Love Yourself! Here’s how and why

How do I love me? Let me count the ways. More and more, today’s professionals are talking about the importance of loving yourself. That sounds great, but what good is it if you don’t understand what that really means, or how to do it for that matter. Lack of self-love is the primary reason people seek help; to end the misery of the negative self-sabotaging inner-mind chatter. It is the main source of pain. Holistic life coach Susan Kullman has some easy tips to help you learn to love yourself – keep in mind, this is NOT the narcissistic type of self-love where you can’t tear yourself away from the reflection in the mirror. rnIt’s important not to identify yourself with things that you do, things you have or friends that you keep – that is a sure ticket on the emotional roller coaster of life. To really love yourself, you need to be able to identify with the witness that lies within. It is the first step in separating from ego-based thought programming. For this reason, all spiritually based programs begin with witnessing the breath. The Buddha, the higher self; call it whatever feels good for you, but they are all referring to the same part of the self. The Witness - the part of myself who watches my life, from above. Begin by observing your breath, and then watch your actions, words, feelings, and finally thoughts. You must detach from all of these in order to transcend any issues. It was Einstein who said, "A person starts to live when he can live outside himself." In order to transcend; “rise above” you have to see how the ego created all of your negative belief patterns. It does this in order to protect you when you are young and dependent on your parents for all survival needs. If you observe yourself doing, feeling, thinking or saying something undesirable, remember that that is just a product of your programming. If you are willing to observe your own programming, which was basically downloaded before age five, than you can see how the ego created the association, thought pattern, and feelings as a way to protect you. And although the ego usually gets a bad rap; it is the one most beautiful loving traits of the human condition because without it we would not survive. We all do what we do, say what we say, feel what we feel and eat how we eat FOR A REASON! It makes perfect logical sense. So if there is feeling you no longer want to experience or if you want to create a different experience in your life simply start with these four little words: Oh isn’t that interesting! By observing it and getting to know it you can move into it while surrendering all resistance of feeling and allow what is there to rise to the surface and move through. All feelings surrounding any situation are very real; although they may NOT be factual to the current-day situation; there is something very real, which is being triggered by an association. Feelings are very real and extremely valid and the sooner you validate and give thanks to the ego for creating the negative thought pattern (to survive the situation at the time) the sooner you can mourn the passing of the survival mechanisms you no longer need to carry you forward into adulthood. By releasing the emotional charge attached to the thought pattern you can transcend and raise above dysfunctional behavior that is no longer working for you! This is the mantra that you must understand and believe in order to truly love yourself: I love myself because I am none of not my feelings; feelings change; I am not my actions because my actions change, I am not my body because my body changes; I am not even my thoughts because I can change those also. All I AM is the witness; I am consciousness itself - and the energy of consciousness is neutral; it just is. At the end of the day, at the end of the journey it is all about self-love.