Self-Love Techniques & More
Living in this world means hearing conflicting messages from social media, advertisements, and even friends and family about your body. You’re told to love yourself the way you are, but you should still lose weight and get toned. Or that body positivity is something for everyone, but you should still fit into the “regular” sizes when shopping for clothing.
All of these messages lead to negative self-talk, low self-esteem, and sometimes, discomfort with sexual explorations and experiences. While, culturally, idealized personhood is often thin, cisgender, and non-disabled, Raya is here to talk about breaking down these barriers to create a better relationship with yourself and others.
From self-love tips and self-love techniques to sexual health facts, it’s time to take a look at several aspects of self-image that may be affecting you. Keep reading to learn how you might want to approach negative feelings about body esteem and sex self-esteem that affect gender-diverse, transgender, and cisgender individuals.
Body Esteem & Self-Love
There are several factors that may be influencing your self-esteem, including opinions of friends and family, social media, past trauma, and physical development. When you internalize negative messages and repeat them to yourself, they can become all-consuming and lead to body obsession. It can be hard to assert yourself, think of your own needs, and prioritize self-care, but we have some self-love tips to help you get started.
Self-Love Tips
Our top self-love techniques include prioritizing your well-being, embracing compassion, setting boundaries, and surrounding yourself with more supportive people.
1. Prioritize Your Well-Being
Your well-being encompasses physical, mental, and sexual health — and you need to address all of them to create a more positive environment for love and growth. Whether it’s exercising regularly, going to therapy, or creating a regular sleep schedule, your entire self-care routine culminates with showing yourself that you have value.
2. Embrace Compassion
You likely already acknowledge and accept imperfections in others. Now, it’s time to do the same with yourself. Treat yourself with kindness and forgiveness, instead of judgment and shame. Recognizing your inherent worth shows you that you deserve the same love and compassion you give to everyone else.
3. Set Boundaries
You should be setting boundaries for yourself, friends, family, and work to ensure you have all the energy you need to manage your mental, physical, and sexual health. Overworking yourself or maintaining one-sided relationships is a drain on your energy and devalues your worth. Remind yourself of this self-love tip when you’re feeling overwhelmed to check that your boundaries are still in place.
4. Find Your Community
Our last self-love tip is about surrounding yourself with supportive, loving people who lift you up instead of putting you down. Fortify yourself with healthy interactions and people who believe in you. This is also true for romantic relationships, as you should strive to achieve a balanced intimate and emotional connection with your partner(s).
Sexual Self-Esteem & Wellness
The other half of self-love is sexual self-esteem. This perception of yourself can be shaped and affected by your personal life experiences — both positive and negative. If you’re struggling with sexual self-esteem, all the self-love tips in the world won’t help until you explore the root cause of your concerns.
If you’re feeling self-conscious during sexual activity, you’re less likely to advocate for yourself when sex becomes painful or uncomfortable. You might hesitate to ask your partner to wear a condom or take other precautions to protect yourself. Improving sexual self-esteem is an essential self-love technique that you have to practice and cultivate, just like our other self-love tips.
There are several parts to your sexual self-esteem, including:
- Skill & Experience: Your capacity for desire and availability for sexual opportunities.
- Attractiveness: Your personal sense of your own sexual attractiveness.
- Control: Your ability to control your thoughts and feelings during sexual interactions.
- Moral Judgement: The agreement between your sexual behaviors and moral standards.
- Adaptability: The compatibility between your sexual behaviors and your personal goals.
Everything from disability or illness to past negative sexual experiences and self-perception can affect the above elements of sexual self-esteem.
Improving Sexual Self-Esteem
With a little more context for the sexual health facts that may be affecting the way you see yourself, it’s time to learn how you can transform any negativity you experience here. There are several ways you can improve your sexual self-esteem with sex-oriented self-care tips.
Here are some of our top recommendations for sexual self-care tips that can help people struggling to recover from physical illness or mental health, differently-abled people, and others who strive to see their body and sexuality in a more positive light:
- Treat yourself with the same kindness and compassion you extend to others
- Engage with media that focuses on positively representing sexual health
- Identify and work on negative sexual behaviors — like not advocating for your needs
- Familiarize yourself with what you want to experience during sex
- Learn to accept physical compliments at face value
- Explore your sexual interests, like toys, alone before sharing them with your partners
- Communicate honestly about your sexual preferences and boundaries
- Develop a routine that can help you get in the mood
Can you think of any other sexual self-care tips that may help you accept and love yourself?
Raya Can Help
It should be no surprise that our team cares so much about sexual health and wellness. Our entire organization is striving to revolutionize pleasure for all with a sex mat that’s designed to enhance every intimate moment. Whether you’re exploring by yourself or with a partner, our mats are designed for all ages, genders, sizes, and preferences.
If you’re ready to take charge of your sexual wellness, explore our store to find the first accessory to grow your collection. Looking for more self-care tips or sexual health facts? Check out the rest of our blog for additional articles.
