In the modern world, loving ourselves can be pretty difficult. I know that I am not the only one who feels bombarded constantly with reasons not to be happy in my own skin.
We are always told that we are not skinny enough, not pretty enough, and not successful enough. That can leave us feeling pretty sad about ourselves!
So, in this article, I will be talking about self love affirmations. Affirmations are pretty simple, but they are great for healing our minds and kick-starting our day.
They can be about anything and everything, and self love affirmations are all about providing the comfort and kindness that we need in order to feel healthy and happy.
What is Self Love?
So, what actually is self love?
According to the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, self love is the ‘state of appreciating oneself’.
It means treating ourselves with the love and kindness that we deserve by appreciating all the good things about us.
We can practice self love by identifying what we are good at, thanking our bodies and minds for what they do for us, and being true to ourselves.
Self love is all about acceptance. It allows us to accept all aspects of our being, from our spiritual souls to our facial features! Self love tells us to cut ourselves some slack and simply celebrate all the good in us!
What signs show a lack of self love?
We all need to practice self love, but some people might need to focus on it a bit more than others. This is because they may have a huge lack of self love.
If you have a lack of self love, you will often have negative thoughts about yourself. You may keep telling yourself that you are ugly, or unhealthy, or bad at your job. Little things will often get to you, and you take rejection and criticism to heart.
A lack of self love is also linked to the way we interact with other people in the world. If we do not have the love for ourselves that we need, we will often find ourselves in unhealthy or clingy relationships. We may depend on the person that we are dating for approval and happiness.
A lack of self love can also lead you to pretend you are someone else or hide behind a mask. If you are not confident and comfortable in who you are, you may wish to be someone else. This means that you are not truthful with yourself and those around you about who you truly are.
Easy Self Love Affirmations
If you are relating to the signs that show a lack of self love, it is time to practice your self love and curate a better attitude towards yourself!
Self love affirmations are a great place to start. This is because they are simple and can be about anything in your life that you are feeling down about. They are also great because they are not about changing who you are as a person, but changing your own attitude about yourself.
Self Love Affirmations About Worth
If we don’t love ourselves, we often think that we are not worthy of good things. However, we are all worthy and need to remind ourselves daily!
Here are some self love affirmations for worth.
- I am worthy of happiness.
- I am worthy of love.
- I am worthy of success.
- I am enough.
- I am great just how I am.
- I accept myself for who I am right now.
- I acknowledge the need to treat myself with kindness.
Self Love Affirmations for Confidence
When we lack self love, we can also lack confidence. By repeating affirmations that boost our confidence, we can be happier in who we are.
- I value myself.
- I am stronger than my fears.
- I can face challenges that appear.
- I believe in my talents.
- I don’t need to rely on others for approval.
- I can achieve anything I wish to achieve.
- I am strong and powerful.
- I become greater every day I exist.
- I can learn from negative events.
- I embrace my imperfections.
- I can accept complements from others.
- I love myself for who I am.
Self Love affirmations for Body Confidence
Because of beauty standards dictated by society and the media, we can often lack body confidence. Our physical body does amazing things for us, but it is easy to forget this!
Here are some self love affirmations for body confidence and gratefulness.
- I thank my body for what it gives me.
- I thank my body for its strength.
- I thank my body for its ability to live in the world and experience amazing things.
- My body deserves love.
- I respect my body and treat it with kindness.
- I care for and nourish my body.
- My body is a gift.
- The number on the scales do not define me.
- It’s okay for me to like how I look.
- A perfect body is a body that works.
- I am defined by my soul and my personality, not my body type.
- My body does amazing things!
Self Love Affirmations for Acceptance
Accepting exactly who you are right now is really useful to self love. Instead of ruminating on the past, or worrying about the future, being present and accepting can really help create a positive mindset.
We all are striving for something, be it health or work goals, and this is natural! However, it is important to be present and love ourselves for where we are right now. Let’s look at some self love affirmations for acceptance!
- I accept myself for who I am right now.
- I have achieved a lot in my life.
- I am comfortable with who I am.
- I acknowledge my flaws and accept them as a part of me.
- I am content with who I am.
- I shall not compare myself to others.
- I am on a journey in life.
- I am right where I need to be.
- I shall not apologize for existing.
- I have the right to take up space.
Self Love Affirmations For Forgiveness
A big part of self love is the ability to forgive yourself for things that you have done or blame yourself for. These may be little things, such as accidentally saying the wrong thing to someone. However, sometimes we are constantly reminded of mistakes that we have made in our lives, and this can really affect our self-esteem.
It is important to remember that nobody is perfect, and we all make mistakes in our lives. It can be hard to get over the past, but in order to live peacefully, we must.
Here are some self love affirmations for forgiveness to practice.
- My past does not define me.
- It is okay to say the wrong thing from time to time.
- I am able to heal from pain I have caused.
- I can release anger and shame.
- I can move on from my past.
- I trust myself to make the right decisions in the future.
- I accept that my choices in the past were done with the best intentions at the time.
- I forgive myself for the way I have treated my body.
- I forgive myself for the way I have treated others.
- I deserve inner peace.
How To Use Self Love Affirmations
What I really like about affirmations is that they are super easy and can be about anything we want. We can also use self love affirmations in so many different ways, depending on what kind of person we are and what we feel comfortable with.
I use affirmations daily, but instead of saying them out loud, I sing them. Sounds weird right? But it boosts my mood a lot! Walking around my flat singing about how great I am is fantastic for my well-being, and it really helps me feel cheerful and excited about life.
Singing self love affirmations might not be for you, so what are some other great ways of practicing them to boost your confidence and self-esteem?
Meditation
A great way of practicing affirmations is through meditation. Okay, I know that meditation is a bit of a daunting word for some people. When we hear the word meditation, we often think of those people who can clear their minds totally and just become completely at peace somehow.
However, meditation isn’t always like that! When we are using meditation for self love affirmations, we simply need to sit in a safe and quiet space, close our eyes, breathe deeply, and repeat the affirmations in our mind or out loud.
Paying attention to our breathing is a really important part of meditation, and we can do this alongside our affirmations. Inhale, repeat your affirmation, then exhale. Picture yourself exhaling out all the negativity, and inhaling all the positivity!
If you are able to, I would try to do this every day. We all need time out of our hectic day-to-day lives, and meditating with self love affirmations is a great way to get this break from the world. Plus, we are working on our self-esteem at the same time!
Journaling
Another great way to practice self love affirmations is to use a journal. You can make it a part of your morning routine by simply taking five minutes out of your day to write down a few affirmations for self love.
If you can, buy yourself a really nice notebook that promotes positive vibes. This can be your self love journal! Pick out five to ten self love affirmations on areas of your life that you wish to work on, and write them all out daily.
Seeing your affirmations written down can be really useful in curating self love and happiness, and is such a mood booster!
Use a Mirror
Using a mirror to practice your self love affirmations is a great way of linking how you see yourself with the affirmations.
Okay, you might feel a bit silly at first! Standing in front of a mirror, looking yourself in the eye, and telling yourself that you are beautiful and strong might feel weird if you haven’t done it before. However, you are connecting what you see in the mirror with the words you are saying, and this is really powerful!
This is particularly useful if you have a negative image of yourself and suffer from low body confidence. Try to repeat your self love affirmations in a mirror every day for five minutes or so.
Why Positive Self Love Affirmations Work
Okay, you may be reading this and thinking ‘sure, self love affirmations sound nice, but are they too good to be true?‘. Surely something this easy to do can’t magically transform our lives and attitudes?
Thankfully, self love affirmations do actually work, and there is even a load of science behind it. According to Healthline, our brain changes and adapts over the course of our life, and we sometimes can find it difficult to distinguish between reality and imagination.
When we are repeating positive affirmations, we are encouraging our minds to take these affirmations as fact. By practicing these affirmations daily, we are telling our minds that we are indeed beautiful, powerful, and strong.
Are You Ready For More Self Love?
I hope you have enjoyed this article about self love affirmations, and I hope you now have some encouragement to use the affirmations in your own life! It is surprising how effective these affirmations can be, and we can use them daily to gain happiness and peace in our lives.
We all deserve self love, no matter who we are. Practicing self love affirmations is the first step towards living a healthy and happy life!
