Start Loving Yourself: 80 Powerful Affirmations for Self-Love

Self-love, manifesting magic, and connecting with that gentle voice inside - are all essential ingredients for helping us to flourish and this is where affirmations can be an amazing tool. Affirmations are a daily practice of saying kind things to and about yourself. While it sounds simple, overcoming self-doubt and trading self-criticism for self-kindness can be a challenge and like a muscle, the more you train it - the better you can flex it. There are many different ways to practice affirmations and rather than a one-size-fits all approach, you can find the method (or even a combination of methods) that works the best for you. 

Weaving affirmations into your daily practice is a healthy way of becoming your own tower of strength and learning to replace your inner dialogue with something loving and healthy. There are many ways to welcome affirmations into your world but like any shift in thinking, it starts with patience and ongoing practice. You may not see a change straight away but planting words of love and worth is like sewing seeds - give them consistent watering and they will spring into something truly beautiful. 

Meditation

Using affirmations as part of your meditation practice can be a good way of anchoring your monkey mind to something weighty and worthy. Meditation mantras are a tool used to help your mind hone in on something and can help to strengthen your concentration. By choosing to do this with an affirmation you double down on those benefits by not only improving your meditation skills but also by consciously selecting a phrase or positive truth that moves your subconscious in a positive direction.

Journaling

Writing down affirmations is a powerful method of moving thoughts out of your head and onto the physical space of a page. By writing down your affirmations you are able to see the words shining back at you and you also get the benefit of manifestation. When we use our energy to create something, we are putting that energy out into the universe and allowing ourselves to be open to all the good things that can come our way. When writing your affirmations you should aim to write them in the present tense, keep them short, and write them 10 times over so it really sinks in. 

Sleeping

The blurred lines between sleeping and awake are lucid times that can work in harmony with affirmations. Recording affirmations and playing them as you fall asleep can even help to reshape your subconscious - letting the positive words and thoughts flow in and settle in your mind without resistance. For the best results, you should have your affirmations playing for at least an hour while being lulled into sleep as this first cycle of sleep is when your subconscious mind is the most active and open.

Repetition

One of the most important aspects of affirmation practice comes in the form of repetition. Speaking the affirmation out loud for 5 minutes a day, writing it over and over again, or even listening to the words being repeated back to you - this is essential for letting that truth sink into your subconscious and be fully realized by your body, mind, and soul. Not only should you make space for affirmations to be repeated, but you should keep up this practice on a daily basis - ideally even 3 times a day or at least in the morning and the evening. 

How to Design Your Own Affirmations

There are plenty of ideas for affirmations out there already that you can utilize but you may also want to choose to design and use your own. Curating your own affirmations can hold even more power as it shines a light on your own intrusive thoughts and directly addresses those. 

The first step in designing your own affirmations is to identify your common patterns of negative thoughts. For example, maybe you have a recurring thought that you aren’t smart enough / good enough / achieving enough / etc. Most of our thoughts can be traced back to two overarching themes - either not being enough or being too much. Once you have identified the patterns and themes around your intrusive thoughts you can start to rectify this. 

To identify your intrusive thoughts you can start by writing them down. Seeing them in black and white on the page can help them to lose some of their power and can give you a direct starting point for writing the opposite down. For example, if you write down an intrusive thought that ‘ I am weak’ then a good affirmation next to it could be ‘I am strong enough’. The power of affirmation and manifestation sits in the idea of shifting thoughts so they become beliefs which in turn become behaviors and create effects. 

Be sure to make your affirmations achievable and pen or speak them using the present tense. The use of present tense puts that thought into the present reality. Using the term I is also important as you are aiming to build on a deep and positive belief in yourself. 

What are some tips to make affirmations more effective?

While repetition and creating a consistent practice is one of the most important aspects of making affirmations work, there are other things you can do to help make them more effective. Here are some tips to help…

• Use ‘I am’ to center the affirmation around yourself and your thoughts and actions
• Keep it in the present tense to accept the affirmation as your current reality
• Opt for achievable affirmations that are linked to areas you want to strengthen 
• Keep it short and simple - less is more sometimes
• Tailor your affirmations to meet your language and emotions

Affirmations for Self-Love

Daily Affirmations

Daily affirmations are an awesome way of channeling a positive mindset every single day. For those who want to make their practice a habit, daily affirmations said first thing a few times in front of the mirror can have the power to transform your mindset and set you out on the right path. Here are some daily self-love affirmations you can hold close to your heart…

1. I am enough 
2. Where I am is where I am supposed to be right now
3. I trust the process 
4. I let go of what I cannot change 
5. I am so grateful for all the good in my life
6. I am ready
7.  Two things can be true at once 
8. I welcome the lessons that life has in store for me
9. I will make the most of this one wild and precious life
10. Today, I must advocate for myself

Self Acceptance Affirmations

Self-acceptance can truly be a work in progress and is something that should be mindfully practiced every day. Our inner voice can often slip into being critical or questioning our choices or falling into patterns of perfectionism. Practicing self-acceptance affirmations can break that cycle and bring us back to a place of softness with ourselves. Here are some self-acceptance affirmations to play with…

1. I am worthy 
2. All I need, I hold within 
3. I can create my own love
4. I am the master of my own story
5. I am free to be my gloriously messy self 
6. I trust my heart to show me the way
7. I choose the words I say about myself with care
8. My feelings matter 
9. I am what I am and that is awesome
10.  I love hanging out with me

Confidence Affirmations

Confidence is key to living a life where you feel compelled to follow your passions, nurture your voice, create healthy boundaries, and stand in your own authentic truth. It’s also how to find the ability to have faith and trust in ourselves. Confidence helps you to use your wisdom and follow threads that bring you joy. Here are some confidence affirmations to kickstart your beating heart and keep you fed with positive thoughts …

1. I trust myself to find my way 
2. My voice matters
3. I am my first priority
4. I can carry myself 
5. I am not defined by my limits but strengthened by them
6. I have an endless well of courage 
7. I was made for victory 
8. I stand in my truth
9. My boundaries are valid 
10.  I have the power to choose 

Body Positive Affirmations

As we wade through life and its often murky societal standards, it can be easy to slip into the trap of becoming self-critical - not just of our minds but of our physical appearance too. Learning to love or even to accept the body that carries you is an essential part of building self-worth and confidence, and stepping out on that long and rambling path to self-love. Here are some body-positive affirmations to help you out…

1. This body is my home
2. I come back to the body 
3. I am so beautiful 
4. I am strong and healthy in this body
5. I accept every inch of myself unconditionally 
6. I will not bow down to society’s idea of self-worth
7. I want to nourish my body so it nourishes my mind
8. My body holds all my joys 
9. I am learning to listen to my body
10. I give myself permission to exist in this body 

Self Esteem Affirmations

Self-esteem feeds into everything - from your decisions to your relationships and all your life choices, and can even squash our emotional development. When we feel good about ourselves and who we are, we tend to take on challenges that push us forward rather than letting doubt hold us back. Raise your self-esteem with these affirmations…

1. I am strong enough to hold myself
2. I can handle it 
3. I meet my own standards
4. I am whole
5. I am my own guiding light 
6. I deserve a feast not a famine 
7. I can take up all the space I need
8. I can be the driver in my own life
9. I deserve great things
10. I do not need to be fixed, I am not broken 

Forgiveness Affirmations

Forgiveness can be a tricky beast and while it isn’t always necessary to forgive others (it’s complicated), it is important to forgive yourself. When we struggle to forgive ourselves for past transgressions or human mistakes, we can get locked into a cycle of shame and guilt which weigh us down and affect our well-being. To forgive, helps us to heal and feel lighter and to move forward. Here are some affirmations for forgiveness…

1. I did and am doing the best I can 
2. Life is a work in progress 
3. I do not need to be fixed 
4. The past does not paint the future
5. I am strong enough to stand up again
6. I give myself time to heal
7. Disappointments come and go, but hope remains
8. Healing is not a linear process 
9. It’s not personal
10.  No matter what has happened, I am worthy of love

Positivity Affirmations

The language that lilts through our mind is often how we frame our experience, ourselves, and our day. By making a concerted effort and getting into the practice of using positive language, we can tilt our minds to see the world a little brighter. Of course, we need the balance of light and dark in life, but for those who feel like they sometimes slip into shadow more than the sun, these positivity affirmations can make you feel amazing…

1. Life is always in flux
2. My heart is open and ready to receive 
3. My life is happening at this very moment 
4. All that I need will find me
5. I am awesome 
6. I am no longer letting negativity take up space
7. The best is yet to come
8. It’s really cool to be me
9. There’s no reason why I can’t achieve my dreams
10. I am my own destiny 

Anxiety Affirmations

Anxiety can be a black dog snapping at your heels and the flutter in your chest that makes you question yourself, your reality, and your surroundings. When we are in our flight, fight, freeze, or fawn state it can be tricky to feel grounded and whole - rather we can feel split into a thousand tiny atoms. These anxiety affirmations can bring you back to the body, back to the present, and back to the core of your strongest self…

1. This too shall pass
2. I am capable of self-soothing
3. At this moment I am safe
4. I am loved 
5. I can make it 
6. My breath is my anchor 
7. I feel calmness entering every cell
8. I am my own safe space
9. I have power over my own thoughts
10. I inhale light and let the darkness out

Positive affirmations for self-love and self-confidence can all work wonders when it comes to true self-care that goes beneath the surface. Patterns of negative self-talk can be really easy to slip into and can lead to bowing beneath the weight of negative emotions and low self-esteem. Instead, you can pull out your best self, find inner peace, and pull your mental health out of a slump by practicing these powerful affirmations. Words have the power to change the world, so there’s no reason why they can’t change your sense of self for the better.

Write down your favorite positive statements, memorize them, print them, put them on sticky notes and step into personal growth.