Why affirmations?
According to psychiatrist and author,
Dr.
Walter E.
Jacobson,
What we believe about ourselves at a subconscious level can have a significant impact on the outcome of future events in our lives.
In other words,
A belief like,
I suck at bowling can actually predict whether or not you're able to knock down any pins.
Affirmations neutralize this negative pattern of thinking.
And by focusing on the positive,
Either by repeating statements or writing them down,
You can train your brain out of a toxic and limiting mindset.
Refocusing your thoughts this way can have some pretty magical results.
And science backs up this magic.
Let's take a look at some studies done in recent years.
In one research study,
Women aged 18 to 24 were divided into an experimental group and a control group.
The experimental group used cognitive behavioral intervention methods over a long-term period.
These methods included stopping negative thoughts and using positive affirmations in their daily lives.
The results showed that the individuals in the intervention group experienced higher self-esteem and a decrease in depressive symptoms and negative thinking.
Self-affirmation techniques have also been shown to reduce the effects of performance anxiety for test takers.
In 2013,
80 undergraduate students were divided into a control group and an experimental group.
The experimental group was directed to use self-affirmation techniques before taking a timed test in front of an evaluator,
Usually a high-stress situation.
Their results showed that using self-affirmations technique in this situation acts as a stress buffer.
Individuals in the control group who didn't use affirmations performed less favorably than the experimental group,
Who used self-affirmations during their tests.
The studies performed on affirmations have backed up what scientists learned back in the 1920s that negative thoughts and limiting beliefs can seriously throw us off our game.
Stopping those self-deprecating invasive thoughts and replacing them with more positive confidence-building affirmation goes a long way towards success.
In fact,
By stating affirmations,
Chronically stressed people can protect themselves from an onslaught of overly anxious thoughts,
Thoughts that would otherwise sabotage them.
Practicing affirmations even rewires our brains over time.
The women in the first study saw long-term success when they kept up the affirmations while the practice continued to help decrease their depression symptoms.
If you've struggled through any kind of mental health issue,
You know what kind of physical toll that can take on you.
That's why affirmations are such a powerful tool.
They can help you get your life back.
A really interesting process goes on in our brains when we start using affirmations.
Scientists have started looking at those brain mechanics and they found through functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI,
That self-affirmation lights up the reward centers of our brains.
The same parts of the brain that react to winning an award or eating dessert get activated when we self-affirm.
The science shows that self-affirmation also increases activity areas of the brain that are connected to self-related processing.
When we think and process positive thoughts,
These thoughts can act as protection against painful or negative information we might be getting.
Affirmations are a great buffer against potentially harmful or scary stimuli that we might encounter.
Because affirmations are so powerful,
They should be approached with care.
In fact,
Some types of affirmations can have a detrimental effect on you.
Think about this,
Do you use or have affirmations have you used affirmations?
