There was a time when the only thing I knew about the practice of affirmations was that it was a punchline in some early-’90s SNL sketches by Al Franken. At least, that seems to be the one thing people remember about those sketches. I watched a couple to refresh my memory, and Franken is actually poking fun at the sort of folks who spend too much time at twelve-step meetings and take away the wrong lessons.
Over time, though, as I learned a little about neuro-linguistic programming, I came to understand some of the theory about how and why affirmations actually work. The key is in repetition. When you repeat something often enough, your brain comes to accept it as fact.
This power can, of course, be used in a destructive manner as well, and often completely unwittingly. Negative self-talk works just like a positive affirmation, so if you tell yourself repeatedly that you're a [insert pejorative here], your brain will come to believe it. You're not only convincing your brain of the truth of the negative talk, you're also training yourself to notice it more, thereby causing quite the vicious cycle.
My favorite use of affirmation actually comes from Rogue One, in which Chirrut Imwe repeats the sentence, “I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me.” He does this especially when he's under stress to motivate himself. I remember after the first time I saw the movie, I posted about my affection for Chirrut's prayer, and my reiki teacher replied, “I thought about you when I heard that.”
I had occasion to rely on Chirrut's prayer this week. We live in a valley surrounded by really tall hills, and I've developed quite the case of acrophobia in recent years, so there's at least one place on each trip out of town where my nervous system tries to escape from my skin. I've taken to repeating Chirrut's prayer, after a few deep breaths, before we get to that point in the drive. It helps.
You can use affirmations other than Chirrut's prayer, of course. Set a goal that you want to reinforce: it can be about peace of mind, happiness, success, whatever. Then come up with a short sentence in the present tense – meaning as if it's something you're doing right now – that supports this goal. Make it a positive statement, avoiding negative terms like “can't” or “don't.“ Then repeat your affirmation at least every day. It's okay if your brain isn't convinced right away; remember, it's the repetition that makes it work.
If you have questions or advice on how to put this into practice, hit me up in the comments or over on the discord.
