AFFIRMATIONAL APRIL

By Maha Chaudhry

Are you someone who believes in the power of affirmations and uses them regularly? Or are you reading this thinking, what in the world even is an affirmation?

Either way, you’ve come to the right place. We are proclaiming this month as Affirmational April. Why? Because it feels like a good time to do so. We’re three months into 2023 and welcoming spring again. Yet, the year is still young which gives us continued hope to accomplish the goals and desires we set forth for ourselves. That’s where our friend affirmation comes in.

Simply put, affirmations are positive thought statements used to counteract negative thoughts or self-limiting beliefs. People use affirmations to affirm their desires in manifesting, or working toward a desired outcome.

With that said, affirmations can help with attaining what once seemed unattainable. They work in conjunction with self-validation and one’s ability to maintain a specific ask with a go-getter mindset. Whether that ask be a loving relationship, new career, a business, to travel, or whatever else we desire for our future.

Here are some reasons to consider incorporating affirmations into a continued routine or process when trying to maintain a desired outcome:

1. Affirmations are actually backed by science. So, not exactly "woo-woo." Instead, affirmations are backed by the well-established phycological theory. The selfaffirmation theory (Steele, 1988), supports the key idea that we can maintain a sense of self-integrity by affirming what we believe in positive ways.

2. Mentioned in pychology.com, self-integrity relates to self-efficacy - our perceived ability to control moral outcomes and respond flexibly when our self-concept is threated (Cohen & Sherman, 2014).

3. Affirmations help boost self-esteem, and create a flow of motivation.

4. Trying to make a change in lifestyle with a new habit? Affirmations can help keep a frame of mind consistent

5. Many studies have found that practicing affirmations can reduce stress levels.

The kinder you are to yourself, the likelier you are to have a happier lifestyle. The benefits of affirming go beyond just exhibiting positive statements; it has an overall effect on the mind-body’s correlation to wellbeing. When creating affirmations, make sure to implement authentic key statements. These statements should be true to your self-beliefs and in alignment with your values. These can also be statements you would like to believe about yourself such as, “I believe I am working towards the right path for myself.”

Another helpful way to create affirmations that are suitable for where you are and would like to be, is to simultaneously use a gratitude journal. Pulling words of gratitude into your feeling statements can create an authentic sense of purpose and flow as well. All-in-all, affirmations can bring your day just the right dose of positivity, selfintegrity and maybe even a boost of serotonin.