was actually one of my strongest physical attributes.
These legs took me up mountains and volcanoes, through forests and jungles and (most of the time) rock steady yoga poses.

I realised I should pay less attention to how I looked and focus more on what I was capable of and what my body did for me.
I grew happier and calmer within myself and started to make gratitude and self love more important.

I stopped comparing myself to others and instead accepted we were different but made an effort to compliment them.
Because one small compliment can help someone on that journey too.
To get to the crunch of it – don’t spend Valentine’s day worried or self loathing. Embrace yourself, treat yourself and love yourself.
No one will ever love you more, no one will ever truly have your interest as their number one priority more than YOU.
Look after and love yourself and do something today that makes you happy!

You are valuable, worthy and wonderful x