‘One comes to believe whatever one
repeats to oneself sufficiently often, whether
the statement be true or false.’
ROBERT COLLIER
Affirmations are our self-talk. They’re simply affirmative statements about something. They can be useful in helping to maintain a focus on, or a desire for, wellness.
The most well-known affirmation was created by French psychologist Émile Coué, which he called an optimistic autosuggestion: ‘Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.’
We use autosuggestions, or affirmations, all the time without realizing. Although for many of us they’re negative affirmations in that they’re self-talk statements made about something we find negative or stressful: ‘I’ll never make it,’ ‘That’s so annoying,’ and ‘This always happens to me,’ are common negative affirmations.
Creating positive affirmations can help relieve stress and even give birth to hope. They have to be realistic to an extent, though. For example, a person with very low self-esteem may not gain much from saying ‘I love myself’ several times a day. That affirmation can work for some people, but many will find saying it too much of a mountain to climb right now – a little too much to hope for.
But we can create bridging affirmations, which are like baby steps in the direction we want to move in. They’re statements of movement in a positive direction. ‘I’m gradually learning to love myself,’ is an example of a bridging affirmation that might be more helpful to someone with low self-esteem.
We can use such affirmations to help focus on recovery. Here are some examples of positive bridging affirmations that can be used for healing:
With these kinds of affirmations, we’re not attempting to delude ourselves, but instead simply making a statement of intent that helps to focus our attention on the state of wellness we wish to create. It’s important, therefore, that they’re positive. For instance:
Affirmations can be useful together with, or independent of, visualization.
You can use affirmations in your visualizations. Some people find it helpful to give a verbal commentary on what’s happening, especially if they think they’re not very good at visualizing, in which case the commentary helps them to focus. For instance, during a visualization, as you, say, suck up bacteria using an imaginary vacuum cleaner, you might affirm that, ‘I love that all of the harmful bacteria are disappearing from my body.’
Or, while imagining radiotherapy ‘bullets’ burning off cancer cells, you might affirm that, ‘I love that the light is burning away the cancer cells but leaving everything else intact.’
And as another example, let’s say that you were visualizing yourself pouring some magical lubricating fluid into an arthritic joint. As you pick up the container of fluid and the rubber tube you’re going to use to pour the fluid into the joint, you could acknowledge, ‘This fluid is a magical, 100 per cent efficient, everlasting lubricating fluid.’
And as you pour the fluid into the joint, point out to yourself that ‘The fluid is seeping into the joint. The joint is looking totally free now.’ And as you imagine the joint moving, point out that ‘The joint is moving freely and easily now.’
So, basically, you commentate your way through your visualization. You can add as much or as little commentary as you wish, or none at all. Many people find it useful to add this kind of commentary if they’re making an audio recording of their visualizations to play as guided imagery.
So, affirmations can be helpful, but they’re a personal choice. Some people like to use them in the ways described above and others don’t. Use them if you feel they might help.