FEATURE

Admiring yourself doesn’t mean you believe you’re the cleverest, most talented, and most beautiful person in the world. Rather, when you love yourself and you accept your so-called flaws and appreciate these so-called faults as something that makes you who you are. When you love yourself you have kindness for yourself.

We asked some of the cities favourites on how they reaffirm themselves with selflove.

Self-love isn’t about immediate gratification. A new pair of shoes or eating an entire pizza might make you feel good at the time (or taste delicious), but that reaction isn’t lasting–and could be detrimental in the long run. Self-love means giving yourself what your body, brain, and soul needs for the race that is life. Self-love is the practice of sustaining yourself.

“Self-love is not just about sipping a warm cup of coffee by the window on a winter night, reading your favourite book, going for pampering spa sessions or throwing in bath bombs in your candlelit bath time. True self-love comes with sound Mental health. It is getting to know yourself, being Empowered and being at peace with yourself. The way u look talk or walk shouldn’t matter. No rush. Hustle at your own pace. Do what suits you best. Only when you know yourself will u be able to let others know your worth. Make yourself the priority. Learn to say no. Have borders that guard your inner peace. Loving yourself mentally n understanding yourself is the greatest form of self-love you can nurture yourself with. You deserve the love you give to others and to keep giving optimistically, you must value, respect and appreciate yourself. The day you understand that you have a responsibility towards making yourself happy and sound, that’s the moment you’ve truly acknowledged the significance of selflove”

Feroze Jahan Begum (Entrepreneur)

“Me-Time’ is absolutely essential for me, it gives me time to reflect on my actions and thoughts. It clears my mind and helps me relax. I’m usually always surrounded by family, friends or work, the only time I get for myself is when I work out, I call that my ‘favourite hour’, I put my headphones on and I’m gone for the world. It’s crucial that one makes time for themselves, sometimes the best advice comes from within.”

Qutub Alam Khan

“We often get so busy with our lives, it almost is like we need to remind ourselves that we come first and need to look after ourselves. For the most part, taking time out for myself came to me naturally, be it going to the gym and investing time in getting fit or eating healthy and sleeping well. The pandemic did change the way our lives function and suddenly it felt like we had all this time to see how we really are spending our time and how much of it is really dedicated to ourselves. Owing to the pandemic, I have become careful and diligent towards how I look after myself physically and mentally. I have paid attention to what makes me feel good and now I just ensure I give myself the time and care it needs to feel rejuvenated and mentally peaceful every day. Starting with working out, I used to enjoy going to the gym every day, so even during the lockdown, I signed up for classes and take an hour or so out to do that. I used to binge while watching TV shows which really made me feel terrible after, so now I practise mindful eating and spending that time changing that habit has helped me a lot. I have made it to a point to learn a new language and read every day. I get motivated when I learn something new or read a good book. I guess for me work takes up a lot of time but I haven’t let that eat into my personal time and having that love for yourself to take a couple of hours of “me time” makes a massive difference in how you feel mentally and physically. The mantra is to just spend time with yourself to really get to know what makes you feel good!”

Sruthi Reddy (Growth Marketing Manager @ColorTokens-Ex-ISB class of 2020)

My idea of self-love clearly define the love you share and care for others, that is what gives me a relaxed and self-satisfaction feeling of how important is to stand by someone who needs you doing good for others is not a duty, it’s a joy it increases our own health and happiness. So this is my idea of relaxation.

Hamed Saberi

(Founder Managing Director, NUMI Paris)

Self-love is about all taking care of oneself - physically, mentally and emotionally. Meditation, Yoga and Pranayama works miracles on one’s body. It heals us and helps us process our thoughts and emotions better, teaches us to be mindful and improves our overall well-being. I practise a combination of all three and it has helped me get through this difficult time. Self-care is about doing what we need to do to make our lives better every day

Vaishnavi Mereddy (Wingo Creative Agency/Mereddy Ventures )

“The word self-love has such a deep meaning to it, It's all about loving oneself without caring what the world thinks of you. When u get up and see yourself in the mirror you should love what you see, which matter of the fact I do. I believe in positive energy a lot So I try being with people who emit it and kind of avoid negative people in my life. I love singing and dancing have been doing it since childhood learned Hindustani classical music and dance. Have choreographed dances in school and for television. When I feel low just put on music and dance. I have done Shamik shows as well. I love the time I spend doing things for my kids and hubby. Love our chill-out time making food together in the kitchen to watch our favourite shows. My meditation is soulful music. I am a big fan of Sufi music and hum along once I get a chance. My favourite mantra in life is a song by Tom Cochrane goes Life is a high way I want to ride it all night long but if you going my way I wanna drive it all night long.”-

Rummy Azad Mahendra (BDS, MDS Prosthodontics)