What’s The Hype With Affirmations?

“Affirmations” is a term used frequently in society. They are a tool used to promote self-love and health. They're the epitome of putting your thoughts into the universe to benefit you. It’s as simple as repeating something positive out loud. Let us give you the 411 on affirmations.

 

What are Affirmations?

“I am smart.” 

“I will have a good day.”

“I will get that promotion.”

“I am beautiful.” 

“I choose to be happy.”

All of these are examples of affirmations. They are positive thoughts that you can repeat out loud to yourself. 

Affirmations are commonly used to aid anxiety and boost self-confidence and love. The art of repeating these sentences to yourself daily is the key to affirmations.

 

Do Affirmations Actually Work?

Let’s talk about the brain. Obviously, we use our brains to come up with these affirmations. Our brain’s reward center is alerted and then activated when we practice the art of affirmations. 

The National Library of Science published a study that examined the “neural mechanisms of self-affirmation with a task developed for use in a functional magnetic resonance imaging environment.” 

The results showed that the participants who used affirmations saw increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex, aka the brain's self-processing functions. There was also an increase in the ventral striatum and ventral medial prefrontal cortex which falls back on the valuation functions in the brain. 

These fancy terms basically proved that affirmations were consistent with both sedentary behavior and physical activity. This means that when affirmations are made both in your head and physically spoken, the brain is affected accordingly. 

The response you will get when you develop affirmations is the same feeling you get when you win a prize or hear something positive directed at yourself. Your neural pathways light up and make you feel that pleasure. It only makes sense that constantly reassuring yourself with positive thoughts leads to less stress and an increase in energy and confidence. 

So let’s talk about how affirmations can actually manipulate the brain to your advantage. Think about the automatic actions you perform every day. Consider how it comes with no effort to brush your teeth or eat food. Your brain has created shortcuts in order to keep you alive.  

By repeating certain phrases, your brain will become more familiar with the purpose of the sentence. In general, repeating things aloud eventually changes your mindset. You will start to believe what you say when you repeat it enough times. 

We all have goals and hopes in life we wish to achieve. This is a simple task that can be completed that will help you to get to that step. At first, it may feel silly to say things out loud but over time you will start to see why so many people do it.

 

Who actually uses affirmations?

Think about some of the most influential people in society, celebrities. The people who have an immense amount of influence. Plenty of celebrities practice affirmations. 

Let us name a few:

1. Lizzo: The widely popular singer/rapper Lizzo, uses affirmations towards her body. She is well-known for being a plus-size person in the music industry. With this, she receives a lot of hate so to combat that she uses affirmations. Lizzo is a perfect example of finding that confidence in yourself and she does it very well. 
2. Ashley Graham: Another plus-size celebrity. Ashley Graham is a stunning model who has also had to face the trials of ridicule when it comes to weight. Ashley uses the affirmations, “I am bold, I am brilliant, I am beautiful.” 
3. Michelle Obama: Even the former first lady of the United States uses affirmations. Michelle Obama’s reputation proceeds her as being a wise and well-spoken individual. She is loved by millions. She uses the affirmation, “Am I good enough? Yes, I am.” 
4. Maya Angelou: Maya Angelou was a brilliant poet, author, and civil rights activist. She used the amazing affirmation, “Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.”

Now, of course, you do not need to be a celebrity to say affirmations. This is just proof that even the most successful believe in the power of affirmations. Many have even attributed their success to it. This comes as no surprise because as we stated if you say it enough, you will start to believe it.

 

So where do I start?

If you would like to start adding daily affirmations to your schedule, we promise it will come as a great benefit. 

Take some time to yourself. Consider your dreams and what you want in life. What will it take to get you there? What can you say to yourself that may give you that extra push to make the moves to get it done? 

Let’s say, for example, you want to increase your self-love or confidence. As they say, you cannot love anyone before you love yourself. This is a great affirmation to start with. Truly, if you believe in yourself then you will not need the approval of anyone else. 

So let’s get started. Stand up and go to your mirror. Stand in front of yourself and admire your features. Even if you aren’t totally in love with what you see, just admire yourself. 

Now think of what you could say that would make you feel confident and happy. If you cannot, we have listed for you a few you could use.

 

Self-Love Affirmations

1. I deserve happiness and joy.
2. I deserve a peaceful and loving life. 
3. I am beautiful.
4. I am releasing all negative emotions from my system.
5. I surround myself with peace and pleasant emotions.
6. I am reclaiming my power. 
7. I am worthy of love.
8. I am in control of my life. 
9. I am calm and at ease.
10. I am a positive person and I attract positive things into my life.

Notice how all of these are in the present tense. This is crucial for affirmations. Using affirmations in the present will convince your brain that you are already feeling all of these things. 

You have to imagine that these affirmations are already happening. In time, they will. We will list for you now more affirmations for different situations. Of course, you can come up with your own but having a little help, in the beginning, does not hurt anyone.

 

Affirmations for Anxiety

Everyone gets anxious. Not everyone in the world wakes up every day feeling confident. Due to this, we have provided this list of affirmations for you to use if needed. Notice when you start to truly believe, that there will be a physical change in the body. 

Make sure to control your breathing. Doing breathing exercises while performing your affirmations is an amazing way to help with anxiety attacks. 

1. I am safe in this very moment. 
2. I am becoming stronger every second. 
3. I am safe and in control.
4. I am gradually opening up to feel inner peace. 
5. I trust the process in life.
6. My body is calm. 
7. I believe in my ability to get through tough times. 
8. I am healing.
9. I am worthy of good things.
10. I am stronger than I think I am.

 

Affirmations for Success

A very popular kind of affirmation. Who doesn’t want to be successful? As we showed you already, plenty of very successful people use affirmations. This makes sense considering repeating something over and over will more likely have you take action to achieve what you want. 

The more you say it the more you will believe it. So consider taking some of these affirmations to implement into your schedule.

1. I am succeeding in life. 
2. I know I can achieve anything I want in life. 
3. I know a positive attitude can bring me success.
4. I am full of vitality. My confidence, positive attitude and self-belief are my biggest assets to take me a step closer to my success. 
5. I am happy with who I am and who I can be.
6. I am worthy enough to follow my dreams and manifest my desires. 
7. I am the architect of my fate. I can achieve what I have dreamt for myself. 
8. I am capable of attracting daily abundance.
9. I am my best source of motivation.
10. I am capable of achieving greatness.

 

Affirmations for Confidence

Confidence affects everything. If you don’t feel confident you may not feel secure enough to make the moves you need to help yourself. You may not care to take care of your health. Confidence is key to a lot of things. 

Take a few of these confidence affirmations.

1. I radiate confidence.
2. I love myself unconditionally. 
3. I am a strong and powerful person.
4. Every day I am becoming a better version of myself.
5. Every day my confidence is growing.
6. I have complete confidence in myself and my path. 
7. Confidence comes naturally to me.
8. I am clear and confident in my personal choices.
9. I face challenging situations with confidence, courage and conviction.
10. I am confident in my unique gifts and talents and I share them proudly with the world.

 

Affirmations for Happiness

Who doesn’t love to be happy? Exactly. There really is no better mood to be in. Repeat some of these affirmations to aid in your journey of being the most joyful you can be. 

Happiness is contagious, the more you promote this kind of thinking, the happier those around you will be. 

1. I am worthy of feeling happy.
2. I create my happiness by accepting every part of myself with unconditional love.
3. Joy is the essence of my being.
4. I see so many positives in my life.
5. My happiness comes from within me.
6. The happiness I feel is felt by everyone around me.
7. I am meant to live a happy life.
8. I feel happy with myself as a person.
9. All the good in my life comes to me as a result of my willingness to find happiness in each moment. 
10. I experience joy in everything I do.

 

How should I go about repeating my affirmations?

After you’ve chosen the affirmations you most align with. It is time to put them to practice. We mentioned speaking them aloud, but they can also be written and read. 

The key is repetition. Hearing or writing them often will eventually convince your subconscious to pay attention and the process will take root. 

Always use positive expressions. Affirmations are used to better yourself. Do not speak or write them with uncertainty, this will inhibit the process of convincing yourself. 

For example, do not say something like “I am not dumb, I am smart.” Just say, “I am smart.” 

Picturing what you want, or who you want to be is another great addition to add to your affirmations. This will bring manifestation into play. This may be the trigger of motivation you need to achieve what you desire.  

You may feel this sudden burst of happiness or clarity when you picture yourself doing your dream job, or being the happiest you can be. 

It is normal to feel a little silly while repeating these things to yourself at first. This will lessen in time considering you will start to see your affirmations affect your real life. Get past your inner judgment to make yourself feel great.

 

Let’s put these affirmations to good use

There really is no downside to putting affirmations in your life. It causes your brain to consider all of the goodness of life. The fact that we are able to manipulate the way we think and then put it to our daily lives is, in itself, incredible. Considering we all have the power to be the most confident and happy people we can be, why wait? Grab a notebook and a pen and start coming up with some ideas. Here at Una Biologicals, we have plenty of resources to bring you a sense of serenity as you do so. Be sure to check out our website for more resources for your self-love journey.