How To Heal and Transform With Self-Love

 

More than one in five children and adolescents struggle with disordered eating. 

A variety of statistics from the Mental Health Foundation revealed that teenagers that struggle with body image are consumed by thoughts regarding their appearance and experience negative impacts on their mental health because of it.

After countless women risked their lives for the Brazilian Butt Lift procedure, which has the highest mortality rate of any cosmetic procedure, many high-profile figures have dissolved or removed their implants and surgical body modifications in an effort to look more thin.

One of the most popular trends in the 90s has been coined as “heroin chic” because it was fashionable to be underweight and unhealthy looking—and some are saying it's coming back in style. 

Now, there are apps to count calories—a great resource if you’re doing it for your health, but teens and beyond are downloading it in order to restrict themselves with a calorie deficit that is unsustainable. 

A diabetes treatment drug is in a shortage because celebrities, and now more people in everyday life, are using it exclusively for weight loss. 

And this is the generation that’s growing up among a movement for body positivity! So, what about the previous generations? There are so many ways that negative body image and unrealistic societal standards affected Generation X and beyond.

Think about all the times you’ve heard someone complain about being on Weight Watchers, or that the norm for self-talk was to point out physical flaws instead of being uplifting. 

So many products are marketed exclusively as “anti-aging” because age anxiety plagues so many individuals in all generations!

Covering up gray hairs, anti-wrinkle products, dressing for your age or trying to dress younger than your age—there is even an industry for anti-aging procedures!

Even if you don’t conform to these standards and already value yourself as you are, that external noise of criticism provides a constant pressure and reminder that’s hard to tune out completely.

Self-love sounds like a flowery concept that is a luxury, or something that’s easy to obtain once you put any effort into it. 

But, self-love (or a lack thereof) is actually at the root of so many wounds we have when it comes to our thoughts and how we navigate and interact with the world. 

Identifying Wounds that Self-Love Can Heal

What do you think of when you think about self-love? Do you think about a bubble bath and a face mask and call it a day? Do you think of positive affirmations and making sure you nourish your body? 

Whatever you think of, self-love can actually be so much more. When you intentionally cultivate self-love, you are fighting against deeply ingrained insecurities, your inner critic, limiting self-beliefs, unhappiness with the way you look, and so much more.

When you approach self-love at the root, you are healing your inner child, moving differently with confidence, empowering other people in addition to yourself and accessing a new way of life that isn’t damaged by harmful internal and external thoughts that shouldn’t actually belong to you. 

Signs You Need a New Approach to Self-Love

Do one or more of these resonate with you?

• You don’t speak up when you have something to say

• You grew up with an adult that didn’t uplift you or encouraged you to change

• You grew up around people who weren’t happy with themselves

• You look in the mirror with only critical thoughts

• You hate getting dressed for certain events

• You compare yourself to other people often

• You feel bitter or jealous at other people’s potential or accomplishments instead of being happy for them

• You resent how you have spent part of your life

• You struggle to make deep and impactful friendships

• You find it hard to think kind things about all aspects of yourself

How to Cultivate Radical and Lasting Self-Love

Creating and elevating your self-love is now accessible and easier than ever!

Instead of a self-care journal that has a tracker for how much water you should drink in a day, or a self-love journal that is just lined pages with a couple extra journal prompts, Worthy: A Radical Self-Love Journal was curated with deep intention to guide you through a journey with an individual approach to overcome obstacles that prevent you from achieving self-love—with some uplifting tips and fun exercises along the way!

Featuring wellness experts and self-love coaches, as well as psychology-backed methods for improved mental health, this journal is so much more than just a journal. It is an intimate archive of your personal progress as you take on the most important pillars of self-love, one week at a time.

We took some of the most popular elements from the JMB Living Journal that thousands of people have loved and grown with, and combined it with some updated prompts and many completely new elements to ensure that this journal is going to create actual, lasting change in the relationship you have with yourself.

This journal was created so that by the time you finish writing on the last page, your self-love journey is well on its way to support you through the rest of your life. 

In addition to daily and weekly journal prompts to help you evaluate your progress and really work through each pillar of self-love, there are also a variety of differing journal prompts, tips, articles, mindfulness exercises and activities to provide a range of ways to engage with your journey.