Forget Hollywood idealistic moments of the perfect Valentine’s Day and movies that depict loneliness if you do not have a romantic partner. Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to be limited to you and a partner. Share the day with your children, friends, relatives, or spend time with someone that doesn’t have any family nearby. Do what you love with those you love!
- Try a heart opening activity. Yoga, meditation, or helping another person will open your heart.
- Food love. Prepare heart-shaped pancakes or pizza for a special heart-themed meal.
- Share compliments. Take a moment to tell a friend, child, loved one, or yourself something you love about their personalities.
- Treat yourself to joy. Relax and play your favorite love songs. Laugh, sing, and dance your heart out.
- Heart-themed breathing. Focus on breathing in and filling your heart with this breath; see the air you exhale surrounding you in a heart shape. Try visualizing breathing in red air and out red air. Breathe in pink air and out pink air. Focus on your heart chakra and breathe in green air. Which color feels best for you?
- Revisit love filled moments. Sit still and remember a loving moment. Allow yourself to be fully in the moment and feel the love you experienced at that time. Share a loving memory with your children, family member, or neighbor.
- Blow bubbles. Encourage play with Crayola outdoor fuchsia colored bubbles. Add a love theme and put a loving thought into the bubble and watch it float away.
- Pamper yourself or your family with a candlelight surprise. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner by candlelight is quite the treat. Add a loving note under each plate or put a surprise affirmation under your own.
- Visualize. Close your eyes and visualize your heart laughing, dancing, or healing.
- Memory lane. Spend an hour looking through photo albums with special attention to love or joy filled moments.
Love is love… don’t feel pressured by the media, conventional practices, or anyone’s opinions. Give yourself a day of gentleness and create your own celebration of what love means for you.
Lori Lite is the founder of Stress Free Kids and a pioneer in introducing children to stress management. After helping her own children, Lori understood that her mission was to empower children to reduce stress, lower anxiety, and manage big emotions. Lori’s ability to incorporate relaxation techniques and mindfulness into a storytelling format made her award-winning titles a worldwide resource for parents, educators, mental health professionals, doctors, yoga instructors, and children. Lori was the first author to appear on ABC’s Emmy-winning television series, Shark Tank, where the sharks listened to her Angry Octopus story and learned breathing and progressive muscle relaxation. For more information about Lori’s books, audiobooks, lesson plans, and other resources, visit www.StressFreeKids.com.