What are the benefits of daily affirmations?
Every minute of every day, your body is physically changing in response to the thoughts that run through your head. Just thinking about something causes your brain to send signals and release neurotransmitters. These chemicals control virtually all of your body’s functions, including your mood and feelings. Over time and with repetition, via neuroplasticity, it’s been proven that thought changes your brain cells and even your genes. Scientists have even discovered cells from your brain in other parts of your body.
Thoughts affect the way we move our bodies and how we react and respond in situations. Over a twenty four hour period we can process up to 70,000 thoughts and this continues even as we sleep. Each day contains 86,400 seconds so that equates to a different thought every 1.2 seconds or two thoughts for every heartbeat. Basically the brain never shuts up! Just like a computer, your brain can fill up with junk and for some reason this junk takes up more memory and space than the important stuff. If your memory is full of junk it becomes difficult to concentrate.
The brain's function is one of survival, therefore the brain will think more negative thoughts than positive when scanning its environment for danger, this can lead to viewing situations and comments in a negative way. This kind of thinking can lead to stress, burn out, anxiety and depression. There is a simple solution that can make you calmer, more focused, more present and happier.
It costs nothing all you have to do is;
Think about feelings or a situation that you would like to change to a positive outcome
Choose a sentence or a few words that are positive to support and encourage you
Set the intention or affirmation making images in your mind to influence your words
Set a reminder to repeat and visualize them throughout everyday
Many people don’t believe that positive affirmation works, but if you think about it, when we are trying to become better at something we don’t usually get it right straight away, we have to repeat and refine the skill. Affirmations work the same way but for the mind, they help reprogram our thinking patterns to serve us in a more positive way and when we attach a visual image to the words we say to ourselves it leaves an imprint in our memory and associates that image with those words making it easier for the brain to recall.
There are several benefits to affirmations, which include;
Their ability to motivate you to act,
Boost your desire to continue your actions,
enhance brain function
Helps you to reduce stress
Help you concentrate on your goals
Influence your thought patterns behavioural habits
Improve your mood and health
Boost your self confidence
Improve your chances of a better outcome
Can help you quit a bad habit
It can be difficult to keep up the challenge of daily thoughts and words that encourage and motivate us, to keep up the practice you can start by looking for Apps or purchasing some affirmation cards to train your brain into thinking more positively, you can’t control what has happened in the past but you can begin to change what is happening in the present moment and influence your future.
Here are some suggested affirmations that you can personalise to get you started
I am good at what I do
I am kind to others
I am worthy of love
I look for the good in all things
I am successful in everything I do