Why is loving yourself so hard when everyone says it is the most important thing that you can do for yourself in the whole world? I want to share with you three simple steps so that you can start loving yourself again. As summer approaches, it is not uncommon that we feel a bit overwhelmed and maybe even uncomfortable when we contemplate wearing certain types of clothes that show a bit more of the body, like short sleeve shirts that show your arms, fitted or shorter dresses that show your figure and legs, or the scary bathing suits when we want to go to the beach. Do you ever feel uncomfortable when you are thinking about whether you should wear this or that? Here are three easy steps that will help you love, and most importantly respect yourself again:

Write down what makes you happy, quotes that inspire you, positive thoughts that come to your mind, places you would like to visit, music that you love and makes you smile, things that make you happy about yourself. Keep this paper, or journal close to you and read it every night before you go to bed. I like to do this in a pretty journal…can you guess what color it is? Pink with a white bow of course!

Stop comparing yourself with others. You are enough. You are amazing and unique just as you are. I cannot stress enough the importance of positive, self-loving thoughts that you send to yourself every day. Social media can show you the ‘perfect’ lives of people but life is not perfect. Life can be imperfectly beautiful! A personal tip I would like to share with you: Use your ‘best stuff’ every day; don’t leave anything for tomorrow; wear the perfume you love; use your pretty underwear, the ones that make you feel feminine and beautiful; wear that nice shirt you bought and is still hanging in the closet with the tag on it. Don’t wait till tomorrow to do the things that make you happy; start making small changes that make you happy today: No, not tomorrow, but today. You will start to see that every change has a reaction, and each change will positively impact every aspect of your life. Some things that make me happy are tea sets! Every morning I have tea with my English tea set and tea pot (it was my grandma’s, and it is over 100 years old). It is so pretty that just by looking at it makes me happy…See what I mean? You are enough. Show it to yourself every day!

Create time for yourself. Wake up earlier. 15 min? 30 min? 1 hour? You decide! Enjoy your morning water, coffee or tea, one sip at a time; breathe and stretch! Open your body and your mind to new possibilities. Every morning, think about how much beauty and love you can find within your body and in every extension as you go deeper into the stretch. The beauty is there; you only must see it in yourself. Feel how beautiful you are with every movement, with every extension, and with every stretch. Waking up early is the hardest for me…The only time I can ‘create’ time for myself is if I wake up earlier than my 2 and 5 year-old kids. I know! It is a huge challenge for me to wake up earlier, but this little bit of time is gold to my body and my mind because it sets the tone of my day physically and mentally, and then I can focus on what I want to accomplish for the rest of the day. This morning I only had 5 minutes for a morning stretch, and I did one of my favorite routines, video #66 “Flexibility, Strength and Coordination” from the Tangoflex Video Library, and now I am ready for the day! It is time you love yourself. To forgive yourself. To accept yourself. To respect yourself. To admire yourself. Today is the day you can change the course of your life. Are you ready?