Love is healing. Love is free. Love is natural. Love is a gift. Love is alive. Love is energy. Love connects us all! Do you realize that when you express love or receive love that the effects of those acts can actually shift the chemical makeup of your body or even someone else’s’? It’s true, brain scientists have the research to back it up. So when we choose to express love in all kinds of ways we are giving the gift of healing to others and to ourselves. Here is a list of 7 different kinds of love and ways to express them all.
- Self-Love: This is by far the the most important type of love! We are often our worst enemy, berating and judging ourselves. How can we be expected to feel motivated if we are not being kind and loving to ourselves – if anything it makes us feel disempowered. Show yourself some love by writing down something you love about yourself, looking in the mirror and telling yourself that you love yourself or by giving yourself an inner hug and appreciation for something nice you did for yourself or someone else in the last week.
- Random Acts of Love: Doesn’t it make you smile when someone holds a door for you and smiles or lets you ahead of them in a line or when driving in traffic? How about when someone you care about actually tells you that they care about you or appreciate you? Reach out to someone in the next few days with a random act of love and you will feel so filled with love yourself at that act of kindness.
- Parental Love/Family Love: Even if you do not have a child in your life or someone you are close to in your family – you most likely have someone that has begun to feel like soul family. Someone very close to you that IS indeed family. Tell someone, a child, a family member or a member of your soul family how much they mean to you. Write them a little note or take time to tell them a few reasons why you are grateful for them. It will fill you both with love. We all love validation and gratitude!
- Romantic Love: If you have a romantic partner – remember that first time you knew you were in love. Reflect on how it feels when you are with them and how that love has grown. Do something kind for them – whether it is doing an errand they aren’t crazy about, writing them a love letter or poem, preparing an evening of fun and dinner where they won’t have to think about a thing. Do something you know they will appreciate and be grateful for. If you do not have a romantic partner – why not reach out to someone else who does not. Maybe you know someone widowed, separated, divorced or single for a while. Reach out with a single flower, a note telling them something you love about them. Most of us can all use some kindness and romantic gestures whether or not we are in a relationship.
- Friendship: When you have close friends they truly do become like family. You experience unconditional love and know that no matter what, you will be there for each other. It is such a beautiful thing to experience close friendship. To open up , let yourself be vulnerable and to share your innermost thoughts. Write your friend a letter or arrange an outing that you will both enjoy. Make dinner together or bring dinner and a picnic basket. Do something you have not done together and make it fun. Friendship is healing to our souls as it allows us to truly be ourselves and let our own souls shine.
- Love of a Pet/Animal: If you have a pet show them extra love. Give them a healthy treat. Set aside some time with no tv, phones or interruptions and pet them and send them love and your gratitude for being in your life. Pets love unconditionally and reflect back the love you give them. Show them you are grateful for them and all the comfort they have offered in your life.
- Love of the Planet: Wow this Universe is amazing! We get to witness beautiful trees, flowers, plants, animals of all kinds growing and flourishing. Go to your favorite nature spot and just take a moment and give thanks for being there. if you have plants inside, give them thanks and appreciation for all they add to your home. Turn your head toward the sun and give thanks for its warmth or put your hands on the Earth and give thanks for all it provides. We constantly take from nature in food and resources but how often do we take to give thanks and love to it? Saying thank you to anything in nature helps you feel connected to this big beautiful planet of ours!
I hope these exercises fill your heart with love not only for Valentines Day but way beyond. We all deserve some love and I hope you take some time to recognize just how wonderful you truly are! I am sending you huge blessings and hope that in recognizing just how wonderful you, the people, animals and planet that we live on are-your heart is filled with love!
August is one of those designated fun National holidays; Romance month, so your list is so appropriate. It also is Sisters Day on Aug 7, so showing extra love to a biological sister, sisterhood or virtual sister is in order. These 7 ways bring love into our daily lives. To be present to the many ways we can show loving behavior.
Hi Roslyn, Thank you so much for visiting. August is my bday month so I also love it for that reason! Having many of my favorite people gather in one place is something I look forward to every year and feel so filled with love looking around on my birthday. <3 I had heard about Sisters day but did not know about Romance month - LOVE it and will have to share that one with my sweetie! There are so many ways to show love and it does take being present and also being in that state of gratitude which is a beautiful space to be in! I am very grateful to have you here! Wishing you a blessed day! <3
These are such wonderful, simple (I mean that in the best way) and profound ways to share love. It is so important to keep writing about these ideas – we all somehow know them to be true, and yet we can always use more encouragement and inspiration to step forward and be more loving to others and to ourselves.
Reba! Always so nice to communicate with you! I believe in keeping it simple. Most of us deal with enough self-sabotage, resistance and being too busy . It doesn’t have to take hours – it can be a few seconds or minutes to get present and express love. It will always make you feel great and spread that goodness to others. I do LOVE LOVE – my friends know me as a very huggy and lovely person and it feels good to be that way. A smile can go a long way and being present with another – truly present and validating them is priceless. Sending much love your way, xoxo
I love that you put self-love at the top of the list. This is often the one we neglect.The random acts is a wonderful thing to include too. You often hear about random acts of kindness but when you think about it, when you are being kind you are expressing love. Love of the planet – so glad it’s on the list as all the magic and wonders are too often just taken fo granted.