Living in Love: A conscious guide to embracing yourself.

True love is not what you see in the movies. It isn't that couple sitting across from you who can't keep their hands off of each other. It isn't in those storybooks and fairytales you used to read as a kid. So many people are looking for love everywhere except for the one place where it is always found. Within.

Does that come as a surprise to you? You may think to yourself "love is when two people get married" or "I love my family" or even "I have love for my dog". But do you love you? Have you taken the time to love your own body, mind and soul? Do you make conscious efforts to treat yourself right, daily? Have you made every effort to find out what makes your soul smile and what brings you true peace and deep comfort?

Millions of people live in a constant state of depression and anger because they haven't figured out what is "wrong" with them, or because they can't find their true love, or are wondering why they wake up each day feeling less in love with their wife or husband. In order to give love to others around you, to the wildlife that inhabit our Mother Earth, to this Universe, you must first fall deeply in love with yourself.

This love is simple, yet it is far from easy. Many of our friends and family spend their entire life in a deep sleep, even though they are wide awake. They monotonously walk through life, repeating the same negative actions and behaviors day in and day out, unaware that life and love are passing them by. Not yet ready to face themselves and let go of what has been holding them back. By learning to love yourself consciously, you free yourself from expectations of others and begin to take control of your own life.

True self love only comes from facing past traumas and realizing your self worth. If you are making decisions everyday that bring you regret and pain, like blacking out on alcohol or choosing to shame yourself for poor diet choices, then your are living a loveless life. Most self abuse rituals and negative, harmful feelings come from serious past traumatic experiences like growing up in an abusive home, not receiving love from a parent, or others treating you harshly.

You have to understand that other people inflict pain and suffering on you because they don't love themselves. Most people don't realize that the negative situations they encounter in their own lives are reflected onto their loved ones in the form of verbal or physical abuse.

Without realizing that she, herself, was neglected and treated harshly from her parents, the mother unknowingly passes hatred and neglect to the daughter, who in turns cycles it down to her children and so on and so forth. These cycles create energetic imbalances within entire family structures, which are in turn passed down to future generations. Soon you find the entire family greets each other with harsh words without even realizing it, creating a negative energy space where love is diminished and subliminal hatred flows.

You must move past your trauma. Realizing that you are worthy of a life filled with happiness and love will bring peace to your soul. You must open your heart and move past subconscious negative blocks that stand in the way of loving yourself. It is possible to find loving light in whatever darkness surrounds you.

Negative energy is stored in the physical body as emotions and pain. This can form a type of energetic "block" inside your body that can prevent you from living a positive lifestyle. These blockages may also manifest as physical pain, disease or negative thought patterns.

Think about this, when you are remembering something that causes you deep pain, you are giving that situation negative energy in the form of thoughts. When enough of that negative energy adds up, your body has to subconsciously release that negative energy. This is why you cry. Your body is releasing this build up of negative energy from the body in the form of tears. After you cry and let that negative energy out, you feel better and can think more clearly. Releasing this "stuck" or "bad" energy from the body helps to clear blockages, which allows you to view your life with a more positive mindset.

When you start making conscious choices to change negative thought patterns and habits, you begin to release yourself from past trauma and pain. Each time you let go of a negative thought or action, you make room in your body for positivity to flourish. Each time you choose to make a conscious positive decision, you begin to heal yourself.

Each action you choose to make in your life will have a positive or negative reaction. This means that each time you consciously choose to preform a positive action, you manifest a better outcome for your life. The more positivity you manifest, the better your life will become. This is the Universal Law of Abundance.

Each positive emotion, thought or action you generate changes the environment around you, and ultimately effects your reality. For example, let's say you and your spouse are making dinner, but are fighting with each other. Your spouse is angry and yelling. While trying to grab a plate, you drop it and the plate shatters on the floor. What does the angry spouse say? "Oh my God! You always drop things! Why are you so stupid?" This is a negative and abusive outcome due to a negative mindset and environment.

Now let's use the same example, except you and your spouse are in a conscious, positive mindset. Instead of negative energy being distributed as words and anger, you both make the conscious decision to revisit the situation at a later time. Your spouse decides to tell you about a fun new project at work and you are both enjoying each others company. Now, as you are making dinner, the plate drops and shatters. What does the happy spouse say? "Oh, honey, you are so silly. Let me grab the broom, don't worry about it."

Because of the positive state of being between the two, a positive reaction occurred. There was no yelling, rather there was compassion and forgiveness. Next time each of you revisit the situation that upset you in the first place, you both will have thought about it and will have a more positive mindset when addressing each other again. You must continually live in a state of positivity in order to produce positive outcomes. If you live in negativity, you will only manifest negative outcomes.

In order to find the true love within, each action you perform must be an act of self love. Realize that you must be gentle with yourself and listen to your own body and not your mind. Your mind is only a tool to help you think and make decisions, it is not you. Neither is your body. Your physical body is simply the shell that harnesses your true inner being. Listening to your body instead of your mind is simply making decisions based on how your body feels, rather than how your mind wants it to feel.

How many of you have woken up with a horrible hangover, but made the decision to go out that very same night again? Instead of listening to your body, which is literally screaming for water and rest, you made your mind up to continue to drink. This ultimately harms your body more and prolongs the effects of the hangover.

You must realize that everything that is put into your body and mind effects your reality. For example, eating processed, low energetic, "dead" food wreaks havoc on your body and mind. Taking a shot of alcohol disables your nervous system. Excessive smoking destroys every internal organ it touches. Harboring negative emotions such as fear and anger takes years off of your life and may lead to depression or even suicide. Do you love yourself enough to stop harming your own body and mind?

On the contrary, adjusting your diet to primarily consist of high vibrational food and changing your addictive habits may add years onto your life. Choosing to drink water or juice instead of alcohol or soda is an act of self love. You have to heal yourself in order for positivity and self love to flourish. You do this by listening to your body and bringing yourself into balance. Your body doesn't like cigarettes, or bad food, or processed sugars. It tells you this by developing diabetes, or liver disease or even worse - cancer. Through acts of self love, you heal your body, mind and soul.

You must choose to love yourself first. Fixing these habits and maintaining a positive outlook on life will bring you true love. As I said before, you must choose to live consciously in order to bring balance and love to your life. Choosing to eat vegetarian or vegan instead of consuming meat is an act of self love and in turn helps the planet. Choosing to leave an abusive relationship is an act of self love and may open the abusers eyes to their negative lifestyle. Choosing to love yourself enough to change your addictive habits brings out a better, healthier version of you. Choosing to see the bright side of life instead of feeling as though life is your enemy brings positive energy into every situation.

People will say now, "well, what will my friends and family think of me if I change myself and become a new person?" or "I have a husband and kids, I can't just change myself into a new person, they rely on me!" or "my lifestyle doesn't allow me to change." These are all excuses and forms of negative energy. These are fear based thought patterns that you must overcome in order to be a better version of you.

You must love yourself enough to realize that even though these people matter dearly to you, they are just a part of your life. Don't be afraid of change. If the caterpillar were afraid he would never blossom into a butterfly. If these people don't accept you for trying to be a better person, then they don't deserve to be in your life. It is the pain-body within themselves that keeps them from seeing your true beauty. You deserve to be happy. Make the choice to go deep inside yourself and face the pain that has been holding you back for years.

You aren't crazy, you don't need medication and you definitely don't need to numb yourself through harmful addictions. Do things that improve your mind, body and soul. Meditate daily. Change your diet. Move your body. Heal yourself. This is how you find true love. Hold yourself to a high standard and respect yourself. Never be afraid of change. You are a beautiful flower that is dying to blossom.

Fall in love with yourself and life will fall in love with you.