I like a good affirmation, really I do. Often when no one is home I blast them through my house, probably making my neighbours wonder about me on more than a few occasions. I think affirmations can be incredibly powerful - but there is a nasty side of them that I’d like to talk about.
Say an ‘I am’ affirmation for yourself right now. Just grab one out of your brain and say it out loud to yourself. Don’t think about it, just say one out loud, right. now. If I don’t think about it and just blurt something out I’d probably say something like “I am very productive” want to know why I just said that particular affirmation? Because I’m not feeling particularly productive today. And maybe you picked out an affirmation like I did, something that is the opposite to how you are currently feeling.
Danger!
When we embrace an affirmation that comes with doubt (as in I am saying that I am very productive when I am in fact feeling anything but) I am actually re-affirming my negative feelings!
Never thought about it that way? Neither had I. Until one day I really paused to pay attention to how my affirmations felt. And to be honest, they didn’t really feel all that great. When we think of affirmations, we tend to think about positivity and empowerment, but as I repeated my mantra over and over I realized that it was coming from a place of lack. I wanted to be more productive but was feeling crummy about my own productivity level. And so basically, I was just giving myself a hard time by repeating something over and over again that was really coming from a negative place.
So I started to flip the script.
Instead of focusing on my affirmations trying to make me into something I wasn’t currently, I started trying to focus on the abundance I have within me already! Beautiful things started to happen when I focused on affirmations that encouraged, spoke to and nurtured that which I already loved about myself.
For example, “I am very productive” became “I am prioritizing my needs today’ And you know what? this simple affirmation shifted me from beating myself up over what I wasn’t, to encouraging a truth I could really get behind. I prioritized my own needs for the better part of the morning - I soaked up some beautiful meditation, took care of the laundry that had piled up and dug into a good book. I was recharged. I felt good. and you know what? I was also incredibly, amazingly, wonderfully productive.
Make sure your affirmations are actually nourishing you and supporting you, not coming from a place of lack! A simple way to figure out if it’s in fact coming from a beneficial place is to ask “Is this affirmation in opposition to how I truly feel about myself?” Pay attention to how your heart and body responds to this question. Spend a few minutes with it. Is this affirmation coming from a place of lack or abundance? Is it encouraging? At Wellness on the Farm, we’re into affirmations that nourish and support us!
Here are a few affirmations we really love, see if any of them speak to you!
I find creative solutions to problems I encounter
I am finding peace more often
I am getting healthier
Every day I become more empowered
I am learning about myself more every day
I am learning to exercise boundaries going forward
I am focused on my heart today
I am prioritizing that which is important to me today.
I am approaching all those around me with more empathy and understanding today
We’d love to know your thoughts on this topic - leave us a comment below :)
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