Do you love yourself enough?

Three-time award-winning author Shantelle Bisson was born and raised in Toronto and splits her time between Toronto and her marina that she purchased in 2018, Shantilly’s Place, in the Kawartha region of Ontario.

Having just launched her third book ‘Loving Yourself Without Losing Your Cool’ which is structured by Shantelle’s own personal omissions —  she lays herself bare, taking readers on a personal journey to exorcise their demons. Shantelle teaches readers how to analyze the lessons learned in each phase of life, how to go back to your past and address the things that made you who you are, all while approaching letting go of challenging life experiences. Spoiler alert: the book ends with you loving yourself more than you thought you could. 

We had the opportunity to ask Shantelle a few questions to help us better understand loving yourself. These little changes may help you get through the summer and show yourself a little more love. Here is what she told us…

What brought you to the realization of the importance of self-love? 

What brought me to that realization was that I was tearing myself up from the inside down. I hit a point in my life where I realized I wasn’t being kind to myself (or my body) and that my opinion of myself started to weigh on and influence my daughter’s perspectives of themselves. This ultimately brought me to my turning point. It feels good to love yourself and it’s so important to remind yourself of your values every day and to be confident in the person you are. Over the past 20 years, especially with the rise of social media, many women don’t love themselves as much as we need to and should. 

What was your life like before practicing self-love?

It’s interesting reflecting back on the past. One thing I was able to determine is that when you don’t have deep self-love, it really affects your surrounding relationships. I was drinking more and fighting more with my husband. I felt unrooted in my life and steering off course. I eventually hit a breaking point where I knew I had to get to work on myself. I now have a lot more sustainability in my day-to-day life and practice self-love, affirmations, journaling and more to help keep me rooted.  

What is the importance of analyzing hardships and life lessons?

The importance of analyzing hardships and life lessons is that we need to enjoy them- an easy life doesn’t make you strong; it makes you lazy. When we get met with difficulties, we rise above. It’s so important to take blessings from the hardships. Enjoy life, understand the good and the bad, analyze why things really happen and tackle them directly. 

Can you please provide tips on how to love yourself/go easy on yourself?

Some of my favourite tips to love and go easy on yourself are to:

1. Listen to your inner voice – get in the habit of stopping and listening to yourself
2. Cry!! It’s really therapeutic 
3. Meditation, yoga, daily affirmations and reading 

You can purchase her latest book  “Loving Yourself Without Losing Your Cool” on Amazon, along with the journal! 

I think Shantelle’s tips are great and I’m looking forward to showing myself more love this break. As a mother, it’s so important to take care of ourselves and not just take care of others. It’s all about self-love and compassion.

Thank you for the great tips Shantelle!