Look in the Mirror.

Acknowledge whatever feeling comes up. It could be anything. Grief and tears, vulnerability, shame, shyness, anger, blame, happiness, joy, fear, anxiety. You may want to laugh out loud. Allow yourself to feel each or all of the emotions that arise. Note where you feel them in your body.

Come back each day and tell yourself ‘I love you’.

At some point (and don’t rush it because that is just another emotion you are not acknowledging, so feel that too), you will suddenly be aware of what this love is. You will feel a connection to yourself. It will make you smile and you will see your soul light up in your eyes. You will want to stay there, stay in that moment.

This is the beginning.

‘I love you’ translates into ‘I am present with you’. When you can be totally present with yourself, your inner being, you strengthen your ability to be present with others, whether sharing that presence in a moment of being, or just being present with someone in a place of listening or regard.

This exercise gives you an opportunity to define how you feel. If you are struggling for a feeling word to explain the feeling that came up when you told yourself you loved you, that is okay. Sometimes we don’t want to acknowledge the feeling, particularly if it is not a good one.

Before going to do the exercise again the next day, have a little scan of the list of feeling words below and see which one or two stands out. This is not a definitive list but may help to nudge a feeling into acknowledement. You can also use colours or temperatures to describe a feeling.

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Feel within, the true and unconditional Love, and embrace all

Grigoris Deoudis