A great way of having a daily habit of ‘you time’ and ‘self-love’ is to journal.  And it doesn’t have to be like Bridget Jones or a Dear Diary. Simple is always best and a very powerful way of connecting with YOU. Yup! Like a little one-on-one chat with yourself.

It also needn’t and shouldn't take hours. Just a few minutes a day can make such a huge difference and surprise you with powerful results!

It's also backed up by science which uses rather snazzy words, like "hypothalamus", but right now let's just focus on the essentials. 

Journaling is so good for you

For reducing stress, improving immunity [brill], keeping your memory sharp, and helping to strengthen your emotional functions such as your mood. And best of all, learning to love your unique you!

If you have never journaled before how do you start?

Very easily! All you need is pen and paper. Maybe you'd like to treat yourself to a beautiful note pad and pretty pen. It's up to you! There are ready-made journals with daily quotes to follow too or, you could Google or YouTube journal prompts if you wanted to. There's an array of them to get you started and once you are in the swing of it you'll find that you will naturally get the prompts yourself!

It’s your journal so do it your way, the way that makes you feel best and most comfortable with expressing yourself. Some people like to get artistic and draw or paint.  Between you and I, I'm a BIG fan of calligraphy pens and glitter pens! 

So, you have the pen and paper, now what?

So, the good news is just getting to this point was the hard work. The next bit is easy. Why? Because it's the time you are gifting to be with yourself. Your beautiful self.

I like to make it a bit more special by lighting a beautiful candle. It helps to get me in the right mood and ready for my "ritual". Candle scents also help to trigger your memory of this time of self-love. Just like how the burning of incense in churches and shrines awakens your senses to tune into the moment.

This self-love thing is not complicated. It’s just rolling into being with yourself and giving yourself the gift of time and love. How wonderful!

My 5-day journaling prompts to get you started

So, now you're ready to et going! And here are the five days that I regularly use with my clients to help them to get started. Once you have found your direction, you just need to keep going ...

Day 1 - Relive your best memories 

Sit and write for a few minutes about a moment and time in your life where you felt truly loved and happy. Close your eyes and gently let the memory come forwards. It will. Beautifully as it is there waiting for you to live it again.

Let it flow as you write about it and no worry about spelling or punctuation. Just let the words come through.  When you're finished read it out loud. By reading it aloud it becomes alive.

Do this at least 3 times 24 hours from writing it. In doing this you bring the memory into the spoken word; it starts to breathe and you get to experience those special feelings all over again! 

Day 2 - Let go and clear the way

Sometimes we hold onto things that are pulling us down. We are often harder on ourselves than on others. From the strength of knowing you are loved from day 1, now is a time to write a letter to yourself offering forgiveness. Releasing things you may have held onto. This may trigger you, but be kind and do this gently. 

Once you have written this out you may like to burn this [safely please], or rip it up and just know that it is gone. Clearing the way and making space for something beautiful. Be proud of you. Celebrate you.

You've cleared the way to make the magic happen!

Day 3 - Release your love

This is the fun bit!  Time to switch on and engage with your Inner Child! Take a bunch of coloured pens and write randomly all over a page all the things you love about yourself. Just cover that page with positive words. I love my hands, they have so many stories to tell. You don’t have to explain. Use colours. Draw hearts and flowers or stars. Just fill that page with all the parts of you that you LOVE and enjoy this!

Day 4 – Write an invitation to yourself

Dear Me,

I am inviting you to Love Yourself today and every day spending time doing .... [write something you would like to do daily for YOU - you choose!] 

It could be as simple as continuing journaling or to take five minutes to dance out to a tune. To sit in the quiet and just be, read a few pages of a book, have a pamper session [I have just the tip here - you'll also get to meet me too!]. Go for a short stroll. Draw. Scream. Laugh. It can be ANYTHING and you are going to feel so excited at this invitation. Like you have been invited to a Ball every single day.

Pop what you choose to do in your diary and give it the importance of any other appointment you put in there. It's now non-negotiable self-love and you are awesome!

Day 5 - Imagine the present with no limits 

Write about a perfect day in your life in the present tense. You can be as adventurous as you like with this. No time or financial holds, just go for it. Use the present tense to step into it. I'll give you an example, "as I wake up in my beautiful sea side villa I can hear the sounds of .............."

No limits – just set it free and don’t over think what you want because here you can really have it all right?  So, you do not have to choose! If you want to have a perfect day on safari in Africa you can and then tomorrow, or next week you can have your perfect day sailing the Pacific Ocean.

We're so used to having to make choices or hold back. When you journal, there are no limits. You are the creator and you can experience it all!

These five days should be plenty to get you into the flow but please keep going. You can journal your day and how you felt and any wonderful successes that you had. The more you journal the more it will flow naturally. And the more happiness and self-love you will feel. Science says [and I see it proven day in day out].

Self love isn’t as hard as it feels, nor is it selfish as I said in my previous blog. But it does shine out.

And here's some more truth, when you shine out, we all follow your light!

Isn’t that just so beautiful?

Enjoy your journaling and please don't ever forget to love your beautiful and unique self.

Love

Ruth Bennett

Intuitive Life Coach

Writer and Self Love Enthusiast

P.s. If you missed my first blog on Learning to Love Yourself, you can find it here >> https://www.highbornlondon.com/blogs/real-talk/learn-to-love-yourself-its-not-selfish-by-ruth-bennett