Jeff Dumas' Personal Web Page & Online Journal
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien's, Lord of the Rings
Affirmation & Visualization
Affirmations & Visualization
You have probably heard of affirmations. An affirmation is a positive statement you say to yourself. You use affirmations all the time. It is not just some crazy idea "those" people believe. YOU are one of "those" people even if you are unaware of it. Your thoughts, though not solid, have a powerful affect on your feelings, your behaviors, and how you experience and interact with the rest of the world. Sometimes you affirm positive things, and sometimes you affirm negative things. Some people affirm negative things so much it becomes a habit. Whereas affirmation refers more to a statement, visualization refers more to a picture, or image, or scene you play in your head. People visualize in different way. Some have more of a clear picture or image and some people have more of a murky image. Some have more of a "sense" or "feeling", and still others sort of "hear" something. The point is; we can use affirmations and visualizations to make our lives better.
First, I am going to talk about how to use affirmation. An affirmation usually begins with the statement "I am" and is followed why whatever it is you want to affirm; "I am a healthy, happy person" for example. Some people find it to be effective to use "I choose" followed by thier affirmation. Most of us have areas of our lives that could use some positive re-enforcement. There are even exercises we can use to help us identify specific limiting beliefs; beliefs that are I will discuss limiting beliefs in another article.
Affirmations DO work. The problem is that most people give up on them before they have had TIME to work. How long it takes will vary by the individual, but you need to say an affirmation at least one thousand times before it starts making a difference. You are sort of "re-programming yourself" and overwriting old data. A journal is a great tool for personal growth and would be a great place to write your affirmations. Another thing you can do it to use sticky notes on your bathroom mirror or wherever you will see them frequently. Consider writing an affirmation on an index card and carrying it in your shirt pocket. There are a lot of ways you can put affirmation to work for you. You might consider making a sleep tape. A sleep tape, or cd is simply a recording of your affirmations that you play at night at a low, but audible level. You might find this to be an excellent and easy tool to use. Different people have different opinions, but I think that when you are making a sleep tape you should consider recordings with "You are a happy, healthy person", and "Jeff is a happy, healthy person", in additional to the "I am..." affirmations. When you are sleeping your mind is very receptive to suggestion; (I'm not a psychiatrist or a psychologist, but I think that is a good way to say it). You might have dreams in which someone in your dream will be talking to you and saying positive things to you about you. A cd player with a repeat function can be put near your bed and your sleep tape can play your affirmations all night. You can get an inexpensive microphone for your computer and download an audio editing program like Audacity for free. With a little effort you can make yourself a customized sleep tape that targets precisely what you want to work on on "the cheap". Another thing to keep in mind when writing your affirmations is to expresses that the desired "improvement" already exists. For example, you wouldn't want to say "I WANT a new car", but rather, "I have a new car". You should always affirm as though you already have what you want. Saying your affirmations to yourself while looking into your own eyes in a mirror can also be very effective. Remember, the more you use affirmations, the more they work. Be aware also that if you start using affirmation you might experience feeling such as fear, guilt, hurt feelings, discouragement, anger, or unworthyness. This is normal, you are challenging your old way of thinking. You are expanding your comfort zone, and that can be uncomfortable. You are working to unseat some deep seated negative programming. Turn any of the negative ideas that come up around on themself. Grab them by the horns and turn them around immediately. The desire to make a change has to be greater than your doubt. If you would like to read more about affirmations there in an active online community called bmindful with lots of information on affirmations and other topics you might find helpful. It is free and there are a lot of friendly, helpful people there. If you do stop by, tell Lee that Jeff sent you.
Visualization goes hand in hand with affirmation. Most of what you have read for affirmations applies to visualization. Remember that whatever we hold in our imagination is what we eventually become. We aren't responsible for every thought that enters our imagination, but we ARE responsible for the thoughts we hold there; the thoughts we dwell on. You can use visualization to hold what you want in your imagination more often and more vividly. Spend a lot of time thinking about your "dream". Learn to love your dream and you are a lot closer achieving it. One of the best things about visualization is that you can use it to build of your "sanctuary", a topic that I will be covering in another article.
Visualization goes hand in hand with affirmation. Most of what you have read for affirmations applies to visualization. Remember that whatever we hold in our imagination is what we eventually become. We aren't responsible for every thought that enters our imagination, but we ARE responsible for the thoughts we hold there; the thoughts we dwell on. You can use visualization to hold what you want in your imagination more often and more vividly. Spend a lot of time thinking about your "dream". Learn to love your dream and you are a lot closer achieving it. One of the best things about visualization is that you can use it to build of your "sanctuary", a topic that I will be covering in another article.
