WCoach9 by Maria Koropecky, Ammolite Wellness Coach
Several years ago around 2005, I was working as a housekeeper at a fancy B&B and I started to develop a sore shoulder from vacuuming too much. Occupational hazard, I guess. 🙂 The dull ache was interfering with my availability for work, so I went to see a healer called Magdalena.
Magdalena introduced me to energy healing and come to think of it, I haven’t had any problems with my shoulder since.
I remember after my visit with Magdalena, she read Louise Hay’s “Self Love Affirmation” to me and I have re-read the words and have thought about what self love looks like many times over the years.
I Love Myself, Therefore…
~ Louise Hay, You Can Heal Your Life
Deep at the center of my being, there is an infinite well of love.
I now allow this love to flow to the surface. It fills my heart, my body, my mind, my consciousness, my very being, and radiates out from me in all directions and returns to me multiplied. The more love I use and give, the more I have to give. The supply is endless. The use of love makes me feel good, it is an expression of my inner joy.
I love myself; therefore, I take loving care of my body. I lovingly feed it nourishing foods and beverages, I lovingly groom it and dress it, and my body lovingly responds to me with vibrant health and energy.
I love myself; therefore I provide for myself a comfortable home, one that fills all my needs and is a pleasure to be in. I fill the rooms with the vibration of love so that all who enter, myself included, will feel this love and be nourished by it.
I love myself; therefore I work at a job I truly enjoy doing, one that uses my creative talents and abilities, working with and for people I love and who love me, and earning a good income.
I love myself; therefore, I behave and think in a loving way to all people for I know that that which I give out returns to me multiplied. I only attract loving people in my world, for they are a mirror of what I am.
I love myself; therefore I forgive and totally release the past and all past experiences and I am free.
I love myself; therefore I live totally in the now, experiencing each moment as good and knowing that my future is bright and joyous and secure, for I am a beloved child of the Universe and the Universe lovingly takes care of me now and forever more.
And so it is.
Thank you, Louise Hay. There’s so much around self love to explore including:
- self care
- self acceptance
- self worth
- self esteem
- self respect
- self compassion
- self healing
- self forgiveness
- self talk
- giving thanks
- being present, and
- divine love.
What would it be like if you were to feel incredibly loving toward yourself?
One day I asked myself this question in my journal and this is the answer I received:
Show up and dance with me!
What if I felt like I AM an empowered woman of the Universe, standing strong and wise, first? What if I presented myself as a whole being, fully and completely loving, trusting, and accepting myself in this grande Universe now?
I’d be smiling. I’d be taking action steps from a place of strength and power. I’d feel lighter. I’d trust myself and my footing, I’d trust the moment, I’d trust my partner, and I’d trust the music that surrounds us and is within us. That would be amazing!
OK. Let’s be amazing!
Maria Koropecky, Ammolite Wellness Coach
Self love is a radical concept!
In my experience, people have been talking about self love for years, but I’d like to put my own spin on it. It’s not enough to know about self love; now’s the time to actually feel it for yourself.
So how do you go about loving yourself and how do you know you love yourself?
I used to find it hard to believe myself when I said to myself, “I love you, Maria.”
I also didn’t acknowledge or even remember all of the things I did that would be considered acts of self love, like
- leaving an unhealthy situation, or
- writing in my journal, or
- paying my bills on time, or
- choosing wholesome, organic vegetables over potato chips, or
- not putting poison into my body like cigarette smoke or alcohol, or
- putting on sunscreen before I walk outside, or
- any number of seemingly little things that add up over time.
I couldn’t quite feel the love even though I had been taking pretty good care of myself.
Then something clicked! I realized I wasn’t using my own personal love language!
You’re probably familiar with the book, “The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate” (1992) by Gary Chapman.
As a refresher, Gary Chapman’s, 5 Love Languages that help people express and experience love are:
- receiving gifts
- quality time
- words of affirmation
- acts of service, and
- physical touch.
How do you like to show your love to the people and animals in your life? Your go-to’s are a clue about how you can show love towards yourself and receive the message loud and clear!
I think revisiting “5 Love Languages” is a good place to start but this time, instead of expressing them to others, try applying them to yourself.
That’s what I did and you know what I figured out? My personal love language doesn’t exactly fit in any of these five categories. (I left a clue in my journal entry above about what my love language is).
Sure, I’m able to give and receive love by giving my time, energy, healing touch, or words of encouragement to myself and others, but what I personally really respond to is music!
So fun!
These days, music, singing, and dancing are the best ways for me to communicate straight to my own heart and actually feel love towards myself. It’s my way of giving and receiving love and feeling love from the inside out!
So, if I’m ever feeling low or discouraged, I sing my heart out! Singing songs allows me to feel the love and once again, I know deep down in my heart that I love myself unconditionally.
No matter how you approach it, loving yourself is a powerful source for good! You have to love yourself first before you can truly enjoy the blessings of life.
If you don’t love yourself first from the inside out, you will have trouble creating what you want, and if you do find some success, you will not feel fulfilled.
Don’t settle for a dull, ho hum, or uninspired existence.
Remember to love yourself first!
If you’d like to know the best recipe for an amazing life,
- contemplate the idea of self love,
- communicate to yourself in your own love language, and
- love yourself wholeheartedly!
And on that note, I’d like to add to Louise Hay’s lyrics from above:
I love myself; therefore, I sing and dance to my heart’s content!
How about you? Do you like music as much as I do? Do you have a favourite song that always lifts your spirits? Let us know in the comments!
About the Author
Maria Koropecky is a Wellness Coach and Blogger who specializes in self-care. Maria is currently accepting new wellness coaching clients. If you’d like spiritual guidance on this topic, please make an appointment for a Crystal Mapping session with Maria today!
Bonus Journaling Prompt
We often forget the nice things we do for ourselves each day.
To keep the well of self love topped up and to remind yourself that you’re lovable, worthy, and enough just as you are right now, with or without this, that, or the other, consider exploring the topic of self love in your journal (along with your gratitudes, if you want).
Loving yourself has to come from you, for you – not from anyone outside of you.
Make the decision to know you accept yourself just as you are without looking to anyone else for validation, permission, or approval.
Keeping a journal of your self love journey is a sign of a healthy person. Journalling is not about beating yourself up for making mistakes, or complaining about the people in your life or what’s not working.
Part of loving yourself means building a positive case for yourself. You can start collecting evidence that you’re a wonderful and amazing person by recording all of the lovely things you do each day.
I know there’s something that you’ve done today already that is sweet and generous. The next time you catch yourself doing something kind and loving toward yourself, “Say, I’m going to put that in my journal!”
Each day in your journal, start with, “I love myself for…”
Like: “I love myself for taking the stairs instead of the elevator today.”
Or, “I love myself for the witty comment I said at work and everyone burst our laughing.”
Or, “I love myself for listening to my intuition.”
It all counts!
Add gratitudes to your list and you’re off to the races! Green lights all the way!
Keep a running list in your journal of positive things about yourself, such as favours you’ve done, positive qualities you have, and things you like about yourself and then you can refer to your list anytime you need a little boost in your self esteem.
The beauty is, eventually, you won’t need to find more reasons to love yourself and you’ll naturally reach a point where you’ll simply say, “I Love Myself.”
