love day

Unconditional Love: A Valentine’s Day Gift to Ourselves and Others

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Valentine’s Day often brings thoughts of romantic love—chocolates, flowers, and expressions of devotion. But beneath the surface of this holiday lies a deeper opportunity: to embrace unconditional love—both for ourselves and those around us.

True love is not just about how we feel toward others when things are easy. It is also about how we show up when things are challenging, how we extend grace, and how we honor the journey that has shaped us into who we are today. This Valentine’s Day, let’s shift our focus from external validation to the profound practice of unconditional love—a love that embraces growth, imperfections, and the beauty of being human.

Honoring Your Journey: The Path to Love

Before we can truly offer unconditional love, we must first acknowledge and honor our own path. Life’s experiences—both joyful and painful—have shaped our capacity to love. Every heartache, every challenge, every lesson has deepened our understanding of what it means to care for others and ourselves.

Rather than looking back with regret or resentment, we can choose to see our past as a teacher. What if we thanked our journey for expanding our hearts? What if we recognized that even the hardest moments have brought us closer to the love we seek?

Reflection:
Take a moment to consider: How has your past shaped the way you give and receive love today? What lessons has your heart learned along the way?

The Practice of Giving Unconditional Love

Unconditional love is love without expectations, without the need for anything in return. It is choosing love even when it’s hard. It’s showing up for someone on their worst day or offering patience when you’re frustrated. It’s giving kindness even when it’s not reciprocated.

Here are some ways to practice unconditional love daily:

  • Listen with your whole heart – Let someone feel truly heard without the need to fix or advise.
  • Offer grace – Remember that everyone is doing the best they can with what they know.
  • Be kind to those who challenge you – Love does not mean condoning harmful behavior, but it does mean releasing resentment and choosing peace.
  • Celebrate others without comparison – Love is abundant, and another’s light does not dim your own.

Self-Love as the Foundation

We cannot pour from an empty cup. If we do not first offer unconditional love to ourselves, how can we extend it fully to others?

This means letting go of self-judgment, embracing our imperfections, and treating ourselves with the same kindness we give our loved ones.

Ways to Cultivate Self-Love:

  • Speak to yourself with compassion instead of criticism.
  • Take time to do things that nourish your soul—yoga, journaling, time in nature.
  • Set healthy boundaries to protect your peace.
  • Forgive yourself for past mistakes.

A Heart-Opening Practice for Love

To close, here’s a simple mindfulness practice to open your heart and cultivate love:

  1. Find a comfortable seat and close your eyes. Place one hand over your heart.
  2. Breathe deeply. With each inhale, imagine love filling your heart. With each exhale, release any judgment or resistance.
  3. Repeat silently: “I am worthy of love. I give love freely. I receive love openly.”
  4. After a few minutes, bring to mind someone you wish to send love to. Picture them surrounded by light, and silently offer, “May you be happy, may you be at peace, may you feel loved.”
  5. Open your eyes and carry this love with you throughout your day.

For a lovely chair yoga practice to compliment unconditional love, visit my new video.

Love Without Limits

This Valentine’s Day, let love be more than just a fleeting celebration—it can be a lifelong practice. By honoring our own journey, offering love without conditions, and embracing self-compassion, we create a world where love is abundant, healing, and infinite.

The greatest gift we can give—to ourselves and others—is love without limits. ??

Heart Shaped Chocolate Cake

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Imagine a beautifully crafted heart-shaped cake, rich with deep chocolate layers that are both moist and decadent. Between each layer, a luscious raspberry filling adds a bright, slightly tart contrast to the deep cocoa flavors. The cake is coated in a smooth, glossy dark chocolate ganache that cascades over the sides, creating an irresistible sheen. With a hint of orange is infused into the ganache and the cake batter, offering a subtle citrusy warmth that enhances the chocolate’s richness.

I am a huge lover of chocolate but rarely take the time and effort to bake something from scratch. This year however I have committed to being more deliberate with how I choose to spend my “free” time. These heart shaped cake are the perfect thing!

This Valentine’s Day I wanted to be deliberate and intentional in creating something luscious, chocolatety, and seductive. A practice of self love and love for others, right?

Chocolate + raspberry with a minimal hint of orange will bring just that.

It may be a tad more work than a whipping up a cake mix from a box or buying something from the bakery, but I’m feeling excited to create something so wonderful. Be sure if you do choose to add the wild orange essential oil, you choose a pure, safe and reputable brand. I only use this one.

Intentional. Deliberate. And soooooo good.

Ingredients

Cake Mix:

  • 1 1/2 cups of flour
  • 1 cup of white sugar
  • 1/3 cup of dark cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 1 cup of water
  • 1/3 cup of avocado oil
  • 1 tablespoon of white vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
  • 2 drops pure wild orange essential oil

Raspberry Cream Cheese Filling:

  • 4 ounces of cream cheese softened
  • 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup of raspberry jam
  • 1 cup of whipping cream
  • Two drops pure wild orange essential oil

Chocolate Ganache

  • 8 oz  dark or semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter (optional, for extra shine)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Red and white sprinkles (optional)

Instructions

  1. Beat softened cream cheese and raspberry in a bowl. Add powdered sugar and whipping cream, mix on high speed until smooth. Place in the refrigerator.
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Next, add the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Beat well until mixture has no lumps.
  3. Fill up each opening halfway with batter. If you decide to make cupcakes instead, fill up liners about a 1/3 full. You can find the mold I use in my Amazon shop below.
  4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Once done, place mini cakes on cooling rack and allow them to completely cool. (I place them in the refrigerator to speed up the process)
  5. Carefully cut the mini cakes lengthwise and place both halves on the cooling rack with a cookie sheet underneath. (You’ll need it later to catch the excess chocolate)
  6. Add a spoonful of the raspberry filling to the flat side of one cake half and top with the second half.
  7. Melt dark or semi-sweet chocolate until smooth according to package instructions.
  8. Pour melted chocolate over mini cakes until fully covered. Smooth out with a spatula if needed. Add festive sprinkles or candies of your choice. Place in the refrigerator until chocolate sets.