An affirmation is:

A positively phrased statement to yourself. Phrased in the present tense. Simple and short.

A statement that starts with the word ‘I’ ‘My’ …

Examples:

I am becoming more and more confident in myself.

I am choosing healthy food that makes me feel good.

I love and appreciate myself.

The practice of doing affirmations allows you to begin replacing some of your stale, worn-out or negative mind chatter with more positive ideas and concepts. It is a powerful technique, one that can in a short time completely transform your attitudes and expectations about life, and thereby totally change what you experience.

Traditionally, an affirmation is a positive statement to oneself. However, simply saying the statement to oneself while feeling quite the opposite of what is being said produces an incongruent state that sometimes can be less than helpful. In order for an affirmation to be useful, it needs to be embodied as if it were happening now. In this way you are actually creating (although temporarily) a congruent and evocative experience of the change that you want. By repeatedly accessing the words, emotions and physical state you begin to learn this way of being.

Seeking to verify the truth of this statement in our day-to-day life can also help this statement become a deep-seated belief.

How to use an Affirmation

1. Take some time to settle down and relax.
2. Allow your eyes to close.
3. Say the affirmation to yourself out loud and continue to repeat it several more times.
4. As you continue to say the affirmation, start to imagine that it is already true.
5. Imagine it as if it were happening now.
6. Imagine the feelings and emotions that you will be experiencing.
7. Imagine how your body will be feeling and moving.
8. Where possible, physically perform the movement or adopt the posture.
9. Let yourself fully embody this statement in every way.