Virginia Samdahl, the first Occidental Reiki Master, frequently inspired her students by reminding them, “The only difference between Christ and us is that He was born knowing He was divine, and we go to the grave denying that we are.”
Stop for a moment and breathe in that thought. How different would every moment of your life be if you truly believed you were a spiritual being of divine grace and love? What could you accomplish if you thought you could not fail? How deeply and powerfully could you love yourself, and your life?
The reality is, loving ourselves can be an illusive pursuit until we’re able to make peace with our past and present, and find our spiritual center.
Every second of every day we’re bombarded with thousands of external messages. We’re shown how to look, how to act, how much “stuff” we should have, and what we should care about. It’s too easy to give away our power and bow to social pressure. In the process, our self-esteem and confidence take a bad hit. Fortunately, there are healthy habits we can adopt to start to come back into balance, and truly see ourselves as lovable spiritual beings helping to make the world a happier, healthier, more loving place.
Try these tips to fall in love with yourself:
1) Be grateful. Even before you set one foot out of bed in the morning, take a moment to express gratitude for this new day, and this new opportunity. This will start your day on a positive, loving note.
2) Forgive. The God-given gift of “free will” means we each make our own choices. A huge step towards loving ourselves means acknowledging not every single choice we’ve made has been ideal, and letting go of harsh self-judgment. Instead of hanging onto guilt or regret, figure out what valuable lesson you learned in the process, even if the lesson was, “I’ll never try THAT again!” Then, forgive yourself, and just let it go.
3) Check in with yourself. Monitor your thoughts by examining your feelings. If you want to feel happy, you must first have a happy thought. Think about something positive you’ve done, or you’re going to do. By cultivating happy, positive, self-loving thoughts, you’re rewiring your brain to produce happy, positive, self-loving feelings. You get to choose your thoughts, and your thoughts will determine how you feel.
4) Learn something new. The science of epigenetics shows us that when we’re doing something we haven’t done before – whether it’s learning another language, taking a raw food prep class, parasailing or going on a first date, we’re rewiring our brains. We’re literally getting out of a neural rut. When we’re tackling something new that also fascinates us, we’re producing some very happy connections and chemicals that make loving ourselves that much easier.
5) Reflect. Before you go to bed, take a moment to think of the three most positive things that happened to you that day, and what your role was in making them happen. Pretty soon, you’re going to see the pattern of how you constantly set good things in motion. You’ll find it’s much easier to appreciate your efforts, and start to love yourself.
6) Go within. Carve out a special time daily to meditate and pray. As you sit in sacred silence, and gently enter into the Alpha state, you draw closer to God consciousness. In that divine space of expansion and connection, you will awaken to the truth that God is within you. You are divine. God is love. You are love.
“Namaste” isn’t just a trendy yoga class greeting. It literally means, “The God in me bows to the God in you.” It’s affirming your heavenly perfection and grace. The next time someone says it to you, breathe the truth of the statement into your heart, then return the blessing. Know that you, too, are divine. Feel the love.
Come feel the love and connection during a transformational visit to the Optimum Health Institute in San Diego or Austin, Texas. Our caring team can help you achieve your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual goals for optimal health. Visit our website at www.optimumhealth.org , and call us at (800) 993-4325 to make your reservation.
