I’d like to tell you a little story…

I was once traveling in Croatia with a photography student of mine and I wanted to treat her to a spa day.

“Why don’t you sign up for a massage too?” She asked me. I told her it was going to take 90 minutes and I couldn’t spend that much time. I had other business to take care of.

Her response to me? “Why not? Why don’t you want to spend 90 minutes taking care of yourself?”

At that moment, I had no answers for her, but I fully heard her. In hindsight, the other business I had to take care of wasn't a priority. I wasn’t pausing to give myself the love I needed.

We all know the saying… You can’t pour from an empty cup.

Meaning, if you’re the selfless kind with a lot of responsibilities, always caring for others, you often don’t pause even for a few minutes to take care of yourself. Self care should be your top priority, so you are in a holistically healthy space to care for and love others.

For us at Tala Thrive, self love is one of our virtues. In order to start thriving in your own way, we want you to also take care of yourself and love yourself in all the ways that fully nourish your soul and body. While February may be the month of love - either celebrating it, courting it, or simply caring for loved ones - we want February to be the month of self-love for our community.

Here are my top three tips for loving yourself a little extra this month:

Take yourself out to a fancy dinner or a play. That restaurant you’ve always wanted to try or stage play you’ve always wanted to watch with a future date? Take yourself there without a date. You deserve to spoil yourself.
Book a massage and spa day. Your body will thank you. Trust me.
Ask your partner to leave you for a few hours (maybe take the kids out if you have some) so you can do absolutely nothing for at least 90 minutes. You can tackle your list of books to read, catch up on sleep, finally watch the movie your partner doesn’t like, and above all, be present with yourself.

You deserve all that time and much more for self love.

If you’re struggling to carve out some time to truly celebrate and care for yourself, maybe it’s time to talk to someone who can help you past that mental and emotional barrier. Our platform matches you to therapists and coaches who understand your culture, language and/or religion – for culturally competent care, so join our waitlist so we can connect you.

Remember, we want you to thrive - mentally, physically, and emotionally - so you can start living the life you truly deserve.

Tell us on Instagram, how do you practice self love?

By Lola Akinmade