Affirming Your Life; Let Your Thoughts Guide You to Peace Through the Power of Affirmations
My heart remains open in all circumstances.
I am supported, I am loved, I am loving.
I am filled with joy!
I appreciate and love my body.
I am abundant and prosperous.
I claim my voice and my vision.
I fearlessly stand in my power.
My life is a unique expression of Divine Light.
I am grounded and at ease in the present moment.
I am content with myself and the world.
I am whole and free.
How do you feel after reading those words? Pause a moment and just notice. There is either a felt sense of contraction and resistance, a sense of openness and peace, or perhaps even something in between. What does this tell you? It points to a recognition that words have power and affect your mind, emotions, and body.
Thinking Counts
I have noticed a lot of blogs published recently about the power of thought and how you can use your thoughts for good or bad. Another way of saying it is this.
Your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy. It is all a matter of how you use it!
The question may now remain, “How do I make my mind my best friend?” The simple answer is to stop letting it push you around, do not believe everything it tells you, and recognize you are not your thoughts; they are only there to help you interpret and navigate the world.
You are the one who determines if you are going to focus on all the thoughts and then what you are going to do with them, believe them, or release them.
Simple right? In truth, yes, very simple. You are the boss, and it is up to you when you take that power back. Yet, I understand that many of us grew up in a world where we were told what to believe and how to act by our caretakers, teachers, culture, religion, and societal beliefs. But you are an adult now, and it's time to investigate what you have been told from these external sources that your internal mental environment now parrots.
You do not have to believe every thought that passes through!
And you do not have to get rid of them either. But you can learn to free yourself from unhelpful thoughts. Recently, I wrote a blog about using Intention to release unsupportive thinking patterns held in your subconscious mind. When you release these patterns, you free yourself to replace them with something healthy and more representative of what you recognize about yourself. That is your affirmation.
If your cup is filled with muddy water, there is no space to fill it with the drink of your choice. You must empty out the mud first. The affirmations I began this blog with came to me as a result of emptying my subconscious of unhealthy thinking patterns. Once I released those patterns, I could recognize what waited silently behind them.
You do not have to silence your mind; it serves a great purpose if you use it that way. It offers you a way to communicate with yourself and the world. The question is, what are you communicating? Love or fear?
You have reinforced either a clear and healthy mind willing to follow your lead or an untamed mind that runs away from you and doesn’t listen to your requests. Studies have shown that approximately 95% of your thoughts are repetitive, meaning they are the same thinking patterns popping up in different ways again and again. And 70% of those thoughts are negative. That is a mind that acts as your worst enemy!
You can change that narrative and train your mind to be open and free, just like you train a puppy to sit, stay, fetch, come, and lay down. It takes reinforcement. Affirmations can be that reinforcement. But you have to do the work it takes to uncover your affirmation before you actually believe it.
What I mean by that is you can say to yourself repeatedly, “I am happy and healthy.” But if you do not feel that way, there is an underlying cause that will be a more powerful gravitational pull than the affirmation. That is why I suggest you use Intention first to clear away what you believe is causing you to be unhappy and unhealthy. The clearing frees you to live in the answer, which is your affirmation.
Numerous voices out there encourage a more enlightened view of oneself and the world. If you read the words and take them to be true without investigating them in your own experience, they are as useless as a poetic description of quenching thirst is to a physically thirsty person without water.
YES, be inspired by the words, so inspired that you check them out for yourself, contemplate and experiment with them so much that you recognize their inspiring truth for yourself!
This is why most of my blogs point to specific tools and techniques. Words inspire actions you can take to recognize and embody what you discover about yourself through the author's words.
Once you have released enough that you have some breathing room in there, you can start steadily resting in the present moment. Then you just let the unhealthy thoughts pass through like a cloud effortlessly passes through the sky and recognize you are the clear sky, not the clouds. Without the clouds, you may not notice the sky, just as a fish does not know it is in water. Let the thoughts guide you to resting peacefully as the sky itself.
Use your affirmations to reinforce and reflect your perfection, not your seeming faults. Your thoughts only have the power you give them. And what’s wrong with this, whatever this may be until you think it is wrong?
Empty your cup and let it be filled with light instead of darkness. As you reinforce this light, it becomes more and more natural to rest in it, even when dark thoughts arise again. You can see them for what they are: temporary opinions based on your past interpretations of yourself and the world. This way, you are empowered to use the thoughts that serve you when you need them and release the ones that do not.
How to use an Affirmation
Once you have received your affirmation, here are some tips on using it.
Morning and Night: When you state your affirmation before you sleep, you leverage your subconscious to explore it all night while you dream. Then, when you repeat it when you wake up before following any additional streams of thought, you are setting the direction for your day to align with your affirmation.
Throughout Your Day: Repeat your affirmation as many times throughout the day as you can. Just as it takes repetition of a specific movement to strengthen a muscle, it takes repetition of your affirmation to strengthen its effects on your life.
Sticky Notes or Mirror: Some people will write their affirmation on sticky notes and put it where they will see it so they remember to repeat it throughout their day. Put it on your office computer, bulletin board, kitchen cabinet, in the car, etc.… I purchased markers to write my affirmations on my bathroom mirror, so I would see them every time I entered.
When Doing Routine Activities: Make it a habit of repeating your affirmation by pairing it with repeat activities like brushing your teeth, making a cup of tea, stopping at a red light, and before and after your workout routine.
·With Therapeutic Techniques: Numerous therapeutic processes for the mind, emotions, and body are enhanced through intention and affirmation. Let what you discover about yourself in the process be your affirmation.
As much as I appreciate a heart and a clap for these words, what would inspire me more is to hear how you have applied them in your own life. What process have you used to release unhealthy thoughts so you can affirm the light within you? What are those affirmations? How have they helped you use your mind as your friend instead of your enemy?
You, and you alone, have the power to shift your life. No one else can do that for you as much as many of us would like to try. Step up, stand tall, and BE what you were born to BE.
In Loving Service,
Heather Indu Arena
Thank you for reading! You are what inspires me to write. Please like this post and members, login, and leave a comment to offer your voice and support my mission of getting inspirational and educational materials out to the world. I hope my words uplift your spirit while offering you tools and techniques to help you soar. I unapologetically incorporate links to my many transformational programs and services so you know you have support in applying what you read to your own life.
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Words for the Soul
Words of inspiration and contemplation to help you feel alive and fulfilled physically, mentally, emotionally, & spiritually. Be inspired, and your soul will sing joyfully!
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