The Rider’s Mind Podcast Episode 52: Self-Love and Horsemanship
I didn’t always know that self-love was a thing (and an important thing). I also wasn’t aware of the great impact it would have on my mindset, mental toughness and my overall happiness. In this episode, I share about self-love and how it can impact your horsemanship.
I was well into adulthood before I realized that we should love ourselves. I’ve since learned the importance of self-love, which has led to an important journey of self-development for me. Self-love is a strong pillar of my mental toughness.
Self-love is not selfish.
Self-love is about choosing you so that you can serve others. It’s about having the energy and the capacity to support others because you’ve filled your own cup. Self-love is not boastful. It is about being content with yourself. It is about being kind and patient with yourself. It’s not about comparison. It’s about honouring and respecting yourself.
Self-love looks different for different people.
Self-love doesn’t just mean taking a bubble bath (but it can mean that if that’s what your body needs!) For some people, self-love is choosing to go ride because you know your spirit needs it more than doing the dishes. It might mean saying no to someone and honouring yourself. It might be choosing yourself over pleasing others.
Learning to love myself has allowed me to be kinder to myself.
Self-love has allowed me to have more grace. It has helped me to be a recovering-perfectionist (rather than a perfectionist). In loving myself, I’ve realized that working to be perfect was not helpful because no one is perfect. Self-love has taught me that my inner critic was lowering my vibe and making me feel bad about myself. I have more self-compassion.
I still need to continue working on self-love. Self-love is a practice. I’ve learned to listen to my body. I’ve learned to rest when I need it. I’ve been able to avoid illnesses because I learned to rest before I got sick. I’ve raised my vibration.
By taking care of yourself, your energy is going to rise.
Negative energy has a lower vibration and positive energy has a higher vibration. The kinder you are to yourself and the more you feed your spirit, the higher your vibration will be. With that higher vibration, it will be easier to align with your hopes, dreams and goals.
Self-love is important for your horse and your horsemanship.
Wouldn’t you rather have a friend and partner that loved themself? Self-love leads to more grace and patience with others, including your horse. Self-love greatly impacts your mind game. Having a strong sense of self means you don’t depend on results to love yourself or to believe you’re great.
Self-love gives you space to do the things YOU love.
When you practice self-love, you say no to things that don’t light you up. When you say yes to yourself, you say yes to your body, mind and soul.
There are 3 pillars of self-love:mind, body & spirit. (Learn more in my 3 Pillars to Self-Love course, which you can get as a bonus when you sign up for my Mental Toughness course or with a 1 year Stride subscription!)
If this practice of self-love intrigues you, you can start today. A starting point is simply to be aware of when you are not being kind to yourself. Be aware of when you’re not respecting yourself.
Are you treating yourself like you would treat a friend?
Once you recognize when you’re being unkind to yourself, you can start choosing you. You can start speaking more kindly to yourself and start honoring yourself. You can start taking time for yourself. Recognize you’re worthy and that you do need time for yourself. You can be aware of when you’re selling your soul short. You can start making different choices.
Choose yourself. Honour yourself.
When you love yourself, there will be a ripple effect to those around you.
Join the Conversation
Join the discussion in the The Rider’s Mind Community on Facebook. As a member of this community, you’ll also get tips and videos from me.
Want to connect or ask me a question? Find me on Instagram or Facebook.
Learn with Me
If you’re looking to make changes to your mindset, be sure to sign up for my free Next-Level Mindset Mini Course
You can also get on the waitlist for Stride, my next-level barrel racing group. This group receives video training and coaching from me and Stride members also have access to special guests. We work on self-love in our group and strive to improve ourselves in order to be better riders and competitors.
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