Morning Affirmations, a Helping Hand
Good morning,
I fell in love with affirmations as a teenager, through reading the inspirational words of Louise Hay. I needed her healing wisdom. I was taking myself on a process of personal healing long before Amazon, Oprah and Insight Timer stepped on the scene.
Affirmations are positive statements, which when written with personal relevance and repeated daily, become sit ups for the soul. They are quite simply the best starting point for retraining our subconscious.
Louise Hay never delved into neural pathways, or the processing parts of the brain associated to feeling good. However, there are huge tranches of evidence now that suggest that affirmations can alter our brains at a cellular level. That the paths of negative self-perception that we lay can be re-built with fresh, positive, and self-rewarding messaging systems, which in turn helps us enormously in our enjoyment of the journey and our relationships with ourselves and others.
Neural pathways get stronger the more you reinforce them by repeating certain thoughts, habits or behaviours. Sean Fargo
How to build into your morning
I strongly recommend affirmations as a fundamental piece of my clients’ morning rituals. It’s about starting as you mean to go on and beginning the day with the positive intention that you wish to live the rest of your life by.
As you open your eyes and stretch into the day, own that first affirmation there and then, reciting it in your head or out loud.
And as you sit to journal with your water or coffee in hand, read your chosen affirmations. Calmly and slowly soak up the words. Remember and cherish the meaning and significance behind them.
Go on, give it five minutes now
Rather than panic or make the task too tall, just use the 5 minutes you have now to have a go. Use the guidance below to start your own affirmative journey with words.
My top five tips when thinking about affirmations:
It’s all about you. Make your affirmations meaningful and align them to your journey and challenges not anyone else’s. These are not for life. You can change your affirmations over time depending on what’s going on around and within you.
Keep it simple. Affirmations do not need to win literary awards; they need to be simple statements that you can repeat over and over. Use words that you know, with meaning to you and your world.
Trust the process. Believe that your positive statements count, place your faith in the practice and how it can help you. Don’t overthink or analyse this one. Just trust the process and let go.
Commitment is key. Keep at it every day. Find a couple of consistent windows that work and make those times stick. Use post it notes to take affirmations with you or near you while you work.
Use positive ‘I am’ statements. Write with result-based intent and stick to positive semantics, either in the present or the future tense. Adding a ‘will not’ or a ‘won’t’ negates all benefit of the statement.
Some inspiration for you
· I love who I am and all that I will be.
· I am worthy of success.
· Everything is unfolding perfectly.
· I am bravely showing up to contribute something meaningful to this world.
· The universe loves me.
· I am allowed to create my own expression of myself.
· Everyone is allowed to create their own expression of themselves.
· Every cell of my body is healthy.
· I am growing.
· My life is a gift.
· I love myself.
· Healthy food fuels my body.
· Today, I will take steps to reach my goals.
· I give myself room to make mistakes and grow.
· I embrace my power.
· I deserve love and happiness.
· I will find moments of joy today.
· I create kind boundaries to protect me.
· I am worth loving and I am loved.
· I am peaceful.
· I am powerful and I am loved.
· Life is beautiful and so am I.
· I accept and appreciate all the lessons life gives me.
Oh, enjoy this one. I feel warm and blessed to even handover those gentle loving words. Send me yours, tell me your affirmation story. Let’s learn and grow together.
