What Does Self Love Look Like?
Guest blog by Erin Murphy, Administrative Medical Assistant, Philadelphia Integrative Medicine
When it comes to wellness, there is a tool called the "Wellness Wheel" to help you assess your level of satisfaction in the different domains of your life. Some wellness wheels are simple and others are more complex, but they typically include the following: physical, emotional, social, mental, spiritual, environmental, and occupational wellness. Each of these different domains offers a profound opportunity for you to deepen your self-love.
How satisfied are you physically? Are you satisfied with the amount of movement you experience in a day? Do you move with ease? Are you satisfied and nourished by the foods you are eating? Do you breathe deeply and comfortably? How is your sleep? Improving the quality of your physical wellness can be a profound act of self-love for your physical body.
How satisfied are you mentally? "Mental nutrition is every bit as important as oral nutrition" - from the Wellness Workbook. Do your patterns of thought serve you and make you feel good about yourself? Do you find yourself living in the present in your mind or are you reliving past events or anxiously anticipating future events? Developing a mindfulness practice to help you become aware of your own thoughts can turn your mind into a powerful tool of self-love!
How satisfied are you emotionally? Do you express or repress your emotions? Do you allow yourself to feel and express joy? Do you allow yourself to express anger and grief in a way that does not hurt yourself or others? When we learn to befriend our emotions instead of being in opposition with them, we open ourselves to give and receive more love.
I encourage you to examine the other areas of the wellness wheel to see how you can transform them into tools of self love! One idea would be to print out a wellness wheel and rate your satisfaction in each area. Pick the area that you rated the lowest and brainstorm some ways that you can raise your satisfaction in that area of your life. Also, our upcoming workshop - Walk the Path, Love Yourself Now - will be present another good opportunity for those interested in developing a more loving relationship with themselves (click here for details and registration info).
Here are some examples of wellness wheels below (from the Wellness Workbook):
