Positive self talk
How positive self-talk can improve your mental and physical well-being.
I did a poll over on FTW @finetunedwardrobe about how we talk to ourselves. Is it positive or does it need work? The results that came back were astonishing. As women we often see someone dressed well and we are quick to pay them a compliment or make a mental note of how good they look.
However, when it comes to our own personal appearance, we are the first to criticise ourselves, often saying unkind things to ourselves. We may not only criticise our physical appearance, but also our capabilities and abilities, our self-worth. Thanks to the power of our inner critics, most of us have a very poor opinion of ourselves. This self-criticism merely keeps us miserable and stuck in self-loathing.
Ask yourself this!!
“If you had a friend who talked to you like you sometimes talk to yourself, would you continue to hang around with that person?”
It’s not just what we say out loud that signifies negative self-esteem, but also how you look at yourself, how you compare yourself to others. The voice in our heads, that inner critic, is what is the most damaging.
“Unkind criticism is never part of a meaningful critique of you. Its purpose is not to teach or to help, its purpose is to punish. ”
Each of us has certain characteristics we define as ‘good’ and those we define as ‘bad.’ The parts of ourselves that we continually reject want to be acknowledged and loved. Until we learn to honour these characteristics we dislike, they will frequently feature in our thoughts, doing whatever they can to get our attention.
What aspects of yourself do you reject?
Take a few minutes to consider that part of yourself you are unhappy with. Take time to explore this and how it makes you feel. Then say something kind about it, eventually this will become easier, you will get stringer emotionally and past negative beliefs about yourself will heal. This In turn, will strengthen your self-love journey.
In my opinion, if we were to make only one change to transform the quality of our lives, it would be to strengthen our self-love Just by encouraging our self-respect, we will start sending a little love our own way. Also take time to check in with yourself and your feelings about yourself. Starting to accept yourself as you are and learning to have a positive balance in your emotions will help your mental and physical well-being.
Different forms of negative self-talk that we as women must stop!!
I am not good enough
I cannot do it
I hate my pregnancy stretch marks
I hate my scars
I hate my mum tum
I have fat legs
I couldn’t wear that, what would people say/think
You look better than me,
I am too Fat/too skinny
I need to lose weight to be able to look good
I would never look good in vibrant colours
Certain kind of outfits don’t look good on me
My ankles are too fat for heels
I don’t have the figure for that
Nothing ever looks good on me
“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”
Self-love is also about Taking breaks!!
Taking rest periods throughout the day and planning time off, do wonders for our mental health. They help SHIFT OUR THINKING from its habitual and stuck patterns. Taking a break allows us to have a spacious mental flow that provides us with ENERGY AND CREATIVITY. They give us TIME FOR REFLECTION, so we can step back and look at what’s happening in our lives with greater detachment. We become more sensitive, more alert, more aware and more loving
Finally, we are stronger when we BALANCE DOING with BEING. All work and no play throws our life out of balance and endangers our health. Our bodies and minds need sufficient rest for recuperation. This is critically important with the level of stress in our lives these days.
I challenge you to take that moment for yourself and devote some self-love to your well-being.
I would love to know if you found this blog useful? and also to know how your self talk or self love journey is at the moment just comment below.
