Reconnecting With Yourself

I’ve been feeling pretty disconnected from myself lately and haven’t been loving myself to the best of my ability. This inner separation ended up making my anxiety worse and the small things I could normally brush off were getting to me a lot more.

So I set off on a self-love mission. Much like a glow-up week, I’ve been trying to focus my actions on self-care in many different ways. The goal is to relieve my anxiety and reconnect with myself. So today I decided to share my journey and what has helped me!

My body:

Before I could even begin to sort out my life or emotions I really needed to take care of my body. And by that I mean 10 hours of sleep and eating full meals. 

Getting proper rest especially was an essential step for me, I physically felt better which allowed me the brainpower to focus on my emotions.

External Stressors:

There are many different ways to help de-stress and relieve anxiety, especially for things out of our control. Personally, going to the beach helps me put things into perspective. It visually shows me the vastness of the world and how little these problems matter when put in the context of the seemingly never-ending water.

It’s easier to let the waves wash the stress away, so I made the most of this last bit of summer and had a proper beach day in the water.

I think the main takeaway is, even if it’s not the beach, to be outside in nature. You could go on a walk through a forest trail or a run through your neighborhood. Whatever way you can be outside, even if it’s sitting on a bench in a park.

Being in nature helps ease your mind from human-made problems and can help shed some perspective on them when you’re amongst the part of the world that is not affected by your stressors.

Internal Reflection:

Once the external stuff isn’t bugging you as much, you’re left with yourself and that’s where self-love can get deep. 

Usually, it helps to talk things out with someone if you’re having problems, either with them or in general. Journaling is simply a conversation with yourself.

I came up with a Self-Love Countdown, which are 5 questions to start the conversation with yourself about loving and accepting who you are.

The prompts are:

-5 Things that bring you joy

-4 Accomplishments

-3 Parts of your physical appearance that you like

-2 Favorite personality traits

-1 Thing you love about yourself

This is by no means a comprehensive list and you can find a lot more self-love/self-reflection journal prompts out there but this was a good jumping off point for me.

I also think it’s important to remind yourself just how far you’ve come. I did this by going down memory lane and listing out all the things I had hoped to one day do and then listing all the things that I have done. It reminded me of just how much I’ve accomplished and how much growth I’ve made (especially when comparing how I was back in high school).

You need to give yourself credit for your growth, even if you feel like you’re stepping backwards, growth is not something that can be taken away from you. Always remember that.

A Date With Yourself:

An important part of self-love and reconnecting with yourself is being able to spend time with yourself. Take yourself out on a date and romanticize your life.

And while you’re out, do things that make you happy. Maybe reconnect with a hobby you haven’t done in a while, or go somewhere you like but haven’t been to recently. The goal is to generate joy when you're with just you.

I went to a cafe and sat by the window and wrote for a while. It was peaceful and aesthetic and it felt good to focus on writing since it made me feel extra productive.

You can even journal on your date with yourself as a way to have a conversation. (The way you would if you were on a date with another person.)

Physical Appearance:

It also helps to dress up nicely and feel good about how you look since that will reflect internally as well. Wear clothes that make you feel your best and this might. 

This also may be a good time to do a face mask, get a haircut, do your nails or the other hygiene related things we do not just to take care of ourselves but also to feel good.

Of course you can work out, but only if that’s something you enjoy doing. Throughout this process you have to handle yourself with grace and care and specifically focus on doing the things that bring you joy and happiness.

I ended up getting highlights again after a while of not having them and made an effort to wear the dresses I felt prettiest in.

Physical Space:

As a really organized person my physical space also made a difference. I went through and did a deep clean of my room which made me feel a lot better as well. Having your immediate spaces be clean and put together helps your mind to feel more put together too.

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With all of these things working together, I feel like I’m at a much better place now than I was before. I feel more reconnected with myself and better suited to handle the problems that might come my way.

Remember that this isn’t as straightforward of a process as the way I outlined it. I did these all in different orders over the course of multiple days spanning a week and a half (and not without stumbling blocks either). As long as you’re trying to do these things with intention, you can slowly work your way up.

I hope this helps in your reconnecting with yourself journey, I’d love to hear your thoughts so please leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!