How to get to self-love? 

Developing self-love is multifaceted and there are many different points to consider when you start to cultivate this state within yourself.  

In fact, the foundation of self-love is self-acceptance. Accept yourself as you are. This of course doesn’t mean that you do not work on certain aspects of yourself that may create hindrances in your life, but it’s important to realize that it is impossible to really love yourself unless you have self-approval and self-acceptance. This is actually one of the main keys to positive changes in all areas of our lives.  

Self-acceptance means taking responsibility and accepting where you are at, without blaming anyone else for the situations you find yourself in. It also implies no criticism whatsoever. When we truly love and accept ourselves there is nothing to complain about. To be whole, we must accept all parts of ourselves. Self-acceptance is a powerful magnet for self-love.  

Self esteem 

One of the main benefits of self-love is increased self-esteem. Self-esteem has to do with the way we feel about ourselves and how we view our personal worth. It also has to do with recognizing our own inner potential. Yogic philosophy teaches us that we all have the same inner potential. Our soul is pure consciousness, intelligence, truth, and wisdom. The purpose of life’s journey is to experience the Self and to come in touch with that truth that is inherent within us. By recognizing our divine power within, we develop self-confidence and begin to believe more and more in our own abilities.  

How to love oneself?  

All of us have a perfect true Self and all of us have the light within. The saint and the sinner all have the same light inside. It is the mind where the problem lies due to faulty programming. And it is the mind that needs reprogramming.  

If the programming and input have been ‘faulty’ from our early childhood, then  we learn to do what other people want in order to be loved and accepted. For example, when, as children, we hear things like, “Mummy doesn’t love you when you cry.” or ” Noone will play with you if you do this or that” our mind and our behaviour are programmed accordingly. But the acceptance and love we receive from others are conditional. These early messages make up our mental programming and beliefs about ourselves as well as self-image. All this contributes to our self-talk; the way we talk to ourselves is the foundation of our spoken words and this mental atmosphere that we create then attracts certain experiences in our life. Our thoughts and words have enormous power concerning the people and situations we attract in our life.     

Re-programing the mind 

There are several points to consider when we want to reprogram the mind. The first one is to find a conducive atmosphere and environment. If we have a problem with our self-image we need to take time every day to create an atmosphere where we are relaxed so that we can start to feed our mind positive statements. This  is where yoga nidra (yogic sleep) can help because this technique progressively guides us into a  deep state of relaxation where we then repeat positive affirmations about ourselves or as we call it in yoga we make a sankalpa.   

Sankalpa: a positive resolve 

The mind is not intelligent; it is just like plasticine that can be changed and molded. The mind is simply a program that we have the power to change. Just as the mind has been conditioned with negative programs so it can be reprogrammed with positive ones like repeating our sankalpa.   

The sankalpa repeated during yoga nidra is perhaps the most potent technique for training the mind. Swami Satyananda used to say, “Anything can fail you in life, but the sankalpa made during yoga nidra never will”. The sankalpa helps in training the mind since it is planted when the mind is relaxed and ready to absorb and accept it. In yoga nidra, the sankalpa trains the subconscious mind, and then the mind follows the path automatically. It is a type of auto-suggestion. We repeat the sankalpa at the beginning of yoga nidra, and this can be likened to sowing a seed, and then the sankalpa is repeated at the end, which is like watering and nurturing the seed. When said sincerely and with conviction, the sankalpa will ultimately sprout and bring results.  

 

Some examples of sankalpa for self-love are: 

I am full of love and  I radiate love. 

I accept myself, I love myself. 

I love every part of my being. 

I love and care about me.  

 

But you can find one that resonates with you. A sankalpa is always said in the present tense and in the affirmative.  

 

Below is a link to free online Yoga Nidra from Satyam Yoga Prasad  

https://satyamyogaprasad.net/audio/audiopractices?prop=audiohttps://satyamyogaprasad.net/audio/audiopractices?prop=audio 

 

the SWAN principle meditation 

The SWAN principle, devised by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati involves focusing on our strengths, weaknesses, ambitions and needs. Strengths are the qualities, skills, talents, and characteristics each of us have that support and help us evolve. These are either qualities we are born with or that we acquire during the course of our life. Weaknesses are the deficiencies in our personality. They are attributes in our character that hinder growth and progress and take us away from truth. However, weaknesses can be transformed into strengths through this practice. Ambitions are our aims, dreams and aspirations; what we desire or want to do or achieve in life. They are the driving force behind our motives, thoughts, words and actions and arise from the survival instinct. Without ambitions we remain stagnant in life. Needs are what all of us have and what we cannot live without. They are what we require to live a full and satisfying life on all levels of our being. 

The SWAN meditation for self-love can be done with a certified yoga instructor trained in the Satyananada System of Yoga. 

Antar Mouna meditation 

The word antar means ‘inner’ and mouna means ‘silence’. Antar mouna is a meditative technique that leads to inner tranquility and inner silence. All of us have mental tension and suppression of thoughts and emotions. Since childhood we have suppressed those thoughts that are not considered appropriate or acceptable. Antar mouna is a complete systematic practice to help release this inner tension. The practice begins by increasing one’s resistance to external disturbances and then it allows subconscious thoughts and pent-up emotions to slowly bubble up to conscious perception where one directly confronts these contents which may include long forgotten memories, fears, resentments, self-hate, lack of confidence etc. These buried thoughts come to the surface and are exhausted. Eventually these past thoughts and emotions lose their significance and become remnants of once overpowering mental impressions. This occurs through just being aware of them.  

 

When thoughts become fewer, the mind becomes quieter and it is then when the full intelligence, the love and wisdom of the Self shines through you. It is an amazing experience which connects you to self-love and influences the way you interact in the world. The mind is flooded with this higher intelligence. The mind is flooded with compassion and understanding for one and all. We find that we can love far more deeply. And through identifying with that source within us, that Self within us, we can break our attachments and our dependencies.  Our relationship with ourselves and as a consequence the relationship with others around us improve greatly.  

 

Below is a link to Antar Mouna meditations by Sri Swami Satyananda and Swami Niranjananada 

 

https://satyamyogaprasad.net/audio/audiopractices?prop=audio 

 

Loving yourself 

As your self-image improves and the acceptance of your qualities and abilities, this knowledge and understanding of who you are forms a confident base for you to build your life and aims upon. It gives you a greater sense of inner security and self-worth. From such a vantage point you are able to become less attached to non-essentials in life, and select what is important for you to focus upon. You therefore expend less energy in stress and tension, and your mind becomes more one-pointed and concentrated.  This attitude increases creativity and leads to deeper contentment in life.  Understanding of oneself leads to understanding of others, and this awareness helps you develop more significant and rewarding relationships with people. These techniques of yoga are tools for achieving a greater self-love which leads to a happier and richer life, not only with others, but also with yourself. 

 

Yoga a path of self-discovery  

We could say that yoga is the art and science of living. It is a way of living in harmony with one’s nature.  The practices of yoga enable us to achieve optimum physical health, and a mind free from stress, anxiety and the negative effects of tension.  They enable us to improve the quality of our mind so we have greater clarity, concentration, and memory.  

 

The above-mentioned yogic practices are designed to awaken the dormant potential within every individual which leads to a more balanced and harmonious life of positivity, optimism and creativity.  In this way, the practice of yoga becomes a path of self-discovery and self-knowledge.  

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If you consider the needs of others, we need you.
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Your contributions allow us to reach out to more and more people. Your contributions enable us to support and work towards the fulfilment of the vision of Swami Satyananda, Swami Niranjanananda and their lineage – that of peace and prosperity for all humankind.

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meditation for self love

Meditation for Self-Love: All You Need To Know

How to get to self-love? 

Developing self-love is multifaceted and there are many different points to consider when you start to cultivate this state within yourself.  

In fact, the foundation of self-love is self-acceptance. Accept yourself as you are. This of course doesn’t mean that you do not work on certain aspects of yourself that may create hindrances in your life, but it’s important to realize that it is impossible to really love yourself unless you have self-approval and self-acceptance. This is actually one of the main keys to positive changes in all areas of our lives.  

Self-acceptance means taking responsibility and accepting where you are at, without blaming anyone else for the situations you find yourself in. It also implies no criticism whatsoever. When we truly love and accept ourselves there is nothing to complain about. To be whole, we must accept all parts of ourselves. Self-acceptance is a powerful magnet for self-love.  

Self esteem 

One of the main benefits of self-love is increased self-esteem. Self-esteem has to do with the way we feel about ourselves and how we view our personal worth. It also has to do with recognizing our own inner potential. Yogic philosophy teaches us that we all have the same inner potential. Our soul is pure consciousness, intelligence, truth, and wisdom. The purpose of life’s journey is to experience the Self and to come in touch with that truth that is inherent within us. By recognizing our divine power within, we develop self-confidence and begin to believe more and more in our own abilities.  

How to love oneself?  

All of us have a perfect true Self and all of us have the light within. The saint and the sinner all have the same light inside. It is the mind where the problem lies due to faulty programming. And it is the mind that needs reprogramming.  

If the programming and input have been 'faulty' from our early childhood, then  we learn to do what other people want in order to be loved and accepted. For example, when, as children, we hear things like, "Mummy doesn't love you when you cry." or " Noone will play with you if you do this or that" our mind and our behaviour are programmed accordingly. But the acceptance and love we receive from others are conditional. These early messages make up our mental programming and beliefs about ourselves as well as self-image. All this contributes to our self-talk; the way we talk to ourselves is the foundation of our spoken words and this mental atmosphere that we create then attracts certain experiences in our life. Our thoughts and words have enormous power concerning the people and situations we attract in our life.     

Re-programing the mind 

There are several points to consider when we want to reprogram the mind. The first one is to find a conducive atmosphere and environment. If we have a problem with our self-image we need to take time every day to create an atmosphere where we are relaxed so that we can start to feed our mind positive statements. This  is where yoga nidra (yogic sleep) can help because this technique progressively guides us into a  deep state of relaxation where we then repeat positive affirmations about ourselves or as we call it in yoga we make a sankalpa.   

Sankalpa: a positive resolve 

The mind is not intelligent; it is just like plasticine that can be changed and molded. The mind is simply a program that we have the power to change. Just as the mind has been conditioned with negative programs so it can be reprogrammed with positive ones like repeating our sankalpa.   

The sankalpa repeated during yoga nidra is perhaps the most potent technique for training the mind. Swami Satyananda used to say, "Anything can fail you in life, but the sankalpa made during yoga nidra never will". The sankalpa helps in training the mind since it is planted when the mind is relaxed and ready to absorb and accept it. In yoga nidra, the sankalpa trains the subconscious mind, and then the mind follows the path automatically. It is a type of auto-suggestion. We repeat the sankalpa at the beginning of yoga nidra, and this can be likened to sowing a seed, and then the sankalpa is repeated at the end, which is like watering and nurturing the seed. When said sincerely and with conviction, the sankalpa will ultimately sprout and bring results.  

 

Some examples of sankalpa for self-love are: 

I am full of love and  I radiate love. 

I accept myself, I love myself. 

I love every part of my being. 

I love and care about me.  

 

But you can find one that resonates with you. A sankalpa is always said in the present tense and in the affirmative.  

 

Below is a link to free online Yoga Nidra from Satyam Yoga Prasad  

https://satyamyogaprasad.net/audio/audiopractices?prop=audiohttps://satyamyogaprasad.net/audio/audiopractices?prop=audio 

 

the SWAN principle meditation 

The SWAN principle, devised by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati involves focusing on our strengths, weaknesses, ambitions and needs. Strengths are the qualities, skills, talents, and characteristics each of us have that support and help us evolve. These are either qualities we are born with or that we acquire during the course of our life. Weaknesses are the deficiencies in our personality. They are attributes in our character that hinder growth and progress and take us away from truth. However, weaknesses can be transformed into strengths through this practice. Ambitions are our aims, dreams and aspirations; what we desire or want to do or achieve in life. They are the driving force behind our motives, thoughts, words and actions and arise from the survival instinct. Without ambitions we remain stagnant in life. Needs are what all of us have and what we cannot live without. They are what we require to live a full and satisfying life on all levels of our being. 

The SWAN meditation for self-love can be done with a certified yoga instructor trained in the Satyananada System of Yoga. 

Antar Mouna meditation 

The word antar means ‘inner’ and mouna means ‘silence’. Antar mouna is a meditative technique that leads to inner tranquility and inner silence. All of us have mental tension and suppression of thoughts and emotions. Since childhood we have suppressed those thoughts that are not considered appropriate or acceptable. Antar mouna is a complete systematic practice to help release this inner tension. The practice begins by increasing one’s resistance to external disturbances and then it allows subconscious thoughts and pent-up emotions to slowly bubble up to conscious perception where one directly confronts these contents which may include long forgotten memories, fears, resentments, self-hate, lack of confidence etc. These buried thoughts come to the surface and are exhausted. Eventually these past thoughts and emotions lose their significance and become remnants of once overpowering mental impressions. This occurs through just being aware of them.  

 

When thoughts become fewer, the mind becomes quieter and it is then when the full intelligence, the love and wisdom of the Self shines through you. It is an amazing experience which connects you to self-love and influences the way you interact in the world. The mind is flooded with this higher intelligence. The mind is flooded with compassion and understanding for one and all. We find that we can love far more deeply. And through identifying with that source within us, that Self within us, we can break our attachments and our dependencies.  Our relationship with ourselves and as a consequence the relationship with others around us improve greatly.  

 

Below is a link to Antar Mouna meditations by Sri Swami Satyananda and Swami Niranjananada 

 

https://satyamyogaprasad.net/audio/audiopractices?prop=audio 

 

Loving yourself 

As your self-image improves and the acceptance of your qualities and abilities, this knowledge and understanding of who you are forms a confident base for you to build your life and aims upon. It gives you a greater sense of inner security and self-worth. From such a vantage point you are able to become less attached to non-essentials in life, and select what is important for you to focus upon. You therefore expend less energy in stress and tension, and your mind becomes more one-pointed and concentrated.  This attitude increases creativity and leads to deeper contentment in life.  Understanding of oneself leads to understanding of others, and this awareness helps you develop more significant and rewarding relationships with people. These techniques of yoga are tools for achieving a greater self-love which leads to a happier and richer life, not only with others, but also with yourself. 

 

Yoga a path of self-discovery  

We could say that yoga is the art and science of living. It is a way of living in harmony with one’s nature.  The practices of yoga enable us to achieve optimum physical health, and a mind free from stress, anxiety and the negative effects of tension.  They enable us to improve the quality of our mind so we have greater clarity, concentration, and memory.  

 

The above-mentioned yogic practices are designed to awaken the dormant potential within every individual which leads to a more balanced and harmonious life of positivity, optimism and creativity.  In this way, the practice of yoga becomes a path of self-discovery and self-knowledge.