What are Self-Love Rituals and Why are they so Powerful?

A self-love ritual involves a series of actions or steps, which are a type of behavior that is invariably and regularly followed to achieve a certain state of mind or behavior. In a self-love ritual, we all want to behave or practice certain things regularly, consistently, invariably, and habitually until it becomes second nature to us, and it becomes part of our lifestyle.

This is why developing rituals are powerful because rather than us leaving it to the randomness of life or maybe by chance or how we feel on that day, we create rituals and incorporate them into our lives, and this makes us more likely to do them. Once you have created the ritual that works for you, you don’t have to think about it- it becomes part of your system, and it is internalized and practiced easily.

Rituals have the ability to supercharge your habits and, in many ways, they are better than habits. You can encompass more than one habit in a ritual because rituals focus on specific ways or methods of doing something. Rituals are very focused.

Apart from creating a habit, the other amazing thing about rituals is that when we follow these set of ways of doing something, we naturally create space and time in our lives for it. Doing these rituals, again and again, sends a message to the brain telling it that this is extremely important for you and to you. You Matter.

If you are thinking that you need to layout a whole bunch of things, light candles, and sing Kumbaya to do these rituals, well, you will be surprised to know that it is nothing out of the ordinary. Your ritual can be anything you are comfortable with, and by virtue of you thinking of it as a ritual and labeling it as such already makes it a thing. It is different from the mundane things you do every day, and it is something special. It becomes something that you look forward to doing.

Your ‘You’ Time- Creating a Ritual Just for You

Most of what you would consider a self-love ritual is things that you consider YOU time. It is simply just time you put aside to focus on yourself, and scheduling this YOU time is a key habit in self-love. Having these rituals on and off is a great way for you to instill self-love. How you do it, for how long, what it is, and how easy it is for you entirely depends on you, your lifestyle, your situation, and your preference.

A self-love ritual can be 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, or even an hour. If you’re overwhelmed, here are some ideas to get you feeling motivated, in control and in charge of your time.

If you have only 5 minutes:

Many of us, especially those with kids, can tell you that 5 minutes to ourselves is already a luxury. It may seem like a small amount of time to put in a self-love ritual, but again, if you made this a practice, you’d find how even 5 minutes can do you a huge favor mentally and emotionally. In five minutes, there’s a lot that you can do.

Sitting in silence and not thinking about anything at all. This can be done when you’re in your car or on the metro. Put some music on or white noise to be ‘in-the-zone.’ Close your eyes and just take a few deep breaths for 5 minutes.
Have a drink. Having a cup of coffee or tea and just being calm and centered for 5 minutes is already a good start to a self-love ritual. Enjoy the aroma, the scent, and the flavor.
A self-massage for your back and neck is also a great way to stimulate the senses, refresh your mind, and ease the tension after a long day at work. You can also massage your feet when you kick-off those shoes when you get home. A 5-minute rub on the soles of the feet can really make you feel better physically.
Eat lunch or a snack away from the computer or your work desk. Taking that time off to just focus on your food is a very intuitive way to eat and listen to your body. Your sole focus should just be nourishing your body with food and savoring the meal.
Hug your dog. Who doesn’t love a 5-minute hug with their pets? Hugging your dog will boost your happy hormone, it makes both you and your dog feel like in a place you belong, and it creates a higher sense of self-esteem for yourself.
Hug a loved one. Of course, hugging your partner, friend, or spouse for a straight five minutes, especially after a hard day’s work, can instantly make both of you happier. It strengthens the bond you have, reduces any fears and anxiety you may be feeling, and just like that, the world is slightly a better place.

If you only had 10 to 20 minutes to yourself:

Well, there’s a lot you can do. Granted, these precious moments do not come often, especially if you are juggling work, life, chores, different schedules, etc. So, what can you do for a self-love ritual for 1o to 20 minutes? Here are some ideas:

Meditating in your space with some scented candles really do the trick here.
Sing out loud in the shower. Draw the bath or just have a hot shower with your favorite shower gels and creams, lather soap onto yourself, and just enjoy the feeling of the bubbles, the lather, the water, and the clean feeling after a bath.
Do a few stretches or a 10 to 15-minute yoga is known to help destress the muscles and release tension. You can do this either in the evening or in the morning.
Roller jade your face using CBG oil, such as zilis ultra cbg oil. Jade rolling has strong roots in traditional Chinese medicine and is known for its ability to depuff the skin, leaving it more radiant. When jade rolling, it is essential to use a serum or oil such as CBG. CBG is known to reduce skin inflammation and helps with treating acne as well.