How To Welcome Self-love Into Your Life: Practical tips

Yes, you’re a “strong black woman”, but how can you make sure that you’re not running on empty? How to Welcome Self-Love Into Your Life, was the title of a recent workshop by Awura, a wellness organization aimed at helping women of colour reconnect with their mind, body and soul. We bring you the key themes of the day and encourage you to introduce them in your lives.

When was the last time you gave yourself permission to stop, and simply breathe? Women, and I would emphasize, women of colour in particular, really struggle to find time for themselves. Yes, there are errands to run, and that dinner isn’t going to cook itself, but the importance of self-care cannot be underestimated if you aspire to having a happy and healthy existence.

Chef Wilizé Maléombho is the Los Angeles based founder of Awura, a platform aimed at creating healing experiences for women of color via wellness workshops and travelling retreats.

The Asè inside of me made my body shake. Butterflies rose to my stomach. Why was I nervous? Say something, say something! A part of me screamed but my lips remained quiet. He’s about to leave, look at you! My Asè was boiling. Why was I feeling like this? I don’t even know this man. Get yourself together Fatima get yourself together, but it was too late, he walked away. My heart stopped. The wave of self criticism rose to the occasion. “Look at you” one of my demons said “incapable of doing anything for yourself” and the list of voices went on…But then the door reopened, he walked back in, and made his way towards me. My Asè pounded more intensely this time. he approached me and said .“I am sorry, have we met before? You look so familiar”, I smiled and nodded “so do you”. mama’s words were playing in the back of my mind “Fatima, always remember what god has planned for you, no one can take”-soulmates by Wilizé ❤️ #poetry 📷 @flowerfrolicing #wellness #poetry #peace #healing

A post shared by Wilizé Sybil Maléombho 📍🇨🇮& 🇺🇸 (@chefwilize) on Jun 12, 2018 at 9:04pm PDT

Wilizé’s How To Welcome Self-love Into Your Life workshop, which took place last month, saw her collaborating with Laurence Sessou an artist, massage therapist and the founder of Azoouiwa; and Jay Ann Lopez a poet, co-founder of @curltureuk and founder of Black Girls Gamers.

The event was a celebration of self-love and peace and offered simple actions and behavioural changes that anyone can do to introduce some self-care into their lives.

The key takeaways from the event are as follows:

Essential oils

When you are feeling out of alignment with yourself, turn to Mother Nature. Scent can invoke calming sensations and can be used to center your body during strenuous situations (both mentally and physically) To get your body back in alignment, try herbs such as Lavender: (for calming actions) and Lemon (as a balm).

Behaviour

It really is about mind over matter. Simply changing the way we feel about ourselves, or the way we behave towards others is a huge step in the right direction toward self-love. To start you on this journey, you must:

1. Define what self-love means to you.
2. Constantly train (check) our mind to behave in alignment with that definition.
3. Use methods that help discipline the mind such as meditation, physical exercise or living a healthy lifestyle.

All of these can help you achieve this goal.

Poetry

Writing down your thoughts and musings can be a hugely therapeutic habit to form and it can help you process your emotions.

“Growth isn’t always pretty in general, but the process is always beautiful”, so why not document it?

Photos by Jobi-J photography