Madly in Love with ME: The Daring Adventure of Becoming Your Own Best Friend

by Christine Arylo

Overview

Most of us know that loving ourselves would be a good idea, but we have no clue what that really means. Self-love feels too vast, too esoteric, and frankly like something you should keep under wraps.

This breakthrough book on self-love changes all that by taking you beyond the idea of loving, valuing, and caring for yourself into daring acts that will help you experience it. Christine Arylo provides practical, fun ways to explore and embody the ten branches of self-love every day and in every part of your life. Reading this book is like receiving permission to treat yourself as a best friend would. Imagine having the power to:

* Give to yourself first, without guilt
* Shower yourself with loving words instead of criticism and comparison
* Go for your dreams with conviction and courage
* Choose the situations and relationships that make you happiest
* Discover and explore your deepest thoughts and desires — and act on them

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608680665
Publisher:	New World Library
Publication date:	10/23/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	334,009
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

After earning her MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and spending over twelve years marketing big brands such as Gap Inc., Visa, and Frito-Lay, Christine Arylo traded in building images for corporations for a chance to inspire women to break free from their limiting self-images. Merging her professional experience and extensive leadership and coaching training with a seven-year spiritual journey, Christine now works with women and girls as a catalyst for change. Christine’s clients include entrepreneurs, executives, and people seeking a personal path. As an author and speaker, Christine leads no-taboo, limit-busting conversations and workshops called Girltalk...taking it deeper™ in venues ranging from the Internet to major U.S. cities. In 2008, she launched the Madly in Love with ME™ line of jewelry and apparel as well as a journal for pre-teens, daring and guiding them to explore their real ME. She lives in Oakland, California, with her partner, Noah, and their Siberian husky.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Imagine a World of Love x

Part 1 See the Love!: The Truth about Self-Love

Chapter 1 Why Is It So Hard to Say "I Love You"...to Yourself? 2

Chapter 2 Self-Love Isn't a Dirty Word, and You Can't Catch Narcissism 20

Chapter 3 What Is Self-Love...and How Can You Receive More? 46

Part 2 Grow the Love!: The Self-Love Tree and the Ten Branches of Self-Love

Chapter 4 Self-Awareness & Self-Honesty 70

Chapter 5 Self-Acceptance 88

Chapter 6 Self-Care 112

Chapter 7 Self-Compassion & Self-Forgiveness 132

Chapter 8 Self-Trust 154

Chapter 9 Self-Esteem 176

Chapter 10 Self-Empowerment 196

Chapter 11 Self-Respect & Self-Honor 216

Chapter 12 Self-Pleasure 236

Chapter 13 Self-Expression 254

Part 3 Amplify the Love!: Secrets to Cultivating a Long-Lasting, Loving Relationship with Yourself

Chapter 14 Make a Self-Love Promise: Stay Committed to Choosing Love for Yourself 274

Chapter 15 Engage in a Radical Act of Self-Love: Practice Self-Love for Forty Days Straight 290

Chapter 16 Be a Love Ambassador: Use Your Love Power to Generate Love for Yourself and Others 308

A Love Letter for You 322

Acknowledgments 324

Notes 326

About the Author 327

Editorial Reviews

Arylo’s (Choosing ME before WE) unabashedly positive, step-by-step workbook is designed to help women take the compassion, appreciation, and care one would lavish on a companion, and redirect it inward. The author rescues the notion of “self-love” from the reductive realms of masturbation, narcissism, and days at the spa, and presents it instead as a fruitful alternative to the incessant reprimands to sacrifice. Arylo is an enthusiastic mentor, and she offers plenty of creative tips for creating self-love, from going on a nice date (by yourself), working on a self-love–centered art project, and taking a love bath. For those made uncomfortable by the admonishment to “vigorously love-loofah yourself,” she also provides practical exercises, such as quizzes, suggestions for how to productively rephrase ideas of oneself, and inspiring affirmations and “love truths” to guide readers on their journey. Though couched in overwhelmingly saccharine language, Arylo’s warm, fun, and informative handbook contains deep truths. (Jan. 1)

Publishers Weekly