Reflections on Self-love
Self-love is becoming a pretty popular phrase as of late. There are yoga classes, workshops, and a plethora of books promising to increase your self-love quotient, and that’s great, but the most important part of that practice is cultivating consistency with it and finding your own unique way of developing that inward relationship with yourself. So, we wanted to take a deeper dive into what self-love means in a more consistent and holistic way and share our tips for keeping strong throughout the chaos and the ups and downs of daily life.
Self-love really starts when we stop looking for it in a teacher or lesson outside of ourselves and start to take small steps that support the self internally. For some, self-love is meditating and learning how to stop the negative self-talk and to be more gentle or kind to themselves. For others, it’s about taking time out of their hectic schedule for a little bit of solace. For me personally, it is about incorporating little moments of self-care and rituals throughout my day so that I am consistently supporting myself, no matter where the day takes me. I start out my morning with an energetic check-in activity, whether that is a mediation, a face massage, journaling, honoring that extra sleep is needed, or all of the above, it is important to get up and devote a few minutes to yourself.
“RASHIA BELL FROM THE CRISTALLINE®”
I am not a morning person, so even setting an alarm for 10 minutes earlier can feel like quite a feat, but I see a drastic difference when I start the day “scheduling” some time for myself, and most importantly being that it is accomplished before I reach for my phone!
Over the years, building multiple businesses and as a ”recovering” perfectionist, I think one of my biggest ongoing challenges has been to be easier on myself. I spent a great deal of my life either trying to control the outcome of things or being caught up with how things “had” to be done. Today, being mindful of my thoughts is a consistent practice that I focus on to keep my self-love strong. For anyone who is type A, I would highly recommend taking inventory and looking through a self-reflecting lens exploring, what are the words that you use towards yourself? How are they guiding your thoughts? How are they getting in the way of what you would like to feel about yourself? And using that as a guide in order to find a place of acceptance and genuine self-love in oneself that feels natural.
Being one that needs all the sleep she can get, my most consistent self-care rituals happen at night, and this is my favorite aspect of “me time’ each day. From a very young age, I was always playing with my grandmother's lotions and perfumes and borrowing her nightgowns and robes making the nightly routine an experience. I don’t know many people who started using eye cream at the age of 12, but that was me! My nightly routine has evolved to add face oils and crystal face rollers, but nothing has changed in that this is still one of my favorite times of the whole day.
As a former beauty buyer I know my way around choosing products, when I was introduced to the Meraki Rose Quartz oil, it was like adding a bit of liquid gold to my already very luxurious routine. Our crystal face rollers are the perfect tool to help the oil permeate into the layers of skin and hydrate deeply while they glide across the skin in what can only be described as a very meditative practice.
Once I am done with my facial routine, that is a signal to myself to step away from the devices, which is challenging since I have to work in multiple time zones all over the world. Once I get into bed occasionally I read or journal even if it is just a few words to help clear my thoughts while wearing my RE.VITYL RE.LEASE sleep mask on my forehead.
The crystals can start to work their magic, so I can sleep as soundly as possible. Sleeping with the eye mask also helps keep all of the beautiful oils on my face so they don’t disappear into my pillow. For me, deep sleep is one of the most important things that I need so I can show up each day and be my best. Thankfully, my mask blocks out all the light and distractions for a much sounder sleep and the crystal insert always helps me wake up feeling recharged on a level I never knew was possible.
Hopefully the insight and ritual above inspires you to create one for yourself, and I also wanted the other wonderful women that I’ve teamed up with to create the Rose Quartz Self-Love Trio, Iva Bravic Millereau (my co-founder) from RE.VITYL™ and Amber Makupson from Meraki™ to share what self-love means to them, and how they take care of themselves so they can be the best versions of themselves.
“IVA BRAVIC FROM RE.VITYL™”
What does self-love mean to you?
Self-love to me is about accepting yourself in each moment that you are in. Meaning, each and every part of the journey (good and bad) and all of the emotions that it brings.
What has been the most challenging aspect about cultivating and maintaining genuine self-love for your personal wellbeing?
As a working mother of two kids, I used to put the needs of everyone else before my own. I found myself constantly exhausted, running on coffee and little sleep. When I realized I was going to derail, I changed my lifestyle and RE.VITYL was born from this idea. I now schedule my workouts and organize my day with zoom meetings and work/life to ensure that I always get at least 8 hours of sleep.
Throughout the day I take mindful moments to breath and release my mind. Making these small changes and scheduling time for myself has been life changing in the way I am able to show up for myself and my family.
When life gets busy it’s easy to forget about your routine, but I constantly remind myself of the bad place physically I was in before and that I do not want to go down that road again.
What is your favorite ritual around self-care?
My self-care routine starts from the moment I wake up. I usually set an intention for my day and start by drinking a glass of lemon water or celery juice. My morning routine always includes a face massage with oils and crystal roller! My 60 minutes workout is usually scheduled either in the morning or early afternoon, based on my schedule. In the evening, I wind down usually by taking a shower or a bath with essential oils. Snuggling with my children is a must followed by 10 minutes of self-care and self-love before going to sleep. While I am winding down I tend to journal or read with the Re.LEASE Sleep Mask on my forehead to start the pure sleep magic even before I close my eyes.
What attracted you to this shared female-brand crystal collaboration? And or/why do you feel it is valuable?
There is nothing more powerful than when women support women! When we empower each other we are more successful and our energy vibes higher! When I started working 20 years ago that was not often the case. Women were very competitive with each other and there was little support, it is a mission of mine to do anything I can to help change that. By raising each other up and channelling our power of collaborations is truly how we will change the narrative and we will have lots of fun along the way!
“AMBER MAKUPSON FROM MERAKI™”
What does self-love mean to you?
For me, Self Love means to honor myself fully. Self Love is also my process of healing, forgiveness, and nurturing myself back to wholeness. Without love for the self, you are unable to truly love others.
What has been the most challenging aspect about cultivating and maintaining genuine self-love for your personal wellbeing?
I think self0love is a lifelong journey. It really is the process of returning back to yourself. It takes consistency. Constant reminders and affirmation sometimes daily. The hardest part is really looking within yourself during your evolution as opposed to outside influences and opinions, primarily from those people who are close to you. You have to be turned into God and your higher self to the point where other people's opinions can not affect how you feel about yourself!
What is your favorite ritual around self-care?
My favorite self care ritual is calming baths! I love to add fresh Rose, essential oils, bath salts, candles, and healing music to set the mood. I’ve found this ritual to be extremely grounding and balancing for me.
What attracted you to this shared female-brand crystal collaboration? And or/why do you feel it is valuable?
When I met Rashia I knew I wanted to do a brand collaboration with her! I love Rashia; her deep wisdom and spiritual insight on life as well as crystals and gemstones really motivates me. I also understand the importance of women working together. I think it is so powerful when brands can effectively combine forces to serve the highest good of the collective!
With all of our most precious tips, tricks and rituals that help the three of us level up on our self-love, we created this collaboration for you!
Posted 11.13.20