Is It Ever Too Late to Practice Self-Love?

Discussing self-love can be quite a tumultuous ride. You may believe you don’t deserve it or don’t need to practice it. However, the reality is that self-love expands to more than what we have limited our minds to think.

The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation discusses how people view self-love as another term for self-care. The foundation discusses what it means to practice self-love, and candidly speaking; it simply involves going back to the basics.

Hence, it’s never too late to practice self-love. As long as you exist, the potential to practice self-love also does.

Let’s look at some of the basics the Brain and Behavior RF foundation talks about.

Basics of Self-Love

Your first interaction takes place with your body. Only after that do you communicate with anything else, which is essentially considered external. Once we satisfy our internal needs and wants, we can only progress to external communication and practices.

It’s never too late to listen to your body. We ought to communicate with our bodies and understand what it’s trying to say to us.
Eat healthily. This is also a requirement you’d be fulfilling for your body. No matter how old you are, you always become a child when devouring your favorite foods!

The Importance of Loving Ourselves

Psych Central discusses the importance of loving ourselves, our needs, and our essentials. If you were raised without examples of self-love and were never taught the importance of self-care, then you may think it is too late to practice it. However, that is not the truth.

Focusing on the now is a great way to carve the path to loving ourselves.

Our surroundings impact how we treat ourselves and others, but eventually, at the end of the day, it is solely our decision which path we choose: do we continue hurting ourselves, or do we change the narrative and be kind to ourselves?

If you don’t practice self-care, chances are you don’t find it important enough to be a part of your life. If you don’t mark self-love an important priority, you are likely to be self-critical and fall into the people-pleasing loop to attain validation from external sources.

Let’s look at how we can practice self-love. These reasons will also justify why it’s never too late to practice self-care because you can follow these tips at any age.

How To Practice Self-Love?

Fulfill and communicate your needs
Cut yourself some slack; we’re all humans, and humans are allowed to make mistakes
Ask for help if you need it
Set goals
Practice internal validation
Set healthy boundaries
Acknowledge your feelings
Focus on your mental and physical health

Whether you’re taking a walk, exercising in the gym, working in the office at home, all that you are and doing, stay in the present. Feel the breeze, the rhythm of your breath, the music in the air, the colors of the outside world, the movement of the clouds, and the words of your body. By doing this, you are allowing all those wants to manifest. To recognize, synchronize, and merge it all into YOU. Then, all inspirations that are required to take care of what’s necessary will come to you.

Conclusion: Self-Love is a Critical Requirement

Elizabeth Jarquin, Ph.D., is a licensed marriage and family therapist and wellness coach in Miami. According to her, what self-love does is that it teaches you why it’s crucial to put yourself first.

When you treat yourself with love, care, and respect, chances are you will absorb less negative energy and set boundaries more clearly. It’s never too late to practice self-care, which inadvertently leads to self-love because as long as you’re alive, your mind and body deserve it.