All we need is (Self) Love...

The other day after I told my daughter how much I love her she said something like, "Yeah, I really love me too." She is five and I can't tell you how happy I was to hear her say that. There is nothing more that I want for her then to have a healthy view of her Self and to be comfortable in 'her own skin.' 

With a little quick research today I found that generally self-esteem and confidence are peaking sometime in late-childhood then plateauing or even dropping-off in adolescence (although low self-esteem can also start much earlier in childhood). This statistic makes me want to collect a little of that self-love that my daughter was feeling and put it ‘in the bank,’ because she might need to ‘spend’ it when she hits her transitional years.  

We know that yoga is a good practice for the physical body but sometimes we forget to celebrate that it is also one way to encourage a better relationship with Self. Yoga philosophy encourages respect and compassion for the Self. It creates a steady foundation of inner-strength that will prepare our children to meet the many challenges of life confidently. 

While we are at the topic, what if we all were able to say, “Yeah, I really love me too,” with as much certainty as my daughter? Maybe we should all start to practice using and believing those powerful words.