Episode 10 - Self-Love: The Path to Shared Love

In this episode of Spirituality on the Go, we explore the connection between self-love and the law of love—loving God, loving others, and loving ourselves. 

Jesus’ teaching to “love your neighbor as yourself” implies that self-love isn’t just permissible; it’s essential. Yet, many of us resist self-love, held back by false beliefs, perfectionism, or misconceptions about humility.

Join us as we unpack the barriers to self-love and discover how embracing it allows divine love to flow more freely into our relationships and communities. 

We’ll conclude with a powerful guided meditation, inviting you to experience the grace of self-love as a felt sense within your body. Through breath, affirmation, and awareness, you’ll learn to release self-judgment and rest in the truth that you are loved, worthy, and enough.

Self-love isn’t selfish—it’s the foundation for authentic love. When we nurture love within, we radiate it outward. Because self-love leads to shared love.

Get into the Divine Flow by purchasing your copy of Finding Flow: Spiritual Practices to Reclaim Inner Peace, Balance, and Wholeness.

Click the link to purchase on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4jDXfla

Transcript

Brian Plachta: 0:02

Welcome to this episode of Spirituality on the Go. Today we're going to explore the connection between how the law of love: loving God, loving others, and loving ourselves invites us to practice self-love. In other words, we're going to discover that self-love leads to shared love. We'll dive into the reasons, first, that we often resist loving ourselves, and then we'll conclude with a guided meditation to help you experience the grace of self-love, paying special attention to the felt sense of love within our bodies. In the Christian tradition, Jesus summarizes the greatest commandments as loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. His instruction implies a three part relationship: love for God, love for others, and love for ourselves. The command to love your neighbor as yourself implies that self-love isn't just acceptable, it's essential. When we neglect self-love, our ability to love others diminishes. We can't give love if our love tank is empty. Self-love fills us with compassion, worthiness, and inner peace, letting divine love flow outward and become shared love. Despite this divine invitation to love ourselves, it's true that many of us struggle with self-love. Over time, the false statements we tell ourselves, like: I'm bad, I need to be perfect, or I'm a screw up, they become ingrained neural pathways in our brains that shape how we see ourselves. These lies take root in our minds, haunting us and making self-love feel out of reach. Or worse, wrong. Some of the common reasons we might think it's wrong to love ourselves include that society often equates self-love with selfishness or arrogance, leading us to feel guilty when focusing on our well being or self care. Also, past experiences, traumas, or criticisms from other people can foster a negative self image, making it pretty challenging to embrace self-love. Truly loving ourselves also requires us to face our vulnerability of being imperfect, of having things we need to work on. And that can be uncomfortable and make us not even want to love ourselves. Sometimes it's easier not to like ourselves than to face those parts of us that need some inner work. The other thing that stops us from loving ourselves is perfectionism-that nasty belief that we have to be perfect, flawless, to be worthy of love. And that hinders our ability to really know that we're perfectly human: human and divine. And finally, some religious teachings emphasize self denial to the extreme extent that self-love is viewed as contrary to spiritual humility. So in order to overcome this somehow negative default of not loving ourselves, let's experience a guided meditation to discover the grace of self-love. I invite you to find a comfortable position where you can sit safely for a few moments. You can either sit or lie down, get yourself comfortable, Then close your eyes and take a couple of deep breaths in, filling your lungs completely, and then exhale slowly, releasing any tension. Just be present to this moment, this time. Feel your body being supported by the chair or the floor or the couch upon which you're lying. Notice the rhythm of your breath and the flow of air in and through your body. Notice, perhaps, your heartbeat, the gentle rhythm of your heart pumping blood throughout your whole entire body. Now I invite you to imagine a warm radiant light above you. That radiant light, that glow, is a symbol of divine love, the presence of divine love hovering gently over you. Visualize this light gently entering through the top of your head, filling your body with warmth and compassion. As this light fills your body, let it illuminate areas where you hold self judgment or criticism. Observe those areas without judgment, and simply acknowledge their presence. They're there. But just let them go. Let the warm light of love and compassion just erase any need of self judgment or criticism. Now silently affirm to yourself these truths: I am made in the image and likeness of the divine. I am loved as I am. I am a good person. I do my best to love myself, God, and others. I am made in the image and likeness of the divine. I am loved as I am. I am a good person. I do my best to love myself, God, and others. As you allow these truths to flow within you. Notice the physical sensations in your body associated with self-love. The words you just said to yourself, the truths, are self-love. And as you experience the felt sense of self-love, you might notice a gentle warmth spreading across your chest. Maybe a lightness in your shoulders, or a soothing calmness embracing your entire body. These sensations are the real presence of self-love, taking root within you, here and now. Next, place your hand over your heart. Feel its steady beat. A reminder of the love and the life that flows within you. Whisper softly to yourself: I am made in love. I am good. I am enough. I am made in love. I am good. I am enough. Take a few more moments to bask in this feeling of self acceptance, the bodily experience, the felt sense of self-love there, within you, as you. Notice how self-love feels in your body. You might experience a sense of peace in your mind, a calming, a relaxation in your face, or the gentle tingling energy of love and life flowing through you. Savor these truths, letting them settle deeply within you. I am loved. I am worthy. I am whole. I am made in the image and likeness of God. And God is love. I am the essence, the reflection of divine love. That is the I am of who I am. Love. And when you're ready, gently bring your awareness back to the room in which you're sitting or lying. Maybe wiggle your toes and your fingers. And then open your eyes, knowing that you can come back to these affirmations to rewire your brain into self-love whenever you need to. And also, noticing in your body where you experienced self-love, so you can carry that love within you as you move into your day. Remember that self-love leads to shared love. Embracing self-love is not selfish. It's an essential part of the law of love. By loving yourself, you honor the divine within you and enhance your ability to love others with an authentic love. And self-love is an ongoing journey. Each step we take brings us closer to the fullness of love that God intends for each one of us. Allow yourself to love yourself as you are. Perfectly human. You are enough. You are love. And you are loved. Thank you for joining today's episode. May you carry this sense of self compassion and the embodied experience of self-love with you today and always, because self-love leads to shared love. Blessings.