Love, Love, Love

How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you.
-Rumi

The thought of teaching others to love us is such a good reminder. If I asked you who you were going to share your love with this week, would you include yourself on that list? In class, we may sometimes focus on open heart poses to send ourselves some extra love. We all know that we can love others better when we love ourselves first, but it's not always easy to do that! I often have to remind myself when I hear the way I talk to myself in my head that I wouldn't talk to a friend or loved one that way, so why do I talk to myself that way?

Yoga itself is a practice of love. When we take time for ourselves, to connect with our body, mind, and spirit, we are showing love to ourselves. Self-love is just like our yoga practice. We can't do yoga once a year and feel the benefits. Similarly, we can't feel good about ourselves occasionally and practice self-love. In order to practice loving ourselves, we need to do so regularly. We need to make time for ourselves just as we would taking care of others. So this Valentine's Day I encourage you to schedule time for a date with yourself doing whatever it is that makes you feel loved, whether it be reading, doing yoga, taking a walk, or a bath. Shower yourself with some love today, you deserve it!

love and light,

Molly