Make This Valentine’s Day About Self-Love

by proformadmin · Published February 13, 2020 · Updated July 9, 2020

Do you see Valentine’s Day as an important opportunity to express your feelings for your significant other, friends, and family? Do you dread it because you lack a special somebody to share your affection with? Actually, either perspective misses an important opportunity for practicing self-love. As the song says, love the one you’re with, and you’re always with yourself.

Let’s try seeing Valentine’s Day as a day to offer ourselves the time to practice self-love, and find out why it’s so important to commit to practicing it every day.

The Importance Of Self-Love

Science illustrates the importance of taking care of yourself with self-love examples from within its own ranks. A good example to show just how important it is to practice self-care through stressful circumstances could be the experience of medical school for students.

Some may already be aware that medical students must complete a stressful course of study before they become practicing doctors. This period of a medical student’s education has also grown associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and burnout. According to a study from BMC Medical Education, researchers wanted to find ways to help relieve pressure during this grueling experience.

Researchers sent a survey to over 800 medical students from schools in the United States to ask about self-care and various perceptions of the medical school experience. The study found that students who reported practicing self-care more did not find that the stress interfered as much with their overall physical or mental quality of life.

Supporting themselves physically and mentally with self-care could not entirely eliminate the pressure of medical school; however, it appeared to reduce the negative aspects of their experience. You might not plan to attend medical school, but you may find this research applies to some of your own challenges.

Self-Love Supports Self-Compassion

Many people have almost unlimited empathy for others but appear overly critical of themselves. You might have been raised to believe that competitiveness with others and constant self-evaluation sparks progress. However, too much of these qualities can actually hinder you.

Dr. Emma Sappala, Science Director at Stanford University, outlined these three elements of self-compassion:

Treat yourself as kindly as you would treat your friends.
Acknowledge that all people make mistakes, and they’re a normal event in everybody’s life.
Take note of your emotions objectively and without either trying to dismiss or indulge in them.

Dr. Sappala says that self-compassion has been scientifically proven to help improve resilience, productivity, and resistance to stress. Rather than being self-indulgent, it can help you learn from mistakes and strive to overcome them. In contrast, too much self-criticism can activate your nervous system, and the increase in stress hormones can prevent you from learning anything at all.

Three Ways To Practice Self-Love Every Day

You may practice appreciation for your partners, friends, and family more than just on Valentine’s Day. Likewise, you should get into the habit of practicing self-love yourself each and every day and not just on a one-off occasion.

Get started with these three ways to practice self-love:

1. Aim For A Healthy Lifestyle

We all know the concept of having a healthy diet and regular exercise as having a large impact on our overall health. Rather than endure these as chores, you should practice the thought of these as favors you do for yourself out of love and compassion.

For instance:

Self-Love On Valentine's Day – ProForm Blog

Try not to think of exchanging junk food for healthy meals as a diet but as a favor you’re doing for your body. Exploring a new nutrition plan can do wonders for your body that you may not have seen before.

Just because you’re embarking on this new healthy adventure doesn’t mean you have to avoid temptations altogether. If your partner or coworker gives you a big chocolate sampler for Valentine’s Day, try to enjoy those sweets in moderation, and maybe pass the heart-shaped box around to share with others.

A great place to find amazing recipes that are delicious and healthy for you is on iFit®. And for Valentine’s Day, treat yourself with this french toast recipe. You won’t be disappointed!

Why not spice up your workouts with iFit Global Workouts – virtual training around the globe that’ll actually make you look forward to exercising every day. Thanks to ProForm’s innovative engineering, you can access many different destinations as you workout along with a personal trainer via the HD touchscreen, making you feel as if you were there on-site.

Forget that you’re even working out and take in all the sights as you jog through the Transpline course from Germany to Italy, and the next day bike through Turkey. How about making a travel list, find them on your iFit account, and schedule your workouts for the week. You’ll be the world traveler you’ve always wanted to be and get in great shape at the same time.

2. Strive to Engage With Supportive People

You can enhance your ability to develop self-love habits by surrounding yourself with the sort of people who will encourage and support you, and in turn, receive encouragement from you right back.

iFit was designed to not only give you the opportunity to workout with top trainers from around the world, it also lets you connect and share your journeys with the entire iFit community. As you explore the world and your own potential, you’ll build a community of fellow travelers and supportive relationships along the way.

3. Manage Stress Better

As illustrated by the medical students study, practicing self-care won’t eliminate all stressful challenges in your life. In that way, self-love is not at all self-indulgent or a way to duck responsibilities to yourself and others. Instead, taking care of yourself means making a commitment to nurture yourself and your needs. That way, you won’t let life’s challenges erode your wellbeing and valuable relationships with others.

You won’t be able to avoid stress altogether, but on the other hand, you can learn to manage that pressure better. To help change the way you respond to stress, you might start with these stress-relief apps that you can access from your tablet, laptop, or phone. They won’t completely eliminate stress and tension; however, they can dramatically change the way you physically and mentally respond to it.

The Power Of Self-Love

If you have others to care for, you can offer more if you’ve taken the time to care for your own mental and physical wellbeing. If you’re pretty much on your own right now, that’s fine! You’ve got to rely upon yourself for support and self-compassion whether you’re with someone or on your own. When you take care of yourself by improving your health, reaching out for support groups, and learning to cope with stress, you’ll develop your body and mind to help improve the quality of life for yourself and anybody you happen to come in contact with.

DISCLAIMER: This post is not intended to replace the advice of a medical professional. The above information should not be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or medical condition. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your diet, sleep methods, daily activity, or fitness routine. ProForm assumes no responsibility for any personal injury or damage sustained by any recommendations, opinions, or advice given in this article. Always follow the safety precautions included in the owner’s manual of your fitness equipment.

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