Posted by Vargas Consulting and Wellness on January 5, 2024

People have negative and positive thoughts everyday. When you send yourself positive messages, you will feel happier, relaxed and more self confident. Positive affirmations are made-up phrases. You can say them aloud to yourself or in your head. They can be used to challenge unhelpful, negative thoughts. You can write them down, making sure they are visible. Affirmations are encouraging statements that help create a positive frame of mind. Self-affirmations affirm one’s self-worth, often by having a person focus on their core values. You can say positive affirmations in your head while looking in the mirror or writing them down before bed. Research shows that when people write self-affirmations, they tend to make positive, healthy life choices and even feel a stronger sense of self.

We all know people who always seem happy and see the bright side of things. Some people naturally have a positive outlook. But, for others, it takes work and some people struggle with positivity. Research shows that there are many benefits associated with using affirmations, including boosting confidence and self-esteem, controlling negative feelings, reducing stress, improving overall well-being, promoting openness to new behaviors, increasing productivity, providing motivation, overcoming challenges and changing unwanted habits.

Positive affirmations can help facilitate change or growth. To begin using positive affirmations, write down your values. For example, if honesty is your core value. A good affirmation may be, “I am an honest person. I will tell the truth.” You can also identify an area in which you would like to improve and establish goals for each. These goals can become statements, which are your positive affirmations. Affirmations can help you achieve these goals. Practice saying these affirmations a few times every day for thirty days. When coming up with your own positive affirmations, keep them short, state them as facts, and avoid using negative statements. For example, say, “I make healthy food choices” instead of “I don’t always eat good foods; I hope things will change.”.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania report that repeating self-affirmations produces physical changes in brain regions associated with positive changes in people’s behaviors. Repeating positive phrases has been shown to reshape how you think and feel about yourself. Positive self-affirmations help you disrupt negative thinking habits and build a new route in your brain for positive thoughts. Negative thoughts get in the way of

Research found that those who practiced positive affirmations had significantly more brain activity around reward and self-worth than those who didn’t.

A study published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (1) used MRI to reveal that practicing self-affirmation activates the reward centers in your brain. It fires up your neural pathways and makes changes to those areas of the brain that make you happy and positive.

Examples:

• I choose to make good food choices (mine).
• I am strong. I will take action and accomplish my goals.
• I have the power to make the right choices for myself.
• My hard work will pay off. I believe in myself. Life is beautiful.
• I am always learning.
• I am confident. I am relaxed and at peace. My possibilities are endless. I am on the right path for me. I deserve love and happiness.
• I trust myself. Healthy food fuels my body.
• I am safe. It’s okay for me to have fun. My life is a gift. I care for myself.

Other research suggests that SA can positively influence changes in different health behaviors, including mental health and wellness.

5 Steps to Make Affirmations More Effective and Powerful from Ronald Alexander, 2015

Step 1: Make a list of what you’ve always thought of as your negative qualities.

Include any criticisms others have made of you that you’ve been holding onto, whether it’s something your siblings, parents and peers used to say about you when you were a child or what your boss told you in your last annual review. Don’t judge if they’re accurate and remember, we all have flaws. This is one of the beauties of being human. Simply make a note of them and look for a common theme, such as “I’m unworthy.” This will be a great place to start making a shift in your life. When you write out the recurring belief, notice if you are holding on to it anywhere in your body. For example, do you feel tightness or dread in your heart or stomach? In my book, Wise Mind, Open Mind, I discuss in detail how to let go of negative self-judgments but for now, ask yourself if this unwholesome concept is helpful or productive in your life and if not, what would it be.

Step 2: Now write out an affirmation on the positive aspect of your self- judgment.

You may want to use a thesaurus to find more powerful words to beef up your statement. For example, instead of saying, “I’m worthy.” You could say, “I’m remarkable and cherished.” After you have written your affirmation, ask a close friend to read it to see if they have any suggestions to make it stronger.

Step 3: Speak the affirmation out loud for about five minutes three times a day—in the morning, midday, and evening.

An ideal time to do this is when you’re putting on your make-up or shaving so that you can look at yourself in the mirror as you repeat the positive statement. Another option that helps to reinforce the new belief and would be easy to do at work is to write out the affirmation several times in a notebook. Notice over time as you write it if your style of writing changes. This could be a clue as to how your mind perceives the new concept. I call this exercise using the mindfulness journal to forward the agenda of positive affirmation.

Step 4: Anchor the affirmation in your body as you are repeating it by placing your hand on the area that felt uncomfortable when you wrote out the negative belief in Step One.

 Also, “breathe” into the affirmation while you are saying or writing it. As you reprogram your mind, you want to move from the concept of affirmation to a real, positive embodiment of the quality you seek.

Step 5: Get a friend or coach to repeat your affirmation to you.

As they are saying, for example, “You are remarkable and cherished,” identify this statement as ‘good mothering’ or ‘good fathering’ messages. If you don’t have someone who you feel comfortable asking, then use your reflection in the mirror as the person who is reinforcing the healthy message.

Affirmations can be a powerful tool to help you change your mood and state of mind and manifest the change you desire in your life. But they work best if you can first identify the unwholesome belief that is opposing them. If these suggestions are still not helping, then I recommend seeing a professional therapist to help you uncover what is buried deep in your unconscious and/or start a mindfulness meditation practice. Mindfulness meditation is a very effective method to help you uncover your unconscious thought patterns and categorize them, identifying what is wholesome, negative and afflicted. Mindfulness is not about change; rather, it’s about the power and ability to accept first what is and then transmute towards what is possible. Try it and see how your life can improve!