We’ve heard about using the five love languages to better understand our significant other, but what about using our own love language to show affection to ourselves? We spoke to the experts to learn how to practice self-care through our own love languages
If you’ve ever come across love or dating related social media pages, you might have heard of the term and concept of the “love languages”. Originating from Gary Chapman's 1992 book, The Five Love Languages, his book details the five ways people tend to communicate and receive love: words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service and physical touch.
Everyone’s different, and every person’s way of showing love is different. According to Chapman, by understanding our own love language as well as our partner’s, we’re able to communicate more efficiently with our significant other after understanding the type of love they are the most reciprocate to.
While forming better relationships with others is important, our relationships with ourselves is often overlooked. No matter if you’re in a relationship or if you’re living the single life, practicing self-care is essential for your mental health.
We spoke with Bobbie Poulton, female health and empowerment coach and Nathalie Sommer, relationship and intimacy coach to learn how to practice self-care through our own love language.
See also: The Art Of Self-Care: How To Take Care Of Your Physical And Mental Health
Why is it important to practice self-care?
“I am such an advocate with the saying we must be 'selfish to be selfless',” says Bobbie Poulton, “If we do not truly learn how to look after ourselves, how can we expect to show up and look after those we love and care about? When we are unable to show up from a place of love for ourselves, we are unable to be authentic in who we really are with the world around us.”
“Knowing your self-care language is so important if you want to improve your relationship with yourself,” adds Nathalie Sommer.
“Your mind and your body pick up on your thoughts and how you treat yourself. The more you introduce kind and loving acts to yourself, the more integrity and trust you will gain with yourself. You are the most important person in your life [even though] it’s sometimes easy to forget or to prioritise,” she says.