Hi everyone: yes, it sure sounds weird to embrace "it". I used to try and be a ragdoll - totally let all muscles relax, not fight it. Of course, it depends where you are at the moment, sometimes you can't do that in public. Another thing I tried was singing at the top of my voice, silly stuff, serious stuff, it didn't matter, especially if I was driving alone. When you sing, you have to breath in and out to keep it up and it takes your mind off the other symptoms.
Loving yourself, for me, was letting go of perfectionism/fear of being judged. I am a normal human being with faults. No person is perfect. If mistakes are made, so what? Did I make them intentionally? No. I can only do my best and best is pretty darn good. If I can understand someone else's faults and mistakes and tell them "hey, it's o.k." then I should love myself enough to do the same for me. If I give my friend a hug because he/she doesn't feel good, did something incorrectly, etc. then I can give myself a hug too. It's the age-old question, why are we so hard on ourselves?
