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In the current climate, the health of our mindset is being tested. In these times, people are worried about their business; career, finances, family, future and making ends meet. What starts as a worry about 'will I lose my job' turns into 'no job is safe', 'I'm not going to have any money', 'what am I going to do', 'there no jobs out there', 'I'm too old to start again', 'everyone will think I'm useless', ' there's no way out'... and on and on... This is your inner voice on a rollercoaster ride - it started off with one thought which has now snowed balled into hundreds or more of negative thoughts that you probably don't know that are flying around your head. I have noticed that more and more people are aware of these thoughts and on some level they know that all the negative statements are not true but they don't know how to get rid of them.
You will not pick up a 'self help' book which does not recommend affirmations. It's not only 'self help' books that recommend them. I've been reading about successful businessmen/women who are at the top of their game and they all recommend affirmations as part of their daily lives. They believe that affirmations feeds their mind with what is possible and keeps them focused on what they want to achieve and what is positive.
Often, people repeat negative statements in their minds without even being aware of what they are saying. We all have experience of our 'inner voice' or 'gremlin' speaking to us in a negative tone. Do you keep thinking and telling yourself that you are fat, you are stupid, you can't do something or you are going to fail? Well these are all negative affirmations. Your subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between what is real or not therefore by saying these statements to yourself your subconscious mind accepts it as true. We find negative statements easier to believe as they usually validate our own internal negative beliefs whether these beliefs are true or false.
If you were to write down all that your 'inner voice' says to you throughout the day how much of what you say is positive and how much is negative? Would it be 25%, 50%, 75% or 95% negative? It is reported that 90% of what we think is negative, no wonder we find ourselves struggling to remain upbeat. Also, 90% of what we worry about never happens. That means our negative worries have less than 10% chance of being true. So what are you currently worrying about? Do you believe that the worry will ever really happen?
We use positive affirmations to challenge those negative beliefs and stop the flow of negative thoughts and words that seek to validate them. Affirmations are more than just repeating words. It is a whole process of becoming aware of your thoughts and words in everyday life, choosing to think and project happy positive thoughts. By repeating these phrases every day we are reprogramming our mind to believe them and make them real. All of our inner dialogue, negative or positive, is a steady stream of affirmations.
What do affirmations really do?
When repeating a positive affirmation you are reprogramming your mind. This does not happen overnight and you may experience resistance. The bigger the gap between the positive affirmation and the inner belief then the more likely that one is going to experience resistance during the process e.g. the inner voice may try to get you to stop saying the affirmation 'look at you, you're so stupid saying this stuff, what kind of stupid person believes this will work' etc. This is where the subconscious will find it easier to stay with its perceived inner belief and avoid the challenge of examining the issue.
Once you keep saying the affirmation with feeling and belief, then resistance will break. Once broken, this forces your subconscious to re-examine the core belief patterns you have been working on. The old belief patterns will be replaced with your own new inner beliefs. Changing one core belief can have a domino effect on other beliefs that relied on the original negative belief. Therefore your subconscious re-examines all your beliefs e.g. your subconscious sorts through your beliefs like going through a filing cabinet and pulling out the beliefs the no longer have the original foundation to support them.
Because affirmations actually reprogram your thought patterns, they change the way you think and feel about things, and because you have replaced self limiting beliefs with your own new positive empowering beliefs, positive change comes easily and naturally.
How can I use affirmations?
Besides repeating the affirmation, there are many ways to use affirmations. I have set out a few additional ways below:
Use a mirror - state the affirmation while looking into a mirror. Look yourself in the eyes when you are saying the affirmation, this will also indicate whether there is resistance to the affirmation.
Write them down - this is a good way of remembering your affirmations. Write them down each morning, put them on note card or stick them up around the house so you can keep it to the forefront of your mind. You could also write it down 10-20 times as this helps imprint it on your mind.
Record them - you can find CDs of affirmations. I record mine into my MP3 player so I can listen to them first thing in the morning, when I'm walking and just before I go to sleep as the mind processes a lot of information while you sleep.
Vision board - include affirmations on your vision board. For each section or area in your life have an affirmation which relates it e.g. finding a career you love, travelling the world etc
Sing them - I find affirmations easy to remember if they rhyme. You can sing or chant the affirmation are you are walking, exercising or just hanging about and no one needs to know!
Put passion into it - say the affirmation with passion, the higher your emotional state as you say them, the more effective they are.
Create your own affirmations
Think of an area of your life you would like to improve. Think about how you might want your life to be. Be as specific as you can about this so your affirmation will be focused on these areas. Write down the important areas you would like to change.
Take each item on the list and write out a few positive statements for each. They must be positive and in the present tense. Focus on what you do want, not what you don't want. Focus on the quality you wish to bring into your life. So rather than focusing on the habit or situation you wish to change, focus on what you would like to replace it with.
Choose only positive words when describing what you really want. If you want to get healthier, do not use an affirmation like 'I am not fat' or 'I am not eating junk food' as these statements make you think of the mental images of what you do not want. Think about the quality you do want. Say instead 'I am reaching my target weight healthy' or 'I am enjoying eating nourishing food that gives me more energy'.
Using the present tense and not the future tense allows your subconscious mind to start working on making the affirmation happen now rather than in the future.
I like to add 'this or something else that is my divine right is currently manifesting under grace and in perfect ways' at the end of some of my affirmations. By adding this sentence I am allowing the Universe to provide for me in whatever way is for my own highest good.
Find somewhere to sit and relax. Close your eyes and pay close attention to your body and how you feel. Begin by breathing in and out at a rhythm that suits you. Bring all your awareness to the top of your head then slowly move your awareness down through your body. Be aware of how your body feels, is there any emotions in certain parts of the body, is their tightness etc.
Now bring the attention back to the top of your head. Now repeat to yourself 10 times 'I am a weak and unworthy person' and really get into the feeling of the words. Once you have finished repeating this, bring your awareness through your body again, noticing any differences in emotions, tension or stress in your body. Once you are finished bring the attention back to the top of your head. Now repeat you yourself 10 times 'I am a strong and worthy person' and really get into the feeling of the words. Once you have finished repeating this, bring your awareness through your body again, noticing any changes in your emotions, changes in the tension or stress in your body.
1. You can also do the above exercise with a partner as you can visually see the effect of the negative and positive affirmations on the body.
Get your partner to stand up, make a fist and extend either arm out to the side. You stand facing them and get them to resist as much as possible as you attempt to push their arm down with your outstretched arm. What do you notice? Your partner's arm should remain strong.
2. Get your partner to stand up and say the negative affirmation 10 times putting feeling into it. Get them to make a fist and extend either arm out to the side. Once again, get them to resist as much as possible as you attempt to push their arm down with your outstretched arm. What do you notice? Your partner's arm should easily fall once you push it.
3. Now, get your partner to stand up and say the positive affirmation 10 times putting feeling into it. Get them to make a fist and extend either arm out to the side. Once again, get them to resist as much as possible as you attempt to push their arm down with your outstretched arm. What do you notice? Your partner's arm should remain strong.
What does this show you? Strong words equals strong arm or strong words makes us physically strong! Therefore you can see that it does not matter whether you believe the words or not by repeating the words the mind and body believes them to be true.
Introducing affirmations into your life can be rewarding and allow you to grow but it takes commitment and practice. You don't expect to be a star golf player after one lesson, so you can't expect your entire world to change after a few days of saying affirmations. Also, like maintaining a healthy body you must exercise the brain with positive thoughts regularly so you can feel the benefits always.
So make a few of your own affirmations and start taking control of our 'inner voice' today!
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