When self-love makes you vomit

The term self-love gets thrown around often, for us… self-love is now a non-negotiable act. We practise self-love for our mental health, to deal with stress and decrease our anxiety.

But we didn’t always think this way. Rewind 4-5 years we’d read about self-love and cringe.

We thought it was wanky and yes it really did make us feel a little queasy. We thought it was just about making time for bubble baths (and we had way better things to do than bubble baths).

Now, we look at the term ‘self-love’ as self-compassion… self-respect… and self-kindness.

For us, this connection allowed us to see why self-love is important and it gave us the reason to actually practise self-love.

Because…

“Self-compassion involves treating yourself with the same kindness, concern, and support you’d show to a good friend. When faced with difficult life struggles, or confronting personal mistakes, failures, and inadequacies, self-compassion responds with kindness rather than harsh self-judgment, recognizing that imperfection is part of the shared human experience.” (Neff & Dahm, 2015).

This realisation helped us see just how nasty we were being to ourselves. It made us aware of the self-loathing thoughts that consumed our minds.

Thoughts like…

  • I need to lose weight. I’m so fat.
  • Why do I have this (*squeezes tummy fat).
  • Why do I have this cellulite, disgusting.
  • Why did I eat that, I will have to do a double workout tomorrow.
  • Urgh, why did I say that I sounded so dumb. What will they think?

You get it yeh?! 

These kinds of thoughts don’t welcome health or happiness. These thoughts don’t welcome love, they’re filled with hate and fear. They’re 100% toxic and 100% false. They make you feel flat, deflated, sad, mad and in a bad mood. They consume you, they steal your time, they steal your joy.

If you’re reading this and can relate, good.

Realise this way of thinking holds you back from feeling the richness of life. These thoughts hide the magic that is right in front of your nose.

It’s time to welcome love back into your mind and into your heart.

It’s time to practise self-love (just call it self-compassion or self-respect if you still think it’s wanky).

HOW TO PRACTISE SELF-LOVE

  1. Choose YOU. Even if that means you might have to let someone down. If that person loves/respects you and you’re honest they will understand wholeheartedly.
  2. Take care of your health and your body. Rest when you need to rest, exercise and move when you need to move. Choose a way of movement that you LOVE, that you enjoy and not just to lose weight or change your physical appearance. This is why we love Yoga and Pilates. This is why ACCEPTANCE is the core value of MerryBody, so much more than just a way to exercise.
  3. Embrace ALL of who you are. The ‘good’ and the ‘bad’… there is no such thing as perfect, you are human. When you feel shame, give yourself permission to let go of this feeling and know it’s simply not required!
  4. Connect to yourself and tune into your life desires. Your goals, dreams and desires are worthy. Give yourself permission to spend time working towards what YOU want to create… not just the dreams of your partner/work place/kids. You are important. Your dreams are important. Step into your spot light.
  5. Speak your truth and live in alignment to your heart. It’s about speaking up when you want to speak up and keeping quiet when you want to stay quiet.
  6. Love and accept yourself NOW… not after certain conditions. Love and accept yourself even when you fail, even when you make mistakes, even when you still read about self-love and feel queasy (hehe)!

We love that MerryBody has become an act of self-love for so many members. It’s become their ‘me time’. Time to move their bodies so they can build strength, flexibility, confidence and fitness. A way to decrease anxiety and stress. To move with the breath mindfully and get present. To connect to themselves and their hearts.

Each MerryBody class welcomes in health and joy. Not just in your body, in your mind and soul as well. Whether you never exercise or you’re an avid exerciser. There are modifications to make it easier or more advanced.

MerryBody gives you the chance to be part of a community where your mindset is empowered, you’re encouraged to move with the intention of kindness and respect… not as a punishment, not for weight loss, not for before and after photos.

>>> Come and join MerryBody HERE. We can’t wait to welcome you in.

Always merrymaking,

Emma + Carla

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