3 Steps To Take Toward Self Acceptance

Something I have noticed in the self love movement is that it often doesn't include or explain that you're going to have hard days sometimes. Some days you're not going to feel self love. Some days you might pick on yourself no matter how far you have come on your self acceptance journey. The more we're able to normalize these days, the easier they can become to navigate.

Having a day where self love is harder to tap into is not a sign that you have moved backward or something is wrong. This is often why I focus less on self love and more on self acceptance. If we can accept how we're feeling on any particular day, self love might flow through us easier as we're no longer fighting what is showing up. Self acceptance means also accepting that you will have days where you will look in the mirror and may have a more difficult time stepping into gratitude for what you see. When you notice that happens, we can practice non-attachment. This is just one day, one moment that will pass at some point.

As you explore cultivating more self acceptance for you exactly as you are at any moment, here are three steps you can explore taking that can facilitate stepping into self acceptance with more ease.

1. Unfollow individuals on social media that spark comparison, judgment, shame, and guilt.

As you're diving into deeply appreciating you just as you are, it can be supportive to unfollow or unsubscribe from following anything that sparks thoughts in your mind that you're not good enough. As you scroll through your social media feeds this next week, notice your reactions. If you come across a message, a post, an email that initiates sensations and emotions of feeling tight, restrictive, and produce shallow breathing, this is your body letting you know that this message is not something that your body can perhaps digest, assimilate, and process at this time. For now, it might be time to unfollow or unsubscribe from that person or message to give yourself space to step into a new relationship with you.

2. Stop labeling foods as good or bad.

When we label food as bad and then find ourselves eating that food often what can happen is that we become a "bad" person for eating it. You can see how this can potentially get in the way of self acceptance. Releasing all labels on food can mean that no matter what you decide to eat at any moment is you doing the best you can to take care of you and that was the exact food you needed. If you're like, "Stephanie, did my body really need all of that ice cream?" My answer is YES! Each eating experience is an opportunity to learn more about ourselves. Whatever you decide to nourish your body with is always good enough and can teach you about you so that every meal is a chance to step into self acceptance.

3. Stop identifying if you have gained or lost weight.

Life can be a long wondrous journey. You will gain weight. And then you might lose it again. And then you might gain it again. If we're constantly in fear of how our body is going to naturally shift and change it takes us away from experiencing how amazing our body is just as it is. Your body is always trying to work with you to find homeostasis and equilibrium. If we stop tracking what our weight is doing, we can step into a new kind of relationship with our body infused with trust. When we trust our body to talk to us this can facilitate a relaxation response in the body where we can more easily hear our bodily messages and, you guessed it, sense more self acceptance as we stop fighting our body and allow ourselves to be guided by it.

Feeling more acceptance within ourselves can take time. You get to be so very gentle with yourself on this path and take all the baby steps you need. I would love to hear from you! What have you experimented with that has supported you on your self acceptance journey?