The Secret to Loving January

January 3, 2018

Ok, here’s something a little different … I am not going to plant the seed that you are a disappointing slab of humanity. I am not going to tell you that you need a life overhaul and a complete change of character. I am not going to try and profit off the...

The sad reality is that the fashion and wellness industries make money out of convincing you that you’re not good enough. In a world where information is shoved down our throats from every avenue, it is hard to stop ourselves from believing it.

Don’t listen to them! You are enough. We all have flaws and areas we need to work on, if we didn’t life would be pretty boring. Forget ‘New Year, New You’ – you are pretty awesome. Don’t wish to be anyone else! With the rise of social media we can be fooled into constantly comparing ourselves against other people. Nobody is sharing the mundane bits of life, despite the smiling selfies and holiday photos, nobody’s life is all sunshine and rainbows. Give yourself a break!

There are two ways we can try make changes to our lives: either by hating ourselves, eating rabbit food and going to boot camp as a form of punishment OR by loving ourselves and choosing to heal our bodies, treating ourselves as we would a friend. Now which one sounds more appealing? Humans are peculiar creatures and most of us are guilty of self-sabotage as a form of rebellion. If you are forcing yourself to eat clean, workout, read a book a week and whatever else you’ve added to your list of resolutions, you will rebel. You will be sick to death of telling yourself off and the endless restrictions.

So, instead of all the self-hate and feeling sorry for yourself, why don’t we make January a month of self-love? If I could describe ‘self-love’ in one word it would be ‘nourish’. Nourish your body and soul.

Self-love isn’t saying to yourself, “go on, have a large pizza, bottle of wine and a whole tub of Ben & Jerry’s in front of the TV”. Sorry to disappoint you. Self-love is spending the morning in your pyjamas, making your own freshly baked granola and then eating it warm and topped with fresh fruit, while gazing idly out of the window, past the lit candles, listening to soothing music. Self-love is waking up early before work and putting on a kick-ass playlist to work out to before singing like a maniac in the shower and lathering up with invigorating, fragrant shower gel. Self-love is saying “well done” to yourself every day and reminding yourself of how far you have come and how much there is to be thankful for.

This is what self-love looks like to me, but we are all different. What nourishes your soul? Was there anything you used to do or be passionate about that got pushed to the side? Read, dance, sing, paint, learn Italian, cook …

From the outside, this may not seem that different from the ‘New Year, New You’ mentality; but it is, wildly different. This way is sustainable, it is kind, and enables you to learn a lot about yourself. By focusing on nourishment, you naturally become beautiful from the inside out, instead of aching to look like mythical, photoshopped, front-cover models.

So who’s with me? You may have had plans of transformation through a strict regime, but I can promise you this. Simply by being kind to yourself and putting yourself first, you will progress in unimaginable ways. True transformation in all areas of life starts with love, not hate.