I've never been one for Valentines Day, right down to the candy grams and cheesy 'be mine' cards you received... or didn't receive. Makes you wonder if this is where our inner child ' worthiness' all started! That being said... I am lucky enough to have been loved so good, I could finally believe I was worth it. The rule of thumb is 'you gotta love yourself to be able to let love in'. I'm not saying that's not true, though I would say working on loving yourself... is a pretty darn great start!
As a workaholic that has worked (... and still working) for years on learning to love thyself (second career?). I sure do work to show myself that! Let me explain: without outing my ego, I'm in love with myself (so many layers to pick apart there...). Yet, I tend to allow myself to be over run with stress, which leads to poor diet choices, missing the gym and poor breathing habits. And all that causes anxiety, depression and insomnia. Not to mention the visible side effects of poor skin quality, hair loss and... awful digestion. For someone such as myself that also has an auto-immune skin disease, it also means painful skin rashes. It's all one big domino effect, with the effects (symptoms) harder to over come then managing the main cause in the first place.
The good news? There are tools and professionals to help. Yes, it will require building new habits and sticking to them, though that too is possible. Here are some of my go to habits that I have tried to keep consistent over the years:
- taking more baths then showers, especially at night ( don't check those work emails after either!).
- set a 5 minute timer on your phone to close your eyes and focus on correct breathing ( you can even set an ongoing reminder on your phone for this to happen at the same time everyday!).
- finding gratitude and repeating positive affirmations (especially for tough times ' I am enough. I am grateful for these opportunities.').
- schedule gym visits. formulate a plan so you feel good about what you are doing there.
- weekly meal prep or meal plan services.
Try those out, one by one and let us know how they go. Remember it takes 30 days to build a new habit and about 3-6 months to truly see results! This topic is so important to us, we've invited Naturopathic Doctor, Dr. Hilary Chambers to speak with us at Queen's, along side myself, founder of Queen's Shop. And you are all invited if you'd like to attend click here for the link to the event page, where you can reserve your spot. (click on our Doctor above for a sneak peak at all her good good!). Go love yourself!
