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With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, the happy singles among us may well think this is a holiday for the already coupled up. But the good news is, the season of love can also include those of us who are single and loving it. True, Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate and feel the plumes of romance in the air, but it can also be a day to focus on ourselves, a little self-love day, if you will.
Loving ourselves is now the name of the game for those single on the day of hearts – and that’s okay, because NOW Foods has got your Valentine’s Day plans on lock! This Valentine’s Day, we’re giving you tips and ideas to say “love is in the air!” despite spending it without a significant other.
Meditate
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Practicing mindful meditation has got a lot of benefits. And on Valentine’s Day, the best way to reflect and truly celebrate singledom is by trying some mindful exercises to remind ourselves that spending some alone time on love day is not as bad as it sounds.
But first, what is mindfulness? Mindfulness is a type of meditation wherein one chooses to deliberately open up their awareness to what they are sensing or feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. It uses various methods to reduce the stress in the body and mind. [1]
You might think—since mindfulness is a type of meditation—that you’ll have to be in a quiet room to practice mindfulness, but that’s not the case. Mindfulness is simply practice that asks us to slow down and pay attention and live in the moment, which is in fact the first principle of this practice.
Start your day with mindfulness on mind and set the mood with our NOW Foods Clear the Air Essential Oil. This cleansing scent is the perfect accompaniment to a mindful morning. Pay attention to what you are doing, don’t just go through the motions. Experience the world you’re living in and really relish it as you sit down to start your day.
Focus on your breathing as well. Since mindfulness is still a type of meditation, it’s a practice that requires you to take a breath, and really take in the things around you that you usually just ignore.
Cook for Yourself
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When you live alone, cooking can sometimes be a chore. Often, it feels so much easier to just order some food rather than take the time to cook it. But where mindfulness is concerned, give food prep a chance.
Cooking can also be a mindfulness exercise, as it can serve as a reminder that we deserve a good home-cooked meal. [2] Plus, by preparing our own food, we can feel confident that it is something special we made for ourselves, no matter how small it may be.
If you’re not very well-versed in the kitchen, you can even try to make an overnight oat pecan pie recipe with some simple ingredients. NOW Foods Honey Roasted Pecans, maple syrup, NOW Foods Erythritol (as a sugar substitute), cinnamon, vanilla extract, oats, and milk. Simply combine these ingredients together, leave it in the fridge overnight and have a sweet, delicious treat in the morning to start the day just right.
Take Yourself on a Date
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Since we’re on the matter of mindfulness, one of great way to practice it is be venturing to the great outdoors. Take yourself out on a nice little picnic. It doesn’t even have to be all that fancy – all you really need is a simple packed lunch and a book or two to keep you company.
Sometimes, simply sitting down on a nice sunny day in the park can be really helpful. Being around nature has scientifically been proven to benefit everyone, no matter their age, and practicing mindfulness in the park or at least somewhere with a lot of greenery can help us synchronise ourselves with the earth’s natural vibrations, giving us slightly sharper senses to perceive, feel, hear, and smell the world around us. [3]
Hangout with Your Besties
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Just because you’re spending Valentine’s Day alone, doesn’t mean you have to be lonely. To finish off an already wonderful day, you can even invite your closest friends to hang out with you. Pop some popcorn, fill the air with the flowery scent of NOW Foods Bottled Bouquet Essential Oil or some Valentine’s Day-appropriate NOW Foods Naturally Loveable, and start up a movie with the best of your friends.
We don’t really think about it often, but even short hangouts with our friends can have good impacts on our health. Social interaction can help us cope with a lot of our daily stressors. A study by Carnegie Mellon University found that people who destressed by spending time with friends and family were less likely to seek negative coping mechanisms or resort to substance abuse. [4]
Being in a relationship is a beautiful thing, but it’s even more amazing to know that despite the fact that we’re single, it doesn’t mean we have to feel lonely. This Valentine’s Day, do yourself a favour and appreciate the small things. The feeling of a new day when we wake up in the morning, the hard work we’ve done to furnish our house with the fruits of our labour, this little space we have in the world; we can love and appreciate even the smallest things in life – so why not start with ourselves?
References:
[2] https://www.headspace.com/mindfulness/mindful-cooking
[3] https://mindworks.org/blog/meditating-outside-nature/
[4] https://www.piedmont.org/living-better/4-reasons-friends-and-family-are-good-for-your-health