30 WAYS TO LEARN TO LOVE YOURSELF
These 30 ways to learn to love yourself are taken from the book ZEN: the art of simple living. This book explains the little concepts that help you to learn to love yourself. This book is written by Shunmyo Masuno. Shunmyo Masuno is the head priest of a 450-year-old ZEN Buddhist temple in Japan.
I love to share my experience with you in this written form of content. These steps are super simple and easy to apply and anyone can do this. Some method look wired but they actually works and I just want to tell you this take actions because reading this blog is not change the life, you have to take actions.
1. MAKE TIME FOR EMPTINESS
A lot of people are busy in their own life. You can observe yourself and have time to spend on yourself with the help of meditation. Observe what you are doing and try to be with yourself. Make time for the emptiness that means you have to be with yourself.
2. WAKE UP FIFTEEN MINUTES EARLIER
If you think you are too busy wake up 15 minutes early and try to spend time with yourself. It’s not that we are busy because there is not enough time. We are busy because there is no room in our hearts.
3. SAVOUR THE MORNING AIR
Diet and breathing both are super important parts of our life. The taste of morning air was awesome, the moment the sun arrives you feel the power. Morning is the time when you can thoroughly experience these changes. That why monks is wake up early and feel calm.
4. LINE UP YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF
This shows the discipline you have. Disorder in your mind shows in your feet. The means of this is people who don’t pay attention to their footsteps, they don’t know where their life is going.
5. DISCARD WHAT YOU DON’T NEED
If you don’t need something change it with something you want. If you feel lost and stress changes the way you look at the world by changing who you listen to or how you make decisions. The moment you detach, a new abundance will flow into your mind.
6. ORGANIZE YOUR DESK
If you want to organize the work, you should start with your desk. When your desk looks clear you are going to for long hours. Organize your desk also means organize your mind in such a way that they never cheat you.
7. MAKE A DELICIOUS CUP OF COFFEE
Life required time and effort. that is to say, when we eliminate time and effort, we eliminate life’s pleasures. The cup of coffee means is to enjoy the little happiness in your life. We always try to chase bigger things in our life but we forget that the beauty of life is in simplicity.
8. PUT PEN TO PAPER WITH CARE
That simply means take care of some things in your life they matter more compare to those who you chasing right now. Be grateful that you are alive and have food on your table. Writing with heart helps you to connect with anyone or anything on this planet.
9. TRY USING A LOUD VOICE
That means take a stand for yourself. Understand this your happiness and dreams matters too. You have to gather the courage to say “NO” to the things you don’t think that is adding value to your life. Your life is your responsibility understand this simple concept.
10. DO NOT NEGLECT YOUR MEALS
Nowadays the most neglected thing in this universe is sleep and meal. People think taking meals is waste of time but that healthy meals give you the energy that helps you to stay active. Don’t skip a meal because this is the single most important thing in this universe that gives us life.
11. WHEN EATING, PAUSE AFTER A BITE
That means to have patience when you are working. People are super busy and they neglect their meal but people who eat food are only filling their stomach, not their mind. Enjoy the food. Pausing for a second while eating food does not waste your time.
12. DISCOVER THE BENEFITS OF A VEGETABLE-CENTRIC DIET
I don’t say much about that topic but I just want to suggest that the author wants to tell that: Try to eat only vegetable once a week.
13. SEEK OUT YOUR FAVORITE WORDS
Find some beautiful quotes that motivate you and keep you calm. Like ” Within nothingness, there is an infinite potential” means humans beings are born possessing nothing.
14. PARE DOWN YOUR BELONGINGS
Acquire only what you need. We are our rape with this materialistic success but they forget what success actually means. I am not saying that you should give up on your dreams but you should dreams that actually helps people to grow their life and try to add value in other people’s life.
15. ARRANGE YOUR ROOM SIMPLY
Don’t become so much fancy. What I personally do is I try to limit my thing so that I get a lot of free space, I personally don’t like a crowded room. There is a difference between simplicity and frugality. Try to keep it simple. Simplicity is about stripping away what is not useful.
16. TRY GOING BAREFOOT
Do you ever move on the grass barefoot? That feeling is awesome. When you remove your shoes when you come home that is a sign that now you are home and all work stress is on your doorstep. Monks go barefoot 365 days of the year.
17. EXHALE DEEPLY
Want to remove your stress? Improve your breathing style. Narrow down your focus on things that matter in your life. Love yourself because you have fresh air for breathing and fresh water for drinking. Exhale all your tensions with your breath.
18. SIT ZAZEN
You can not talk about ZEN without zazen. The meaning of Zen is in Sanskrit is “DHYANA” which meaning sitting quiet and try to connect yourself. The modern world knows this in the name of meditation. Humans are not capable of thinking while moving. Sit quietly to look inside you.
19. TRY A STANDING PRACTICE
If you live a life of busyness. This simple exercise for you what you are going to do is putting your all focus on one place and try to make this thing successful. When you drink water, You have to be fully focused on drinking water. That how you learn to love yourself.
20. SEEK OUT THE SUNSET
That means you have to see positivity. If you are living in the United States or India you can see when you open a new channel or read a newspaper you always see negative things. Nowadays people understand that having a positive mindset is important to achieve any type of success.
21. DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME WORRYING ABOUT THINGS YOU CANNOT CONTROL
People always spend time on worry about things they can’t even change but they don’t understand that there are plenty of things you can change in your life. You can control your mind and health. These two are the biggest assets of humans. We can’t change the event the thing we can change is our response.
22. BECOME ADEPT AT SWITCHING MODES
Don’t take every word of people to your heart. A lot of people say a lot of things about but how many of them really know you. 90% of people who say all this shit don’t even know you that much. So move on. If your bag is heavy it is hard to climb a mountain. You have to drop down people’s opinions and move toward your goals. That is another good way to learn to love yourself.
23. BREATHE SLOWLY
Breath slowly. Tell me the truth, How many times your breathe consciously in a day? A lot never think about breathing but it is a most important part of our living. When we breathe consciously it looks like we care about ourselves and the people around us.
24. DON’T THINK OF UNPLEASANT THINGS RIGHT BEFORE BED
When we go to the bed, We started thinking about a lot of things s some matters in life or some fiction but the real truth is that harm our sleep quality. The best way to stop this journaling because journaling helps you to write down your thoughts on paper so that when you sleep you feel empty and relax.
25. JOIN YOUR HAND TOGETHER
When we join our both hands together and pray or maybe reflect on something we are going to find the answer. The left hand represents you and the right hand represents others. You cannot attack someone when there both hands are joined together.
26. MAKE TIME TO BE ALONE
When I am saying that that you should spend time with yourself does not mean you should disconnect from your family for a long period of time. Spend 15–20 minutes in a day for yourself. We spend time with different with their different opinion but we forget who we are. Try to find Who you are?.
27. CREATE A SMALL GARDEN ON YOUR BALCONY
Find a place where you can do meditation that place must be quiet and have some positive vibes. If you can’t able find a place. Find a park near you if there is not park near you. Wake up at 5:00 AM and then meditate because most of the people don’t get up at 5:00 AM.
28. GET IN TOUCH WITH NATURE
Nature is the best healer. Nature has the power to change the way you look at the world. Try to do some gardening-like activities. People who spend more time in nature are happier than people who don’t spend time in nature. If you want to be happy and live longer you should read Book IKIGAI or Its summary I just created one check it out if you want.
29. DON’T PUT OFF WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY
Spend time on things you love because when the time goes you are going to get only one thing and that is regret. If you want to make your life memorable spend time on the things you really care about or find a way to monetize your passion.
30. TRY YOUR BEST TO DO WHAT YOU CAN NOW
Always try to give your 100% on everything you do. Put effort then wait for the result. Always love the process not the end goal. People always love the end goal and try to avoid the process. Try your best to do what you can do now.
THE END
Now, I am going to end this blog here. I hope I add some value to your life. These are the 30 ways to learn how to love yourself. Thank you so much for reading that far. If you have any questions you can see a little Facebook message here you can send a direct message to me. If you are not on Facebook you can DM on Instagram.
