HOW TO CHANGE YOUR SELF-TALK

 

 

Introspective practices are increasingly gaining the respect they deserve in scientific quarters. There are many researchers now keen to look at the effectiveness of meditation and mindfulness. Numerous institutes have opened in the UK and the US – in Oxford, Bangor and Massachusetts – offering meditation and mindfulness programmes. This revolution is now recognising that consciousness is a key player in improving well-being, healing and recovery.

 

In this article, we’re looking at the importance of the role of positive affirmations, which is a very effective way to change your self-talk. The way you think really can change your life, but in order to have that experience, you need to practise changing your thoughts on a daily basis.

 

The beauty of affirmations is that you can make them personal and specific to you. So treat these suggestions as just that – they are not meant in any way to replace any thoughts and ideas you might have about affirmations best suited to you.   Use them where they are appropriate and/or as catalysts that will help you develop affirmations that may be more suited to your needs.

 

Once you have a set of affirmations, a powerful way for helping you imbibe them is to record them in your own voice and listen to them on a regular basis. This is a very effective way to rewire the brain as it speaks to the sub and unconscious minds.  Also, writing affirmations down repeatedly helps with their inculcation.  This is because the brain responds beautifully to repetition, as it provides a ‘template of reassurance’.  Here’s why…

 

 

A little brain chemistry

Neuroscientists are fond of saying, “Neurons that fire together, wire together” and “Neurons not in sync, do not link.”  Dendrites form tree-like extensions that put a neuron in touch with as many as 200,000 of its neighbours, resulting in what we call new thinking and learning. When the brain learns, new dendrites grow. Early brain theorists believed that with each new memory, a new neuron grew. Today, we know that newly learned information is encoded as new dendrites sprout to connect neurons to specific sites, producing a new pathway that represents the experience.

 

In order for us to move, feel and think, neurons relay messages to one another, using both electricity and chemistry.  Once incoming stimuli reach a threshold point, a 270 mph electrical impulse ‘fires’ down the axon.  Once the electrical impulse reaches the end of the axon, a tiny pocket of chemicals bursts, sending neurotransmitters (the chemical couriers) across the synapse, the microscopic space between neurons.  As neurotransmitters cross the synaptic gap they lock into receptor sites on the postsynaptic neuron and convey their chemical message only if their molecular properties fit the precise configuration of the receptor sites on the postsynaptic neuron.  It is calculated that over one quadrillion (1,000 trillion) synaptic connections can be established inside the human brain!

 

This tells us of our enormous capacity to think our way into just about any situation or to think our way out of any predicament that we may encounter.   Our capacity to choose is immeasurable and the brain and its functioning bears witness to that.

 

Positive Affirmations – change the way you think

Below are some positive affirmations that will help you with the rewiring of your brain.  We would recommend selecting those that most appeal to you and making them part of your daily mental diet.  If you’re dissatisfied with your self-talk, don’t sit quietly complaining, beating up on yourself, take charge of what’s going on in your head. That’s the only way to reclaim your power. Here goes….

 

I love and accept myself exactly as I am

When I can accept myself exactly as I am, I’m able to become that which I’ve not even imagined. It is the inability to accept yourself that most stands in your way. A lack of acceptance obscures your vision, clips your wings and dulls the mind and diminishes your potential. Try to hold onto this thought: I deeply and completely love and accept myself. Recite it regularly and often and you will fulfil your potential.

 

I speak confidently and truthfully to myself and others

Those who speak from the heart with kindness and compassion empower themselves and others. Try to be honest, kind and generous in your dealings. Remember, the way you deliver your message matters as much as the message itself.

 

I move beyond forgiveness, to understanding… there I find compassion and kindness

Forgiveness for many is a hard journey to take and yet the more I understand the role of forgiveness, the more I realise that it is me who is set free. When I can take this journey I discover a deep understanding that allows me to find the strength and compassion I never knew I had.

 

I am ready for positive change

Positive change is only ever one thought away. It’s a choice and decision that I am able to make in any moment. The infinite possibilities of life are awaiting my embrace. So I stop giving my power away to other people and things and I realise positive change is there for the taking and so I lovingly embrace this moment.

 

I attract the right people into my life

One of the principles that quantum physics has helped us to understand, is whatever energy I invest in something – good, bad or neutral – will eventually turn up at my door.  We truly are living in a universe where our thoughts, words, actions, even our relationships are simply mirrors of our deeply held beliefs.  If you want to improve your relationships, send out a positive request and you will get what you’re looking for – but be aware, patience is required.

 

I am full of appreciation and radiate love and joy

The loving kindness meditation movement has taught us that if we give without counting we are automatically uplifted and enriched by the experience. The latest scientific research around compassion has shown that spending as little as seven minutes a day wishing others well is enough to keep us happy and healthy.

 

Love comes to me easily and effortlessly

Buddha quite rightly said that we become what we think about all day long. Therefore if you want peace, love, joy and happiness become a magnet for these things.  Open your heart and give freely and these things will turn up in abundance.

 

I create my own reality and the world supports me in my efforts

Winston Churchill said we create our own universe as we go along. The latest data in cognitive science and the noetic sciences has underlined this truth that consciousness is arguably the key energy force shaping our realities and so we are to a significant extent responsible for how our lives unfold.

 

I deeply trust myself, my intuition, my talents and creativity

To trust and believe in oneself is the greatest reassurance we can have. To trust in the self provides an unshakeable foundation, which enables creative intelligence to truly express itself – as a result one’s talents and abilities come floating to the surface. This kind of trust and belief develops our intuition – and from there great insight and clarity is achieved.

 

My inner sage guides me to the right decisions

As our sense of trust deepens and develops, the inner sage is awakened and with that an unparalleled wisdom becomes available to us. Wisdom based on the power of kindness, compassion and discrimination. So practice listening to the voice within and let her be your guide.

 

Happiness is a choice that I can make in each moment

Those of you familiar with our approach will know that we believe that happiness is a choice we can all make. Happiness is not about a ‘perfect’ life free of difficulty and challenge, it’s about the ability to maintain your composure and poise even when the storms of life ask very difficult questions of you. Remember your mind can either be a sanctuary or your own personal hell.

 

I transcend the influences of the past

I cannot change the past but I can change the way the past affects me.  The more I realise that the past is a collection of experiences that can either uplift me or help create my downfall, the more I will find peace and stability in the simple truth that the past has no power over me.  My mistakes are arguably my greatest tutors and I sit and heed their wise counsel.

 

I am more than enough in this moment

When I believe that I am equal to what stands before me, I’m able to access that incredible reservoir of my potential. I’m only ever limited by my beliefs, and so if I doubt myself, I am cut off from my power and ‘amazingness’.  Knowing that all I need lives within me gives me an incredible sense of my own value and worth and confidence emerges in abundance.

 

I am prosperous and healthy

True wealth and prosperity are supported and facilitated by a healthy mind. It is not the acquisition of possessions and things that make one truly prosperous – it’s knowing that peace of mind and well-being are the things that provide abundance – so make time to claim these possessions.

 

I am capable of achieving anything I truly put my mind to

Take some time to write down what you really want. It may take a few hours, maybe even days or longer to work that out. Don’t force it, but when you’re clear about your desired destination, then make it a healthy obsession to focus on that dream. And slowly but surely your hopes and ambitions will come and meet you on the road ahead.

 

I walk hand in hand with calmness and serenity

Peace is our true nature. When we find ourselves in a place of conflict and anger – where our spirits are troubled by the ebb and flow of life, in those moments we are separated from peace, and we make unhealthy decisions and choices. We react rather than respond. Try to take a few moments to pause and reflect on what is the right thing to do before acting.

 

I open my heart to love and new opportunities

When I stay fixed in my opinions and hold onto the old and familiar, I shut the door on positive change. Every minute, every moment that we are alive is an opportunity to write a new and improved script, one that recognises that the past does not define the future unless I allow it to.

 

The more love I give the more love I receive

Starting from today, imagine that you are a beacon of love.  Every contact you have with every person you meet, friend, stranger or member of your family, remind yourself that they need and desire the same things as you. They want to be loved, accepted and to belong. And in your mind wish them those things that you would wish for yourself.

 

I see ‘it’ in my mind’s eye and therefore it turns up in my life

One of Einstein’s great contributions to philosophical thought is the idea that if you can’t see it in your mind, you’re unlikely to ever hold it in your hand. This connects us to the power of creative visualisation, that ability to use the mind’s eye to conjure up the unimaginable, those things that may even live outside of our belief system.  Practise ‘seeing’ yourself doing what you thought was not even possible and you’ll discover the impossible is closer than you think.

 

I am open to the goodness and abundance of the Universe

There are those who think of the universe as an unkind and unforgiving place, but this simply isn’t the case. The universe has no consciousness of its own, it’s the huge mirror that reflects back to us our decisions, our actions and our choices.  We can of course keep blaming everything but ourselves for the way our lives are unfolding, but the truth is the universe can only respond to the messages implanted in her soil. Sow seeds of goodness and abundance and goodness and abundance are destined to find you.

 

 


Also see: The Power of Choice Explainer Video and Timeless Truths