9 Definitions Of Self-Love That Every Woman Should Know
Two women share their experience on learning how to love themselves, and encourage fellow ladies to do the same!
When it comes to self love, it comes full circle—taking care of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. It may be an oft-talked about topic especially in recent years, but breaking out from the idea of negativity is still, admittedly, a challenge most of us face.
What we need to remember, however, is that it starts with the simple things, like pampering at home or having a healthy vent out session with a friend. Though when times get rough, it’s nice to be reminded what self-love really is, and what else we can learn about it from other people.
During Global Shapers Community Manila’s “Period Party: A Series of Conversations on Menstrual Health” sessions, they tackled not just the intimate stories of being a woman, but also hosted a forum on body positivity, self-love, and radical vulnerability. With speakers Victoria Herrera, life coach and co-founder of She Talks Asia, and Michiko Soriano Gaeng, founder of The Morena Movement and member of Girls Got Game, spearheading the inspiring talk, they opened up about their experiences of realizing self-love, slamming body-shamers, and ultimately choosing to accept themselves.
In the gallery below, find their insightful thoughts and advice on what self love is about. Whether you need a refresher or a push to finally head towards the path of self-love, let their words serve as an encouragement of sorts. Read on:
Self-Love Lessons
Self-Love Lessons
Victoria Herrera
Self-love isn’t achieved overnight. “The first time I heard of that concept of showing affection, acceptance, and love to yourself, it was very new for me. I always thought it was selfish or vain or very egotistical, and just starting to have that healthy appreciation of care for yourself is just so different. Was I able to do it overnight? No. It’s something that I'm still working through even until today. And I think it's an ongoing journey for anyone, especially women, to turn the focus inward and look at themselves very lovingly.”
Photo Credit: @victoria_herrera
Michiko Soriano Gaeng
Self love isn’t selfish. “Self-love is far from being narcissistic. Growing up, I think with whatever we've been exposed to, it might have been seen as a selfish thing. We've been taught that it's better to show love to others. Cultivating that relationship with the self has been a journey for me. It includes those self-checks on Friday nights, when you wanna hangout with yourself and just get to know yourself.”
Photo Credit: @michikosgaeng
Self love is accepting your body, no matter your size, color, or imperfections you may have. Victoria says, “We’re women. We bloat. We have that time of the month. We pack on weight we didn't know we could.” Meanwhile, Michiko adds, “I started the morena movement back then just to have more representation. It’s not because it is the sole idea of beauty, but because it is also one of those.”
Photo Credit: @victoria_herrera
Victoria Herrera
Self-love is understanding that you are not alone. “What made me first understand is when I started hearing women talk about it. I realized that I can relate so much to their journey. It helped me expand my perspective on life.”
Photo Credit: @victoria_herrera
Victoria Herrera
Self-love is starting a good relationship with the mind. “Something I’m working on is to not let the mind take me away or bring me to the dark spirals of self-criticism. When that happens, I try to say my affirmations stronger and really feel it. Or I really just try to do nothing and silence my mind. That sounds very hard, but sometimes, I just try to really hear nothing and it's been the most peaceful thing for me—just to stay in silence and not let myself be carried away by negative self-talk.”
Photo Credit: @victoria_herrera
Michiko Soriano Gaeng
Self-love is listening to your body. “I didn't even know what body love meant before, even with the food or nutrition. I learned that you just need to listen to your body, like, ‘Oh I love that salad!’ or, ‘That food was too oily!’ That's more practical. Also, someone said that self-love is drinking your vitamins. That's one step that we can all practice.”
Photo Credit: @michikosgaeng
Victoria Herrera
Self love is recentering yourself through breathwork. “I started studying breathwork and learning the power of deep breaths. It’s been very new to me but I feel like it has helped me.”
Photo Credit: @victoria_herrera
Michiko Soriano Gaeng
Self love is claiming that the power is in your hands. “My biggest lesson around comparison is remembering that we are all on our own journey, just knowing that this person that we may be comparing ourselves to is also going through his or her own journey. And if we're comparing, ask yourself why and just be honest like, ‘Why am I being triggered now?’ Then you'll see that it's not the person, it's almost always us. And that's winning—when you realize that it's not the person, it's about me and I can do something about it.”
Photo Credit: @michikosgaeng
Victoria Herrera
Self-love is choosing the company you want to keep. “I want women who love themselves and are inspiring to me, so I was careful in curating my inner circle for a few years already.”
Photo Credit: @victoria_herrera
Lead photo via @nalawoman, @victoria_herrera, and @michikosgaeng
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