If you’ve ever found yourself in a bad mood or feeling down, you know how tough it can be to change your mindset. Sometimes the solution is as simple as saying positive things out loud.
Affirmations are positive statements you make about yourself. They help you build self-confidence and self-compassion.
I was resistant to affirmations in the past because I didn’t think they worked. Not only that, but I often found it hard to believe what I was saying. I will tell you how I overcame that so read on!
The brain responds to our intentions and thoughts. Positive thoughts rewire our brains habitual patterns. There have been many scientific studies to show that we have the capability to positively rewire our brain. Not to get too scientific, but positive affirmations and thoughts produce feel-good chemicals in our brains and bodies. Positive affirmations and thoughts create new and healthy neural pathways.
Here are some examples of positive affirmations:
- I am happy.
- I am confident.
- I can get through my day feeling peaceful.
Now, here’s something to try:
Say each of these statements out loud. What do you notice? It’s likely that you, like many people, didn’t believe the statements. I know when I started affirmations I didn’t believe them either. But I wanted to be or accomplish these things in the above examples. I wanted to be happy, confident, and feel peaceful.
A helpful way to craft your affirmation is to say, “I’m open to happiness” or “I’m open to learning to feel confident”. This way you are making a statement you can believe. You likely will discover that you notice moments of happiness, confidence, peace. You might discover that you find solutions to blocks to your affirmations.
Keep in mind that, like physical exercise, one attempt at saying an affirmation is not going to be the one-minute miracle. Here are some suggestions to practicing affirmations:
- Write a daily affirmation down perhaps on a post it note or on a phone app.
- Put it somewhere you can see it.
- Set notifications to recite your affirmation in the morning, mid-day, and evening and other times during the day.
- Try to sing your affirmation!
We Believe in You!