When life throws us shade, a lot of us turn to our phones for comfort. But the curated lives we see on social media often don’t make us feel any more comfortable in our own skin. We hear a lot about the negative impact social media has on our lives (raise your hand if you have Facebook-induced FOMO). But one beautiful thing about apps like Instagram is that they give us all an equal platform for our voices to be heard and connect us instantly to exactly what we need to hear — whether that’s an ASMR slime-squeezing video or a simple word of affirmation.
For a daily injection of “YAAAS!” in your feed, we’ve rounded up 15 of the most relatable, trailblazing, humanist, empowering Instagram accounts. These truth speakers are less about getting likes and shares and more about sharing love; less about selfies and more about self-care. So for those days when you need a little reminder that you’re flawless, click through the slideshow above to discover 15 empowering Instagram accounts that’ll help you take that wisdom off your phone and into the real world.
Empowering Instagram Accounts for Daily Inspiration (Cotton)
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Happsters
Kelli Pease is committed to making sure her followers have no bad days. She shares upbeat quotes of the kind you'd want to write in lipstick on your bathroom mirror. And if all else fails, you can look forward to the pics of puppies she posts every Friday.
Image: @happsters
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Alex Elle
Storyteller and hey, girl. podcast host Alex Elle's daily affirmations will keep your feed "self-care'd up." She posts handwritten scribbles on scraps of paper with essential messages that are often exactly what you need to hear. Case in point: "Do not lose sight of who you are because of the ones who refuse to see you."
Image: @alex_elle
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Yoko Ono
"Yes, I'm a witch, I'm a bitch / I don't care what you say / My voice is real, my voice is truth / I don't fit in your ways." Preach, Yoko.
Image: @yokoonoofficial
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Rupi Kaur
"How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you," writes Canadian poet Rupi Kaur, who has been called "the patron saint of millennial heartbreak." Her sweetly illustrated stanzas give voice to pain while championing resilience.
Image: @rupikaur_
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Jessamyn Stanley
Yoga teacher, writer and "fat femme" Jessamyn Stanley is empowerment embodied; a body positive advocate who describes herself as being in a permanent state of recovery from an addiction to self-hate. Her Instagram feed joyfully documents a home yoga practice that will inspire you to do more than just wear leggings and her new book Every Body Yoga encourages yogis to ask "How do I feel?" instead of "How do I look?"
Image: @mynameisjessamyn
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Let's Talk About Mental Health
One in four people have mental health issues yet the subject is still taboo. Jessica Walsh is trying to #endthestigma by sharing relatable, follower-submitted stories about the lived experience of dealing with mental illness. The feed's Pop Art palette is a breath of fresh air in the often dreary conversation about mental health.
Image: @letstalkaboutmentalhealth
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Cleo Wade
Poet/artist/activist Cleo Wade has been crowned the "Millennial Oprah". Come for grams of her killer personal style, but stay for the little love notes to the world she writes in her signature all-caps scrawl (and always signs "Love Cleo").
Image: @cleowade
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MYSTIC MAMMA
What could be more liberating than surrendering to the fate that's written in the stars? Modern mystic Mijanou Montealegre's feed is woven with high vibes and astral insights, like an energetic weather forecast for your sign. She offers guidance from the world's most tuned-in astrologers to help you become your vision.
Image: @mysticmamma
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Alok Vaid-Menon
Nonbinary performer and fashionist Alok Vaid-Menon is "constantly immersed in everyone and everything. And what my research has shown is that you are exquisite precisely because you are strange." Follow for outfits that slay and a daily dose of permission to dress like you give zero @#$%s.
Image: @alokvmenon
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Girlgaze Project
Female photographers are still underrepresented in the mediasphere, but #girlgaze is creating a platform to increase the visibility of work by all the amazing girls behind the lens. Its user-submitted collection of stunning photos of women by women and for women highlights "how creative girls see the world."
Image: @girlgazeproject
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Meagan Kong
If you ever feel like #fitspo brews more negativity spirals than actual workouts, professional dancer Meagan Kong will make you want to move more (minus the shame) with #youkongdoit. "To me, living a fit life is a do it or don’t situation. It’s not about being extreme, it’s about being consistent. It’s about pushing the limit, but knowing your limits," she writes (while inevitably wearing some drool-worthy athleisure set).
Image: @meagankong
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Advanced Style
It's impossible to feel any anxiety about aging when you're taking style tips from photographer Ari Seth Cohen's cadre of over-60 babes whose ebullient attitudes are a lesson in living life to the fullest.
Image: @advancedstyle
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WILDFANG
Follow the collective of badass women behind the #wildfeminist and Tomboy T-shirts you've seen on Janelle Monáe, Ilana Glazer, Kristen Stewart, Kate Mara, Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood and that cool girl who works at your local skate shop. Not just bandwagoners hopping on a trend, the feminist fashion house actually gives 10 percent of its profits to Planned Parenthood and the ACLU.
Image: @wearewildfang
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Mari Andrew
Mari Andrew's quirky doodles are visual representations of dealing with grief, fear and life's roller coaster. They're childlike and simple, but contain as much truth as any big data infographic.
Image: @bymariandrew
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Miss Piggy
For when things get too heavy, no one preaches better self-love than the glamorous pig who once said, "There is no one on the planet to compare with moi."
Image: @realmisspiggy
