Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! In honor of V-Day, below are 15 ways that you can show yourself and your loved ones tons of love – not just today but every day. Hope this brings you some inspiration!
1. Cook a delicious meal and savor it. Eat mindfully, savor the taste, texture, and smell of your foods. (These blogs are brimming with delicious recipes and unique ideas!)
2. Make a V-Day card. A few years ago, I took out some of my scrapbooking materials (like snowflakes and glossy white paper) and made my boyfriend a Christmas card. I had so much fun! Whether it’s a card for yourself, your significant other, a close friend, or your mom, making something is a wonderful way of letting your heart pour out on paper. (OK, that’s a bit too much, but I do think it’s true!)
Margarita Tartakovsky is an associate editor at PsychCentral.com, an award-winning mental health website, and the voice behind Weightless, a blog that helps women deal with body image issues and disordered eating. She also writes a monthly feature for Beliefnet.com, covering topics such as patience and procrastination.
Editor: Saad Shaheed
3. Get or give a bouquet. I love buying my loved ones flowers for V-Day. Women rarely buy themselves flowers because they think it’s an extravagance or a luxury we don’t deserve. So bringing your loved one flowers might be a small but significant gesture. Buy yourself some flowers, too!
4. Create a vision board that celebrates you and your loved ones. Look through your favorite photo albums, and pick out some photos that are meaningful to you and remind you what you’re truly thankful for. Put them up on any type of board you like (e.g., a corkboard). (If you don’t want to use the originals, just make a copy of the pictures.) Find inspiring quotes, poems, scripture verses, or random phrases, and put them up, too. Look through magazines for anything that sparks your imagination or makes you happy.
5. Take pictures! You can take pictures of yourself and/or with your loved ones. Get dressed up. Try different looks. Get outside. Whatever you’re doing today, capture the snippets. You can find something special in the smallest and seemingly mundane of things. For instance, I recently bought red lipstick, a color I never ever thought I’d wear. But to me this simple shade of lipstick signifies another level of confidence; I’m OK with being seen.
6. Give your loved ones a big, full-bodied hug. How often do we express our love physically to others? Wrapping your arms around your family and friends is a sweet way of showing them some love. Plus, a 20-second hug releases the bonding hormone oxytocin.
7. Tell your loved ones you love them. Another thing we rarely do, but one that’s tremendously important.
8. Right now, list five things you love about yourself! Your smile, your hair, how sweet you are to others, your ability to cook fabulous meals, your laugh, your hips, your height, your thighs, how you write, how you love, how you help others.
9. Get crafty and create your gifts. You can make V-Day luminaries, an I Love You garland, or try these eight creative ideas. Channel your creativity into a fun project.
10. Tell your loved ones why you think they’re beautiful – and why they make your days beautiful. We don’t tell others nearly enough how much beauty and meaning they bring into our lives. Part of that is human nature. But life is also fleeting. Take the time today to tell your loved ones what they mean to you.
11. Pen a poem for your loved one. How about haiku? It’s a fun and creative way to convey your appreciation.
12. Take the time to journal about what self-love means to you. Other topics you might want to explore: here, here here, and here.
13. Celebrate your own beauty and uniqueness.
14. Think of the various ways that you can honor yourself and others. While it’s important to honor ourselves and others every day, today is a good time to think about how you’re going to do that. Not sure? Here’s a list of ideas to get you started.
15. Keep loving your body and spread the word.
How do you like to spend Valentine’s Day? How do you show your loved ones that you care about them? What are your favorite ways to honor yourself?