Self love affirmations are positive phrases that are meant to inspire, uplift, and bolster feelings of self love within yourself.
They can be particularly helpful if you deal with insecurities and self-criticism, because according to therapist Megan Bruneau M.A., when done correctly, “self-love affirmations can help reprogram the subconscious mind, where we house our unhelpful core beliefs—such as, I’m unlovable, or When people see the real me, they’ll abandon me.”
As licensed marriage and family therapist Tiana Leeds, M.A., LMFT, explains to mindbodygreen, the truth is, our brains are wired with a negativity bias that serves as a survival strategy to identify threats. “However,” she notes, “it has significant drawbacks when it comes to self-love, and by weaving affirmations into your day, you are combatting this negativity bias and rewiring your brain toward more helpful thought patterns.”
Think of self-love affirmations like training your brain to come back to your values and what you love about yourself, Leeds says. The more you do it, the easier it will be to “naturally feel a sense of worthiness and ease,” she explains.
Through the conscious practice of reprogramming, Bruneau adds, “we can rewire our neural pathways to default to a more self-compassionate and self-confident baseline.”
