Stepping Stones

Lessons on Intentional Living with Lisa McGrath

How Self-Love Can Reduce Stress and Anxiety

How Self-Love Can Reduce Stress and Anxiety 

 Stress and anxiety go hand in hand. When you feel stressed or anxious, your physical and mental wellbeing can suffer. You’re not living your best quality of life if you experience these things on a regular basis, and you are putting your health in jeopardy.

Learning to love yourself can help to greatly reduce feelings of overwhelm. Understanding how these emotions manifest in the body and the ways that self-love can combat them can help you to begin the work toward valuing yourself more, and you’ll be on your way to feeling better.

Take a look below to learn how self-love can reduce stress and anxiety.

 About Stress and Anxiety

 Stress arises due to demands that are put on your body and brain. In today’s busy world, we’re expected to do so much and have so many obligations. It’s only natural that we will experience stress. You likely experience stress quite often if you have a demanding job, family responsibilities, or a full plate of commitments.

The philosophy of the Indian Proverb, A House With Four Rooms, states that we should all think of ourselves as having four rooms: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual rooms, and we must go in and do something in each of these four rooms daily for complete well-being. If we don’t, we’ll experience the overwhelm and anxiety. Anxiety can be the result of stress. It’s feelings of worry, fear, or dread. Sometimes these feelings are just under the surface. Other times, they can be quite severe. Stress and anxiety can lead to physical health problems as well as aggravate mental health conditions.

 Why Self-Love Matters

 A strong sense of self-love can help to combat stress and anxiety. When you value yourself, you take care of you. You put yourself first and prioritize your happiness. This gives you a strong foundation to make decisions that are in your best interest, rather than falling prey to things that lead to stress and anxiety.

When you love yourself, you learn to set boundaries. You won’t be as apt to give into people pleasing, overscheduling, or allowing disrespect. Knowing your worth lets you take your own needs into consideration and can greatly aid in lowering the demands placed upon you from others or even your own inner naysayer.

 Tips to Get Started

 There are ways you can practice self-love that will help you to greatly reduce the stress and anxiety in your life. Simply taking time to remind yourself of your value is a good start. When you feel that you’re worthwhile, you’re better prepared to stand up to pressure from others or even yourself. Protect yourself from negative influences by removing toxic people from your life. Let go of folks who regularly cause you to feel bad or anxious.

Make sure to listen to your internal messages. When you hear your inner naysayer pop up, take the time to examine what it’s telling you and then reframe the message in a way that’s more realistic. Try using positive affirmations to reframe the negative self-talk. You’ll be better prepared to deal with any issues in a healthy and proactive way that doesn’t lead you to feeling stressed out.

 Increasing your self-love can go a long way toward decreasing stress and anxiety. Give these tips a try to start feeling more in control and lowering the unnecessary demands in your life. You’ll start to notice that you feel lighter and better prepared to defend your boundaries when you develop a strong sense of who you are.

 Until next time...

Lisa

 P.S. I have a gift for you...31 Days of Affirmations...this is an excellent time to develop your affirmation practice...so get your free pdf here: 31 Days of Affirmations

The life philosophy of A House With Four Rooms suggests thinking of yourself as being four rooms: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual rooms. It advocates for doing something daily for your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

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