By: Silvia Mordini, Northwest Yoga Conference Presenter

Will taking care of others ever lead you to taking better care of yourself? No. Of course not. You have to take care of yourself to receive from yourself. Otherwise its robbing Peter to pay Paul. Giving love to yourself is important. Why not make the commitment to loving yourself a priority starting today? You deserve it.

Let’s get started. First write a list of all the things you can do as forms of self-care. Secondly, follow through with one or two things each week for a year. Set the momentum in motion and establish your energy as deserving to receive comfort and self-care and the universe will support you in this effort. Sally Kempton refers to these as “meta commitments”, our most important commitments to promoting the quality of life we want.

Yoga teaches us that we co-create our life along with the universe so designing our experience is equally our responsibility. Practicing yoga means taking time to get in touch with caring about ourselves—something that is essential to a productive, peaceful life. Developing an attitude of self-care also assumes some measure of authority and requires appreciating yourself. Let me put it like this, you have to find a path that keeps you on the path of growth and wellness — do something that gives you insurance that you will stay on the path – like a yoga package at a local studio or series of acupuncture sessions. And most of all slow down…that is the best thing anyone can do in demonstrating commitment to self-love. As Mantra Magazine puts it, “Self-care is a great spiritual act.”

So let’s get spiritual! And to be honest, the most challenging part of our human experience is the spiritual practice of sustaining. To keep momentum and stay committed despite the challenges and ups and downs of loving ourselves. Essentially the hardest part of maturing spiritually is to remain persistent in our key commitments.

Remember, there is no point to any of it if you are empty. In order to live a life of meaning pushing yourself to depletion is not the answer. Instead of running yourself down choose to prioritize self-love. Only from a place of fullness by loving yourself will you be able to love your day and love your life most fully.