MEDITATION WITH AFFIRMATIONS
If you have ever been to a yoga class, you've probably heard of creating an affirmation for your practice. For many new meditators, creating an affirmation and using that affirmation can be extremely confusing and feel unrewarding. If this is your experience with affirmations, you are not alone.
What are affirmations?
Affirmations are sentences that we say to ourselves or others in order to create a conscious and subconscious mind that affects our behavior, thinking, habits, and environment.
As we repeat these affirmations to ourselves, the ideas and associated images with that affirmation become engraved in our conscious and subconscious mind. As a result, the affirmation changes our behavior, habits, actions, and reactions in accordance with the affirmation.
Here are some popular affirmations:
Benefits of meditation with affirmations
Meditating with affirmations results in a number of benefits for your body and mind.
One benefit of meditating with affirmations is that they motivate you to accomplish your goal. The reason that they motivate you is that they give you a clear idea of what you want, and they allow your mind to stay focused on that goal.
Another benefit of meditating with affirmations is that they change the way you think and behave. The affirmations themselves are not powerful or magical, but your recitation allows them to affect the way you think. As a result, you are more likely to do things that result in the accomplishment of your goal.
Finally, meditating with affirmations makes you feel better. Saying positive things to yourself increases your self-worth, self-image, and outlook on the world. As a result, you will feel more positive, energetic, and optimistic about yourself and your life.
How to create affirmations
If you have never tried meditating with an affirmation before, you may be wondering how to pick out an affirmation. Affirmations are easy to make because you can either find them on the Internet or use your own feelings to create your own.
If you want to test drive affirmations, you can look online for affirmation ideas. Simply type "affirmation ideas" into your search engine, and you'll find countless of affirmations for you to try out.
If you want, you can even try to create your own affirmations. It may feel awkward at first, but creating your own affirmations ensures that they match what you want out of your life and are personal to your needs and desires.
To create your own affirmations, begin by thinking about what you need in your life. You may want to practice observation meditation in order to understand the way you feel and the things you want out of life.
You may also want to make a vision board. A vision board is a physical poster board, paper, or Pinterest board that represents all your goals and wishes for the near future.
For your affirmations, you should focus on mid- to long-term goals. Monthly goals are the perfect goal lengths because they allow enough time for the affirmation to work while still being soon enough that you see a light at the end of the tunnel.
Once you have a clear idea of where you're at in life and what you want out of it, you can start to form your own affirmations. You will want the affirmations to be tailored to your exact needs.
For example, if you are struggling to make ends meet, your affirmation may be, "I am smart and capable of providing for myself and my loved ones."
This affirmation speaks to the described scenario while giving it a positive spin.
When you are creating your affirmation, you want it to be focused and not too wordy. If it is not focused, the affirmation will not be as effective because your mind will be clouded with its many parts. The same goes if the sentence is wordy; it will be hard to remember.
Once you have your affirmations, you can begin to meditate with them.
How to meditate with affirmations
Meditating with affirmations is relatively easy. The key is that you are consistent with your affirmations. Reciting your affirmations inconsistently will not result in the end products you want.
If you are new to affirmations, you can begin by sprinkling them into your daily routine. It is best to say your affirmations twice a day. Say your first affirmation as soon as you wake up in the morning. Saying your first affirmation will set the day on a right note and motivate you to accomplish your tasks for the day.
Many people find remembering to say their morning affirmation Difficult when they first start out. In order to remember to say your affirmation, you can either put a sticky note on your mirror or set your alarm title on your phone as the affirmation.
Your second affirmation should be said right before you go to bed. Saying your affirmation before sleep helps you rest your mind so that way you can sleep more soundly and not have as disruptive dreams.
Once you get in the groove of saying your affirmations morning and night, you should also incorporate intentional meditation affirmation practices into your day. Start by having a 5-minute session. During the session, say all of your affirmations at least 10 times in a slow, relaxing, and confident voice.
As you say your affirmations, attempt to imagine them coming true. This creates a vision in your head of what you want this affirmation to look like in practice. Doing this will keep your mind focused as well as create focused images of your affirmations.