If you are anything like me, self-affirmations might seem uncomfortable or awkward. Quite honestly, I sometimes think of self-affirmations as wishful thinking. I mean, why say something that you don’t believe to be true at the time? For example, why say “I am beautiful” when, in fact, you feel anything but beautiful? Yet, self-affirmation is just that – saying what you want to be true even when you do not feel like it is indeed true. So, are self-affirmations effective? Are there any benefits to talking positively to yourself? Well, it turns out that self-affirmations are not just woo-woo or magic and that there is some science to the madness!
What are self-affirmations?
Self-affirmations are positive statements that motivate and challenge you while reminding you of your core values and aspirations. Repeating these positive statements to yourself has the power to change your emotions, attitudes, and actions into more positive ones.
We all have negative thoughts and emotions sometimes. Dwelling on negative emotions can cause you to feel sad, hopeless, and in despair. Self-affirmations are a powerful tool to combat these negative thoughts and bring positivity back into your life.
The science behind self-affirmations
There is MRI evidence that practicing self-affirmations activates the reward centers in your brain. The brain’s reward centers respond to pleasurable experiences such as eating a nice-tasting meal or having great sex. When we engage in these enjoyable activities, the brain responds by releasing more dopamine, the main neurotransmitter associated with rewards and pleasure. Ultimately, repeatedly activating the brain’s reward centers makes you happier and more positive.
How can you use self-affirmations?
You can use self-affirmations in any situation where you desire a positive outcome. For example, you can use them to:
1) Help you live and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
2) Boost your confidence and self-esteem.
3) Reduce or eliminate feelings of anxiety, despair, hopelessness, anger, and impatience.
4) Motivate and challenge yourself to keep going.
5) Increase your productivity.
6) Reduce your stress level.
7) Quit a bad habit.
When and how should you practice self-affirmations?
You can practice self-affirmations how often you want and at a time that is convenient for you. However, to be truly effective, you should practice self-affirmations daily. For best results, repeat them about 3 to 5 times daily. The more you say the words, the more you believe them and the more optimistic you become. Self-affirmations can be a part of your meditation. During meditation, you can practice your self-affirmations and meditate on the words. That means you can obtain the dual benefits of meditation and self-affirmations. For more on meditation and its benefits, check out “13 ways meditation can improve your health.”
In addition, many experts recommend practicing your self-affirmations in the mornings. By doing so, you set your expectations for the day and start your day on a positive note. Furthermore, try practicing self-affirmations in front of the mirror because this helps you get more comfortable with yourself as the mirror reflects your feelings about yourself. Finally, you can write your self-affirmations down in a journal as you practice them to make them even more powerful and effective.
What exactly should you say in your self-affirmations?
What you decide to focus on in your self-affirmations is dependent on you and your needs and goals. We all struggle in different areas, and what works for one person may not always work for the next. For example, if you are already self-confident but struggle with maintaining a healthy lifestyle, it makes more sense to focus on self-affirmations to improve your lifestyle. So, rather than saying, “I am confident and capable at what I do,” it would be more relevant for you to repeat, “I maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle.”
Most importantly, your self-affirmations must align with your core values. Repeating something you do not believe or value would be pointless. For example, a lady was going through grief counseling, and her therapist gave her some self-affirmations to practice. One was, “I set health goals because I can achieve them.” She repeated this self-affirmation until she realized it did not gel with her. At that point in her life, she was not concerned about her health goals. All she wanted was how to cope with her grief and move on with her life. That self-affirmation about her health goals may work perfectly for her in the future, but it was not of value to her then.
Can self-affirmations improve your health and wellbeing?
Self-affirmations can make you more open to behavior changes that promote your health and wellbeing. For example, in smokers, self-affirmations can increase the motivation to quit smoking.
Self-affirmations can also help you stick to your medical recommendations and treatments.
Additionally, one study suggests that cancer survivors who practiced self-affirmation had better health results.
Sample self-affirmations for health and wellbeing
If you desire to live an active and healthy lifestyle, here are a few self-affirmations that you might find helpful:
1) Every day is a new chance to make healthy choices.
2) I am worthy of good health, and I deserve good health.
3) My body was created for movement, and exercise comes easy to me.
4) I am well in mind, body, and spirit.
5) I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and my body can do amazing things.
6) Each day, I am growing stronger.
7) I eat healthy foods that nourish my body.
8) I treat my body with a lot of love, respect, and kindness.
9) My body is the only one I have, and I will take care of it.
10) I exercise to honor and cherish my body’s strength.
Final thoughts
Quick question, who is the greatest boxer of all time?
If you said Muhammad Ali, it might be because he told himself and the whole world that he is indeed the greatest. Muhammad Ali once said, “I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.” Feel free to check for yourself whether he is the greatest or not!
Now, let’s view this self-affirmation thing with a more spiritual lens.
Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body (Proverbs 16:24, NLT).
In other words, speaking kindly and positively to yourself nourishes your spirit and makes your body healthier.
The tongue can bring death or life; (Proverbs 18:21, NLT).
Basically, we can decide to speak negatively to our detriment or positively to our favor. Everyone practices self-talk! We all have internal conversations within ourselves, even if we don’t stand in front of the mirror daily to practice self-affirmations. Practicing self-self-affirmations is only a way to consciously address our negative thoughts and turn them into positive ones.
So, what is your choice going to be? What are you saying to yourself today?
Please feel free to leave your comments below and share this article.
Yours in health and fitness,
Doctor Abi
