#MuAreLoved: 25 Day Self Love Challenge

During the month of June, NGC will be hosting a 25 Day Self Love Challenge as part of our Mu Are Loved Theme! The challenge is intended to raise your own awareness about how you love yourself, including how you feel about your body, how you treat and talk to yourself, and how awesome you already are.

Social media is a great tool for documenting things like this as well as bringing awareness to the topic of self love which is something that needs more attention, but you don’t have to use it if you don’t want. The idea is simply just to do the activities, but if you want to snap a photo every day or just every now and then, we will check the hashtag on Instagram and be your personal cheerleader! #MuAreLoved

Here are the daily challenges you can start at any time!

Day 1 – Write “I Love Me” somewhere, anywhere. On your skin, on your notebook, on your wall, in your journal, on a bathroom stall, in skywriting.

Day 2 – Practice self care in the form of pampering. Not all self care is decadent, but today it will be! Take a bubble bath, give yourself a pedicure, or get a massage!

Day 3 – Make a list of things you’re grateful for having in your life. Think of things you’re lucky enough to have and experience.

Day 4 – Give your inner critic a name and tell her to shut up! Think about the things you beat yourself up over and contemplate if those are things you would criticize your best friend for. Tell your inner critic you’re not going to listen to any of her crap anymore and from now on you’re going to be kind to yourself.

Day 5 – Meditate. Find a calm, quiet, safe place. Light a candle and find some soothing instrumental music or a guided imagery that appeals to you on YouTube. Sit or lay down and relax as you quiet your mind for no less than 20 minutes.

Day 6 – Make a list of difficult things you’ve dealt with and overcome. Celebrate your ability to handle adversity and be the strong person you are.

Day 7 – Ask your best friend to describe you. Accept all the compliments she gives you with grace because they’re true, write them down to refer to later, and give her a hug afterwards.

Day 8 – Make a list of your strengths, talents, and skills. What are you really good at doing?

Day 9 – Get up and moving. Dance, stretch, do some yoga, go for a run, walk around your neighborhood, hula hoop, go swimming. It can be in your bedroom, outside, or at the gym. It can be alone or with friends. Get your blood pumping to take care of your body!

Day 10 – Write down three of your imperfections and then write at least one reason for each as to why that imperfection is actually a sparkly (silver) lining.

Day 11 – Take yourself out on a date. Go somewhere alone on purpose to enjoy your company. Plan it out, turn your phone off, and be open to spontaneous change in plans because you don’t have anyone else to please.

Day 12 – Have a photoshoot with yourself. Set a timer on your camera, use a selfie stick, get a friend to take them for you, or just flip your cell phone so the camera is on you. Dress up in something that makes you feel sexy (doesn’t need to be a slinky red dress or lingerie, just something you feel good, comfortable, and hot in) and take photos of yourself because you’re gorgeous.

Day 13 – Write a love letter to your least favorite part of your body. Be honest about why you’ve had a difficult time with it in the past, but then get mushy about why it’s actually an amazing thing. What does it do for you, what does it allow you to do? Why are you lucky to have it?

Day 14 – Write down your achievements. Not just today or last year, but all of them. Think about awards you’ve won, conflicts you’ve handled, people you’ve allowed in your life. Things you’ve tried, things you’ve checked off your bucket list, things you said no to when you needed to. Everything.

Day 15 – Cook yourself an elaborate, nutritious, and delicious meal. Put down a tablecloth, turn on some music, spend time on how you present your plate to yourself. Fill your body with fuel for being a badass.

Day 16 – Write down how you’re likely to sabotage yourself. It might be procrastinating, eating poorly (or not at all), bottling up your emotions, or engaging in self harm. For each way you sabotage yourself, write three ideas for how you can prevent that from happening. At the bottom of your page write “MY MENTAL HEALTH IS IMPORTANT TO ME.”

Day 17 – Spend time with a sister who makes you feel good. Do something fun and share your current feelings with them. Ask for help with something if you need it.

Day 18 – Write down what makes you feel strong or invincible. Now go do that thing, wear that necklace, or see that person. Make time for feeling strong today.

Day 19 – Create a positive affirmation that’s important to you. (Just a sentence or mantra of personal significance.) Write it on a sticky note or decorate a bigger piece of paper with those words and tape it up somewhere you’ll see it every day. From now on, when you see that piece of paper, you have to say the affirmation out loud.

Day 20 – Write down your biggest dream. The one that seems absurd you don’t just tell anyone. The one that would take a lot of work and time to reach. Say it out loud, maybe even tell someone you trust. Now write down the first five steps to reach that goal, no matter how small. It’s okay if there’s 20 or 100 more goals after those 5 before your goal is actualized. Say you’re going to do these first 5 steps in the next year, and make an effort to work towards #1 TODAY.

Day 21 – Go out and do something kind for someone else. The person might be a friend, sister, or a stranger but the intent is the same: be kind.

Day 22 – Express yourself creatively. Write a short story, paint on a canvas or your skin, film a fun video, make up a song, have a photoshoot,

Day 23 – Write down what your morals are. What are your virtues, what does integrity mean to you? Knowing your own value system is vital.

Day 24 – Play. Think about the things you enjoyed as a child and go do something with that same sense of wonder. Draw with sidewalk chalk, make a craft, pull a prank, jump rope, play a sport or board game with friends, play an instrument, visit an amusement park.

Day 25 – Write yourself a love letter. Dear me, love me. Talk about how amazing you are the way you would write a letter to someone you were in love with or a best friend. Gush your heart out, get sappy and corny. Write for as long as you can.