Embracing Who You Are This Summer: Celebrating Your Current Self

I always know when summer’s on it’s way, because weight loss and gym class ads fill my social media feeds.

Why is there so much emphasis on changing ourselves in order to enjoy this warm season though?

This summer I’m all about focusing on celebrating my CURRENT self, and embracing it’s difference.

A great bikini body won’t make my summer worse or better- being the real me will determine this.

The only things I want to change are how I perceive myself and respond to triggers in daily life.

Personal growth and development with my emotions and mental health matter far more than how my stomach or thighs look.

So here’s my ‘getting summer ready’ plan:

Affirmations

Self compassion is a key tool which enables us to love all parts of ourselves, and affirmations can help this.

Affirmations are positive statements that motivate you to continue working towards your goal.

They also reaffirm you’re doing great and to keep going.

In the past I’ve found some inspirational affirmations in books and written them on notes to leave around the house.

Recently I’ve liked finding some online as well as creating ones personal to me.

I’ve listed what I’m good at, what I’ve achieved and statements like “I can do it”,  “take it one day at a time” and so on.

Mindtools have a great article explaining how to use positive affirmations if you’re new to it.

There’s also plenty of quotes across the net that you can take inspiration from.

Self Care

Self-care is vital for our mental and physical wellbeing, and if you saw my previous self-care post you’ll know why.

This can be nice things like having a bath surrounded by scented candles, doing your nails or even exercise, but it’s also the tougher stuff.

Keeping in check with your feelings, having emotional boundaries with people and even therapy are difficult to do, but amazing for your self-care.

I’ve recently started journaling each day for a few minutes, focusing on what’s been good, not so good and what triggers have emerged.

This gives me a space to learn how to identify my feelings, which will increase my self awareness over time.

Being self aware means you can reduce or even stop triggers and bad reactions to things, so this summer I’m working on increasing this.

Getting Out There

Now restrictions are easing, socialising is something that can boost our wellbeing hugely.

I’ve been quite isolated and noticed a huge decline in my mental health from this.

Finding ways to meet people is great- my favourite is taking up a new hobby so I meet people with similar interests.

For those single people out there, a great way to build confidence is to get back into the dating scene.

After a year of being at home, it can feel scary to get back out there and meet potential partners.

When I’ve come back to the dating scene, I’ve always started online, as it’s a great way to rebuild self-confidence.

It’s helpful to virtually meet to see if there’s a spark before meeting in real life.

These days I have long term chronic pain conditions, so I’d want to be able to be open about my conditions without fear of judgement.

There’s a great single disabled dating site who are an inter-abled dating company so you know it’s a positive, safe place to dip your toes back into the dating waters.

Gratitude

Last but not least, gratitude is vital this summer.

Being grateful for your body, mind and life can help make those dark days brighter.

As somebody with mental health issues, I can struggle to see things positively, so gratitude combats this.

It can be as simple as listing three things each day that you’re grateful for.

This is not as easy as it sounds, so start small.

I noticed this was tricky at first, but now I can easily list six or seven things each day I’m grateful for.

This trains the brain to start noticing the positives in each day, as well as in you.

Try it now- list three things you love/like about yourself right now!

This is a collaborative post. All opinions are honest and my own.