On loving yourself: Lesson 2

The most important relationship​ you'll ever have is the one within. And self-love is less of a goal to check off your list and more so an overall lifestyle. Here is a recommended journaling prompt in service of this journey.

While it is absolutely paramount to your overall wellbeing to have a good quality support system, being able to be your own support system is equally if not even more important. After all, you are your only guaranteed constant in life! As such, you should be making your relationship with yourself a priority every single day. With that being said, take a moment to carefully consider the following questions:

• How do you show love, care and support for yourself?
• What are the acts of self-love you take for yourself?
• How often do you engage in these acts?
• What outcomes do you notice from taking them?

While engaging in more "passive" coping activities that are truly nourishing for you are strongly encouraged--and you are encouraged to continue engaging in such activities on a regular basis--hopefully you are also making room for more "active" coping activities like journaling, which provides a space to actively confront, regulate and learn from various feelings you've likely had to compartmentalize during your waking and working hours in order to function. When committed to on a daily basis--even on a small scale if you only have 15 minutes to spare--it can also help prevent stress from building up in your mind, body, and spirit and help you better course-correct your days and weeks ahead when you're understanding yourself through your emotional experiences and needs.

Accordingly, below is a list of recommended daily journaling prompts to commit to either toward the beginning or the end of each day. Remember, the intention with this practice is nurturing self-love. With that being said, I also like to recommend folding in mindfulness, gratitude, and self-compassion practice as you actively confront feelings that you may have had to compartmentalize during your working hours. That way you are deliberately bringing up potentially difficult experiences and developing or strengthening healthy tools for emotion regulation. Imagine approaching this exercise like a curious, compassionate parent and/or friend who is checking in about your day and showing genuine interest in your experience. Trust yourself to move through your journaling intuitively with this directive. If needed, consider the following questions:

• How are you feeling right now? Practice observing your inner experiences, whether they be thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and/or general feelings, without judging them. 
• How was your day today overall?
• What is at least one thing you feel proud and/or appreciative of yourself for doing today? Practice offering yourself affirmations or words of encouragement, such as I'm so proud of you! or you're killing it!
• What did you feel particularly challenged by today? Try writing down as much context as you can of the challenging moments, and continue to practice observing and describing your inner experience without judgment. Offer yourself comfort and space if painful feelings arise, perhaps simply by starting with an affirmation that whatever you're feeling is ok right now. What can you learn from the challenge(s) that you can integrate moving forward? Give yourself strong words of reinforcement and encouragement for working through hard experiences, especially if this is something you'd normally avoid.
• With the information you've gained from this exercise, what changes might you need to make with the day(s) ahead? What are your intentions for the day ahead?
• What are you grateful for overall from this exercise and/or the day you just reflected upon? Offer yourself comfort, love, and affirmations in closing.