35 Gemstones to Boost Your Self Love and Inner Growth

When you struggle, as we all do from time to time, with the delicate balance of nourishing yourself, taking time for yourself and doing the hard work of going deep within, using the healing power of gemstones to boost your self love and inner growth can offer tremendous help.

Can you bring to mind a time or those times when you feel all warm and fuzzy about yourself? And then remember how you allowed that to shine outward to your family, friends, and the entire world?

That’s the sweet spot of inner peace that is available when you connect to your higher self. It brings to light your truth, connecting you to the higher consciousness that comes when you see yourself from a place of love, the place that allows you to really see everyone and everything else from that same place of unconditional love. 

So because self love and inner growth go hand in hand and you can’t have one without the other, I have chosen some stones and crystals that can help you with both (and anything in between) that relates to an all encompassing love of oneself.

Each healing stone can offer an even broader range of benefits emotionally, spiritually and physically than listed here, but to cover all aspects would be an entirely separate post. So the traits listed here are by no means inclusive, but focus on what these gemstones are believed to offer in regards to self love, self acceptance, self esteem, self expression, self confidence and inner growth.

Don’t let the amount of stones and crystals mentioned overwhelm you (and this is just barely scratching the surface – can you believe it?!), the earth is abundant with so many various types, carrying with them tons of different healing energies. It is said in crystal healing that whichever stone(s) is right for you in the moment will draw itself to you. So go ahead and see what happens!

Stones and Crystals for Self Love and Inner Growth

Agate is believed in crystal healing to encourage acceptance of love and of self. Emotionally, it is said to build self confidence, courage, strength and dispel fears. It can be very beneficial for increasing well being through self-examination and honing in on the deeper aspects of circumstances you find yourself in. Agate gently facilitates quiet contemplation of yourself and of life experiences, and raises consciousness and awareness of the interconnectedness of life, allowing for spiritual growth and inner stability.

Amethyst is said to bring emotional stability and inner strength, encourage self love, positive self image and self worth, build self confidence and bring clarity so that you become more in tune with your feelings and get to know yourself on a deeper level. Amethyst is believed to promote self expression, openness to others, and empowerment.

Amazonite is believed in crystal healing to lessen self defeating behaviors and build self esteem. It is said to help you to understand yourself, embrace your inner truth and express it effectively, even in difficult situations. It promotes self expression when it comes to creativity and can help you in areas like writing, drawing, painting, speaking, singing and acting.

Apache Tears is said to bring clarity to the mind and clear confusion and self limiting beliefs. It is a form of Obsidian and carries the same type of energies, believed to provide deep healing within the soul. It encourage self examination and helps to eliminate energy blockages by bringing to the surface unpleasant truths and negative emotions so you can replace them with love and acceptance. Providing a mirror to the inner being, this stone encourages growth on all levels and can help you understand who you truly are.

Aquamarine is believed to encourage self love and inner peace by helping you to realize your inner truth and release self defeating beliefs. It is said to clear the mind, help you understand underlying emotional states and how you feel so you are empowered to take responsibility for yourself, clears blocked communication and encourages self expression.

Aragonite is said to dissolve illusions about yourself and your life, and make you feel comfortable and well within your own body, boosting self worth and self confidence.

Aventurine is believed in crystal healing to help boost self assurance, courage, inner strength, and inner harmony by releasing old patterns so that new growth can take place.

Bloodstone is said to remove self doubt and nourish feelings of self worth, self confidence and self sufficiency by calming the emotions, clearing confusion and enhancing decision making. It can help you to be aware when it is best to withdraw from situations, when to be flexible and which actions will help you remain true to yourself and your path.

Calcite is believed to be a stone of self discovery, connecting heart with mind. It emanates a profoundly nurturing energy that helps you to accept, love and value yourself, and grow emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually. It is said to bring stability in the areas of trust in yourself and others, in your own will, and increase inner strength.

Carnelian is said to be a stone of individuality, creativity and courage. It encourages an awareness of the connection between your emotional state and the condition of yourself, dissolves fear, helps you to trust yourself and your perceptions, and boosts self confidence.

Charoite is believed to be a stone of transformation. It is said to align heart and mind and allow you to see yourself and others with unconditional love and acceptance. This clarity allows for freedom from victimization, brings courage, inner strength, self esteem and assertiveness.

Chrysoprase is said to empower you to receive personal insights from a deeply, heart centered place, let go of feelings of superiority or inferiority from within, and bring self acceptance and healing on a cellular level. This stone is believed to bring inner courage and strength to help you look at your past, and see clearly what and how things done for purely selfish reasons affected your personal development, face those emotions and replace them with inner peace, unconditional love and self confidence.

Citrine is believed to be a stone of self esteem, self confidence, self expression and individuality. It inspires emotional clarity, relieves self doubt and helps eliminate the fear of being judged or criticized by others.

Danburite is a crystal that when used in meditation, is said to help you access a higher state of consciousness and inner guidance. It discourages issues and removes blockages having to do with self pride and encourages the heart to connect with Divine love to promote self love, as well as helps you to speak your own truth.

Dolomite is believed to be a stone of self realization. It dispels fear and encourages inner certainty, courage and self love by helping you to face, overcome and release fears and phobias, promoting self confidence and a certainty that you can do whatever it is you set out to do.

Dumortierite is a stone said to encourage self love, self reliance, reconnect you to innate wisdom and fuel self mastery. It helps you to release fear and build courage, certainty, inner peace and unshakable self confidence by standing up for yourself when you feel you are being treated unfairly and speaking up for what you know to be real and true.

Feldspar is believed to increase self love, help you to reconnect with yourself and release things that no longer serve you, increase self respect, self esteem and encourage a more heart centered awareness and acceptance of yourself and others.

Garnet is said to help you find the beauty in yourself and others and encourage you to live your own destiny rather than struggle on a path that doesn’t serve you. It helps you not feel guilty about taking time for yourself and gives you an affinity with your higher self, brings you away from a sense of helplessness and victimization, releases old ideas and perceptions of yourself and sharpens your perception of the real you. It bestows courage, opens the heart, and expands awareness. It reduces or eliminates conscious or unconscious self sabotage, discourages disorganized growth and promotes inner strength, self respect and self confidence. Garnet promotes solitude without loneliness.

Hematite is a stone believed to removes useless self limitations and aid expansion by bringing awareness to the physical body to help maintain a unified sense of self. With a strong yang (male) element, it is advantageous to women who are timid or lack courage, to help heighten will power, boldness, self confidence and self esteem.

Herkimer Diamond is known as a “stone of attunement.” It encourages clearing of unconscious fears and repressions from the body and mind, allows for expansion from within and understanding of the harmonious nature of the essential being within the self. It helps you to see into the depths of yourself and what you fear most, without judgement, and allows for appreciation of all that is within you, freeing you from the notion that there is something to become and to accept yourself as you already are.

Howlite is said to be a stone of awareness and helps to decrease an overly critical state of mind, helps you to be comfortable as your true self without the need to pretend to be anything else, and encourages self expression.

Jade is used in crystal healing to increase self reliance and self sufficiency, it signifies wisdom gathered in tranquility, dispels the negative and encourages you to see yourself as you really are, giving courage and inner strength to move forward on your life path. It heightens awareness and compassion for yourself and others, opens your heart to all beings including yourself and promotes acceptance and unconditional love. It has strong protective energies to ward off self limitations and self loathing, encourages self reflection and self assuredness.

Kunzite is a crystal believed to open the heart to embrace all types of love, including self love and to receive the energies of universal love and recognize the Divine within your own self. It encourages introspection and free expression of your feelings.

Labradorite is used for self discovery, awakening inner awareness, intuition and spirit. It encourages contemplation, introspection and clarity, and helps to release fear-based insecurities. It strengthens faith in and reliance on yourself and the universe, bringing inner peace. This stone is said to urge you to take hold of your freedom.

Lepidolite  is said to have a quite unusual vibration that encourages divine connection with the deep innermost part of yourself and helps you to recognize the divinity within your own self, helping you to feel a spiritual sense of love, acceptance and trust for yourself and others.

Malachite is believed to be a stone of transformation and spiritual growth, it has been referred to as “a mirror to the soul” and encourages expression of feelings and self confidence.

Rhodochrosite is believed to emit one of the most tender and loving energies of any stone. That love is directed first toward the self for the purpose of emotional healing, it empowers you to examine old wounds and traumas, and suppressed feelings to release pain associated with them, and helps you reclaim the self you were born to be. It helps you face the truth about yourself and others, without excuse or evasion, but with loving awareness. It helps to identify negative patterns or behaviors you may have adopted as a means to cope and brings compassion, self forgiveness and healing, as well as an understanding of others’ responsibilities for their actions. It improves self worth, brings resolution, renewal, inner peace and self love.

Rhodonite is said to be a stone of inner growth and helps with self love, emotional balance, confidence, and self esteem. It clears away emotional wounds and scars from abuse and self destruction and allows you to forgive yourself and others so you can move forward.

Rose Quartz is believed to be a crystal of unconditional love, it teaches the true essence of love, purifies and opens the heart at all levels, and brings deep inner healing and self love. For those who have never been nurtured or received the type of love that is vital for the development of security and a positive self image, this stone can help heal those internal wounds and open the heart to the infinite source of love that comes from within the self. It reawakens the heart to its own innate love and provides a deep sense of fulfillment and contentment, allowing you the capacity to truly give and receive love. It inspires the love of beauty in yourself, others, and the interconnectedness of the universe, helps you to nurture yourself and learn to trust, value, and forgive yourself. Only after learning to love yourself is it possible to truly love others.Ruby is used to develop great courage and inner strength. It promotes a courageous state of mind, brings more self assurance by allowing you to see your own strength and creative potential from a heart based perspective. Extremely potent for those inclined to self harm or self neglect, it promotes you to stand up for yourself, for others, and for causes. For those with sensitive natures it discourages a distorted view of yourself or others, helps to overcome fears of being ugly or unloved, and helps you to love your physical body more by encouraging a more loving attitude toward yourself and your body, which is particularly empowering if you are holding onto excess weight.

Sodalite is said to be a stone of truth, especially in communication and particularly useful for honesty of emotions and love. It eliminates mental confusion and intellectual bondage and encourages rational thought, objectivity, truth, and intuitive perception helping you to better understand the life you are living, and how you came to be in the situation you are in. Although it may be easier to avoid the truth, as it can sometimes be uncomfortable, this stone allows you to successfully verbalize your feelings, and helps you remain true to yourself and be able to stand up for yourself and your beliefs, which increases self acceptance and trust in yourself. This stone encourages you to practice living a more authentic life.

Tigers Eye is a stone used to increase feelings of self worth by helping overcome the habit of self criticism and clears blocked creativity so that you can recognize your true talents and abilities.

Tourmaline is believed to help invoke a higher state of consciousness and attunement to your higher self, making you feel secure within yourself. It clarifies perception and clears confusion, enabling you to develop a better understanding of yourself and others. It diminishes fear and feelings of victimization, breaking old self defeating programming and guides you back to your absolute truth. It encourages self love and self expression, and attracts inspiration and encourages compassion and tolerance for yourself and the planet.

Turquoise is said to provide solace for the spirit and well being for the body. It releases inhibitions and allows the soul to express itself again, and promotes trust and compassion for yourself and others. It is an empathetic and balancing stone that encourages self realization and helps you to overcome feelings of being a martyr or self sabotaging behaviors. It helps develop inner strength and calm, and helps with creative self expression.

Variscite is a stone that is believed to give courage, inner strength, and self reliance, especially if you tend to worry a lot. It brings unconditional love to yourself and others and encourages you to show yourself to the world exactly as you are, it brings clarity and clear perception, allowing you to express yourself and communicate clearly with others.

Final Thoughts

I continue to be in total awe of the wonders of nature and the healing energies found within. I hope that after learning what each of these awesome stones has to offer, you are inspired to incorporate the healing power of gemstones so you can start to experience more and more love in your life!

Have you found a gemstone, or a few that resonate best with you? I would love to hear about your experiences with healing stones and crystals!