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The subject of this particular blog is one that is extremely important to me. Maybe it’s the anticipation of a brand new year that has brought up some deep life questions and reflections, but whatever initiated my thoughts; all roads led me back to the importance of nurturing genuine self-care. I believe that when we open our hearts to the power of even one intentional act of self-love per day, it solidifies the foundation for the most meaningful love story of our lives, the one with ourselves.
I can’t help noticing how easy it is for many women to criticize almost every aspect of themselves. They judge and doubt their worthiness for love, their intelligence, their mothering skills, and the shape of their bodies. This needs to stop! If we listen to our self-criticisms long enough our mind will believe these lies as truths. In turn, we make poor life choices based on a narrow lens, limiting our opportunities. This is unacceptable. So I am sharing the most essential self-care practices to help you love your gorgeous self to the fullest and thrive in 2018.
Grow self-compassion – Self-compassion is caring for ourselves the way we would for a close friend. My thought is we need to start saturating our beautiful beings with as much of this as humanly possible! We do this naturally for our friends, our colleagues and our children. We need to incorporate this into our own lives, now. When I teach my Booty Burn class I end each sweaty session with 3 important breaths to reset ourselves and create powerful habits. One breath is to deeply inhale a personal compliment. The action step is, to say something gentle, kind & positive to yourself. It’s a quiet acknowledgement. Believe it, feel a lift in spirit and turn it into a habit. Every day give yourself a personal compliment.
Practice Gratitude – I love the saying “what you appreciate, appreciates” it’s so right on! Wherever we put our focus is what will shine the brightest and have the biggest impact in our lives. We all have setbacks but if we make it a ritual of giving thanks to the universe for what is going great in our lives, our mind-set shifts from negative to a positive, our stress decreases and we become more aware of other things we can be grateful for. This is a Positive Psychology fact. Often in yoga I’ll spend 5 still moments chanting my gratitude to myself and it feels so good.
Movement Matters – Of all my self-care techniques, this is the most essential one because it gives us so much power! Physical activity is like setting into motion our body’s magic powers to make us happier, feel more energetic and buffer stress. It’s the perfect way to increase concentration from the adrenaline rush & it just simply makes you feel better! Get up, get moving & exercise! Jorge Cruise, NY Times Best selling author and my dear friend calls it “Move To Improve” – listen to my podcast with him, episode 24, its loaded with inspiration! BrookeBurkeShow.com If time has been your excuse, I just eliminated that one for you because we can work out together at home or anywhere now. You asked for it and now my app is live! BrookeBurkeBody.com
Create Your Vision – Take a moment and visualize how you’d like to be in 2018. What does the future you long for look like, feel like? Be specific. This is your vision. It is your road map to your goals or higher purpose. Many people set goals and don’t reach them because they lose focus and they didn’t approach them with full commitment. You must visualize with loads of details to rapidly accelerate the achievement of your goals and ambitions. Train your brain! Mental practices actually enhance motivation! Let your thoughts become actions.
Self-Affirmation – Positive self-love affirmations are a wonderful tool to increase happiness. It’s about going inward, inside of us, for a healthy dose of love not looking to get it from an outside source. I recently had an ah-ha moment when I heard my breath work instructor say, “It doesn’t matter what anyone else says to you, it only matters what you say to yourself.” The more you repeat affirmations the faster your brain will accept these as truths and the greater your self-esteem. And yes, your body is listening to your thoughts so choose them kindly. We must re-wire our brains and affirmations are proven methods of self-improvement.
Practice these 5 actions daily and check in with me for inspiration and motivation.
Here’s to a new year, and here’s to a happier us!
