The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem

Learn to accept yourself as you are

Instructions

Stand naked in front of a full-length mirror and confront yourself.
As you closely examine your face and body, notice how you feel. Focus on the different body parts and notice if this makes you uncomfortable. Stay connected with your thoughts and emotions as you keep looking at those parts that displease you. Resist the urge to escape or reject aspects of yourself. Then say to yourself, “I accept myself completely regardless of my imperfections and defects.” Repeat this mantra slowly for two minutes as you take deep breaths. Do this exercise every morning and night for two weeks.
Isolate and reflect on a difficult emotion.
Think about an emotion you often struggle to face, such as envy, sorrow, anger, fear, or humiliation. Bring this feeling into clear focus by imagining an event that usually evokes it. Then visualize yourself breathing air into this feeling and from it. Imagine what it would be like to fully accept this feeling rather than resist it. Stay in this moment for a while and say to yourself, “I am now feeling (envy/anger/fear) and I accept it fully.” Focus on your breathing and allow the feeling to exist in you. Finally, say, “I am now exploring the world of envy/anger/fear.”
Use sentence completions for five weeks to facilitate self-acceptance.
Over the next week, start your day with the following sentences: “Self-acceptance to me means.....” “If I am more accepting of my body.....” “If I am more accepting of my conflicts.....” In the evenings, complete these sentences: “If I am more accepting of my feelings.....” “When I deny my feelings......” “If I am more accepting of my thoughts.....” “When I deny my thoughts.....” “When I deny my conflicts.....” Provide 6 to 10 endings for each sentence. On weekends, reflect on what you’ve written and then provide an ending for this sentence: “If any of what I have written is true, it would be helpful if I.....” Repeat this process for four more weeks. Use a variety of useful sentence stems to help you accept things like your fears, strengths, intelligence, sensuality, sexuality, spirituality, and so on.