GUEST BLOG: Learning to Love Yourself with Jessica Pearson of Path Nutrition
Learning to love yourself is an uncomfortable process that requires courage. You probably haven't thought about that because loving yourself is supposed to feel joyful and warm and at ease, but like life, there's up's and down's and it's all a part of it, and that's OK.
You won't wake up tomorrow and suddenly think "Wow I love myself now. I've finally done it, I'm a changed woman." It's a journey. It's a practice. The days that yearn for the most self-love are the most challenging days. These are the days where you have nothing to wear, you feel ugly, nobody gets you, or when everything just goes wrong and it all spirals out of control. It takes courage to witness yourself in these moments, to face the shit you give yourself for not being enough. It takes courage to know that you are enough. Everything about you is imperfectly perfect and hear me when I say that YOU ARE ENOUGH.
Loving yourself requires facing your own bullshit. Because when those hard moments arrive, we've evolved as experts in avoiding that discomfort. Your brain is designed to seek pleasure, not pain. It's a survival skill. Unlike technology that evolves every six months, your brain is pretty much the same brain humans had over a hundred years ago. Whether you find solace in food, shopping, wine, endless scrolling, or whatever you love to do as a way to avoid reality, this is the intended function of your primal brain. The one that says "this doesn't seem safe, let's just hide here."
As a modern woman, you don't have to listen to that part of your brain all of the time. You can choose your thoughts and the way you speak to yourself. When the voice of negativity brews you can simply say "Not today brain. I'm working on loving myself." This takes courage because you're overriding biology and saying, "Yes, I know this seems scary, but we're going to do something else anyway."
Adopting this new mind-set inspires action from a place of love. Taking action from the feeling of love is better than taking it from shame or fear, don't you think? Your future self knows this. She loves you the most and is your best mentor. Whenever I'm in a situation that feels urgent I ask myself, "what does future me think?" She really wants the best for me at all times. It's sometimes hard to listen to her because she can be a real thorn in my side. But she loves me effortlessly and no matter what.
So embrace the discomfort of telling your brain to buzz off, because you've got more interesting things to think about than the dimples on your thighs.
Choose the courage to LOVE YOURSELF.
Jessica Pearson