It’s often easy to get swept up in the Valentine’s Day bubble and forget the most important love you can have, self-love. At MidCity, we think that making time for yourself, being kind to yourself and treating yourself are all essential to a loving and healthy relationship with your mind and body. 

We caught up with model and content creator, Oceana Strachan to talk about all things self-love, positivity and pampering. 

What does ‘self-love’ mean to you?

It is easy to get caught up with work, the daily grind and social events that taking a step back and doing something for you is easily pushed aside. Self love can be the most complicated form of love, it can be about making time for yourself and your mental space or it can be more visual about how you see yourself and loving you for who you are. For me, self love is all about making time in my day that I can be selfish and focus on something for me. 

 

What is something you do everyday to practise self-love? 

Everyday I exercise, I get up at 5:30am and have an hour in the gym. This sets me up for the day, gets my body moving and allows my mind to focus on something other than work. 

I am super routinal as well, part of my journey to self love was to set myself a good skin routine which i make sure I do every morning and night. I feel like if I make time to appreciate and take care of my appearance it puts me into a more positive mindset. 

Get your daily dose of exercise in, at Virgin Active. 

 

 

What are your favourite ‘treat yourself’ essentials? 

Definitely a good pair of headphones for when i’m working out! Beauty wise, a good face mask and a nice smelling candle before bed. It really helps me wind down. 

Find Oceana’s favourite headphones at Rebel and pamper essentials at Jurlique. 

 

How do you move past negativity in your life? 

Unfortunately negativity is a common occurrence for many of us, whether it’s coming from social media, within our family homes or our own mindset. My biggest tip is to remove yourself from the situation and do something you love instead, don’t overthink the situation, take your mind away from it and if necessary come back to it when you are ready.

Moving forward from any sort of negativity can take time but make sure you are taking steps forward to improve your mental mindset. 

 

What would be a good starting place for someone wanting to practice self love?

Do something small for yourself everyday, take 5 minutes of your day to breathe and be grateful that you are here and have a chance to live your life. We, as humans, take too many things for granted.  

Treat yourself today to a rejuvenating treatment at My Healthy Massage. 

 

 

What are your favourite quotes or mantras that you live by? 

My mum always told me to “embrace the power and beauty of your youth” – you will never be as young as you are today.