Any time we try to affirm something positive about ourselves that we wish to feel, we most likely bring forth even more of the opposite feeling, in resistance. While saying an affirmation, like a mantra, can be a focus for how we wish it to be, it will not take us there. However, if you instead tune into the real feeling you have, for example about how you look, you can open the door to heal.
Let's say that you find a particular part of your body to be ugly, then claiming that you are beautiful, will just ring false. Instead, think of that part of you as in really need of some love, just like you would love someone who has been bullied. Ask yourself if you really feel that it's your own opinion, or if it's either outspoken by others, or covertly understood in society. But remember, we are society. We want to look the same to fit in but forget to really ask about how we are doing, with a genuine interest in our answers. What do you need? You might want to give this ugly part of you, some more attention. Instead of hiding it, try to really look at it and accept it.
For me, it's my feet and have always been. I have had flat feet and big bunions, just like my mother and her mother, as well as being stepped on, by a horse. This makes it impossible for me to wear some types of shoes, which I have tried only to suffer with much pain. Instead, I have accepted my feet, improved my walking thanks to both dancing, and using the right shoes. Moisturising and keeping them warm. I'm even aware that my bunions can ache the same way my grandmother's did, when there would be a storm approaching, a change of weather. So, I have given my feet some love instead.
In which area of you or your life, do you need more love? Be loving.