How to Hug Yourself to Feel Better + Guided Meditation

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Let’s talk about a quick but powerful way to uplift and support yourself at any moment. Here’s how to hug yourself and feel better even when you are alone.

Self-hug is a tool that I learned and was using a lot when I was going through some struggles recently. It’s so simple and easy, and you don’t need anything for it — just yourself!

One of my leading love languages is physical touch so you can imagine it’s pretty important for me to get that loving warmth from someone close. However, I found myself in this lonely stage and had to figure something out to help myself through it. The self-hug (paired with kind and gentle self-talk) did the trick!

Have you ever caught yourself thinking “I need a hug but I don’t have anyone to give it to”? Then this is for you. You will learn how to comfort yourself when you need a hug and trust me there’s nothing better that a big tight hug from… yourself.

By the way, even if you have your loved ones around and getting a hug is not a problem for you, self-hug is still a great tool to nurture the most important relationship in your life — with yourself.

Alright, let’s jump right in!

This post is all about how to hug yourself for support.

Table of Contents

🤗 Why self-hug?
📝 How to hug yourself: quick instruction
💭 Affirmations for your self-hug practice
👍🏼 Self-hug benefits

🤗 Why self-hug?

We often forget that our relationship with ourselves is the most important relationship we ever going to have in our lifetime. We want to be the best friend, the best partner, the best kid, and the best parent but we barely ever put any effort into being the best friend to ourselves.

We also forget how much we’ve done and how far we’ve come, and we diminish our accomplishments and write them off as something mediocre or not worthy of attention. We look for ways how we can outstand more, achieve more, and we run, and run, and run. We don’t take time to pause and thank ourselves for all the hard work.

We tend to ignore our feelings because they interrupt our busy schedules or simply because it’s just the only way that we know. Sometimes we are even cruel to ourselves. We have this idea that our worth is based on how much we’ve done or how brilliant we are at what we do and while it can be motivating, it is also detrimental to our well-being.

There might be life situations when we find ourselves completely alone. It doesn’t always mean not having people around you. It can also be just a lonely journey of your own like facing some personal transformations and growing apart from the people in your life, or not being able to find support from others while going through hard times… When you suddenly have no one to seek comfort from, it can get really heartbreaking… unless you know how to be your own comfort person.

It’s a skill to be able to pay attention to yourself and nourish that relationship that you have with yourself and if we never had an example of how to do it, no wonder we are a little lost.

Self-hugging brings you back to yourself, grounds you, and lets you foster a deeper connection with yourself. Think of it this way: when you hug your loved ones, you get this warm and calming feeling of safety and love. And it also strengthens your bond. A self-hug does the same thing.

It teaches self-compassion: it gives you a moment to check in on yourself and to feel grateful for being you.

Once I learned how to give myself a hug, I could find comfort from within.

📝 How to hug yourself: quick instruction

So how do you hug yourself?

Keep reading or check out my guided meditation (that itself feels like a hug) where I walk you through a little encouraging self-talk and a self-hug!

Here’s how to hug yourself:

Lift up your arms and give yourself a nice stretch first to really feel your body.
Spread your arms out wide and then wrap them around your body. Choose where it feels more natural and comfortable to you — around your shoulders and neck, your ribs, or your stomach.
What kind of hug would you prefer right now? Big and tight, or soft and gentle? Try to find the desired sensation in your self-hug.
Closing your eyes might help to settle in your hug and feel it on a deeper level.
You can try stroking your body gently with your hands while hugging yourself, or rocking softly back and forth as it might feel very soothing.
Hold your hug for as long as you like. (The longer the better.)

💭 Affirmations for your self-hug practice

When I need some extra encouragement I like to talk to myself as if there was another person next to me. My best friend who is also me at the same time.

Below, there are some healing things to say to yourself during your hug. I also included them in my guided meditation if that format works better for you.

You’ve come so far — I am so proud of you.

You are so strong and resilient — you’ve got this.

You are doing your best, and that is enough.

Your emotions and desires are valid and important to me.

I am so happy that you are my best friend.

You and I will always have each other, no matter what.

I am always by your side.

You inspire me.

I am a better person because of you.

I am so grateful that I have you.

I enjoy spending time with you, just you and me.

You are my comfort person, and I am yours.