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Affirmations — short mantras of encouragement — can lead to positive change By Chris Walker
I
t seems as if every year around this time, spring pushes lingering winter aside and says, “We deserve to feel joy.”
Flowers blooming, baby animals scampering, birds chirping. Kids running, laughing and playing. Neighbors finally taking down their holiday lights as the glorious sunshine gives free samples of what’s to come in the summer. If only being as successful with affirmations — short mantras of encouragement and practical thinking — came as naturally as the seasons change. “Affirmations are good for our soul,” says Angela René Brown, a licensed clinical social worker at Counseling for Serenity in Yorkville. “It’s where we leave behind what our past says, what others and the world says about us; and even what we say about ourselves. Instead, we embrace what love says. For some of us, that love is our higher power, which is so much greater than this world and our current struggles. Affirmations are a way to overcome our past and begin to embrace our value, our strength, our beauty and a greater plan for our lives.” Paul Hansen, a yoga and meditation instructor at Sense of Samadhi in Yorkville, says affirmations can be powerful introductory paths to showing what you are capable of accomplishing when focusing on a short phrase imbued with the energy of intention. “Often affirmations can become a
14 KENDALL COUNTY MAGAZINE
HEALTH & WELLNESS
| SPRING 2022 |
