Love yourself

Its amazing how we find what we are looking for in the most strange ways ,  I was so sad for 3 weeks  and all I wanted was to find the way to love myself more so I can let myself be cured and happy … they told me over and over love yourself, only do things you love and makes you happy but no one told me how, when you live in very bad environment and so far you have to put up with it how can I do all those things? All I could think was with no money how can I do what I  love or feel happy , I could not recognize me anymore . I could not think positive in any way , I knew it was not me , I told my doctor make me feel happy until I am done with this lesson that life is giving me , give me something to just make me happy so no matter what happens I will not lose my smile and all I got was love yourself more .  And yesterday out of the blue I put in a random way this book to read since I could not sleep  and I show that it was all about how to love yourself, it has 2 exercises about that.  I was amazed!! When you say an advice to someone in need show them how because when you are sad you cannot think .  I was lucky that my sad mood was because of a health problem that we found and it will take some time to be over but even so I am so thankful of this book.  I am posting a few points of this book to those of you that needs them as I did.

Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It , by Kamal Ravikant - Yasser

I started telling myself, "I love myself." A thought I would repeat again and again. First, lying in bed for hours, repeating to myself, "I love myself, I love myself, I love myself, I love myself, I love myself...."

The mind would wander, of course, head down rat holes, but each time I noticed, I'd

return to repeating "I love myself, I love myself, I love myself, I love myself...." and it

continued.

First in bed, then showering, then when online, then when I'd be talking to someone, inside

my head, I'd be going, "I love myself, I love myself, I love myself, I love myself." It became the anchor, the one true thing.

And I got better. My body started healing faster. My state of mind grew lighter. But the thing I never expected or imagined, life got better.

And through it all, I kept repeating to myself, "I love myself, I love myself, I love myself, I

love myself." In less than a month, I was healthy, I was fit again, I was naturally happy, I was smiling.

And through it all, whether I was at my computer again, or kissing a pretty woman,

in my head, I'd be telling myself, I love myself.

In all honesty, in the beginning, I didn't believe that I loved myself. How many of us do? But it didn't matter what I believed. All that mattered was doing it and I did it the simplest way I could think, by focusing on one thought again and again and again and again until it was more on my mind than not.

A meditation

Even if you don't do anything else, please do this. It will make a difference.

Each day, I meditate for seven minutes. Why seven minutes? Because I put on a piece of

music that I like, one that is soothing and calm, piano and flute, one that I associate good feelings with, and it happens to be seven minutes long. I sit with my back against a wall, put on my

headphones, listen to the music, and imagine galaxies and stars and the Universe above, and I imagine all the light from space flowing into my head and down into my body, going wherever it needs to go. I breathe slowly, naturally. As I inhale, I think, I love myself. Then I exhale and let

out whatever the response in my mind and body is, whether there is one or not. That's

it. Simple. Inhale: I love myself. Exhale: Breathe out what comes up. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Natural. The music flows.

The mind wanders, that's its nature. Each time it does, I just notice where I am in the

breath. If inhaling, I shift to I love myself. If exhaling, I shift to letting out whatever is in the mind and body. Occasionally, I shift my attention to the light flowing in from above. Sometimes, I do that each time I inhale.

Before I know it, the seven minutes are up and the meditation is over. Once again, there's no need to consciously create healing or anything positive. The subconscious takes care of it. All I have to do is give it the image - in this case, light; give it the thought - in this case, loving myself. It

does the rest. (When your attention wanders, notice it and smile. Smile at it as if it's a child doing what a child does. And with that smile, return to your breath. Step 4, step 5. Mind wanders, notice, smile kindly, return to step 4, step 5).

One question

It's easy to say "I love myself" while locked inside my apartment, recovering from being sick. Tougher when I'm back to the land of the living, interacting with people who have their own issues and mental loops. That is where the question came from. In dealing with others and reacting to their negative emotions with my own, I found myself asking this question:

If I loved myself truly and deeply, would I let myself experience this?

The answer, always, was a no. It worked beautifully. Because I'd been working on the mental loop, the step after "no" was clear. Rather than solving the emotion or trying not to feel it, I would just return to the one true thing in my head, "I love myself, I love myself, I love myself." This question is deceptively simple in its power. It gently shifts your focus from wherever you are - whether it's anger or pain or fear, any form of darkness - to where you want to be. And that is love. You mind and life have no choice but to follow.

When I get home, before I go inside, I pause and realize something. The love, it doesn't

have to necessarily be for another, does it?

Love is an emotion, love is a feeling, love is a way of being. That spring in the step, that

smile, that openness, can't it simply come from loving ourselves? That stops me. Of course. Here we are, thinking that one needs to be in love with another to shine, to feel free and shout from the

rooftops, but the most important person, the most important relationship we'll ever have is waiting, is craving to be loved truly and deeply.

And here's the interesting part. When we love ourselves, we naturally shine, we are naturally beautiful. And that draws others to us. Before we know it, they're loving us and it's up to us to choose who to share our love with. Beautiful irony. Fall in love with yourself.

Let your love express itself and the world will beat a path to your door to fall in love with you.

Another meditation

This one, I'm a little scared to share. People will think I've lost it. But it is powerful.

Step 1: Set a timer for 5 minutes.

Step 2: Stand in front of a mirror, nose a few inches away. Relax. Breathe.

Step 3: Look into your eyes. Helps if you focus on one. Your left eye. Don't panic, it's only you. Relax. Breathe slowly, naturally, until you develop a rhythm.

Step 4: Looking into your left eye, say, "I love myself." Whether you believe it that moment or not isn't important. What's important

is you saying it to yourself, looking into your eyes, where there is no escape from the truth. And ultimately, the truth is loving yourself.

 Step 5: Repeat "I love myself" gently, pausing occasionally to watch your eyes.

When the five minutes are up, smile. You've just communicated the truth to yourself in a

deep, visceral way. In a way the mind cannot escape.

If anyone ever looked in your eyes, knowing that you loved them, this is what they saw.

Give yourself the same gift.

….the more you think about it, the

more you feel it, the stronger the memory…..

If a painful memory arises, don't fight it or try to push it away - you're in quicksand.

Struggle reinforces pain. Instead, go to love. Love for yourself. Feel it. If you have to fake

it, fine. It'll become real eventually. Feel the love for yourself as the memory ebbs and

flows. That will take the power away.

I ask myself the question, "if I loved myself,

truly and deeply, what would I do?" The answer is simple: I'd commit to the practice.

I love my life, I find myself thinking, I love my life, I love my life, I love my life. The

thought flows as naturally as the wind.

The key, at least for me, has been to let go. Let go of the ego, let go of attachments, let

go of who I think I should be, who others think I should be. And as I do that, the real

me emerges, far far better than the Kamal I projected to the world. There is a strength in

this vulnerability that cannot be described, only experienced.

Before I got sick, the last thing my Western mind wanted to say was "yes." I was obsessed

with my business, with visions of selling it, making enough money to never

work again. You can argue that obsession fuels innovation in our society. True, perhaps.

But quite often, behind obsession is fear.

And there was plenty of fear. Fear of what people would think. Fear of letting employees

and investors down. Fear of failing and what that would mean about me. I used the fear as energy, driving me forward, pushing to achieve, pushing to succeed, paying no attention to my body, to the present, and I paid the price.