Mantras for self love are a way to become more loving and compassionate towards yourself. Over time, self love mantras can help your default mode of thinking become increasingly positive. The following list of mantras for self love can help you start to rewire your brain towards seeing your inherent worth.
For some reason, loving yourself can feel harder than loving others. Rather than treating ourselves as we would a dear friend, or a child we’re often hard on ourselves.
We take too long to forgive ourselves for mistakes. We beat ourselves up over the past. We take actions based on the expectations others have for us, rather than doing what’s truly best for us.
Get dozens of one-page exercises to help practice mindfulness, meditation, gratitude, and self love. Perfect for printable handouts when teaching mindfulness to groups, students, or in the workplace.
To see examples, plus a full list of the 61 exercises included, click below.
That’s where mantras for self love come in.
By repeating a self love mantra – for example, “Who I am is exactly who I need to be” – you can start to solidify your self-forgiveness and self-compassion.
Let’s jump into the self love mantras.
15 Mantras for self love
1. “When I look back on past versions of myself, I feel warmth and gratitude.”
As you make progress in the journey of life, it’s easy to look back on past versions of yourself with a less-than-favorable outlook.
If you’re anything like me, you wish you’d made progress faster, or learned lessons sooner. Maybe you give yourself a hard time over mistakes you’ve made.
But you couldn’t be who you are today, or where you are today, without who you used to be. You wouldn’t have the wisdom and values you have today without the mistakes and failures you experienced.
So as you look back at the past version of you, do so with tenderness and warmth. Because that outlook also informs how you treat the present version of yourself.
2. “Happiness and joy is a part of who I am.”
Sometimes, when it feels like happiness is out of reach, it can help to remember this:
Happiness and joy isn’t something external to you that you need to reach for. It’s something that’s already inside you. It’s your birthright!
Think back to your experience as a child – how easily laughing and playing and joyful expression came to you.
Happiness and joy are already inside you. They’re a part of who you are.
3. “When I fail, I choose to be gentle with myself.”
Failure and mistakes are inevitable.
What is, however, in your control is your reaction to those events. While it might seem that being hard on yourself is justified, or that it’s necessary in order to internalize a lesson, the approach you ought to take is one of gentleness.
Ask yourself how you would treat a friend who had made this mistake.
Chances are, you would look for silver linings and reasons for them to feel better, rather than being endlessly hard on them.
4. “My life is for me, not for others. I deserve to make decisions that make me happy.”
It’s easy to fall into the trap of making decisions in life around what makes other people comfortable and happy.
But if it comes at the expense of denying your own needs, that’s a path towards resentment.
Instead, remind yourself that your life is your own. You get only this one life, and you deserve to live it in a way that makes you happy.
5. “Sometimes, I feel emotionally turbulent. That’s okay. I allow myself to feel all feelings.”
For most of my life, my understanding of emotions has been:
- Happy, positive emotions are good
- Anxious, sad, or negative emotions are bad
The problem with this way of interpreting emotions is that it causes you to avoid fully feeling difficult emotions, and instead try and “fake” being happy.
In reality, embracing and accepting the difficult emotions you feel is the quickest way to allow them to pass.
6. “In every way, I am already enough.”
It’s easy to feel like we haven’t “earned” peace and happiness until we’ve reached a certain stage of development. You might tell yourself that you’ll be happy when you’ve accomplished something, when you’ve earned enough money, or when you’ve reached a certain stage of personal development or awareness.
But here’s the thing:
You are already enough.
The only time you can start being happy is right now, at this very moment.
7. “I’m allowed to say “No” to protect my energy and time.”
For some people, saying no is difficult. So instead, they say yes, prioritizing other people over themselves.
The problem that arises is that then, resentment builds. Instead of participating with love and excitement, you end up going through the motions.
Much better is to prioritize yourself and your own energy. By saying “No” more often, you allow yourself to show up as your best self in the situations that really matter to you.
So remember: you’re allowed to say no. In fact, it’s your responsibility. (And you can even change your mind and say no to something you first said yes to, if that’s what’s needed to protect your energy).
8. “My vision for my future is powerful. I deserve to expect the life of my dreams.”
One of the great tragedies of life is aiming too low.
Many of us have conditioning around what we deserve or ought to expect from life based on what we learned while growing up, or what people in our circles of friends have accomplished.
Remember that you’re allowed to have a powerful vision of a life that you love. And you deserve to be able to work towards that vision.
9. “I choose to associate with people who make me feel better, and allow those who don’t to drift away from my circle.”
In life, not everyone is for you. And, similarly, you aren’t for everyone.
In this world of billions of people, the majority of people come into our lives simply due to a combination of geography and chance.
In the best cases, they align perfectly with us, and we enjoy a decades-long friendship. But it many cases, your interests align less and less over time, and you drift apart.
That’s okay. Don’t force it. Allow yourself to appreciate everyone who’s been in your life, while allowing new people to enter the picture.
10. “I notice what feels like an obligation in my life, and release myself.”
One of the heaviest energies out there is obligation.
When you make decisions based on what you feel obligated to do, you’re not honoring a crucial opinion:
Your own.
Make sure you’re honoring what you want in your decision making process, and decide whether it’s worth considering releasing yourself from any feelings of obligation and instead, honoring what you truly want.
11. “I’m excited to see where my life takes me, and who I become.”
One of the ways you can tell you’re on the right path in life is if you feel wildly optimistic about the future.
Try and make decisions that help you cultivate a feeling of excitement and optimism about where life is taking you, and who you’re becoming.
12. “I’m improving the world through my interactions with others.”
Oftentimes, we have no idea of the impact our daily actions have on others.
The people we say hello to on walks or at the grocery store; the encouraging messages and thank you notes we send; the phone calls we make to loved ones; the impact our work and example have on those around us.
Part of cultivating self love is recognizing that you are a force for good in this world. Most likely, you have no idea how many people you’ve helped.
13. “I’m allowed to set boundaries and expect others to follow them.”
Boundaries are a key part of self love.
Just as you would happily accommodate the boundaries of a friend or a stranger, work towards setting boundaries, expressing them to others, and expecting them to be respected.
14. “I choose to release myself from destructive thought patterns and negative thoughts.”
If your mind is experiencing a cyclical loop of negative thoughts and destructive thought patterns, remember this:
You’re probably not seeing reality clearly.
In order to bring yourself back to the present moment, you’re going to need to release unkind, negative stories you have about yourself. Then, start fresh.
Releasing negative narratives isn’t as simple as just flipping a switch. But it starts with giving yourself permission to do so.
15. “I have something of value to give to the world just by being me.”
You are inherently worthy. There is no one like you on the planet. The unique combination of things that makes you “You” has never existed, and never will exist again.
So remember: you don’t need to achieve anything in order to be worthy.
You just need to reveal as much of yourself to the world as you can.
Further inspiration
For further inspiration, see the following articles about self love:
My mindfulness practice kicked off in 2016 with a ten-day silent retreat. Since then, I’ve read dozens of books about mindfulness and completed hundreds of hours of meditation. Thinking about what makes humans happy, calm, and peaceful is endlessly fascinating to me.