om spiritom spirit
T
he relationship we have with ourselves sets the tone
for every other relationship in our lives. Self-love
is the practice of showing up for ourselves daily,
celebrating ourselves daily, and understanding that
whatever we feel we need from others, we have the
power to give to ourselves.
This month, we’re delving into the depths of self-care through
physical wellbeing as a self-love practice, and how looking after
your body can be one of the most obvious ways to show up for
yourself every single day.
Because if you’re not feeling good in your physical body, how can
you truly be showing yourself that you are your number one priority?
Our bodies are the containers through which everything else
happens. The breath, the thoughts, the soul, the movements wemake; they all start inside our bodies. So the better we treat our
bodies, the better we feel in general.
When we treat our bodies poorly, we feel tired and weak, with not
enough energy to pour love into ourselves.
Self-love and nourishment go hand in hand; you can’t have one
without the other. Nourishing your body through regular exercise,
good food and enough sleep are daily acts of self-love. As we fill
ourselves up with physical nourishment, we are announcing to
ourselves and the world around us that we are important and we
are worthy of being properly cared for.
How we treat ourselves is how we teach others to treat us. So
if we’re not treating our bodies with care, what messages are we
giving out?
The main thing we need to remember when looking after our
bodies is to have the right intention.
If we see our physical wellbeing as a self-love
practice, then exercising and eating well are done
lovingly, not as a punishment so we can look a
certain way.
Exercise with the intention of feeling good. Allow
it to be a way to help you feel your best, to feel
stronger, with more energy, rather than focussing on
punishing your body for what you’ve eaten.
Find a movement practice you enjoy - there is no
right or wrong - but doing something you hate just
for aesthetic reasons isn’t very loving at all.
Fuelling our bodies with healthy foods that are
fresh, whole and nourishing makes us feel better
both physically and mentally.
But just like exercise, punishing yourself with
a strict diet just to look a certain way isn’t very
loving either.
Take the focus away from what you look like, and
nourish your body instead as a celebration of all it
does for you. As a celebration of how it keeps going
tirelessly to support you in every aspect of your life.
Making exercise and nourishing food a priority
isn’t about wanting to change our bodies. It’s about
appreciating the bodies we live in right now, and
acknowledging that they deserve as much love
as possible.
And as we pour love into our bodies, that love
spills out into the rest of our being.Sabi Kerr is a yoga teacher and life coach. It’s her
passion to support people in developing deep levels
of self-love, so that they can move forwards and
create their fullest lives (sabikerr.com)A Year of Self-Love
February Make your physical wellbeing a priority