There have been moments in my life when I didn't know if I could rise again. Moments when heartbreak felt too heavy. When old wounds got triggered. When I questioned everything; my worth, my path, my ability to love and be loved.

What brought me back, every single time, was self-love.

Not a mindset slogan. Not a quick fix. Not another wellness trend to add to my to-do list. I mean self-love as a living practice: breath, prayer, movement, devotion to my path, returning again and again to the truth of who I am.

What Self-Love really means

Self-love is the deep devotional practice of meeting yourself with tenderness, truth, and presence. Of returning to the Divine within. Of remembering that you belong to Love itself. The Divine lives in you, and your life is worthy of all the love in the world. This isn't just a beautiful idea. It's a lived reality that transforms everything when you practice it consistently.

"In devotional Tantra, self-love is the inner union that makes real intimacy possible, because sacred union isn't possible without inner union."

The cost of abandoning yourself

Here's what I've witnessed over decades of teaching and walking this path myself: when you lack self-love, you become insecure and disempowered. You don't show up with your gifts and dreams. You say yes when you mean no. You dim your light to keep others comfortable. You hold back from what you truly desire because you don't believe you're worthy. You abandon yourself over and over, hoping someone else will finally make you feel whole. But wholeness doesn't come from outside. It's cultivated within. This is why self-love isn't a trend. It's a spiritual practice.

Self-Love as Inner Union

In devotional Tantra, self-love is inner union — the foundation that makes real intimacy possible.

Think about it: How can you create sacred union with another person if you haven't created union within yourself? How can you receive love deeply if you don't believe you're worthy of it? How can you show up authentically in relationship if you're constantly abandoning your own truth? You can't. Sacred union isn't possible without inner union.

When you learn to love yourself deeply — not narcissistically, but devotionally — your energy shifts. You become more grounded, more radiant, and more available for real love. Not the kind that depends on someone else filling your empty cup, but the kind that overflows from wholeness. And this love doesn't stop with you. It ripples outward into your relationships, your devotion, your leadership, and the world.

The Heart of Devotional Tantra

This is the heart of the devotional Tantra that I teach:
Love as a path. Your body as a temple. Intimacy as devotion. Desire as a doorway to the Divine.

These aren't just poetic concepts. They're lived realities that you can embody through consistent practice.
And here's the part people don't always realize: self-love is not just an idea. It's something you practice.

The living tools of Self-Love

Yoga. Breathwork. Mantra. Prayer. Tantric embodiment. These are living tools that teach your nervous system safety and teach your heart how to stay open. They're not abstract spiritual concepts, they're practical methods for rewiring your relationship with yourself. Through these practices, you learn to:

• Meet yourself with tenderness instead of criticism
• Ground into your body instead of living in your head
• Speak to yourself with love instead of shame
• Return to presence instead of numbing or escaping
• Trust your worthiness instead of seeking validation

Self-love becomes the one refuge no one can take away from you — an anchor when the world feels uncertain.

A simple Self-Love practice

I want to share a short practice with you — one that has carried me through grief and healing, through heartbreak and rebirth, through every season of becoming. This is a practice that helps you come home to yourself, ground into your body, and soften the inner critic and the fear that keeps you playing small, dimming your light, holding back from your full radiance. It rewires your relationship with yourself. It dissolves shame. It awakens tenderness. It reminds your nervous system that you are safe to soften, safe to feel, safe to be fully you.

Watch: 2-Minute Self-Love Practice Video

Do this practice in the morning, at night, or anytime you feel disconnected from yourself. This is the foundation of Tantric embodiment.

An Invitation to Deeper Practice

So I want to ask you: Where are you being invited into deeper inner union right now — your body, your heart, your relationships, your spiritual life? What would shift if you committed to meeting yourself with tenderness every single day?

Try the practice I've shared. Do it today, right now if you can. Notice what arises. Notice what softens. Notice what becomes possible when you choose yourself with love. And if you're ready to go deeper into this work — to weave self-love into every area of your life through yoga, tantra, breathwork, and devotional practice — I invite you to check out Shakti Yoga Sadhana, my on-demand library of sacred practices.

Self-love isn't something you achieve once and check off the list. It's a practice you return to again and again, especially when life feels hard, when old patterns resurface, when you forget your worth.

You are worthy of your own love. Not someday. Right now.