Postitive Affirmations: It's in the Science

The new year can trigger many emotions, from feeling motivated and inspired, to feeling sadness and anxiety. But the practice of self-affirmation can help you to take on the year and make positive changes within and outside yourself. Although affirmations may seem like the work of universal magic, there is actually a science behind the positive effects of affirmations.
Time to learn more about the power of affirmation with an extra list of THAT GIRL affirmations at the end to help you start your new year...

What are Affirmations?

Affirmations are positive statements that you can tell yourself to target specific negative beliefs and feelings within yourself. When we practice positive affirmations it can have a long-lasting impact. Replacing negative self-talk with self-love will change the way we approach life and how we feel about ourselves.

Affirmations can be used for every part of your life – to give you confidence before a big meeting, act as loving reassurance on a bad skin day, or provide strength when you start something new. Talking to yourself about how amazing you are and that you have the power may seem a little cheesy, maybe even bizarre, but it really works! 
There are so many affirmations we can use to remind ourselves to be confident, and positive and treat ourselves with kindness.

Time for the Science...

The practice of affirmations is based on well-established psychological theories. These theories state that we can control our idea of reality and our ego by telling ourselves something positive and convincing our minds to believe it. In challenging ourselves to think positively about something we are going to do, who we are, and what we want to achieve, we are able to adapt to situations and feel more accepting of ourselves.

MRI research into the effects of regular positive affirmations on the mind found that when we practice self-affirmation, certain neural pathways involved in validation and processing are increased and become more active, strengthening our ability to take on a positive mindset about ourselves or a situation.

In addition to this, a recent study (by Carnegie Mellon) shared that self-affirmations can enhance our performance and protect against the effects of stress. Affirmations reprogram your brain into looking at stressful situations differently so that you feel you can conquer the moment and deal with the stress, or take a moment of self-hate and turn it into a moment of acceptance and gratitude.
For example, if you’re nervous about starting a new job, instead of telling yourself that you can’t do it and everything will go wrong, you need to use affirmations such as, “I am strong, I have the power to make this a great day, I embrace this new opportunity, I am the best person for the job and I deserve this.” As this becomes a regular practice, your brain will start to believe what you say as the truth.

I came across a quote once that said,

“be kind to yourself because your brain doesn’t know any different. So what you tell yourself becomes your reality.”  

I believe this is the basis of positive affirmations. We believe what we tell ourselves, so when we positively affirm something in our minds, it will become true. It does kind of sound like magic.

THAT GIRL New Year Affirmations

I am loved 
I am healthy 
I am wealthy  
I am strong 
I am worthy  
I am free  
I am proud of who I am becoming  
I am rare  
I am me and that is more than enough 

• This is the beginning of my best year yet.  

• I trust my journey and that I am evolving into the person I am meant to be.  

• I have the power to create the life of my dreams.  

• I attract what is meant for me. Opportunities present themselves because I am ready and capable.  

• I love and embrace every part of who I am.  

• I prioritise my health and well-being and care for my mind, body, and soul.  

• I am grateful for all the lessons I have learned over the past year, and I am proud of how much I’ve grown.  

• I am not bound by others' ideas of who I should be. I determine who I am, and I have the freedom to choose the person I want to become.  

• I am not confined by my current circumstances. There is room for to me grow freely. There are opportunities for me to create the life I want.   

•  I am ready and willing to receive all the beauty, joy, and love that I deserve. 

I chose joy. 
I chose peace.  
I chose love.  
I chose health.  
I chose creativity. 
I chose to live in the moment.  
I chose me.