Affirmations for Self Love – Why and How to Use Them

Affirmations of self love an amazing tool for feeling better about yourself and your place in the universe. They can be grounding, energizing, motivating and inspiring. They can be a very powerful way to free yourself from negativity and send positive thoughts into the universe.

Why We Need Self Love Affirmations

Everyone has fears and doubts. Everyone feels hurt and rejected some times in our lives. We all need people to love us. All of this is perfectly natural.

As we go through life, we will have relationships that come and go. Time and distance can make it difficult to keep close contact with friends and family. Even these strong bonds can fade away over time.

The relationship you have with yourself will never end. It is the one constant you will have forever. This is why it is so important to practice affirmations of self love each day.

Do You Have a Lack of Self Love?

Women in particular are often far too critical of themselves. It’s easy for us to fall into the habit of negative self talk without even realizing.

It is difficult to love and accept love from others if we don’t first love ourselves. Here are signs that you may have a lack of self love:

• Being withdrawn
• Frequently stressed beyond normal levels
• Hypercritical of yourself and/or others
• Rude or short with others
• Feeling jealous of others
• Frequently experience self doubt
• Spend a lot of time worrying about failure
• Live as a follower rather than a leader
• Feeling unworthy of love and affection
• Feeling inferior to others

Basically, negative self-talk is any inner dialogue you have with yourself that may be limiting your ability to believe in yourself and your own abilities, and to reach your potential. It is any thought that diminishes your ability to make positive changes in your life or your confidence in yourself to do so.

VeryWellMind.com

Consequences of Negative Self Talk

• Limiting beliefs: You focus on what you can’t to or tell yourself you can’t do something. The more you do this, the more you believe it.
• Relationship issues: Constant self-criticism can make you seem needy and insecure to others. Saying negative things about yourself aloud can even lead to negative habits that bothers others. Even a “playful” amount of criticism can take a toll on your relationships.
• Perfectionism: You begin to really believe that perfection is actually attainable, but that you will never get there. You tend to pick things apart and zero in on what you could have done better.
• Feelings of depression: Some research has shows that negative self-talk can lead to elevated levels of feeling depressed.

Negative self talk is something you can reprogram. You can convince yourself that you’re inadequate or you can remind yourself that you have the potential to learn and grow. Positive self-talk builds your confidence and self-esteem making it easier to persevere in tough times.

How to Use Affirmations of Self Love

1. Use present tense. The only time when you can take action is now. Keep your affirmations focused on the present moment instead of reliving the past or trying to anticipate the future.
   
2. Look in the mirror. Looking yourself in the eyes helps reinforce your messages of positivity. Repeat affirmations while gazing into a mirror in your bathroom or in your car (not while driving, of course).
   
3. Create reminders. Stay on track by surrounding yourself with cues to speak to yourself with kindness and respect. Spend time with family and friends who boost your spirits. Write affirmations on sticky notes and put them on your bathroom mirror, refrigerator or closet door.
   
4. Speak out loud. Research indicates that saying affirmations out loud has the most impact. It may be awkward to tell yourself that you’re fabulous in the middle of the supermarket, but you can record messages on your phone that you can listen to anywhere.
   
5. Consider therapy. Changing self-talk that you’ve been reinforcing for years can be challenging. Speaking with a professional may help you to gain more insights and understanding.

Getting Started with Affirmations of Self Love

Dedicate some time each day to practice your affirmations. I typically like to do them in the morning or just before bed. I have a sticky note on my bathroom mirror as a reminder.

It will take time, but it will happen. It will become more natural and you will even look forward to the nice words you have to say to yourself each day.

Rather than overwhelming yourself with a long list of affirmations, select 2-3 that resonate with what you feel you need to work on first. Once you notice improvement in these areas, you can move on to a few more, and so on.

I have written a few other posts about affirmations of self love so you should definitely check them out. In this post, I wanted to provide even more ideas to help you succeed in your practice.

Self-Love is not Selfishness

Keep in mind that self love is not the same thing as being selfish.

1. Self love is unconditional.
   You don’t need to achieve something first in order to be worthy of self love. You will not say, “I will practice self love, if only I get a promotion” you need to love yourself even if don’t
2. Self love is compassionate. 
   When you practice self love you still have empathy for others. Helping yourself improves your ability to help others.  Just like putting your air mask on before helping a child on a plane. You are not truly practicing self love if you are not willing to also help others.
3. Self love means facing your fears. 
   When you love yourself, you cannot hide from your problems. You need to face them and work to make them better. You understand that you are a work in progress and that you will keep working toward improvement.
4. Self love is not defensive. 
   When you love yourself you are comfortable with yourself and your actions. There is no need to prove yourself to others. You feel comfortable in your own skin.

25 Affirmations for Self Love to Get You Started

I feel pride in myself.

I feel beautiful, I am beautiful 

I am not the sum of my mistakes.

I have everything I need.

I am empowered to create change in my life 

I will focus on the bright side.

I am blessed!

I overflow with creativity and good ideas.

I do not judge myself or others.

I am increasing my prosperity every day!

I am confident and strong!

I deserve love

My confidence is soaring

My inner beauty shines brightly

I am not my negative thoughts or emotions.

I am enough

I am who I need to be

I will not take criticism personally

I am more than my body

I celebrate my many successes

I have a caring heart

I love the person I am becoming

I deserve the good that happens to me

Negativity has no place in my life

My decisions are based on inner wisdom

35 more affirmations for self love

You might also like:

30-Day Self Appreciation Challenge
9 Printable Positive Affirmations for Women
50 Words of Affirmation for Kids

This article is not meant to replace the advice of your doctor. If any of your negative thoughts are severe or include thoughts of hurting yourself or others, please speak with a medical professional immediately.

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