While free writing can help you let loose and spark that creative expression, journal prompts are more goal-oriented. You don’t always want to talk about the mundane occurrences of the day. While it is helpful, it can also become monotonous after a while.
So, if you’re looking for journal prompts for self love to cultivate better a self-image, you’ve come to the right place. While it may not be an overnight process, it will lead you somewhere better.
In this article, we’ll discuss:
- What is self-love?
- Can journaling help with self-love?
- What you should write about in your self-love journal?
- Sample prompts you can follow.
- Book recommendations.
- Communities and websites to improve self-love.
So, now that we have covered our agenda for today, let’s get started.
What Is Self Love?
While self-love can be different for every individual, here are a few definitions to get you started:
- It is a state of appreciation for ourselves.
- It is wholehearted acceptance of who we are.
- It is prioritizing ourselves.
- It is not settling for less than we deserve.
- It is listening to our emotional, social, and physical needs and acting accordingly.
In other words, it is operating with a fondness for ourselves instead of guilt, fear, or shame.
Does Journaling Help with Self Love?
Yes, journaling helps with self-love. But it’s not as simple as you might think. Journaling is not a magic potion that turns the course of your life around.
It is a gradual process of slowly adjusting to all the parts you once rejected. Once you have accepted your inner self and told them that they are adequate as they are, you are closer to self-love than ever before.
In the words of Emelie Hill Dittmer journaling “means not just a reconciliation with the past for the client, but also a reclaimed voice”.
Journaling isn’t as much about self-love as about hearing what your soul wants to say.
What Should I Write in My Journal about My Self-Love Journey?
There are two types of journaling:
- Free writing is where you can write about anything you want without constraints.
- Prompts that are goal-oriented and require writing through a fixed lens.
You can pick a mix of both approaches as you begin your journey. The rules are as flexible and subjective as the individual.
12 Great Journal Prompts for Self Love
While you can write about pretty much anything in your self-love journal, the following prompts will allow you to look from a different perspective. That means less confusion on what to write about and deep focus which will assist in self-discovery.
Here is our list of ten great journal prompts for self-love that you can incorporate into your routine:
- What are three things you appreciate about yourself, and why?
- What are your top five values, and how do you incorporate them into your daily life?
- How do you typically talk to yourself? Are you kind and compassionate, or critical and negative? How can you shift to more positive self-talk?
- Write a love letter to yourself, describing all the things you love and appreciate about who you are.
- What are some small ways you can practice self-care and self-compassion each day?
- What are some past accomplishments or moments where you felt proud of yourself? How can you celebrate those moments and use them to boost your self-esteem?
- What are some things that make you feel truly happy and fulfilled, and how can you incorporate more of those things into your life?
- What are some negative beliefs you hold about yourself, and where do they come from? How can you challenge and reframe those beliefs to be more positive and self-affirming?
- What are some physical traits you love about yourself? Write a description of yourself that emphasizes these traits and how they make you unique and beautiful.
- What are some ways you can practice forgiveness towards yourself for past mistakes or perceived failures?
- Write a list of affirmations that feel true and empowering for you. Repeat these affirmations to yourself daily, especially when you need a boost of self-love.
- How can you prioritize your own needs and desires in your relationships and daily life? How can you set boundaries to protect your own well-being and promote self-love?
Book Suggestions to Improve Self Love
So, you’ve been working on your journal prompts for self-love for a while now. You’re no longer consistently operating from a place of fear or distrust. You have parts of yourself that you love and pieces you’d like to improve. But you embrace yourself as a holistic unit all the same.
You’ve mastered the art of feeling. Now it’s time we learn to look at our feelings from an objective point of view.
Answers to questions such as why we feel the way we do and how it impacts the world around us. You might want to delve into self-help and journaling books to open your mind.
If you’re looking for new outlooks from people who have been through it all, here are a few books to kickstart your journey:
How to Love Yourself by Lodro Rinzler
Untangling our self-worth from the complexity of relationships isn’t easy. Depending on nature and nurture, we might be predisposed to anxiety, fear, and distrust, which may inevitably manifest in unfulfilling connections.
This book answers all your questions about falling in and out of love, friendships, and breakups. But most importantly, how to not close our hearts.
It offers personal anecdotes and spiritual practices inspired by Christianity and Buddhism. If you’re looking for rich and fascinating dialogues from a combination of religious and spiritual perspectives, this book is for you.
Radical Self-Love by Gala Darling
“We don’t realize how important self-love is and Gala Darling is here to remind us”, raved an Amazon reviewer, and we could not agree more.
If you are looking for a book that delves into self-love from an emotional point of view, this read is a must-read.
According to the author, life is nothing less than a miracle and deserves to be celebrated and rejoiced regularly. While that might seem idealistic and dreamlike, it is anything but.
For years, best-selling author Gala Darling stayed in jobs that drained her, battling both depression and an eating disorder. However, that is not all.
Something changed. What could have altered the author’s mindset so drastically? Well, there is no other way to find out other than reading the book.
Moreover, you don’t just sign up for deeply personal and insightful lessons. You also get access to fun homework exercises, cool illustrations, and tools to manifest whatever you desire.
The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown
Living in the era of social media means being bombarded with expectations on how we should look, act, and live. This subconsciously reinforces the ideals that we hold as a collective, which transfers to our loved ones.
While the process makes logical sense, trying to prove our worth all the time can be emotionally draining. We don’t want to be operating from a place of shame, guilt, and inadequacy.
That is where the author Brene Brown introduces the notion of Wholehearted Living- a way of interacting with the world from a place of belongingness and worthiness.
Because as the author says, “Yes, I am sometimes afraid, but I am also brave. And, yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable, but that doesn’t change the truth that I am worthy of love and belonging”.
Learning to embrace our imperfections is one of the greatest achievements for anyone.
Online Self-Love Communities or Websites
While connecting, embracing, and healing your inner child through journal prompts for self-love may help, it may begin to feel monotonous. Keep in mind that we are not doubting its efficacy. But we are emphasizing the importance of socializing with people who have shared similar roadblocks in their journey as you.
To further prove our point, let’s briefly look at five types of self-love. These include:
- Physical self-love relates to our perception of how we look.
- Emotional self-love relates to our perception of how we feel.
- Mental and intellectual self-love relates to our level of awareness.
- Social self-love relates to how we interact with the people and world around us.
- Spiritual self-love relates to our intuition.
All these types of self-love integrate to form our sense of self. If we do not believe ourselves worthy, we will be unable to cultivate healthy and nourishing relationships.
So, when you decide that it’s time to let other people into the folds of your life, here are our top 3 places for self-love:
The Self-Care Circle
If you’re looking for a safe, compassionate, and interactive place to vent your concerns and fears, this free Facebook group will be perfect for you. Starting as an online community for women to talk about their self-care concerns in 2011, it now welcomes people irrespective of their gender or sexual orientation.
You can pretty much talk about anything you want to. The conversations range from eating disorders, abusive relationships, family issues, and depression, to other mental disorders. In other words, it encompasses all issues that might lead to self-esteem issues.
Moreover, to ensure the privacy of all members, the group is private on Facebook. This means only members of the group can view your messages.
Not only that, there is a strict no-tolerance policy. This means the users are usually filtered out based on name-calling or aggressive behavior. Any violation of the policy leads to being kicked out of the group. No wonder it is our favorite interactive place for all things related to self-love.
My Self-Love Supply
Learning self-love also entails unlearning defense mechanisms that lead to self-sabotage. It does not matter who we are or where we’ve been. Whether we would still make the same decisions if we could somehow go back in time is irrelevant.
The only thing we can do is take small steps that gradually start turning our life into a happier and healthier version. And no one understands this sentiment better than My Self-Love Supply. Firmly believing in “supporting you on your self-care journey”, it is a series of blogs and journal prompts for self-love that you didn’t know you needed.
So, are you a parent learning to prioritize your own needs? Maybe you are in your early 20s hoping to use self-love as a medium for better concentration, focus, and productivity. My Self-Love Supply will guide you through it all.
Self-Care Support Groups on Meetup
For those who do not know, Meetup is a social media platform designed for organizing virtual or in-person events for people based on mutual interests, hobbies, and professions. It also has numerous self-care groups and communities to help you feel less alone in your journey.
Groups based on daily meditation routines, monthly check-ins, group therapies for mental disorders, yoga, and reiki practices for healing. This site has everything you are looking for.
Moreover, you can also find support groups based on age and gender. The site can also assist you based on specific concerns. These include things like mental disorders, teenagehood, parenthood, religion, sexuality, and race.
Moreover, the website also has options to help you filter out events based on their dates and distances (which range from 2-100 miles) for in-person events.
We definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a therapeutic time with people who have been through similar mental and emotional experiences.
Final Thoughts
So, now we know the efficacy of journal prompts for self-care in cultivating an improved self-image. While it may seem difficult to follow through at first, establishing a routine and consistency is key.
However, remember to practice self-kindness and compassion even when things do not go as planned. Journaling is about creative expression and not criticism, after all. So what are you waiting for? Get your journal and pen and start writing.
Enjoy!
If you are new to journaling, be sure to check out our beginner’s guide!
