Since recently coming back from my travels around south east Asia, I’ve been feeling a bit unfocused and unsure of what the future holds. In order to tackle this, I’ve started practising positive affirmations; something I’ve always found useful in focusing my mind and combating any negative thoughts that creep in. So, for this blog post, I’m going to talk about affirmations: what are they, why should we practise them and how can they help us?
What are affirmations?
Put simply, affirmations are statements we make to ourselves, and these can be either positive or negative. Throughout the day our minds are filled with thoughts and chatter and this is, in effect, a stream of affirmations. For example, you might find yourself thinking: “I’m so broke. My paycheck never seems to last,” which is a negative affirmation. But at another time you might find yourself thinking something more positive like: “I love this weather. What a gorgeous day.”
Through these statements of fact that we make to ourselves we are subconsciously creating our life experiences. Our beliefs about life are just learned thought patterns which we have developed since childhood. Some of these may work to our advantage, but others can work against us, stopping us from achieving our potential. So every affirmation we make to ourselves is a reflection of our beliefs. If you find yourself constantly making negative affirmations it follows that your beliefs about life will be negative.
In order to turn this around, you could start practising positive affirmations to train your subconscious mind towards a more positive state. It’s basically reprogramming your mind for the better.
photo credit: jjay69
How to create affirmations
Start by thinking about the different areas of your life that you would like to improve, eg health, finances, work, relationships, spiritual growth and so on. Think about each area in turn and write down a few positive statements summing up how you would like this area of your life to be. It’s important that the statements are in the present tense and are positive, focusing on what you DO want rather than what you DON’T want.
Here are some examples of positive affirmations, relating to different areas of life. You might want to try these yourself, but it’s much better to write your own as they are tailored specifically to you.
- I have a healthy body and a happy mind.
- I have plenty of energy.
- My mind is calm and relaxed.
- I have an enjoyable and fulfilling job.
- Money flows easily and naturally into my life.
- I radiate love and happiness.
- I have a happy, loving relationship with my partner.
- I am successful in all that I do.
How to use affirmations
The way to use affirmations is to repeat them on a constant, daily basis so that they sink into your subconscious. You could incorporate this as part of your daily routine. For example, as you are brushing your teeth or showering, remind yourself to repeat your affirmations. As you are doing your hair or dressing, look at yourself in the mirror and repeat your affirmations. This is a very powerful way of making these statements hit home.
Another idea is to write your affirmations on pieces of paper and leave them in places around your home where you will see them and be reminded of them. You could get together some cards and write a different affirmation on each one, place them in a bowl and draw one out each day, with the intention of focusing on that particular affirmation.
Why not use your imagination to come up with different ways to work with your affirmations? Good luck and stay positive!
About the author: Liz Parry is a writer specialising in holistic health and wellbeing, personal development and spirituality.
I work in the media industry and it is important for me to be across what is happenning in the news. I also like to have the tv on in the house as company and it was invariably on a news channel . However, I was watching the news everyday repetitively, and found that it was bringing me down.
What I do now, is get an overview of the news but try not to dwell on it and then either switch to the comedy channel or put music on and I am sure it has help my negativity.
My point in all this, is that I think we all spend far too much time engrossed in the negatives of the media industry, papers, news, magazines…and whilst I am not saying that we should all stick our heads in the sand, we could at least focus on some more positive areas, music, nature, comedy.
I know exactly what you mean as I’ve been feeling the same way myself. It’s important to keep up with the news but it can really bring you down after a while. Good suggestions.
I think it’s funny that we assume that some things are good and other things are bad. If we can see literally the good in all things, we create positive affirmations very quickly.
Liz, nicely written, I use affirmations positively in my life, what I would add is that used consistently they become habit. It’s great to have that little voice in your head say positive things and ask you all the right questions.
Jeff
Hi Liz,
One question for you: how effective have you found this practice to be in your life since you posted this post? Just curious. Thanks!
Anant
Hi Anant
I do find it difficult to keep up this practice, I must admit, but I really do think it works. I find when I get into a routine of doing it regularly that my mindset just gets better and better, but if I let any negative thoughts creep in I find myself going back to square one. I guess it’s a case of being persistent!
I find that stating some positive affirmations as soon as I get up is a great way to start the day and sets me on a positive course. Alternatively if I wake up thinking “I’m exhausted,” “what a miserable day” etc then I find that the day rapidly gets worse. I think subconsciously my negative thoughts attract more negative thoughts/experiences and vice versa.
Have you tried it yourself?
Best wishes
Liz
Im currently living in Asia, I hope you had some fun travels, I am really loving it here 🙂 Also pleased you have found affirmations, I have used them myself for over 30 years, they’re all I’ve ever really used and they have helped me massively in every way imaginable – from business to confidence and beyond 🙂 happy travels!
I agree, I have been writing positive affirmations on my private diary and on little card boards, which I bring with me every day. These are very useful- little reminders that life is good and we should lived it.
Thanks Liz, such a simple yet important reminder. The basics are important in any training whether it be reprogramming our subconscious, a professional athlete preparing for their season or event, a speaker readying herself for a presentation, or a kite surfer seeking to ride the winds. I believe it is important to observe our bodies and feelings as we state our affirmations. Valuable information is stored therein and if we tense up or are uncomfortable while expressing our chosen affirmations, what a wonderful revelation in understanding how and why we are off balance.