Romancing yourself is one of the best ways to get to know yourself.
Self knowledge guides the path that we travel on to being our authentic selves all the time.
Today I share 10 ways to love yourself.
Romancing yourself is about focusing on activities that bring you joy, relaxation, and the feeling of well-being.
Photo by Anton Sobotyak on Unsplash
Welcome to Authentic Living with Linda
I’m Linda Codlin
Welcome, My Friends.
Valentine’s day, has just gone.
Hubby completely forgot, it wasn’t until the pair of us were sitting watching tele, holding hands, that we realized, we’d missed the most “romantic” day of the year.
This fact did not phase me at all, we tend to show our caring and affection for each other every day of the year in one way or another.
It can be as sweet at holding hands, while watching tele, or as dramatic as ‘rescuing’ me from some foolish act, I thought was a good idea.
It can also be as annoying and embarrassing as being ribbed about that foolish act months later.
It can be as personal as a back rub, or a favourite dessert surprise.
We show our affection for each other in many ways that are relevant to us.
We use our love languages to communicate our caring for the other, and those languages are quite different.
How do you show affection for the loved ones in your life?
Remember; You are your greatest loved one, aren’t you?
How do you romance yourself?
Romancing yourself with or without a partner is a fabulous way to take care of yourself.
When we are confident in ourselves, we take care of what we need for ourselves, without a martyr attitude or any hard feelings that no-one else will do it.
Self-love and self-care is about caring about your authentic inner self. Showing yourself the affection you deserve.
By taking care of you, you release that needy energy that keeps those who you want in your space from showing up.
When you are happy and relaxed, you radiate the energy of joy. Who doesn’t want that, right?
Romancing yourself is about finding out what you love.
It’s having confidence to do what you enjoy with or without a partner, or friends.
Some times the greatest gift you can give yourself is going to the museum by yourself.
I have created a list of 10 ways you can romance yourself, getting to know you authentically, discovering what you really like and what you don’t.
Experiment, try a new activity, push your boundaries, laugh at your successes, laugh at your crazy attempts that don’t go as you thought they would.
You are creating memories, you are discovering ways to light your soul and re-invigorate yourself.
So the 10 items are …
- Plan a relaxing spa day.
Set aside plenty of time, run a hot bath, use scented oils, or bath salts, or my favourite, bubble bath. I like my bath so full of bubbles I can’t be seen.
Pamper yourself with a face mask, a lovely scented body cream.
If you are not a bath person, plan to have a foot spa, fill a container with warm water, drop epsom salts in the water, or use relaxing oils. Give your feet a delicious massage.
Book yourself into a day spa, and let someone else pamper you.
Plan to relax your body, discover how you like your body to be pampered. - Indulge in your favourite meal.
Cook or order in your favourite meal.
Create an inviting atmosphere, light a candle, set the table with beautiful linen, use your best china and cutlery.
Put away your phone, put away your book. Be present with yourself and the food.
Taste each mouthful, savour the flavours, see if you can identify the spices.
Also plan for a decadent dessert, to round off your special indulgence.
3.Create a cozy atmosphere.
Set up a cozy space, use pillows, cushions, soft blankets, and make a nest for yourself.
Use mood lighting, dimmed lights or side lamps. BE careful if you decide to use candles.
Use a diffuser to scent the room.
If it’s suitable light the fire and enjoy the ambience of the flickering light.
Enjoy reading a good book, watching a favourite movie- possibly a sentimental rerun, or listening to soft music.
Create a space that will rejuvenate your energy.
- Explore a new hobby, a new creative activity.
If you are like me, you will have a list of things you want to try.
Learn to play the piano, learn to use watercolour paints, learn to make a pottery bowl, learn to dance.
The list is endless, use your imagination, if you’ve ever had the thought, “That looks like fun,” or “I should try that.”
Then now is the time to gather your self, and have a go.
Make it fun, fulfilling and enriching. A life full of experiences can be a life lived to the full. - Take yourself on a date.
Dress up, where THAT dress, make your date a memory.
Choose a new place to explore.
Visit a museum, a new restaurant, a park, or a zoo.
Treat yourself to a snack or a dessert, or a night out at the opera, or a live show. Maybe you want to go to the local and listen to the live band playing.
Take yourself somewhere you will enjoy and somewhere memorable. - A romantic get-away with yourself wouldn’t be complete without mindfulness and meditation.
Using technology you have the opportunity to try out many different types of guided meditations to find out which ones suit you.
Create a cosy atmosphere as above and listen to and follow along with a guided meditation.
Focus on your breathing, be present in the moment, and let go of any stress.
Try out a sound bath, abundance meditations, the choice is endless.
Make it playful and have fun. - Move your body.
Romance is about sensuality, move your body sensually, sway and dance with music.
You could do yoga, stretching and moving gracefully, or maybe walking in nature is your thing.
Getting into your body, and out of your head is a great way to romance yourself and feel alive.
Do something different with your body, maybe rock wall climbing, or enrolling in an outdoor confidence course or bouncing on a trampoline.
Have fun, test your body, find out what you like, discover some areas you can stretch and strengthen, areas that you hadn’t thought about before. - Write yourself a love-letter.
You could write a letter to yourself from your future self.
Think about you in ten years time, what would she want to tell you, now that she’s been where you are and came out the other side.
Write your letter as if you were writing to one of your best friends, telling her about all the things you love and appreciate about her.
You deserve to receive a genuine love-letter, so write one to yourself.
Brag about yourself, remind yourself of all the things you have accomplished, all the things you are good at, remind yourself about who you really are and remember to mention your strengths, your positive personality qualities and all everything you are proud of. - Plan a congratulations day.
This is the day you reflect on your goals, your values, and your aspirations.
A congratulation day is where you take note of all the things that are working well in your life, it’s the day you pat yourself on the back.
It’s also the day you evaluate where you are, and where you want to be going.
This would be a great day to journal all your thoughts and feelings, to interview yourself, ask your authentic inner self a pointed question and then answer it.
Use this day to identify any areas of personal development you want to pursue and to set positive intentions for the future.
Remember you are better than you think you are, and you are on the journey to becoming more authentic as you grow. - A list of self-love is not complete without a gratitude journal entry.
Reflect on the things you are over the moon happy about right now in your life. Write these in your journal, feel the emotions of what you are grateful for in your life.
Doing this regularly will help you to foster a positive mindset, and if you sneak a few things you want, but don’t have yet into your gratitude journal you may just manifest them a little quicker.
Positive energy attracts.
Romancing yourself is about focusing on activities that bring you joy, relaxation and the feeling of well-being.
Romancing yourself is about moving closer to your authentic self, loving you in ways you may not be aware you even like yet.
Until next time…
Begin to love on yourself.
Romance yourself, choose one item from this list every week and have fun, draw your true self to you.
xoxox Linda.