Positive affirmations and self-love from Rachel DaCosta

If you aren’t following @selflovesupply on Instagram, then you are seriously missing out on your daily dose of self-love wisdom. With #MondayMantras and content geared towards mental health, Founder Rachel DaCosta has found a niche on Instagram that resonates. We sat down with Rachel for a Q&A to learn more about her and the community she’s built online.  

How did you get started with Self Love Supply? 

I’m born and raised in Toronto, and when I was out in Nova Scotia for university, I was struggling a bit on my own with my mental health. I was missing friends and family from home and I decided to start this page. Self Love Supply was my way of expressing myself and finding that community on Instagram. In the past 5 years there’s been a big shift of mindset that social media doesn’t have to be evil, you can find positive things that speak to you. That’s why I started it, to find that community and it’s really grown from there. I’ve been doing this for a while now and I love it.

From your perspective, how have conversations and practices around self-care changed over the years?

Since starting out in this space around 4 or 5 years ago, one of the biggest shifts I feel that I've seen is more inclusivity. When I began, one of my biggest struggles was feeling like I wasn't a "good enough" advocate. People weren't shy to let you know when they felt like you weren't doing or saying enough, and although these types of people definitely still exist on all social media platforms, I feel like I've been able to find a supportive community and seen an overall shift towards more kindness and compassion. I also think there's also been a shift when it comes to influencers and content creators who don't usually post about mental health opening up more and more about their personal struggles and trying harder to be 'real' and 'authentic' on their platforms. When I started out, I think there was more of a feeling that discussing mental health struggles was seen as annoying or even weak behaviour, but is now a major part of creating a connection with your audience, which I think is really cool. 

In our IG Live interview, you mention this fear of not being functional, which is such a true insight. We live in a culture where hustling and being your own boss is celebrated and encouraged. Why shouldn’t we fear this? 

I think this was such a great point to touch on during the live! It's something that I've thought a lot about personally, but haven't really discussed openly yet. Our society- which, let's remember- we created!- celebrates hard work and success, and I think we've all witnessed the negative effects this can have in some way or another. From extreme anxiety to the intense pressures we put on ourselves, I think it's incredibly important to remember what you are doing for you and what you are doing because society tells you that you should be doing it. So, when you have a day where you're feeling particularly unproductive- maybe you didn't get a good sleep the night before or if you're distracted by something going on in your life- ask yourself why you are so afraid of taking time to yourself to reset. We all know that we do our best work when we feel our best, so why don't we allow ourselves space to feel our best without bringing the guilt along with it? As we discussed on our live, lack of sleep gives me anxiety because I'm worried about my productivity levels the next day- but if I'm being honest, I'm never really as unproductive as I worry about! And even if I was, so what? You're not a robot, so stop pressuring yourself to be 100% ON at all times! Shift your perspective, celebrate small wins, and remember to be grateful and proud of yourself for getting where you are today!

Describe your relationship with cannabis. 

My relationship with cannabis has actually changed so much over the past 10 years! I remember being in high school when my friends started trying it out and thinking it was something I would never be interested in. During my undergrad program when my anxiety and depression started to worsen, I started experimenting more with using cannabis, but I knew absolutely nothing about different strains, CBD vs THC etc, and because of this, I didn't quite understand how to utilize it in a way that would benefit me until a few years ago when I started to really do some research. Over the past few years, I've been using cannabis mainly to help reduce anxiety, specifically at night time to help me sleep. Now, I'm happy to say that I've been using CBD oil almost daily in the morning to help reduce my anxiety during the day, and I am absolutely loving the results! I really appreciate that it's not necessarily a feeling that I'm aware of throughout the day, but in the evening when I look back at my day, I've noticed feeling more calm and less anxious overall.

What’s next?

We’re hoping to release new e-books that are professionally focused! We want to have a full line so everyone can find something that speaks to their specific needs. One feedback we heard from our first one is that people love it, but those who already do a lot of self-care practices felt they wanted something more specific or more in-depth into one topic. Something else I’m working on with my partner, Taylor Efford, is a podcast - it’s going to be along the same lines of bringing physical and mental health together and talking about relevant topics through each of those lenses.