How Do You Practice Self-Love?

The mental prescription we all need

Lin
Chats Over Coffee

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Dear Lindy,

I just got out of a 3 year relationship and i feel like things kind of went sideways because I didn’t love myself. So…now that I’m out that’s what I want to do. I want to love myself but I’m just not really sure how or where to begin.

Sincerely,

Self-Partnered

Dear Self-Partnered,

When it comes to practicing self-love, you’re not the only one who is lost. I’d argue that most people — myself included — struggle with self-love. When we’re taught our entire lives that we should be focused on finding someone else to love, showing affection to ourselves gets lost in the mix.

“Self-love” is a really popular term nowadays — it’s not uncommon for people to talk about practicing self-love after a break-up. The problem is, as popular as that term is, nobody really elaborates on what self-love is. Is it taking a bubble-bath and crying your eyes out like a rom-com heroine? Is it looking at cute pictures of animals online or turning your phone off completely?

According to Dr. Deborah Khoshaba, self-love is less about specific actions that make us feel good at the moment and more about getting into a specific mindset. Here are a few key steps that you can…

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Lin
Chats Over Coffee

When I’m not writing, you can usually find me hanging out with my cats