Heart, Mind

How and Why Affirmations are Helpful

For nearly 2 years I’ve been loosely following the miracle morning routine of SAVERS.  This stands for Silence, Affirmations, Visualisation, Exercise, Reading, Scribing.  Some parts I focus on more than others.  When I first heard about the idea of affirmations, I wasn’t sure if it would work.  However, I have embraced it and find it helpful.  This post will look at what affirmations are, why you should use affirmations and how you can use them for yourself or with others, especially your children.

body with lots of affirmations all over it

My Affirmations Story

I’ve known about affirmations for a long time.  However, it was when I was doing the Spark Effect Academy that I looked into it a bit more.  I read The Miracle Morning routine and Your Dream Life Starts Here, which both teach about affirmations.  Jess, the facilitator of the Spark Effect Academy sent me a packet of affirmation cards.  So, I began pulling out one per week and using it as my affirmation for the week.  Saying it aloud each morning.  I would keep using ones that resonated with me.  There was also blank cards in this set and one day after reading a blog post and because of what I was reading at the time I wrote my own affirmation:

“I can be who I am without fear because I’m made in the image of God.”

Then I read The Right to Write and The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and completed many of the exercises suggested in those books.  There are some affirmations in there that I’ve taken on board and now regularly use.  This also led me to more consistently write morning pages each morning, the scribing part of SAVERS for me.  Somewhere along the line I started writing affirmations at the end of these pages each day.  I now usually write pretty much the same affirmations each day at the end of my morning pages.  My first one is usually “My dreams come from God and God has the power to accomplish them.”  This year I’ve added “I am enough” which fits with my One Word for 2022.  So, I’ve inserted the affirmations part of savers into the scribe part.

Sample of affirmation cards with affirmations on my morning pages
Affirmation Cards on my morning pages

What are Affirmations?

Affirmations are positive statements that you say out loud or write down to affirm who you are, your self-worth and your value, or affirm who you are becoming.

It’s kind of like warm fuzzy’s but for yourself.  Did you ever go on a camp where everyone had an envelope and you write anonymous positive, encouraging messages to place in other people’s envelopes?  That’s warm fuzzy’s.  They were so powerful and I still have mine from over the years. 

Affirmations in this sense is saying positive statements about yourself to help you be the best that you can be.

Sign in  a field that says "think positive"

Why Use Affirmations?

We all have the inner critic inside of us, that voice that tells us how bad we are, particularly if we make a mistake or forget to do something.  We hear and take on board the criticisms that are said to us more than we hear the praise or positives that people might say or believe about us.  You need 10 positive statements to counter each negative statement.  Affirmations help us believe what is true and good about ourselves or who we are becoming or would like to be.  What you hear constantly you believe.  If you believe you can, you can; if you believe you can’t you often can’t.

Ways you can use affirmations

For Yourself

  • Choose when you want to use affirmations – daily in the morning or evening, weekly etc.
  • Choose how you want to use affirmations – say them out loud, write them each time, record them to play whilst doing something else.
  • Print them out to display somewhere where you see them regularly
  • An affirmation for parenting, for work, or self-improvement etc.  For example if starting to run as a form of exercise – “I am a runner” would be a good one, to become what you want.

For Others, especially children

In many ways the speech I gave at my son’s 21st was an affirmation of what we see in him and encouraging him to continue to use those positive characteristics.  What positive traits do you see in your children no matter how old or young they are, or what characteristics would you like your children to develop?  Use these things to build affirmations for those you want to encourage.  Say them regularly, encourage them to say them to themselves as well.  If you children are old enough you can talk to them about the positive benefits of affirmation and work out some to use together.

If you see your child being down on themselves about a particular area, help them to see what you believe about them.  For example, if they drop something and say something like “I can’t do anything right.”  Help them see that we all make mistakes but affirm them by saying “You are a capable person who is growing and learning to do many things.”  Also talk about specific things you have seen them doing right, for example, they may have done a chore without being asked or helped their younger sibling do something or have recently learnt a new skill.

Children’s book about affirmations

Here’s a small selection of the many children’s books available about affirmations:

Ideas for Affirmations with Children

  • Say to child each morning or night
  • Add to bedroom door
  • Say affirming statements at birthday celebrations
  • Write a letter to them once a week or once a month with all the good you see in your child
  • Record them for your child
  • Make a poster with affirmations to hang in their room
  • Go around the dinner table affirming each other or one person each night
  • Send a card or a message in the mail

These Conversation or Blessing Packs are a tangible way that you can remind someone how much they are valued.

How can you find affirmations?

  • search for affirmations online
  • Obtain a set of affirmation cards
  • Go through positive things people have said about you and make up your own cards.
  • Adapt truth from scriptures to affirmations
  • Ask others what they see in you.

We could easily find faults in ourselves and others but we need to focus on our strengths and build up or encourage what we see in others.

How are you going to affirm yourself or someone else today?

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