Improving Self love and self Esteem

 I love this and I for one am definitely starting this as a daily exercise. I am going to use this to increase my self love and appreciation too. I am changing it to 5 things I LOVE about myself. I believe this exercise may be hard for some as I remember how tough it was when I just had to stare into my eyes in the mirror daily and say: Heidi, I love you, and really mean it. I found that exercise really difficult at first.

I encourage those who are starting on the self love journey to start with the exercise of saying I love you to yourself whilst staring deeply into your own eyes in the mirror...Do this earnestly and honestly as you are only fooling yourself by doing it any other way. Say it at least 10 times daily...and like all thing we do to improve our lives and ourselves, start slowly if 10 times is just too hard.

My self love has definitely increased and I continue to work on it becoming unconditional and automatic, kinda like how we automatically criticize ourselves. I AM Working toward unconditional love for self and others, so that I may be and see the love of every soul shining back at me, as a reflection of myself and them.

I like using some of the Daily Om articles as Madisyn Taylor writes so beautifully and concise on the topics I love to share with you.

Please try this exercise with me and share how you have noticed it improving your life and self love/esteem.

A Self-Esteem Exercise ... Daily Om (Madisyn Taylor)

Having low self-esteem is a common issue -- with some introspection you can start to loosen the grip of this negative thought pattern. 

Our primary relationship in life is with ourselves. No one else goes through every experience in life with us. We are our one permanent companion, yet we are often our worst critic. To remind ourselves of our magnificence, we can do this exercise: "Five Things I Like About Myself."  

Begin by writing down at least five things that you like about yourself. This is not the time to be modest. If you are having trouble coming up with a total of five items, you know that this exercise can really benefit you. Be sure to include more than your physical attributes on your list, since our bodies are only part of who we are. If you are still struggling with what to include on your list, think of what you like about your favorite people, because these traits are probably qualities that you possess too. Another way to complete your list is to think of five things you don't like about yourself and find something about these traits that you can turn into a positive.  

Continue this process for a week, thinking of five new things you like about yourself each day. At the end of the week, read the list aloud to yourself while standing in front of a mirror. Instead of looking for flaws to fix, allow the mirror to reflect your magnificence. You may feel silly about standing in front of a mirror and reading aloud a list of your admirable attributes, but it might just bring a smile to your face and change the way you see yourself. Remember, it is when you feel the most resistant that this exercise can benefit you the most. Because we are constantly looking at the world, instead of looking at ourselves, we don't often see what's magnificent about ourselves that others do. When we take the time to experience ourselves the way we would experience someone we love and admire, we become our best companion and supporter on life's journey.