You’ve probably seen positive affirmations across social media, posters, and cards. They’re all over Facebook and Instagram, and they can seem a little cheesy sometimes.
These statements are more than just a nice thought or sentiment. When used consistently, positive affirmations are actually powerful tools to help you live your best life, consciously.
I first started using positive affirmations while I was pregnant with my first child. I would recite them to stay in a positive mindset about the pregnancy and to avoid thinking negative/fearful thoughts about the prospect of going through labour and delivery. In preparation for giving birth, I printed out some beautiful positive affirmation cards to help me to stay confident and positive during my labour, and they worked wonderfully. You can read more about how I prepared for my unmedicated birthing experience here.
After my first child was born, I continued the practice of reciting positive affirmations, to help stay positive about many different aspects of my life.
Affirmations: What They Are and How They Work
Simply put, affirmations are anything you say or think. They make up a large part of the mind-talk that everyone has running in their heads all the time. We all use affirmations, though we don’t do it consciously. This allows our default, negative thoughts to run our lives.
Beliefs are thoughts that we continue to think. You can choose to make a conscious effort to think more positive thoughts about yourself and your life, than negative ones.
Think about the messages that are part of your regular self-talk. Do you have kind, positive, encouraging self-talk, or does your Inner Critic dominate with harsh words of criticism? Many of your messages will have been seeded during your childhood. Were you encouraged and supported to give it your best shot, or were you told you were lazy, or no good? Those messages could be still affecting your current mindset.
Whether you have a positive or a negative script running through your mind, those thoughts and beliefs shape your reality. Negative thoughts feed self-doubt and discourage you from trying to reach your full potential.
That is why as a parent, it is also important to be conscious of what messages you might be conveying to your children, either about them or about yourself, and how they might absorb those messages into their mindset.
Change up Your Self-Talk
The good news is that you can change your self-talk by choosing to use positive affirmations to rewire your brain to have a positive mindset.
The process is pretty straightforward if you stick to some basic rules:
- Always use the present tense. Your brain reacts in the moment, so make that moment as positive as you can.
- Keep it positive and simple. Saying short, positive phrases like ‘I am calm’ is much more effective than telling yourself, “I mustn’t get upset.’
- Use repetition. If you repeat your affirmations regularly and consistently, you will strengthen those neural pathways in the brain. Your habitual patterns of thought and belief will become more positive. Try to repeat your chosen affirmations three times a day for at least five minutes.
Choose to Change your Life
You have the power to choose your life experience. Whatever you tell yourself affirms that you want to have more of it in your life. So if you’re angry or resentful, you’re setting yourself up for more of that in your life. If you’re confident and hopeful, if you expect things to go well, then that’s precisely what will happen.
You can choose to feel good and positive about your life. Using conscious affirmations is a great way to start making those positive changes today.
Using Positive Affirmations in your Motherhood Journey
There are many opportunities to use positive affirmations to help you reach your full potential during motherhood.
- During conception – you can use affirmations to boost your mindset surrounding your fertility and ability to conceive
- During pregnancy – to stay healthy and positive about the changes in your body and your ability to grow and birth your baby
- During labour – to stay calm and confident in your ability to give birth to your baby, to stay in a positive mindset throughout your labour and avoid feeling fearful
- In the early postpartum period, to increase your self-confidence, for example in your ability to breastfeed, care for your child, allow your body to heal, etc.
- To feel good about your postpartum body
- To feel good about getting back your sex life after having kids
- To feel good in your marriage after the transition to having kids
- To help you feel good about your new life and routines as a mother
- To feel more organized in your home and life
- To feel good about your parenting
- To feel more abundant
- Teach your children to recite positive affirmations
Since, thanks to the law of attraction, you get what you think about (whether you want it or not), repeating positive affirmations can be a powerful tool to keep your mind focused on the positive aspects of what you want your life to be.
I have found affirmations to be so beneficial in my own life, and I hope this article inspired you to try using them yourself.