12 days of Christmas~ Self LOVE challenge ~ DAY 10

It’s DAY 10!

The 12 days of Christmas Self Love Challenge has been shifting all sorts of things in me personally, and I’m going to lay it down the most powerful, transformative SELF LOVE challenge yet.

Are you ready for this game changing strategy?

Cue the Drake song…“you used to call me on my cell phone” all the Hotline Bling…blah blah…yeah nope.

I can listen to that song for about 10 seconds before my heart starts singing….STOP…or. “STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE”  

And even that starts getting depressing when you really listen to the lyrics.

Both are rather interesting attempts at breaking down the love game to its lesser parts and seeing it for what it is and feeling sorry for ones self. Cheating partners….messed up relationships. Yeah, no self love happening there. Atleast the Supremes had the courage to say STOP! You know (call to action)

So it got me wondering…what if Drake put down the cell phone and stopped waiting for the calls?

In fact..thats today’s self love challenge! TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE!!!

GASP* What did she just say? I mean, my LIFE is on there! I need it on because of work, I need it on because thats how my partner texts me, I need it on because, because, because….

Yeah, NOPE. SHUT IT OFF.

Here’s the scoop on why.

1. YOU NEED BETTER SLEEP Did you know that cell phone stimulation right before bedtime can reduce the amount of deep sleep you’re getting?  The blue light emitted by screens on cell phones, computers, tablets, and televisions restrain the production of melatonin, the hormone that controls your sleep/wake cycle or circadian rhythms. Reducing melatonin makes it harder to fall and stay asleep
2. MAKE AUTHENTIC CONNECTIONS In a world where you wake up to a newsfeed, and go to bed to a newsfeed life can get pretty isolating and “disconnected”. Shutting off the phone forces you to get out off the internet, do a self check in, and then meet with actual friends in REALITY. The people that you will naturally have an authentic connection with are in your vicinity, whereas the unauthentic relationships will fall by the wayside, this makes it a whole lot easier to tune out the vibes that are aren’t attracting your tribe.
3. STOP COMPARING Lets get real, Instagram is not ideal for your mental health. In fact it was rated the worst app for teens mental health by the Royal Society for Public Health in the UK. When they surveyed over a thousand people about the effects of IG on their mental health, IG rated the worst at their impact on health, wellness and self esteem. Why is this? Well, with over a billion images/day being bombarded at you of highly curated feeds, you can sometimes inadvertently feel…well inadequate. Instagram can make girls feel like their bodies are not good enough when compared to the highly photoshopped versions of themselves.

YIKES! I can speak to this as a photographer myself with a highly curated feed of images of young women. I know for myself, all of the people featured on MY feeds have ZERO body manipulation done on them via photoshop. I don’t make people “skinny” or change their body shape in any way shape or form. In fact, I have a clause in my contract that I refuse to do more than some minor acne removal on my clients. If its permanent on your body/face, it stays there….for you to learn to love it. PERIOD. (Someone wanting something more than that can find themselves another photographer.)

But the stark reality is that MANY in fact MOST photographers DO photoshop the bodies on their feeds, and this is why I suggest shutting off your phone for a while. Because who doesn’t need a break from being bombarded with unrealistic body standards on a regular basis?!

Not only will you get some better sleep, and have more authentic connections, but you will also settle back into reality and begin to focus on YOURSELF, instead of looking at what everyone else is doing.

and that, yes, is what self love is ALL ABOUT!

I personally have needed to do this more often as of recent, shutting off my phone gives me a much needed sanity check in the middle of my day and helps me to tune into whats most important in my immediate world. My family, my friends, my home and my SELF!