Affirmations can have positive effects on our self-esteem, habits, personal image, and quality of life. While many of us struggle with negative thought patterns about ourselves; using affirmations can help shift negative perspectives into life-giving thoughts.
Here are 4 benefits of daily affirmations:
1. Better overall health
"Self-affirmations have been shown to decrease health-deteriorating stress." (Sherman et al., 2009; Critcher & Dunning, 2015)
If you are curious about why this is true, we're here to tell you that it is because the more you say something to your brain, the more it will actually believe it. So, if you repeatedly tell yourself you love to eat healthily, your brain will eventually believe it and will help you make those things happen quicker in your life.
2. Boost confidence and self-esteem
This is most likely to happen when you keep repeating positive things about yourself, which can be both physical attributes, dimensions that celebrate your cultural identity, or personal characteristics.
"The most important thing, according to self-affirmation theory, is that your affirmations reflect your core personal values (Cohen & Sherman, 2014). To have a positive impact on your self-esteem, your self-affirmations should be positively focused and targeted at actions you can take to reinforce your sense of self-identity. Use your real strengths, or strengths that you consider important, to guide your affirmations." (Source: positivepsychology.com)
3. Increased optimism and energy
It is known that the happiest people are those who tell themselves that they can be happy despite hard times. We are all going to go through hard times because it is just a part of life. However, maintaining a positive attitude around those difficult times can make all the difference. It is those people who talk themselves through their challenges and tell themselves they can be happy regardless that are able to get through hard times. They are using positive affirmations, sometimes without noticing it!
4. Increased emotional well-being
You can also use affirmations for your emotional health. These are perfect when trying to calm your mind, ease your anxieties, and feel more grounded and peaceful with your life. Many of the benefits of self-love affirmations deal with your emotional wellbeing, so this one is a huge advantage.
"The idea of affirmations as a means of introducing new and adaptive cognitive processes is very much the underlying premise of cognitive restructuring. This is supported by a study of cancer patients that suggests that spontaneous self-affirmation had a significantly positive correlation to feelings of hopefulness." (Taber et al., 2016) (Research sources: nanalacove.com, jenhalligan.com, kateable.com, positivepsychology.com)
