Self care is a popular term, but it’s often misunderstood. It’s not only about taking bubble baths or drinking green juice. It’s about the energy behind what we do (or don’t do) and how we show up for ourselves. It’s about tending and talking to ourselves in ways that enhance the genuine wellbeing of our mind, body, heart, and spirit.
Sometimes we need gentle, inspiring reminders to take the time to take care of ourselves. Self care quotes serve as the subtle nudge we often need to tend to ourselves with compassion and support.
In this article, we highlight 60+ quotes about self care to inspire you to nurture your wellbeing. Remember that wellbeing is multifaceted, including mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual wellness. So as you use these quotes, allow the whole of you to be supported. May they inspire you to take good and true care of yourself and all layers of who you are.
60+ Inspirational Self-Care Quotes
- "Self-care is how you take your power back." - Lalah Delia
- “If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” - Jack Kornfield
- “Be kind to yourself, dear—to our innocent follies. Forget any sounds or touch you knew that did not help you dance. You will come to see that all evolves us.” - Rumi
- “You are the most constant thing in your own life. Befriend yourself first. Invest in yourself first. Become yourself first. The rest will come together in time.” - Brianna Wiest
- "The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself." - Steve Maraboli
- "Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others." - Christopher Germer
- “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” - Anne Lamott
- “A lot of people think that self-compassion equals going to the gym, eating kale. Those things can be healthy and they can be forms of self-compassion, but really what we're getting at is less of the external and more of the internal. How are we relating to ourselves? Is there an actual feeling of care?” - Sean Fargo
- "You are your best thing." - Toni Morrison
- “Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” - Hermann Hesse
- “Rather than wandering around in problem-solving mode all day, thinking mainly of what you want to fix about yourself or your life, you can pause for a few moments throughout the day to marvel at what’s not broken.” - Kristin Neff
- “Let go of the battle. Breathe quietly and let it be. Let your body relax and your heart soften. Open to whatever you experience without fighting.” - Jack Kornfield
- “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” - Maya Angelou
- “When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.” - Jean Shinoda Bolen
- “A moment of self-compassion can change your entire day. A string of such moments can change the course of your life.” - Christopher Germer
- "Taking time to do nothing often brings everything into perspective." - Doe Zantamata
- "Caring for your body, mind, and spirit is your greatest and grandest responsibility. It's about listening to the needs of your soul and then honoring them." - Kristi Ling
- “Self-care is never a selfish act – it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others.” Parker Palmer
- "Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work." - Ralph Marston
- "To experience peace does not mean that your life is always blissful. It means that you are capable of tapping into a blissful state of mind amidst the normal chaos of a hectic life." - Jill Bolte Taylor
- “Self-compassion is paramount. When you are compassionate with yourself, you trust in your soul, which you let guide your life. Your soul knows the geography of your destiny better than you do.” - John O’Donohue
- “If you go deeper and deeper into your own heart, you'll be living in a world with less fear, isolation and loneliness.” - Sharon Salzberg
- “The more you value yourself, the healthier your boundaries are.” - Lorraine Nilon
- “As you go through your difficulties, you can learn to bring a quality of loving care to everything you touch. You will find that love and care have an extraordinary capacity to transform the sorrows of your life into a great stream of compassion.” - Jack Kornfield
- “Be committed to the relationship you have with yourself.” - Louise Hay
- “Many of us haven’t even thought about the fact that we can show ourselves the same kindness, care, and concern as we show those we care about.” - Kristin Neff
- “We must be our own before we can be another’s.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “To be a good parent, you need to take care of yourself so that you can have the physical and emotional energy to take care of your family.” - Michelle Obama
- “You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” - Louise Hay
- "To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance." - Oscar Wilde
- “Feeling compassion for ourselves in no way releases us from responsibility for our actions. Rather, it releases us from the self-hatred that prevents us from responding to our life with clarity and balance.” - Tara Brach
- "Be kinder to yourself. And then let your kindness flood the world." - Pema Chödrön
- “When we care for ourselves as our very own beloved - with naps, healthy food, clean sheets, a lovely cup of tea - we can begin to give in wildly generous ways to the world, from abundance.” - Anne Lamott
- “Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.” - Bell Hooks
- “It's not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It's necessary.” - Mandy Hale
- “You can’t really be present for the people in your life if you aren’t taking care of yourself.” - Kerry Washington
- “Be you, love you. All ways, always.” - Alexandra Elle
- “But this revolutionary act of treating ourselves tenderly can begin to undo the aversive messages of a lifetime.” - Tara Brach
- “Love yourself first and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” - Lucille Ball
- "Nothing can dim the light that shines from within." - Maya Angelou
- "Remember to take care of yourself. You can't pour from an empty cup." - Unknown
- "You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you." - Brian Tracy
- “Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.” - Oprah Winfrey
- "Your body is a temple, but only if you treat it as one." - Astrid Alauda
- "Invest in yourself, it pays the best interest." - Benjamin Franklin
- "Self-care is a deliberate choice to gift yourself with people, places, things, events, and opportunities that recharge our personal battery and promote whole health – body, mind, and spirit." - Laurie Buchanan
- "When you take care of yourself, you’re a better person for others. When you feel good about yourself, you treat others better." - Solange Knowles
- "Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves." - Pema Chödrön
- "Your relationship with yourself sets the tone for every other relationship you have." - Robert Holden
- "Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." - Rumi
- “Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners.” - William Shakespeare
- "Our first and last love is self-love." - Christian Nestell Bovee
- “The present moment is the substance with which the future is made. Therefore, the best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment.” - Thich Nhat Hanh
- “Self-love has very little to do with how you feel about your outer self. It’s about accepting all of yourself.” - Tyra Banks
- “There are days I drop words of comfort on myself like falling leaves and remember that it is enough to be taken care of by myself.” - Brian Andreas
- “Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.” - Brené Brown
- “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “We need to replace your vicious stress cycle with a vicious cycle of self-care.” - Dr. Sara Gottfried
- “Now I understand that in order to feel a true sense of belonging, I need to bring the real me to the table and that I can only do that if I’m practicing self-love.” - Brené Brown
- “I have come to believe that caring for myself is not self-indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival.” - Audre Lorde
- “Our boundaries define our personal space – and we need to be sovereign there in order to be able to step into our full power and potential.” - Jessica Moore
- “Just as we expect others to value our boundaries, it’s equally important for us to respect the boundaries of others.” - Laurie Buchanan
How can Self Care Quotes Benefit Me?
Amidst the fast-pace of modern life, inspirational quotes for self care can remind us to take pause and tend to our needs. They can inspire us to speak to ourselves with compassion and kindness - and to act in ways that are aligned with our wellbeing.
Quotes for self care don’t guarantee that we will make wise and healthy choices for ourselves. Healthy habits don’t blossom overnight. However, if we continually remind ourselves of what self care means and how we can practice it, healthy choices and compassionate self-speak may grow overtime.
With continued use, take care of yourself quotes can serve as one tool in our self care toolbox to enhance our mental, emotional, and physical health. By leaning into the quotes that resonate with us must, we reaffirm the fact that we are unconditionally worthy of our own care and kindness.
Can I Use Self-Care Quotes for Meditation or Mindfulness Practices?
What is the relationship between self care and mindfulness or meditation? Though self-care, mindfulness, and meditation are distinct practices, the core energy that runs through them all is the same. That core energy is heart energy.
As Sean Fargo has said (speaking about self-care in relation to mindfulness and meditation):
“This is not an adjunct practice [to mindfulness]. This is not an alternative practice. This is a core practice. When we talk about mindful breathing and body scans and mindfulness in general, this sense of care is actually inherent.”
He continues:
“A lot of very senior teachers will talk about mindfulness and metta (or loving kindness) as being the same thing - mindfulness and compassion as being the same thing. You can talk about them separately, and there are different practices and teachings for each, but when you really boil it down, they’re integrated.”
Because of this deep connection between the two, our mindfulness meditation practice can serve as our self care practice. When we sit down to meditate, calling forth the caring qualities of mindfulness, we are nurturing our wellbeing. This can be explored in informal practice, too. If we are mindful in everyday life, cultivating care and curiosity for our experience, we will be informally practicing self care.
During meditation, you can repeat self-care quotes to reaffirm and strengthen the presence of that compassionate heart quality. Consider the following quotes as examples of words you might integrate into your meditation practice:
- “Let your body relax and your heart soften. Open to whatever you experience without fighting.” - Jack Kornfield
- "Nothing can dim the light that shines from within." - Maya Angelou
- “We must be our own before we can be another’s.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
- "The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself." - Steve Maraboli
- “Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.” - Brené Brown
Summing up
Ultimately, self-care is about acting in ways that honor the sacred vessel of our mind, body, heart, and spirit. You, as much as anyone you love, are worthy of care and wellbeing. Today is the day to make a commitment to nurturing all aspects of who you are so that you can flourish - deeply and truly.
Integrate these self care quotes into your daily life in any way that feels right for you. You might use these quotes as reflection prompts, write them down in your journal, or incorporate them into your meditation or affirmation practice.
Get started right away by choosing your favorite self care quote from the list above. Read it aloud slowly, letting it reaffirm a deep and caring relationship between you and yourself. In the days to come, may you speak and move in ways that nourish the whole of you - mind, body, heart, and spirit.
