Cultivate Self Love
As with all forms of love, self-love is innate within us all, yet it can lay dormant for extended periods. When we are children, we are naturally tuned into ourselves and unabashedly exude comfort in displaying our true nature and being to the Universe for all to witness. As we continue to grow older and learn from the society we find ourselves in, we both, actively and subconsciously, absorb ideas, morals, ethics and behaviors - some beneficial and others detrimental.
I have had to re-learn to love myself. Somewhere along the path of this life-journey, I was influenced in some way to treat myself in a way that did not serve the entirety of my being. Self-doubt and self-loathing crept up through the tangled web of my mind and would surface in ways that would harm and cause stagnation throughout the entirety of me. Acceptance of self, ease of being and growth all battled for attention but were overcome by shadows of negativity brought on by years of conditioning.
When I discovered the complete practice of yoga - mind, body & spirit - I rediscovered self-acceptance, I rediscovered self-growth, I rediscovered self-love. This was uniquely different from my childhood self though. These practices now have intention behind them and require acute attention often. The journey of self-love does not come easy, nor is it without its challenges.
We must live from and listen to our hearts. They carry supreme intelligence that must not be ignored. Every flutter is an opportunity to truly connect with our heart-mind, and to allow it to be our true guide. Its unique language is transduced from energy and translated into an infinite array, in hopes that it will catch our attention. And when it does, we will intentionally draw our internal gaze there and allow its wisdom to guide our being.
Our heart knows that self-doubt holds no purpose and self-loathing holds no space if we are meant to walk lightly upon this Earth - content with our entire being. We do not enjoy these self-defeating traits within ourselves - they are there because we are human and we must objectively acknowledge their existence. We all have unique journeys but all of us have had to contend with human suffering in some form throughout our lifetimes.
It is now up to us individually to own our journey and to forge our own path forward. There is work that must be done to break yourself free and to live a life rich in self-love. What are the alternatives? You are here to live - why not love? Why not love yourself unconditionally? Why not practice pure acceptance of your entire self and exude pure joy in knowing your true self? And when you rediscover yourself, do not be afraid to share yourself with the Universe - in doing so you may just inspire the soul next to you and they may, in turn, do the same to another, on and on to infinity until, together, we elevate the collective consciousness.
Evan Scharfeld