#8 Heartfelt Journey to Self-Love | Self- Respect & Self-Honour
What is Self-Respect & Self-Honour?
The unwavering commitment to making only choices that respect and honour the sacred soul that you are.
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You are Sacred
My hope for you is that you realise that you are sacred. And in this knowing, you treat your body as your temple and make sure everyone else does too. Your body may be changing, with a bit more loose skin, a few wrinkles, and may not be as agile as it once was, yet it still is a sacred expession of the divine that deserves to be honoured at all times.
Imagine if you can that each and every week that you have lived you had received the gift of an entire sea of people reflecting back to you the notion “You are a sacred being, a reflection of divine love. We see you. We love you”. Imagine that kind of honour and reverence seeping into your cells hundreds or thousands of times. Might you then remember you deserve respect, and that your body is sacred? Just imagine that.
How many situations or relationships throughout the course of your lifetime has someone disrespected or dishonoured you? Verbally, emotionally, or physically assaulted you: Treated your body, feelings, mind, or spirit as neither important or not worthy of honour?
Take a moment to count them on yours fingers right now. Did you use up all ten fingers? Unfortunately, most of us – having grown up in a world that as a general rule doesn’t treat a lot of things sacred, including beautiful divine imprints of love such as you – have long lists of ways in which we were not treated as sacred. Some of these things happened when you were too young to make a choice, and unfortunately some where made when you could make a choice. Many could have been avoided had you been taught to remember you are sacred.
All of these choices you made when you weren’t respected, or when you didn’t respect and honour yourself by the choices you made – you can forgive yourself for right now. You were doing the best you could with what you knew. If you didn’t have any one telling you how sacred you where, how the heck could you know it?
Grab hold of that self-compassion you have learnt, the self- forgiveness and give yourself some love. You just didn’t know. What’s important is, that from this moment forward is that you do now.
Me Moment
How are you Honouring or Respecting Yourself?
Take the self-love flashlight out and get up close with yourself to see what parts you may not b honouring and don’t even know it. Take a look at the following questions and answer yes or no to find where you most need to be reminded just how absolutely sacred you are.
Feelings – Do you do any of the following?
Apologise for your feelings? Apologise for tearing up, crying, or otherwise being emotional?
Ignore your feelings and stuff them down?
Make fun of your feelings or brush them off, especially after you realise you’ve shared them in public or with someone else?
To how many of these questions did you answer yes? If one or more your feelings need some
R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
Spirit – Do you do any of the following?
Have a daily and weekly practice that feeds your spirit? Do you talk to your spirit every day and know that you wouldn’t leave home without connecting to your spirit?
Value your spirit as much as you do your mind and body? Do you spend as much time, money, and energy on making sure your spirit is happy as you do on making sure your body is fit and your knowledge level is keen?
Have meaning and purpose in your day-to-day life? Do you feel that what you spend your time, energy, and money on matters to both you and to the world, that you and your work are connected to something bigger?
To how many questions did you answer no? If one or more, your spirit needs some
R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
Body – Do you do any of the following?
Have sex with people who don’t treat your body as sacred? Do you have sex when intoxicated, with people you don’t have a sacred relationship with? Sex with people who are in a relationship with other people who don’t know about you? Sex with people you’d like to have a sacred, intimate relationship with but who are, you know deep down, really there only for the sex?
Put trash into your body temple by filling your body with unhealthy foods, sugar and soft drinks?
Hate your body? Do you tell your body she’s fat, ugly, unattractive, and worse?
To how many questions did you answer yes? If one or more, your body needs some
R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
Mind – Do you do any of the following?
Frequently think negative thoughts? That is, of the sixty thousand thoughts you have in a day, are a large percentage of them negative?
Go to sleep with the computer and wake up with your phone or other digital device? Is your to-do list always turned on, and in your mind always turned on too?
Call yourself stupid, get on yourself for not being smarter, or judge your performance harshly?
To how many questions did you answer yes? If one or more, your mind needs some
R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
Which of these four parts do you need more R-E-S-P-E-C-T for – feelings, spirit, body, or mind? These are the parts of yourself that you are not currently honouring as much as is needed, as indicated by the yes and no answers you gave. Wherever one or more of your answers indicates that, yes you do need more respect, the self-love medicine is sacred healing, and you are just the person to give it to yourself.
Daring Act of Self-Love
Chances are you’ve done some damage to the parts of you that aren’t feeling so sacred, even though you did the best you could at the time. In circumstances such as these, whether we are in a relationship with someone else or ourselves, the best policy is to just apologise. Have a heart-to-heart with the part of you that you currently disrespect and dishonour, or have disrespected and dishonoured in the past.
Tell it from your heart – yes, just like talking to a person – how sorry you are and specifically why you are sorry. Just let the love rip. Then ask this part of you to forgive you. To receive the forgiveness, put your hand on your heart and feel yourself reconnect with yourself – just like when you make up with a friend or romantic partner. End by making a sacred vow to this sacred piece of you: “I promise to honour and respect you from this day forward, no matter what”.
Enjoy the process. Go slow, be gentle. Be kind to yourself. Trust yourself and reach out if you have anything that comes up that you have trouble moving through.
I look forward to sharing the next Heartfelt Journey with you soon. In the meantime, I invite you to journal what thoughts come up for you, process things and most of all be kind to you.
Until next time, enjoy this Journey and may you love yourself abundantly.
Much Love Cath xx
