The first time that I studied with my teacher and Shaman Rene Dustwalker, it was a profoundly life changing experience. At the end of our time together, I asked him, “Rene, what is the most important practice for me to do every day.” He responded, “Love Yourself”. He told me to wake up every morning and wrap my arms around myself and tell myself how much I love me. It’s an amazing practice and I encourage you all to try it.
When learning to love ourselves, the first question to contemplate is what is the self or who am I. Is it the mind, the body or something more? In the Yoga tradition we view the Self by the Ayurvedic map of the Pancha Kosha. These koshas or layers each hold a different aspect of our being. They progress from gross to subtle and in total they contain all that we are.
The first layer is the Anamaya Kosha, the physical body, followed by the Pranamaya Kosha the energy body, Manomaya Kosha the mundane mind, Vijnanamaya Kosha, the wisdom mind and the Anandamaya Kosha, the bliss essence.
When practicing self-love it’s important to express gratitude for all parts of who we are, the physical form or temple that houses the spirit, the energetic or subtle body that holds our emotions, the lower mind where our thoughts are held, the elevated mind that connects us to our higher consciousness and our inner essence that is spirit itself.Just contemplating the magnitude of the many aspects of the Self is impressive, it makes it hard not to love ourselves! We are so much; we are limitless and infinite.
Take some time each day to love and express gratitude for every part of your being. LOVE your body and all of the systems that give you life. LOVE your energetic field, your breath, the lifeforce that flows through you and allows you to feel your emotions. LOVE your mind, your ability to think, to question and take in knowledge. LOVE your spiritual wisdom, the deep inner knowing of your intuition, your connection to universal consciousness. And LOVE your essence, your spirit, your soul, you as the divine itself.
Once we are in a space of SELF LOVE then we are open to connect more deeply and love others. Not only are we able to more freely give love but it opens our hearts to take in the love that others have for us. We enter into a beautiful exchange. Our hearts become full and open, and we are ready to share that love with all beings. We realize that self-love is limitless.
So, when practicing gratitude be sure to take some time to offer gratitude for yourself. Your soul has traveled many lifetimes to bring you to this moment.
Thank your soul, thank all parts of yourself and you and the world will be blessed with unlimited love and bliss.
With Love + Gratitude,
Lauren
