Affirmations

This is the second post in our series 12 ways to change your life. Today we are talking about the power of Affirmations.

Begin the practice of repeating affirmations. Practice it in the morning midday and in the evening just before bed. Say it out loud or if you are unable to say it out loud write it out several times so it becomes concrete. Connect your emotions to the words and it will help to solidify the belief.

In their book ‘Words Can Change Your Brain’ Andrew Newberg, M.D. and Mark Robert Waldman, explain that “a single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress.” They state that, positive words can alter our genes, strengthen our brains and improve cognitive function. Conversely, one negative word can cause the amygdale, that part of the brain responsible for fear, to increase its activity, releasing stress hormones and neurotransmitters that interfere with the functioning of our brain. Imagine now the impact of repeating positive words of affirmation.  A recent report in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience provided scientific evidence in support of the effectiveness of repeating affirmations. With the use of magnetic resonance imaging they were able to show that participants who practiced affirmations (when compared with participants who didn’t) demonstrated increased activity in the particular regions of the brain responsible for the brain’s self processing and self valuation systems and went on to predict changes in future behaviours for these participants.

Write out your own affirmations.

The simple act of writing with paper and ink seems to be turning into a lost art form. These days when you hear someone refer to writing something down they are very likely referring to typing it into a word processor or into the Notes app on their mobile device. However the act of writing is one that should be taken more seriously and appreciated. In 2014 the Association of Psychological Science presented research results from psychological scientists, Pam Mueller of Princeton and Daniel Oppenheimer of UCLA. The research results showed that students who took pen and paper notes long hand notes, surprisingly remembered far more than students who used a laptop to take their notes even though they took far more notes than those with pen and paper.

Dr. Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at the Dominican University in California, discovered that an individual is likely to be 42% more likely to achieve their goals and dreams, simply by writing them down regularly. How does this happen? In our brain is a left hemisphere responsible for our more rational actions, and a right hemisphere which is imaginative. They are connected to each other by neural fibres called the corpus callosm which helps them communicate signals to each other. These same signals are communicated to the rest of the body, to our consciousness, and alters our thoughts. Solely thinking and dreaming about what you would like, only engages the right hemisphere of the brain. However if you dream and also write it down it engages both the right and left hemisphere of the brain. Signals are then sent throughout your body and your consciousness, communicating exactly what you want. It ignites your subconscious, allowing you the very amazing ability to spot dream-achieving opportunities you wouldn’t otherwise have seen. Isn’t that just brilliant?

So why not find out how to write affirmations that work and get writing.