7 Kind And Loving Things To Do For Yourself Today

Let’s power up your week with a good dose of kind and loving things, one for each day of the week.

Starting tomorrow morning, pick one activity from the list and complete it before you begin the day. It won’t take more than 5 minutes to do so. 

You can reorganize the list based on your preference or go one by one, as I listed them below. If you are not sure which one to pick, here is a trick I often recommend to my clients. 

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, place your hands on your heart, and ask yourself, “What kind and loving thing from my list do I need today?” That’s it.

I want this list to be your safe space for the next week, a little kind, loving, compassionate, nurturing, and caring thing you do for yourself.

Let’s begin.

1. Ground yourself

If you have a backyard or a piece of grass in front of your door, go outside and stand in the grass barefoot for about 3 minutes. Connecting with nature has its power.

Walking barefoot in the grass helps reduce stress, increases antioxidants, improves sleep, and more. Grounding (standing firmly on the ground) helps us calm our sympathetic nervous system (responsible for fight or flight) while activating our parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest).

If you live in the building and grass or outside ground isn’t available, you can lie on the floor and press the palms of your hands and soles of your feet into it.

2. Write a love letter to yourself

The most important person you talk to all day is staring right back at you in the mirror. Therefore, what are some loving, compassionate, and supportive words you can tell yourself?

Your love letter doesn’t have to be this long list of million things. Pick three things you want to express and write them down as if you would write this letter to a person you love the most in the entire Universe. This is an especially great trick when you struggle with kind and loving words towards yourself.

Save this letter, and anytime you feel sad or lonely, or lost, grab it and read through it.

3. 5 minutes of stillness

At first, stillness is uncomfortable if you are not used to it. However, practicing simple stillness calms you while activating your parasympathetic nervous system. Your nervous system dictates your entire life. Therefore, learn how to take care of it and regulate it. I wrote an article on how to regulate your nervous system, and you can read it HERE.

Also, I have a powerful tip for stilling the mind. When you sit down for those (only) 5 minutes, focus on keeping your body still and try not to move. If you have an itch, do not scratch it. Your only movement should be your abdomen since you need to breathe. Once your physical body becomes still, it will naturally help with stilling your mind.

4. Set a boundary

Is there any situation that has been bothering you? Is there someone in your life you need to set a boundary with? Define what it is and make an effort to put it in place.

Regarding self-care, we think it is all about bubble baths and words of affirmation. But sometimes, actually, quite often, self-love looks like a challenging decision to boundary up and protect your mental health. The best thing about setting those scary boundaries? They make you respect yourself more.

5. Practice self-forgiveness

Self-judgment and guilt are common behaviors my clients work on when I coach them. It is true that often, we talk to ourselves the way we would never talk to others. Therefore, I found self-forgiveness practice extremely effective.

Some ideas to practice it are: close your eyes and use self-forgiveness affirmations like “I forgive myself for…”. You can also use the 10-minute guided self-forgiveness meditation I designed specifically for this type of work. Also, you can stand in front of the mirror and repeat forgiveness affirmations.

I suggest you check out my latest podcast episode, where I lead you through a 3-step process to manage negative thoughts. Self-forgiveness is a big part of it.

6. Repeat the Ho’oponopono mantra

The Ho’oponopono mantra is an ancient Hawaiian healing technique. This beautiful healing tool focuses on forgiveness while restoring self-love and balance. Chanting this simple mantra cleanses your body of any bad feelings, guilt, shame, or negative thoughts.

The mantra has four parts and goes as follows: “I am sorry. Please, forgive me. Thank you. I love you.”

Chant this mantra at least 10 times in the morning, before you start your day.

7. Give yourself a big, loving, and warm hug

I love starting my yoga classes with this simple act of kindness. All my students love it because it brings them back to what matters most: love.

Sit in a comfortable seat (preferably on the ground or a floor), open your arms wide, and then close them and hug yourself. Feel the power of this embrace and gently bow your head down to express humbleness and care towards yourself. Stay there for about a minute, then open your arms wide again and give yourself one more hug, this time switching your arms.

And that’s it. Practice these kind and loving things every day for 7 days and watch how your attitude, confidence, and overall relationship with yourself will change.