Dear Reader,

When we think about and celebrate love, we often focus on the kind that is directed towards others - oftentimes a partner, our family, or someone dear to us. We have entire holidays focused on buying gifts and writing cards, to let others know they are loved. It's beautiful!

But I'd also like to take a moment to recognize the kind of love that we usually don't take the time to celebrate: self-love.

The universal act of love

My dad enjoys watching and sharing shiba-inu dog videos with me, and one in particular featured a very cute shiba with its elderly owner.

In the video, the dog and owner were on a typical walk around their neighborhood. But what made the video so memorable is that the dog would trot a few paces in front of his owner, turn around and wait, let the owner catch up, and then trot ahead again.

And for the entire walk, the dog repeated this: walk, turn around, wait, and continue.

The gesture is simple--turning around to wait-- but it speaks volumes about the dog’s feelings for his owner: respect, care, loyalty, and a touch of concern that ultimately comes from love.

Of course, it’s not just dogs that do this. Parents check in on their children, partners look out for each other, and older siblings pause to make sure their younger siblings are keeping up.

We know our loved ones to do this for us, to turn around and check if we’re okay, no matter how old we become.

It’s a universal act of love.

The Japanese character for ‘love’

You may be surprised to learn that the Japanese kanji character for love is actually derived from this act.

“Ai”「愛」, the Japanese word for love, is composed of the characters “ki”「旡」, “shin”「心」”chi”「夂」. “Ki”「旡」is a character that illustrates a person looking back, “shin”「心」means heart, and “chi”「夂」represents a person’s legs.

Therefore, the kanji “ai”「愛」is said to be the feeling one has when they turn around to look at someone they care about.

A simple habit for improving self-love

Looking after my wellbeing takes balance, and while that sounds simple, it isn’t always. Even with practice, it’s very easy to get caught up in work, responsibilities, hobbies, and goals without really looking after ourselves.

So when I find myself doing a little too much too fast, I try to practice a bit of ‘ai’ – turn around, pause, and check in with myself.

• Have I had a break at all today? Maybe a short walk would help.
• Can “good enough” be good enough?
• How are my boundaries? Am I saying yes to too many things?
• Do I need a short breather?
• How's my energy right now? What do I need in this moment?

Self-love can be a lot of things, but most importantly it's the habit of speaking to yourself with care and honoring the needs that come out of that self-reflection.

It's a simple habit, and it doesn't need to take longer than a moment, but occasionally slowing down and making sure we are looked after (even if it’s you to yourself) goes a long way in making sure that if we stumble a bit, we’ll have the support to get back up.​

With love,

Kaki

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this, please forward this email to your friends and family (or share the article) 🌱

If this email was forwarded to you, it's nice to meet you 😊

Follow on Instagram for more health tips, tricks, and inspiration:

​