Have you ever heard of affirmations? I stumbled across them a few years ago and the more I researched, the more intrigued I became with the concept. It is a useful tool to promote mindfulness and positivity and can easily be integrated into your everyday life. What exactly is an affirmation? Why are affirmations so beneficial?
Affirmation: the action or process of affirming something or being affirmed; emotional support or encouragement.
Affirm: state as fact
Every person is programmed with beliefs and values. These take time to form and are first created and molded by our environments as children. But what happens when you challenge the notions you were blueprinted with? Is it possible to change and rewrite what has been imprinted among you?
Affirmations helped shape you as a child. Some of us heard encouraging affirmations from parents, leaders, teachers, friends. Those may have been similar to something like, "you can do it." Others may have heard or believed things like, "nobody loves me." Both are POWERFUL affirmations.
So what happens when you start to question those affirmations that have become part of who you are? Do you believe them? Do you honor them? Do you despise them? Are they REALLY part of you or are they just there because you allow them to be? Is there a way to strengthen what I know to be true? Is there a way to change my perception about life?
ABSOLUTELY
By using affirmations, you can start to create your own version of yourself, your own understanding of your life. You are not bound by the standards others have set for you. If you believe you can, you can. If you believe you can't, you can't. Practicing (positive) affirmations everyday and incorporating the habit into your lifestyle and help you rewire yourself to be a more positive person.
Here are some guided affirmations I use almost every day to help me keep an open mind, have a positive outlook, and steer me in the direction I need to go to accomplish my goals.
Every day, find time to listen to affirmations. You may find the best time to do affirmations is the beginning of the day, when you first wake up. I personally like to do them as I cool down and stretch after workouts. You don’t have to listen to the full affirmation video if you don’t have time. Just listen to what you can then find a phrase or a few phrases you want to really focus on during the day.
I hope you found this tool useful and can use it to help you better your view on yourself. To better your mental health and your life.
Love you all,
Brooker A King
Just in case you're interested, I found some intriguing research on affirmations (posted below).