28 Day Self Love Challenge

#28daysofselflovechallenge

Ahh February, the month of love! The month where everywhere you look shops, TV, magazines, social media and society in general tell you must have the perfect relationship with your significant other, you need to be #goals or #perfect. You need to shower each other with extravagant gifts, you need to prove you have the perfect relationship and pretend that you never argue over who’s turn it is to wash the dishes.

Or heaven forbid if you are single in February, queue the influx of coupled up friends who will reassure you that one day you’ll meet ‘the one’, the magazines and web articles that will tell you what you need to change about yourself in order to find the aforementioned ‘one’, as if it is some sort of life and death situation.

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Whether you are single or in a relationship, February and in particular Valentines day doesn’t need to just be about your SO or lack thereof. It can however be about love, self love that is. Self love is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as ‘regard for one’s own happiness or advantage’ how often do we do things to make other people happy, our boss, our parents our friends? How often do we do things to make ourselves happy? It can be so easy to get caught up in day to day life that we some times forget to love ourselves and take care of ourselves, to do something that truly makes us happy.

Self love and self care can be so beneficial for our mind, body and soul, but it can be easy to forget about it, that is why I have come up with this self love challenge. It consists of doing (at least) one act of self love each and every day throughout the month of February, some may take just a few moments others may take a little longer. I have tried to come up with activities that don’t cost a thing or are relatively inexpensive, I have also tried to provide some alternatives for those of us who may not physically or mentally be able undertake various tasks.

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I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, the majority of these are not brand new, mind blowing ideas but I thought putting them together in a challenge form would help provide a little bit of structure and accountability to them.

I am obviously going to be joining in on the challenge, you can follow my progress and share your progress on social media using the hashtag #28dayselflovechallenge I will do a blog post at the end of the 28 days documenting how it went.

This isn’t a strict list of what and when, if some things don’t work for you change them up or swap around the days. All I ask is that you do at least one thing a day that brings you joy, makes your soul happy and your heart filled with love.

The Challenge:

Day 1: Write 5 things you love about yourself, don’t be shy! What is amazing about you?

Day 2: Try mediating – there are hundreds of free guided meditations on Youtube and spotify. Just try a 10 minute one.

Day 3: Have your favourite food. Cake? Pizza? Sweets? Mindfully eat it, take your time, enjoy every last bite and don’t feel guilty about it.

Day 4: Compliment someone, I know this isn’t strictly about you but it’s amazing how making someone else feel good also makes you feel good.

Day 5: Write 5 things you want to achieve in your life. Look at these often.

Day 6: Look in the mirror, say out loud 5 things you love about your body.

Day 7: Trim and/or paint your nails, or get someone else to if you are not able to do it yourself.

Day 8: Listen to your favourite song. I mean really listen to it, listen to every word and think about why it makes you happy.

Day 9: Create a vision board, either go old school by cutting things out of magazines/ printing things out or make a digital one using Pinterest or just copy and paste pictures to a document.

Day 10: Have a relaxing hot bath or shower. If you can’t manage that use a warm wash cloth to thoroughly wash your face, take your time, enjoy the warmth on your skin.

Day 11: Write down 5 things you are grateful for in your life.

Day 12: If you can, take a nap. Even for 20 minutes. Don’t feel guilty about it.

Day 13: Change your phone and/or computer home screen to something motivational and inspiring. There are loads of free ones online.

Day 14: Plan a date with yourself (even if you have date plans with your SO, make your self love date in the morning) have your favourite food, do your favourite activity, really indulge in yourself.

Day 15:Write a letter to your past self, forgive yourself for anything you need to.

Day 16: Lay or sit, close you eyes and in your mind scan every part of your body, bring awareness to it and think or say out loud that you are grateful for it and you appreciate it (even if it isn’t perfect, even if it causes pain sometimes).

Day 17: Get something done that has been on your ‘to-do’ list for ages, that messy kitchen junk draw (we all have one!) get it tidied. Honestly you’ll feel so accomplished when you do.

Day 18: Get outside if you are able, even if it’s for 2 or 3 minutes. Take in the things around you, the bright sky, the birds singing, the fresh air etc. If you can’t manage to get outside just open your door or window.

Day 19: Have a pamper night, do a face mask, wash your hair, moisturise your body. If you can’t manage a full pamper night pick one thing.

Day 20: If you like to wear make up, spend time putting it on for no real reason. Just enjoy the process of it, experiment with different colours and styles.

Day 21: Write anything and everything that is spinning around in your brain, just get it out. Don’t stop wring until you feel like you’ve got everything out.

Day 22: Take a selfie (or 87, lets be honest!) find your best angles, pose however you like. You don’t have to share them with anyone if you don’t want to, just enjoy the process and be proud of the outcome.

Day 23: Use you favorite scents, it could be essential oils, a candle, perfume or a certain food. Just sit and focus on the smell, why do you like it? What happy memories does it evoke?

Day 24: Move your body, if you can go for a run or and exercise class great, if that’s not something you can manage literally move your body however you can, wiggle your fingers and toes, stretch your arms out, anything.

Day 25: Get dressed, even if you are not leaving the house. Put ‘real’ clothes on, they can still be comfy just not something you sleep in at night.

Day 26: Take a photo of something that makes you happy or look back on photos that make you happy.

Day 27: Give yourself a massage, it could be face, hands, body etc. Again there are numerous tutorials online.

Day 28: Write yourself a love letter. Write about how amazing you are, how much you mean to yourself and all the amazing things about YOU. This is for your eyes only, don’t be shy. Love the sh*t out of yourself.

Don’t forget to share your progress using #28dayselflovechallenge and follow mine on Twitter: @thisiscarlyanne and Instagram: @thisiscarlyanne

28daysofselflovechallengeprintable

Click the link above for a free printable 28 day self love challenge chart (it’s not fancy – I’m still learning about graphics etc, so please forgive me) but I thought if we stick it somewhere we will see it everyday it’ll act as a little prompt. Or feel free to make your own chart, if graphics and doodles make you happy that could totally be one of your self care tasks!

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