The word affirmation comes from the Latin word affirmare, meaning to make firm, strengthen, or fortify. Positive Affirmations are positive phrases or statements that challenge negative or unhelpful thoughts. Practicing positive affirmations can be extremely simple, and hugely beneficial in improving your wellbeing.
You may use positive affirmations to motivate yourself, encourage positive changes in your life, or boost your self-esteem. If you frequently find yourself getting caught up in negative self-talk, positive affirmations can be used to combat these often subconscious patterns and replace them with more adaptive narratives.
Your thoughts and self-image shape you, hence the saying, "You are what you think." Negative thoughts typically translate to negative actions and behaviours. That is why affirmations for positive thinking are crucial, not only for your self-esteem but also for your wellbeing.
The Science
Positive affirmations require regular practice if you want to make lasting, long-term changes to the ways that you think and feel. The good news is that the practice and popularity of positive affirmations are based on widely accepted and well-established psychological theory.
One of the key psychological theories behind positive affirmations is the self-affirmation theory, based on the idea that we can maintain our sense of self-integrity by telling ourselves (or affirming) what we believe positively. This theory has led to neuro scientific research investigating whether we can see any changes in the brain when we self-affirm in positive ways. MRI evidence suggests that certain neural pathways are increased when people practice self-affirmation tasks. Specifically, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex—involved in positive valuation and self-related information processing—becomes more active when we consider our personal values.
Benefits of Daily Affirmations
- Self-affirmations have been shown to decrease stress and anxiety
- They have been linked positively to academic achievement
- Reduce negative thoughts
- Increased happiness
- Better cardiovascular health.
How to Create Positive Affirmations
The standard way to create affirmations is to write them down on sticky notes, in a book, or journal. Some people prefer vision boards and personal recordings. The idea is to use a form that allows you to visualise what you intend to manifest or achieve. Maybe it's your dream job or quitting a destructive habit. Whatever it is, you can follow these three basic steps to create affirmations:
- Think about what you hope to change or improve about yourself or your life.
- Make a list of the most important areas of your life you wish to improve.
- Write or list out a few positive statements for each type of affirmation you selected.
Make sure you affirm what you want rather than what you don’t want.
