Who coined the phrase “Love the skin you’re in”? Was it Olay, Audre Lorde, or perhaps a 1960s secretary pushing back against her fat-shaming boss? Whatever the origin, the message remains clear: embrace body positivity and love yourself exactly as you are.
What Is Body Positivity?
Body positivity isn’t just about feeling good in our own skin—it’s about rejecting outdated, Kardashian-esque beauty standards. It means fully embracing every shape and size, even when our inner critics try to bring us down. Importantly, body positivity isn’t about dismissing change; it’s about loving ourselves at every stage of our journey.
We must make body positivity a daily habit to shift our mindsets from judgment to adoration. Self-love isn’t occasional; it’s a consistent commitment to kindness, compassion, and understanding.
Loving Your Body Right Now: 10 Body Positive Mantras to Boost Your Self-Esteem
Building a body-positive mindset, like any healthy habit, requires patience, practice, and consistency. You might tell yourself you’re beautiful when you glance in the mirror once a day—but what about the other times when self-criticism creeps in?
Research shows that negative self-talk can trigger the brain’s stress response and reinforce feelings of inadequacy. In contrast, positive affirmations activate the prefrontal cortex—the area responsible for higher cognitive functions—helping us reframe negative thoughts and build stronger self-esteem. (Cascio et al., 2015)
Simply put: the more you affirm your beauty, the more you’ll believe it. Here are 10 body-positive mantras to help you love yourself right now.
Shame on Social Media, Not Your Body
If the weight-related jabs from our parents weren’t damaging enough, today’s constant exposure to social media—replete with unrealistic beauty standards—only deepens our body image issues. Rather than promoting digital wellness for healthy bodies, social media algorithms often elevate influencers who seem to lead “flawless” lifestyles. Today, that frequently means BBLs, lip fillers, and filters that distort reality—making us question even the image of celebrities like Zendaya.
It’s no wonder our minds become flooded with self-doubt, negative self-image, and low self-esteem. The pressure to conform to idealized beauty standards set by influencers and celebrities is not only unrealistic—it’s downright manipulative.
Shame on you, social media. Shame on you.
Combating this manipulation isn’t easy, but it is achievable. We can limit our consumption of negative content and recognize that not all influencers and celebrities are toxic. By choosing to follow accounts that champion body positivity, we can reshape our online environment and adopt a healthier, body-positive mindset.
20 Body Positivity Quotes to Help Rebuild Our Self-Esteem
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Louise Hay: “You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.”
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Clémentine Desseaux: “I’ve learned to appreciate my body because it’s taken me all the way here and will take me to the end.”
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Ashley Graham: “Your words have so much power. Every day, if you tell yourself ‘I love you,’ if you give yourself one word of validation, it will change your mind.”
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Drew Barrymore: “It only took 45 years to find myself. Right where I am supposed to be. And it’s not perfect. But it’s me.”
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Mary Lambert: “I am a big girl. A voluptuous, curvy, dress-wearing, lesbian. I love my body; it’s the only one I’ll ever have. I am allowed to look sexy, feel sexy, and be in love. I am worthy of all of those things. And so are you.”
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Jamie Lee Curtis: “I’ve been sucking my stomach in since I was 11… I very specifically decided to relinquish and release every muscle I had that I used to clench to hide the reality. That was my goal. I have never felt more free creatively and physically.”
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Salma Hayek: “People often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder.”
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Britney Griner: “I’m comfortable in my body and I don’t mind putting it on display… Honestly, I like how unique it is. My big arms, my bigger hands, these long legs—I love being different. If everyone were the same, it’d be a boring-ass world.”
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Margaret Cho: “The body is such a commodity in our culture. People always comment on your weight. It’s a very shameful thing to take more than your share or take up more space. But now I realize that you’re entitled to that space. You can take up as much space as you want.”
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Meryl Streep: “Don’t waste so much time thinking about how much you weigh. There is no more mind-numbing, boring, idiotic, self-destructive diversion from the fun of living.”
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Cindy Crawford: “Even I don’t wake up looking like Cindy Crawford.”
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Jameela Jamil: “I’ve never had a flat stomach. It just doesn’t happen, it’s just not going to happen, and it’s my little warm roll, and I like it, and I’m not a failure for not having a flat stomach.”
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Gloria Steinem: “Each individual woman’s body demands to be accepted on its own terms.”
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Mik Zazon: “Just because we have acne, tummy rolls, and chafing thighs doesn’t mean we need to be fixed. Period.”
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Lizzo: “Someone’s always going to have a critique… All that matters is what I think of it. And I had to go so deep inside myself and look in the mirror. Looking in the mirror and accepting what’s in the mirror is very, very difficult. And right now, I love it every time I look in the mirror.”
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Tracee Ellis Ross: “With all the sharpness and harshness and violence and fear that has been around, perhaps the softness of my body is a blessing. It has been able to nurture me in a way that my mind could not.”
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Frances McDormand: “I wanted to do nudity. I felt like, all right, I’m 45, I’ve got cellulite, I’ve got stretch marks. I’m feeling really good about myself. Let’s stick it out there.”
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Olakemi: “Remember that our bodies are always changing, and that’s okay. What’s really unhealthy is trying to fit into an unrealistic norm of what is seen as perfect.”
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Serena Williams: “Since I don’t look like every other girl, it takes a while to be okay with that. To be different. But different is good.”
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Tina Fey: “If you retain nothing else, always remember the most important rule of beauty, which is: who cares?”
Embracing Body Positivity in 2025
Body positivity in 2025 is about rejecting unrealistic beauty standards and embracing self-love. It’s a journey that takes time—but it’s time well spent. As social media and societal pressures try to undermine our self-esteem, remember that you have the power to reclaim your narrative.
Here are a few actionable tips to keep in mind:
- Surround yourself with body-positive influences.
- Recite daily affirmations to shift your mindset.
- Embrace every inch of who you are.
We are worth it.
Ready to dive deeper? Check out our Spaces on Body Positivity and Self-Love to further your body positivity journey.