Unconditional self-love
Do you feel worthy of love and acceptance as you are? Yoga teaches us that we are perfect as we are and deserve love. So, why we try to hard to to prove ourselves worthy of love?
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that most of us learn early in live that we are only accepted and loved when we meet expectations… and we have to work to earn it.
We learn to live life with different degrees of conditional love…and even become addicted to meeting these conditions. Some of these additions are:
- Need for approval
- Obsess with perfection
- Feel pressured by standards of appearance
- Feel pressured to find a special person
- Build great expectations
Does any of these additions resonate with you? Can you see how they interfere with accepting others or being accepted? how can they prevent you from receiving or giving love?
We have our work cut out for us, don’t we? It does help to know where to get started. How about starting with ourselves? We all heard it but is so true. How can we have healthy love relationships if we don’t have a healthy relationship with ourselves?
This weekend, let’s spend some time practicing unconditional self-love. Let’s give up the idea that self-love is selfish. Let’s be kind and forgiving with ourselves, especially in our yoga practice.
Whatever way you choose to celebrate today, know that you are loved. Spend some time with your friend within. Open your heart and let love flow!
Self-love mantra
Ramdesh Kaur has a guided self-love meditation that I am very fond of. I transcribe here some of the words that sometimes I use as a mantra:
I am bountiful.
I am beautiful.
I am blissful. I am.
I am at peace.
I am at home.
I am loved!
Lotus mudra
This mudra is a symbol for purity and belongs to the heart chakra. It helps to relief loneliness and despair.
- For the open lotus position, put your hands together, spread out your fingers vertically. The lower portion of your palms and the pads of the little fingers and thumbs are touching.
- For the bud position, close your hands and place the fingernails on top of each other.
- Start opening your hands. After four breaths, close your hands into the bud position.
- Then join the back of your fingers and the back of your hands. Let them hang relaxed.
- Repeat several times
Ooh I love this and have been thinking about self love a LOT lately! I am learning how vital it is. Thank you for the mudra and mantra, it is beautiful. I also like ‘sat nam’ roughly translating to ‘I am truth.’ Sending you lots of love!!! xxx