Herbs have been used for self-healing and spiritual rituals for thousands of years. They’re one of nature’s best tools for energy cleansing and personal growth, including boosting your self-love; the foundation of happiness.
In this article, let’s take a look at the best herbs for self-love and how to use them in your life for opening your heart chakra, promoting inner peace, calm, understanding, clarity, self esteem and courage.
12 Best Herbs for self-love
1. Calendula
Calendula is a beautiful yellow flower that has been used for medicinal, cosmetic, spiritual, and emotional healing purposes since the Ancient Egyptian times.
Calendula connects with your solar plexus chakra, which is the third chakra in your body, located between the heart and the sacral chakra. The solar plexus governs your self-esteem, as well as your inner joy and sense of purpose in life. This is why, calendula is a great herb for boosting self-love. It can help build your confidence and also help you connect with your true authentic self.
How to use calendula for self love?
Add fresh or dried calendula flower petals to your bath (or add calendula infused water) to increase confidence, cleanse your aura and release unwanted energetic attachments. You can also carry a flower with you for courage and strength.
Diffusing calendula essential oil or simply sniffing the flower can help increase happiness, joy and gratitude while balancing the solar plexus chakra. You can also consider keeping a potted calendula plant indoors (or in your garden) to attract good luck and for protection. The bright yellow flowers of calendula are considered a symbol of optimism and simply looking at them can change your vibration and uplift your spirits.
2. Rosemary
Rosemary is famous for its medicinal properties, but it is also a master emotional and spiritual healer. In fact, it’s a purifying herb, so you can use it to cleanse your energy and remove deep-seated thoughts and feelings of self-loathing.
Rosemary stimulates the heart chakra, and is said to be good for achieving emotional balance, improving mental clarity, and boosting your vibration. It is also proven to lower cortisol levels, otherwise known as the stress hormone, so it can help to combat stress and anxious thoughts.
How to use rosemary for self love?
Keep dried rosemary leaves under your pillow or near your bed for protection throughout the night. This will also help block nightmares and attract good dreams.
Burning dried rosemary leaves or diffusing rosemary essential oil will help rejuvenate your mind, promoting mental clarity, passion and focus. To enhance the power of this herb, consider burning it with myrrh and frankincense resin. Drinking rosemary tea or adding rosemary to your bath can give you similar benefits.
3. Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a hugely popular, tasty spice that is commonly used in cooking and baking, and it has terrific healing & spiritual properties. It is spiritually cleansing and uplifting, as it dispels bad energy and raises your vibration. It also shields you from bad vibes, heals emotional wounds, improves intuition, and attracts success.
How to use cinnamon for self love?
There are tones of ways to use this diverse herb to increase self love. Burning cinnamon sticks (or diffusing cinnamon essential oil) can help raise your spiritual vibration, aid mental clarity, improve mood and promote focus. This is why cinnamon can also be used in conjunction with meditation.
In addition, you can place cinnamon sticks in your home, or carry them about with you in your pocket or purse for protection, good luck and to attract positive energy.
You can also perform what’s known as a cinnamon blowing ritual to manifest a desire, in which you make a wish upon a pinch of cinnamon and salt in your hand and blow it into the air to manifest whatever you like, including greater self-worth.
4. Sage
Sage has been used by indigenous people to cleanse energy and environments and promote healing and wisdom for thousands of years. As well as clearing the chakras and energy field, it can clear the home of toxic vibes and negative spirits.
It is also known to cerebrally, emotionally, and spiritually stimulate and clarify the mind while balancing, uplifting, soothing, and strengthening your mood.
How to use sage for self love?
Burn dried sage leaves for cleansing and purifying your space as well as your own aura. You can also carry a sachet of dried sage leaves for protection against negative energy, to promote wisdom and intuition as well as to attract good luck and prosperity.
5. Lavender
Lavender is a beautiful purple flower, known for its sweet and floral scent. It is popular in aromatherapy for its ability to soothe, calm, and relax the body, mind and spirit. It’s a great anti-anxiety herb for combatting stress and self-loathing. It helps lift the mood, and alleviates depression.
It’s also nourishing for all of the chakras, which helps with overall self-healing.
How to use lavender for self love?
Diffuse lavender essential oil to help calm your mind and enhance focus during yoga, reiki, or meditation practice. You can also spray essential oil-infused water around your home or bedroom to make the atmosphere more peaceful, or drink lavender tea for an instant calming effect.
Use lavender flowers (or essential oil) in your bath for cleansing your aura, promoting peace, releasing anger and stress. For deep restorative sleep and peaceful dreams you can keep a few fresh or dried lavender flowers under your pillow at night.
Also, keeping a potted plant indoors or in your garden is a great idea as it is said that just looking at the plant can help release all your sorrows and fill you with joy, creative energy and passion. Plus, growing the plant can also bring good luck and protection.
6. Chamomile
Chamomile is a pretty famous and well-loved plant that is commonly used in herbal teas and for its spiritual and magical properties. It has numerous physical and medicinal benefits, but it is also great for self-love, mental health, and emotional healing.
Like lavender, it is a major relaxer, which is great for replacing anxious thoughts about your self or your image with calm and peaceful ones. As well as being a superior self-soother, it is also thought to be an anti-depressant and mood lifter, too.
How to use chamomile for self love?
As mentioned above, you can consume chamomile in herbal tea, but there are also bath products for soaking with in the tub, and essential oils for aromatherapy and diffusion, which are especially great when paired with other relaxing spiritual practices, like meditation and yoga.
Adding fresh or dried chamomile flowers to your bath can help deeply calm your mind, cleanse your aura and release all negative emotions like anger, jealousy and hate. You can also carry the flower or its petals with you in a sachet to attract good luck and positive energy.
And just like lavender, growing a chamomile plant indoors or in your garden is a great idea as simply looking at these flowers can change your vibration and lift your mood instantly.
7. Peppermint
Peppermint is an amazing herb for self-love, because it increases optimism and passion for life. It is energizing, uplifting, and playful, whilst increasing focus and motivation so that you can work on your self more clearly. It also improves your confidence and attitude towards yourself and your life, and there are several ways that you can use it.
How to use peppermint for self love?
The scent of peppermint is said to contain healing vibrations and protective powers. Diffuse peppermint essential oil to uplift your vibration, increase creativity, sharpen thoughts and to liven up the atmosphere. You can even crush the leaves and breathe in the healing aroma for an instant mood/energy boost.
If you have an altar, keeping fresh mint leaves on the altar will help attract good energy and protection into your space. Finally, you can carry dried or fresh mint leaves with you to attract good luck and positivity throughout the day.
8. Jasmine
Jasmine is another classic healing flower. A natural anti-depressent, it is an excellent mood stabilizer. It also supports well-balanced, happy hormones, strong self-confidence, and good overall mental health, as well as an increase in passion and creativity.
It is an especially good healer for women, as it is associated with feminine energy, and it is also a beauty enhancer, which can help with self-image and self-love.
How to use jasmine for self love?
Plant a jasmine plant in your garden to attract happiness and abundance into your life.
Add a few drops of jasmine essential oil or fresh jasmine flowers to your bath for relaxation, cleansing, emotional balance, mental clarity, inner peace and relief from stress and anxiety. You can also diffuse jasmine essential oil for similar benefits.
9. Patchouli
Patchouli is particularly helpful for people who are suffering with poor self-love due to rejecting, disassociating from, or criticizing their body or physical appearance. It helps to improve body image and encourages body acceptance with full awareness.
Patchouli is a grounding herb that balances the root, heart, sacral and crown chakras.
How to use patchouli for self love?
Diffuse patchouli oil or simply rub some diluted oil on your wrist and deeply breathe in the aroma to repel feelings of negativity, hate and fear. Patchouli has a grounding scent that can help you feel calm, confident, creative, motivated and focused. You can diffuse the oil during meditation or journaling to heal all your chakras.
For deep, rejuvenating sleep, rub and massage diluted patchouli oil on your feet and toes before going to bed. Placing patchouli leaves under your pillow or a bowl of dried or fresh patchouli leaves near your bed helps with protection and prevents nightmares further enhancing your sleep.
Add a few drops of patchouli essential oil to your bath to cleanse your energy and let go of stress and worries. To enhance the effect, you can also add Epsom salt along with patchouli.
10. Rose
Rose is famously known as the flower of romance because it connects with the heart chakra. But this chakra also governs your ability to love yourself unconditionally and helps you to heal from old emotional wounds (which is what creates blockages in the first place).
It’s a great herb for deep healing and undoing self-loathing, as it can help you to forgive yourself for past mistakes, embrace your flaws, and have compassion for yourself. Opening your heart chakra can also open you up to new possibilities and improve your relationships with others by increasing your capacity to love and trust.
How to use rose for self love?
There are several ways that you can use rose; you can consume it by drinking rose tea, inhale it by diffusing rose essential oil around your home, wear a necklace containing real rose petals, use it in a spell jar or absorb its healing properties through your skin by applying it topically or putting a few drops of it (essential oil or rose infused water) in your bath. You can also use it in conjunction with meditation.
Another easy way to use rose for self love is to keep potted rose plants (pink or red rose plants) indoors or in your garden.
11. Hibiscus
Hibiscus has long been used by spiritual folk, and it has several healing benefits. Not only does it attract true love and good luck, but it repels negative energy, keeping you safe from toxic people and situations that can cause you to think bad thoughts about yourself.
It also connects with the lower chakras; the root chakra, which grounds us and connects us to the physical world, the sacral chakra, which governs our creative energy, and solar plexus chakra, as discussed earlier.
How to use hibiscus for self love?
Carry dried hibiscus petals with you to attract good luck and true love into your life. You can also consider growing hibiscus plant in your garden for protection and to attract good energy towards you. Simply looking at the plant and interacting with it can help you feel calm, relaxed and happy. Drinking hibiscus tea can aid relaxation, increase feelings of joy and help you let go of negative thoughts and emotions.
12. Turmeric
Turmeric has been used medicinally for thousands of years and is proven to have an effect on several health conditions, including depression. It is also a spiritual purifying agent, so you can use it to unblock the chakras, detoxify the mind and soul of self-loathing, and for deep emotional healing.
How to use turmeric for self love?
Mix turmeric powder along with salt water and sprinkle or spray this mixture to purify and cleanse your space of negative energy and emotions. You can also burn turmeric incense or diffuse turmeric essential oil to attract feelings of peace, courage, passion, confidence and clarity.
To cleanse your aura of negativity and to boost feelings of love and happiness, add a few drops of turmeric essential oil to your bath water.
In conclusion
When you begin to love and accept yourself, you slowly start to shed the layers of falsehood and get in touch with your true authentic self. It’s only by getting in touch with your true self can you achieve what you truly desire. The herbs mentioned in this list are very potent and can help you immensely in your self love journey. Use them wisely and always remember, you are enough as you are.
