The Hug We Forget to Give Ourselves
Welcome back to Only Self Love . If you’re reading this, I want you to take a second. Stop scrolling. Just inhale... and exhale. Today I want to talk about something so simple, yet impossibly difficult: the physical act of holding ourselves together. The image I shared above—that soft, quiet moment by the window—isn’t a pose. It’s a snapshot of a practice that saved me during one of my hardest seasons. It’s the art of the self-hug. We are so quick to offer a comforting touch to others. If a friend cries, your arm goes around their shoulder. If a partner is stressed, you rub their back. We know, instinctively, that human touch heals. It lowers cortisol; it signals safety. But when we are the ones falling apart, what do we do? Often, we tighten up. We clench our jaws. We isolate. We retreat into the cold fortress of our own anxiety. We deny ourselves the very comfort we generously give to everyone else. A few years ago, I was completely overwhelmed. My anxiety was a physical weigh...