February already!  The month of love!  We show our love for others in so many different ways, but how much love are you showing yourself?

Being able to love yourself as you would others, can change your life completely. I don’t mean thinking you are the absolute best at everything, or the most gorgeous – it’s not having a big ego or being vain.  It’s about holding yourself in a high regard, for your wellbeing and happiness. 

It’s accepting yourself – body, mind and soul, your weaknesses and strengths, your looks and thoughts.  Appreciating everything about yourself because it makes you uniquely you.

It’s about loving and caring for yourself as you would a loved one or friend.  Being kind to yourself and tending to your needs as you would to others.

It’s a very important part of mental health and wellbeing!  It can help to keep depression and anxiety at bay and reduce stress.

We live in a society of criticism, so it can feel challenging not to criticise ourselves and show ourselves kindness and compassion instead.  We have been brought up surrounded by ideal images and strong opinions on what we should and shouldn’t be.  This is going to have a big impact on our mindsets and how we view ourselves.  The more flaws we see in ourselves, the confusion, frustration and general upset in our lives grows.

Journaling openly and honestly with yourself can unlock the door to an abundance of love hiding away inside of you.  When you journal consistently about your thoughts, feelings, emotions, and behaviours you are collecting a wealth of information about you.  Reflect on your words regularly and you will start to see patterns, triggers, and similarities, learning more about what makes you say, think, feel and act as you do.

This knowledge is so important, because once you truly understand who you are (and not who you believe you “should” be), the more confident you will feel.  Your self-worth will grow as you accept the parts you can’t change; ditch the habits you don’t like and take more care of your health. 

A few ways journaling can help increase your self-love

Raises your self-awareness – writing about your thoughts, feeling and emotions will help you be more aware of them.  We think and do so many things without noticing or realising!  You can’t change anything if you’re not aware of what needs changing, accepting or embracing.

Validates your emotions – as you write and process your thoughts, feelings and emotions, you are giving yourself a voice and proving you are worth listening to.  Making time to work through things that upset you, or to help you understand situations is telling yourself that you are worth it!  You are allowed to have these feelings and emotions – feel them and process them.

Increase your personal development and growth – writing and then reflecting on your writing will boost your personal growth as you question and challenge your thoughts.  Where do these beliefs you hold about yourself originate from?  How are they serving you now?  As you learn and challenge, your self-confidence will grow too and you will start to respect yourself more.

Helps you to put yourself first – the simple act of making time for you to journal is a form of self-discipline and a way of telling yourself that you are worth making the effort for.  This will start to spill over into other forms of self-care as you feel better about yourself.

Loving yourself is a continuous work in progress, as you grow and change so will your self-perception, so regularly checking in with your journal on where you are with your self-love and self-care is important to maintain and boost your levels of love and care.

10 Self-Love journal prompts for you

What do you see when you look in the mirror? 

How do you show yourself kindness and compassion on a daily basis?

List everything you love about yourself

List everything about yourself that you’d like to change.  How do these two lists compare?

What are your top 10 personal qualities?

Write about a time that you feel you truly shined

How did you show yourself love and respect today?

Remember – The benefits of treating yourself with love and care are not only felt by you – but by those around you.  When you are feeling happier with yourself and more energetic, this rubs off on to others! 

For more free self-love journal prompts visit my website!