What Are Affirmations and Do They Really Work?

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Introducing positive thinking and how it can improve your life.

A great way to introduce positivity into your life is through affirmations. 

Affirmations are short positive statements which you repeat to yourself over and over - almost like a mantra if you like.  Instead of wasting energy going over the hundred different things you should have said or done, train your mind to introduce positive improvements in your life.

In a very short time you will notice that there are many more positive things in your life than there were before. So whether you want to attract abundance in material or spiritual things, to improve your body and your health or just to feel more in balance, affirmations are a great place to start. 

The first Universal Truth is that “Energy Follows thought”

Note Card: Positive Thoughts by Just_Cards

What you think is very much - what you get. Consider every thought that passes through your mind as a point of power in your life. With the help of affirmations you have the choice to use that point of power in a positive manner. 

There are some simple rules to remember: 

1. The universe does not recognise NO and NOT so don't use them. Don't say "I have NO debt." Rather say, "I am Free of debt." 
2. Be specific. At a time in my life when I was particularly hard-up I would chant, “money comes quickly and easily to me” on my way to work. Three mornings running I found a 1p piece on the ground outside my shop. The universe does have a sense of humour.
3. Use the present tense. If you say “I am going to..” it will always stay in the future. Say “I love me,” not “I am going to love me.” That usually means you are qualifying it, like "I am going to love me when... I lose weight."
4. Keep it short. If it becomes too long it is cumbersome and you won’t remember it all. If it helps, set it to a tune or pace one word in time with each of your footsteps or to your heartbeat.
5. Get into the habit of changing your thought patterns into positive affirmations. When you find yourself tormenting yourself with thought, shift it into a positive statement. For example, “I am free of torment,” or develop a stock phrase you use when you are not programming your universe for something specific. For example, “I am safe, I am well, I am happy.” You will find you very quickly manage to think in affirmations which can only make you stronger.
6. Use them everywhere, in the shower, in the car, on your way to work, even during meditations. They are especially powerful in that half state between waking and sleeping.
7. Say them with your heart and mind. Take a deep breath and take it down into your chest. The universe knows when you are half-hearted. Sometimes believing you deserve whatever it is, is half the battle. Losing weight for example is often linked to low self esteem, often creating a 'shell' of comforting fat around you to shield you from the world. So if one of your affirmations is related to body image try something like, "I am the perfect shape for ME." It takes the burden off you and gives the universe the opportunity to make the perfect you.
8. Be prepared for the positive results although they don’t always come as you expect. Sometimes the things we wish for are not for our higher good, but something else is. Using affirmations regularly means you are opening yourself to possibilities. 
9. Using affirmations promotes a positive, helpful attitude to your life. You'll find your life improves automatically if your attitude changes.

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Getting started with affirmations:

Write a list of 10 things you would like to change in your life then think of 10 affirmations which would help. Write them down in a diary or journal. 

At first if you would prefer to weigh less than you do now your may write, “I must lose weight.” But note how this makes it a compulsion and if you don’t succeed it sets you up for a failure which gives you yet something else to hit yourself over the head with. Instead, your affirmation here might be, “I am the perfect weight.” And you are, remember that extra inches always indicate a comfort zone and when you are ready to lose it, you will.

Keep going if you can, add a few more every day until you have around 50 - you can make these into your own personal affirmation cards later on. 

Affirmation Cards

There are loads of affirmation cards available to buy online or you can make your own. These are simply little business-card-size cards with positive sayings or aspirations on them. The idea is you can pick one out at random and use that for your affirmation of the day. I talked about them earlier as a divination tool but they are just as useful as a self help tool. 

My affirmation cards

Making your own cards can be a powerful start-up tool for self help and self improvement. With a computer it is so easy to do. 

You can either just print out a long list of affirmations you have thought of for yourself, cut them into strips with a saying on each and put them in a basket.

Or - use a business card template to create more professional looking ones. 

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Tips on how to make affirmations for positive thinking and positive living even more powerful.

Once you start using affirmations regularly you probably know they work well provided they are for your higher good. Here is a wee trick just to reinforce your affirmations and make them even more powerful.

I try to take at least 20 minute exercise every day and since I don’t believe in the “no pain no gain” fraternity, that is either swimming or walking. I use this time to let my mind concentrate on any affirmations I might be working with – timing each short affirmation either to a stroke in swimming or to a pace in walking. 

For me, this type of exercise is really “moving meditation”, a chance to let the right side of my brain take control.  Essentially it gives me at least 20 minutes every day to convince the universe I really, REALLY mean it.

Please note I say SHORT affirmations – long complicated ones won’t work and lets face it, the universe much prefers you to keep it simple anyway – makes for much less confusion.

Over time I have found that with each affirmation I can reinforce it – Strengthen it – By introducing a mental image of me achieving the affirmations.

The affirmation:

·         I am slim – Constitutes an immediate image of a much thinner me.

·         I am trim – An image of a very flat stomach.

·         I am healthy – Well what would that mean to you? Running upstairs, having boundless energy? The instant image I have is of myself looking fresh, bright eyed with shining hair and rosy cheeks.

·         I am wealthy – What image would you like to see of yourself? For me it is opening envelopes with large cheques from publishers.

·         I am fulfilled – in my head I see myself working in my garden and growing my herbs.

I’m sure you get the idea. Don’t try to complicate it, life really can be simple. Enjoy.