Working with Affirmations

Affirmations are short, encouraging statements that can help create a more positive frame of mind. The word “affirm” means to validate or confirm. You can repeat affirmations to yourself as often as you’d like, such as while brushing your teeth, driving to work, or before you fall asleep.

Growing up in the 80s, 90s, and raising children in the 2000s, it wasn’t as easy to find affirmations or know how to use them. For many people, including myself, battling low self-esteem, teasing, bullying, self-isolation, and people pleasing was definitely not easy. I felt like I was put on a crazy ride with no direction or instructions on how to stop my head from spinning in circles. The narrative that played in my head was filled with judgment and ridicule, making me feel like I had lost my mind or that I was “stupid” for not knowing how to manage my life responsibly. Everything seemed so hard, and everyone else was making it look easy. I wished I had learned earlier in life that I could control the narrative to a much better story through affirmations and reinforcement.

Although affirmations existed back then, they were in different forms and harder to find. They were often spoken by elders who didn’t sugar-coat them, or on posters in guidance counselors’ offices, doctors’ offices, or when the internet became available to search for them. Nowadays, affirmations are more accessible and easier to find on social media or sent from caring friends who want to lift your day. These resources make it easier to find the right affirmations to help boost your day and put into practice every day. But at the beginning, it was hard to work them into my routine without these resources at the ready.

When I finally learned to work them into my routine, I saw immediate benefits in my overall mental health and energy levels. Affirmations are most effective when you treat them as if they are a person you look up to, with meaning behind them. It is the energy you put into those affirmations that you gain the ultimate benefit from. This builds up one’s mental psyche and can lift them to whatever they choose to become.

To figure out which affirmations to use, refer to the Shadow Works and triggers section. By figuring out what triggers you would like to get over and the shadows you are willing to face, determine which affirmation to use to best fit what you want to work on in the moment. (See Moon Therapy to learn how to implement affirmations into your schedule.)

For example, if you want to face a Shadow of not loving yourself the way you should be loved, you would look for affirmations of self-love and self-esteem boosting. When choosing resources online, read them out loud to your heart and find the one that speaks to you. Your intuition and heart will know the right message filled with love and gratitude for yourself. As RuPaul says, “If you don’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?”

Affirmations can manifest things in your life as well as raise your self-esteem. When you learn to meditate and clear your mind, you can center yourself around your higher self to find the best affirmation to use to best benefit yourself in your life’s goals. One of the ways I use affirmations for myself is when I am making my morning tea, I stir my cream and state, “Today, my day will be smooth and sweet!” Tap, tap, tap, “So Mote it Be!” It starts my day off on a higher vibration and has become a habit that i look forward to.

There are many moments in our day that we can use affirmations to boost our energy throughout the day, and when we pair them with Self-care moments, we can amplify our vibration and radiate positivity to others around us. By following our hearts and finding the right affirmations to suit our current needs, we can take control of our mental health and shape our own narratives. With the power of affirmations, we can manifest our dreams, increase our self-esteem, and live more fulfilling lives. It’s time to start spreading more love and positivity in the world, and it all starts with the affirmations we choose to repeat to ourselves every day.

In conclusion, affirmations are a powerful tool that can help transform negative thought patterns into positive ones. While affirmations may have been harder to come by in the past, today’s technology and social media make them easily accessible. By incorporating affirmations into your daily routine and using them to target specific triggers and shadow works, you can improve your mental health and self-esteem, manifest positive changes in your life, and spread positivity to those around you. Remember, it all starts with you and the energy you put into your affirmations. So, take some time to find the affirmations that speak to you and start using them to create a more positive and fulfilling life.