Radical Self-Love Collaboration

Can I ask you something?

After you sort out all the handcrafted cards and allergy-safe candy for the whole kindergarten class, the reservations for date night, and the treats to help you cat feel beloved...

What's left for YOU? 

• What would it be like to take some time for your self-care?
  
  

• Could you treat yourself with love, without any strings attached?
  
  

• What if you didn't have to earn your own approval?
  
  

You have so much to give to your relationships and to the world.
You just can't pour from an empty cup. 

Is it just me? I feel like Valentine's Day is supposed to be about love, but it has become just one more consumer burden foisted on us, where we have to perform - to demonstrate our love in a big rose-festooned way - or feel like we're disappointing someone. 

Meanwhile, there's no attention paid to our own feelings. 

What if we're actually letting OURSELVES down by busily lining the pockets of Hallmark, Godiva, and 1-800-FLOWERS, while ignoring what we really need? 

What is that, you ask? 

I don't think there's one answer. 

When it comes to meaningful self-care, we each need something different. Authentic self-care nourishes, energizes and grounds us by working on the root issue: the unnecessary backlog of tension in our body. 

Chocolate can be part of that, for sure! But it isn't the whole picture.

Authentic self-care doesn’t use up your time or energy, it frees up your energy by giving you more awareness of what is, and isn’t, serving you. 

Are you ready for a treat...?

A Creative Self-Love Collaboration

I wanted to do Valentine's Day differently this year, so I asked an eclectic bunch of my friends how they practice SELF-LOVE, and what they'd like to share about it.

We'll start with a sweet tune, and end with a few delicious giveaways!

Hit play on Amy's song and scroll down for a sampler of self-love goodies just for you.

⏰ It's time to care for yourself. ❤️

1. Listen to Amy Fix's song "Photograph of Jane" from her award-winning album "SPOON" 

c 2001 by Amy Fix

Don't have a photograph of Jane

But I keep all these memories in my brain

And I call them up every once in a while

But sometimes they're misfiled under pain

 

And I try 

To do what's healthy

Do what's right for me

But I get so confused between

What my attraction-faction wants

And what my inner child needs

 

Good thing I loved her just from afar

Cuz I'm sure that I would've been burned by now

She's constantly drinkin'

And she smokes all that weed

And last time I checked 

A woman like that is not what I need 

Listen on Spotify

2. Journal with Julie Anna Johnson's Morning Gratitude Worksheet

"Gratitude is important for self-love because it encourages a positive mindset, fosters self-reflection, and enhances overall well-being. Acknowledging and appreciating what you have can lead to greater satisfaction and a deeper connection with yourself."

-Julie Anna Johnson of Ama Bear Coaching

Julie went from needing a walker for long distances to running a half marathon. She wants to help you THRIVE with chronic pain. giving people with pain hope by sharing her story and practices, like her Morning Gratitude worksheet.

Click the photo to download your own:

3. Read Justine Lynch's Five Element Acupuncture reflection about Valentine's Day

Justine (yes my sister) L. Ac. has been practicing Five Element Acupuncture in New York City since 2003. When I meet her clients, they invariably say, "Justine saved my life!" 

She's sending you a point:

"Womb and Heart Diaphragm is an acupuncture point that links, through resonance, the light in the heart with the light in the uterus.

A diaphragm, in this tradition, looks at a place where something “breathes between”.

When I consider this Valentine’s Day I think of the feminine in all of her life stages, maiden, mother and crone.

Or as we say now, menstrual, fertility, pre and post partum and menopausal.

How the connection of the heart with our power to manifest life, can be breathed into.

How the light in the uterus is for life in ALL manifestations.

 

What are you birthing this year? How are you falling in love with your feminine power? And how is your heart able to explore possibilities beyond your current imagination?"

Five Element Acupuncture is a source to connect to your deepest nature, and thus your creativity.

While her practice is in Williamsburg Brooklyn, Justine also offers Zoom "Peace Talks." Book online at signalacupuncture.com. 

4. Taste a delectably natural lip scrub from Khushi Spa

My friend Nichi says,

"Taking the time to care for yourself in ANY WAY is self-love!"

Nichi is giving away: Khushi Spa LIP SCRUB!

It's a unique lip scrub just in time for chapping season, and so natural and totally delicious that you can eat it! The Khushi Lip Scrub is so easy to use… rub a small amount on lip area to exfoliate and eat it off (or you can rinse it off!). You will be left with soft and moisturized lips. 

I'll choose 3 attendees randomly during the Self-Love Yoga Flow on Valentine's Day to receive a Khushi Lip Scrub as a gift! 

5. 3 Reasons You Should Gift Yourself a Massage

1. You Deserve a Break: Allow yourself the gift of being cared for by someone else.

2. Stress Reduction: Combat pain and muscle tension with the powerful stress-reducing benefits of massage.

3. Benefits Amplify with Frequency: Consistency is key - the more often you indulge, the longer you will experience the positive effects on your body and mind.

Remember, gifting yourself a massage is an act of self-love, offering relaxation and gratitude to your body, mind, and spirit.

-Myra Howard of Chi Moshi

Myra promotes Self-Care & Self-Love through Therapeutic Massage Treatments and Holistic Health & Wellness Coaching Services in a private boutique studio setting in Brooklyn.

Chi Moshi's Ultimate Couples Massage - February Special

6. Move in harmony with a flowing self-love yoga practice online with Kate Lynch

Your primary relationship is the one you have with yourself. 

You are already whole and worthy of self-respect simply by being here. Self-care doesn’t need to be earned, and it isn’t about changing you. Authentic self-care supports your inherent goodness. 

So, after you sort out the cards, candy, and treats for everyone else, how will you make sure there's something special for YOU? 

Self-Love Yoga Flow is a nurturing Valentine's Day workshop for highly sensitive, empathetic people who tend to put themselves last, and want to change that. Let the trappings drop away. 

Listen to your quiet inner voice. 

Your self-care is not a performance! 🎤
💕 Claim it as yours and not for anyone else. 

Take up space, and take time for yourself, unapologetically!

Are you ready to care for yourself as lovingly as you care for everyone else? 

Join LIVE on Valentine's Day

Be my honored guest on Wednesday 2/14, 11-11:45 am Eastern. 

There will be a REPLAY available for 24 hours, and... 

You can UPGRADE to the Radical Self-Love Bundle! Pay what you can for $14 or more, and you get to keep the replay plus a beautiful bouquet of self-compassion yoga! 

About Kate Lynch (she/her): Since 2002, I've shared the tools that help me find joy, healing and calm in the face of self-doubt, pain and anxiety with thousands of students internationally. I want to support you to step outside the paradigm of self-criticism and proving your worth... and open to radical self-love.