Dental students take care of so many people. Studies, rotation patients, friends, family, etc. But they need to love themselves too!
They need to engage in activities that allow for healing (physical, emotional, and psychological), relieving stress, releasing past trauma, and harmonizing one’s inner-self.
The best kind of self-love includes being ALONE with yourself to appreciate yourself. You do this by detaching from others and creating healthy boundaries. Doing things like being outside with nature, praying/meditating/ doing yoga, going to the beach, watching a movie or reading a book, walking/shopping at the mall, getting a massage or manicure/pedicure, cooking or baking for just yourself.
Basically, reserving your energy, time, and affection for yourself. Sounds simple enough, but many humans just don’t do it often or fully enough.
Why is self-love so important? So you can be at the top of your game when you’re called upon to serve others. Even the holiest people who ever walked the Earth took time away from preaching, performing miracles, and healing others to rest and pray by themselves.
Dentists are healers by trade, but they also need to self-heal so they can have long, healthy, and meaningful lives. They have such enormous pressures on their shoulders; they need a release valve.
Why is it so hard for some to practice self-love?
We are taught as professionals who serve others in a medical setting, practising self-love may be perceived as a sign of weakness or selfishness. Why would the healer need healing? Or perhaps there’s simply not enough time in the day to focus inwards because of external demands.
But those are Ego-based excuses! Our Ego is that left-brain, logic- and fear-based self-preservation system that keeps us alive and protected. It tries to convince us to expend our energy outwards to find happiness. But that never satisfies: there’s never enough patients, cases, or money to be happy.
True peace, contentment, and happiness lie within us. So when we turn down the Ego and listen to our higher-selves from within, we start to live our most authentic lives. And in the process, we discover new and wonderful epiphanies, like:
Epiphany #1: You are accountable to: YOU. Yes, others depend on you to take care of them. But at the end of the day, it’s just you. And you can’t live according to anyone else. You have to be true to you. So you are allowed to take time for you and to enjoy you. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone or seek validation from outside of you. You just have to be okay with you and your choices. No guilt, shame, or Ego-based excuses!
Epiphany #2: Love yourself here and now. Don’t worry about yesterday or stress about tomorrow. Focus on loving yourself in each and every waking moment. And you can love yourself in all actions that you take – whether it’s in helping others or by taking time off to regroup and recalibrate.
If you’re not sure if you’re operating in the moment, here’s a a quick fix: Breathe in for 6 seconds. Breathe out for 6 seconds (go slow!). Hold for 6 seconds. And repeat 3 times. And like magic: by just focusing on breathing and BE-ing (and quieting the ever-chatty mind and Ego), you’ll forget about yesterday and tomorrow. And voila: you’ll be here and start practising self-love!
Epiphany #3: When you love you, others follow. If you want people to change and love themselves too, just be the example for them. You don’t need to convince them with words. Just BE a lighthouse. The lighthouse protects and guides in the ships with its bright light. It doesn’t DO anything other than shine; the ships will come towards the lighthouse and they don’t need to be controlled, convinced, threatened, or manipulated.
So what are you waiting for? Get out there and practice self-love! You’ll thank you!
About the Author
Michael is a founding partner of DMC LLP, Canada’s largest dental-only law firm that helps dentists sell and buy practices in Ontario. Michael leads DMC’s annual Caribbean dental mission trips (Grenada, Jamaica, and Turks) Michael is now organizing Sint Maarten and Philippines dental outreach trips for 2023. Michael can be reached at michael@dentistlawyers.ca or 647.680.9530.