Browsing category: Start Thriving

“I’ll love myself when I’m beautiful.”
How many times have I thought that?
So many. Too many. Countless.
Self love? Sure, I tried it. And I failed catastrophically.
“Maybe this works for other people,” I’d think. “Other people who are loveable. Other people who have body love . But not me.”
This is how I felt. For so long.

“I’ll love myself when I’m beautiful.”

I used to look at myself in the mirror and think, “When will I love my body?”

I noticed that I only loved my body when I pushed it, hounded it, pounded it, polished it, and squeezed it into a desirable form.

In my mind’s eye, my body was wrong. So I simply couldn’t love it.

NOT LETTING LOVE IN

Now don’t get me wrong. There were times where I did love my body. And those were times when I thought I looked great!

But even during the good times – times of body acceptance – I still felt separated from it. I never felt like the beautiful person in the mirror was ME.

I would actually SAY – “I can’t believe it.”

I couldn’t believe it was me.

Then, when beauty disappeared, I felt awful about myself. I thought – “Oh, this who I really am.”

I would actually SAY – “I can’t believe it.”

The truth is, I didn’t accept myself as beautiful. The woman in the mirror always felt like someone else. Someone I’d never be. Even though I was physically her at that very moment!

This is when I realized something was deeply wrong.

SOMETHING WRONG ON THE INSIDE

I realized something was wrong with me. But not on the OUTSIDE; on the INSIDE.

Actually, there was nothing wrong with my body. There was something wrong with my psyche.

I realized that I didn’t own my beauty. I didn’t feel my beauty. I didn’t believe it was a trait attached to me.

I didn’t own my beauty. I didn’t feel my beauty.

And yet, regardless of what I believed, I knew deep down that beauty was there still. Just under the surface of my belief.

The problem was, beauty was disconnected from my self image.

EXPERIMENTING

I decided to do something about it. I started experimenting.

My thinking went like this: If my perception of beauty was internally motivated, I should be able to play with it.

So I started playing dress up with my psyche. I started playing make-believe with my self-image.

First, I made my internal image into a queen. I imagined what my queenly dress would look like, and how I’d walk around my castle. (I may have watched a lot of Reign.)

Next, I imagined myself as a goddess. I dreamed up my flowing cloak of magic, my house on the moon. You know. As one does.

I even started a Pinterest board of my fantasy self icons.

Mostly, I got really inspired by the Jessie J song Queen.

It is pretty fantastic. You should probably listen to it right now.

I love my body. I love my skin. I am a goddess. I am a queen.

Jessie J

SENDING LOVE INTO YOUR BODY

What I noticed about all of these methods was this: They helped me love my body more.

So I broke it down. I started experimenting with love.

Specifically, I started sendng love into my body.

Using my imagination, I sent love deep down: into the core of my being.

I also sent love all over – into my toes. Into my fingers. Into my lips. And my hips. You get the idea.

I sent love into the air around my body. And into my hair.

I sent love into the parts of me that I hated the most. I sent love into parts of me that I ignored.

I sent love deep down: into the core of my being.

I didn’t do this all on one day, but a little bit at a time. Before I looked in the mirror. When I was meditating. When I was waiting in line.

Sending love to myself was hard at first. It felt like doing nothing. Truly. But I got better at it. And soon it began to feel more and more real. Until it became just another part of my everyday self.

I think it works like a muscle. An emotional muscle. Except instead of controlling your body, this one controls your emotional energy. The more you work it, the better you get.

BODY LOVE FEELS GOOD

The key of sending love into my body opened a new world for me.

Now, I feel love.

I feel love for myself.

I feel love for myself no matter what.

I feel love before I look in the mirror. I feel love after I look in the mirror. No matter what creature I see, I always feel love for her.

And if that love feeling starts to fade, I have the tool to bring it back. I have the capacity to boost my positive feelings about my body again.

BODY LOVE MAKES YOU MORE BEAUTIFUL

As I was playing around with this love energy, I began to feel fantastic. But something else happened. Something… weird.

I was not simply loving myself and feeling more beautiful.

Loving my body actually made me, physically, more beautiful.

I began to glow. To truly feel good. To radiate a certain kind of energy. I think they call it confidence.

I started carrying my body differently. More openly. I felt a greater ownership of my physical being. Loving my body actually increased my physical vitality.

I began executing my personal hygiene routines more gently. I started brushing my hair tips-up, patting my skin dry, and giving myself little hand massages when I washed my hands.

My new feelings about my body actually changed how it treated it. I began to treat myself well. I began to prioritize feeling good, rather than simply avoiding feeling bad.

FINALLY FEELING BEAUTIFUL ON THE INSIDE

Not only that, but the glass wall of self-denial came down.

I finally accepted my beauty!

No longer was the invisible wall there, preventing me from identifying with the beautiful person I was.

I finally felt connected to my beauty.

When I looked in the mirror, I began to immediately notice my naturally wavy hair. I saw how happy my eyes looked! But I forgot to notice the imperfections around my eyes. That used to be all I saw.

I finally accepted my beauty

Now I felt the amazing energy of being a beautiful creature.

Wow this was different! I really hacked something. I broke through.

I was no longer someone who relied on the mirror to feel beautiful. Now I was someone who felt beautiful just for existing.

For the first time in my life, I felt genuinely wonderfully about my physical being. The love I couldn’t accept before was inside me. I had snuck it in.

TROJAN – HORSE YOUR SELF LOVE

I like to think I trojan-horsed my self love.

All along, I had been attacking my outer image, trying to make it beautiful. But that outer sense of beauty never made it past the guards.

Instead, I snuck my love energy in. I put it in a message, snuck it past the gates, and dropped that message in the center of town. When that message was opened, love flowed everywhere. Love got in.

My inner sense of beauty blossomed.

So here’s how to do it.

HOW TO INCREASE BODY LOVE:

• Send love into your body
• Accept love into your body
• Feel love in your body & hold it there
• Speak lovingly to your body
• Have a positive conversation with yourself about your body
• Touch your body lovingly
• Do your regular hygiene lovingly
• Ask your body to accept love
• Take on the role of your body and say, “I accept this love”
• Tell yourself “I love you”

Look at yourself with your heart. Not your eyes. Feel with your heart. Send love to yourself. Accept love inside yourself.

Send love to yourself

It will be weird. It may be hard. But it is worth it.

Work past every single boundary and barrier that comes up until you can feel love on command. It is worth it. It is freaking awesome.

One great way to get started is a self-love meditation.

HOW DOES THIS “BODY LOVE” WORK?

If you are typically frustrated with your body, it means you’re sending it negative energy. You’re blocking yourself. To unblock yourself – you need to do something different.

Send your body positive energy. It is radical.

Instead of looking in the mirror, hoping for something to love, you love your body first. Then look in the mirror. If you want to.

It works like wearing lenses or glasses. You see things differently with a different filter. And you value things differently.

Love your body first. Then look in the mirror.

When you do this, you are letting love energy flow into your body. It actually does real work. It creates real change in your body.

Love energy can heal you. Love energy can empower you. It can also relax you, center you, and clear you.

What you’re really doing, at a deep level, is aligning your body’s energy with a positive, loving frequency. And this loving frequency will build you a different body as your cells naturally repair. This new body is healthier, more vibrant, and even more beautiful.

Isn’t that worth trying? Isn’t that worth fighting for?

DO IT TO FREE YOUR SOUL

This is what I was wanting all along!

Now if I look in the mirror, instead of looking for something to love, I’m looking at something I do love.

Perhaps this is what you’ve been wanting too? To finally accept yourself. To finally love yourself. To simply be enough.

So I encourage you to try it. Go for it! Send yourself love. Do it in every way that speaks to you.

Do it for your body. Do it for yourself. Do it to free your soul.

My dear – you are enough. You are beautiful right now. And you deserve to know it. You deserve to feel it. You deserve to heal your body with the frequency of love.

Write yourself a love note and go place it in your heart. Then read it again and again.

Send love energy into yourself. Give yourself time. Keep sending the love. Keep accepting the love. And I promise you will bloom.

I believe in you.

Love,

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Mystical pursuits are cool because they can help you increase intuition, cultivate your mental health, and reach higher levels of consciousness.

Here I provide a brief introduction to the top 3 mystical pursuits. Then I show you the rockstars who are creating must-see content in this exciting realm. Enjoy:

Horoscopes

Horoscope Popularity

Horoscopes have become incredibly popular in the last few years. Have you noticed too? In addition to seeing constellations and words like “Capricorn” and “Gemini”  printed on everything from shirts to plates, I think this trend of astrological exploration is going to continue to expand. Here are a few such avenues, along with some great resources for learning about each.

I bet you know your “sign.” Awesome! Well, there is so much more the zodiac can help you understand about yourself (and it’s amazing)!

Moon sign

Your moon sign is where the moon was when you were born. Knowing the sign of your moon is just like knowing your type of subconsciousness. Check out your moon sign to gain insight into how you mentally process things, how you deal with past hurts, your relationship to your dreams, and how you choose to use your intuition. Pretty cool.

And that’s just one of many things the zodiac can shine a little more light on!

Rising Sign

Your rising sign is the zodiac house that was on the horizon when you were born. This can tell you about how other people see you from a distance. Ever feel misunderstood, or like people judge you incorrectly? Your rising sign can help shed light on this, and give you the tools to smooth over perception snags.

Here are a few astrologers dedicated to the craft of communicating the planets’ effect on us, whose predictions are spot-on.

Chani Nicholas

Omg. She’s JUST. SO. GOOD! Chani explains why reading your rising sign is super helpful. She offers WOKE horoscopes touching on current political and social issues. And she makes her own imagery (which is AMAZING). Hop on her newsletter and regret it never.

The Astrotwins

Literally, twins who read horoscopes. They are hilarious. And comprehensive. I have their app, which offers daily, weekly, and monthly horoscopes. But they also have so many amazingly revealing articles on their site. These two also love to cover unconventional horoscope topics (such as fashion, hair, and wellness trends). Check out their amazing and prolific perspective.

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Tarot

What is Tarot?

This is a fun predictive card game. Each card has a life theme on it. You ask an open-ended question, draw a card using your intuition, then look up the meaning of your card for some insight. I find it a stress-free way of gaining new perspectives on issues in my life that are foggy. Its one of the mystical pursuits that anyone can do, because there’s always an instruction manual to help you interpret the cards.

Fun ways to Tarot

• Gift yourself a deck
• Get a professional reading
• Draw one Tarot card for yourself every day
• Incorporate Tarot into your next bff gathering

The Wild Unknown Tarot Deck

Created by Kim Krans, this is a super-inspiring deck by an intuitive artist. Each card is a work of art. And the simple but powerful card explanations will make you want to read Tarot all night long.

The Starchild Tarot

These cards are a is a visual sonnet. Seriously breathtaking. Do your eyes a favor and peek at Danielle Noel’s beyond-gorgeous cards.

Palm Reading

Ever had your palm read?  Most professional readers will give you lots of insightful information about yourself and your life. This may be a year you decide to get a palm reading just for fun!

The type of palm reading I think will be big in 2018 tho, is self palm reading. That’s right! Reading your own palm. Here are the 3 basic lines.

Love line

The most popular of lines for a reason, your love line stretches from underneath your pinkie finger over toward your pointer and middle fingers. My favorite thing to read on the love line? Which finger does it point to?

Middle finger: You tend to care most about making the other person happy in the relationship.

Pointer finger: You don’t see the point of relationships that don’t bring you joy.

Line split or in the middle: You’re flexible.

Head Line

The line of mental strength, stability, and change. The beginning of your life starts under your pointer finger, then moves toward the side of your hand (under the pinkie). Most head lines extend to underneath the ring finger, which is toward your later life years. Check out variations in depth. This helps show when you get most interested in mental activities in your life. You can also track lines off-shooting from your head line to other lines to see things you might be thinking about!

Life Line

This one wraps widely around your thumb! Excitingly, this line won’t tell you how long you’ll live. Sigh. Rather, it indicates the quality of your life. (Deeper is higher quality, more balanced.) The beginning of life is in between your thumb and pointer finger, and the line extends in time down toward your wrist.

There you go! You’re a beginner palm reader!

Palm reading for beginners

Lauren Conrad has an excellent article on palm reading for beginners. If this piques your interest a little, I invite you to check it out!

As with all mystical pursuits, there is a lot of variety in interpretation. Everyone agrees about the basics. But the deeper interpretation is in the mind of the beholder. So, if you’re reading your own palm, then go with what feels right in your gut. Discard what feels fake.

The ultimate guide to palmistry

 For palm reading, the only thing I truly trust is what I call THE TEXTBOOK (because it is 500+ pages and written by two lifetime professional palm readers). The Art and Science of Hand Reading by Ellen Goldberg and Dorian Bergen was just published in 2016 and I’m obsessed.

It’s 2018: Be a little mystical!

So go ahead and try something here that resonates with you! I hope you find some inspiration in your own mystical pursuits.

Lots of Celestial Love,

Erienne

Fresh Philosopher

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inspired to follow your dreams?

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Falling asleep at meetings?

I give awesome motivational speeches about how the mind works. See my sample talk here!