The idea is that positive thinking creates self-improvement, she adds, and repeating your affirmations throughout the day can transform our thought patterns and mental attitudes. “Together, with honest self-reflection and concrete action steps,” she says, “positive affirmations can be a wonderful part of one’s behavioral change regimen.” “[Affirmations] work primarily at the conscious level, whereas many of our conflicts about ourselves and our sense of adequacy are within our subconscious or unconscious mind,” Yusim notes. “They work even better when accompanied by some honest internal reflection and some deeper internal work that gets to the subconscious or unconscious level,” she says, adding that it’s also important to take concrete steps to create the changes you’re affirming. And of course, affirmations aren’t a cure-all. Be careful not to spiritually bypass your own problems, or the problems of others, by suggesting an affirmation a day can make anyone’s problems go away. On top of that, try visualizing or feeling whatever you’re affirming as you say it—what does it sound like? Look like? Feel like? “These simple practices change the affirmation from a cognitive exercise to one that also incorporates your heart and body,” Yusim explains. You can then begin to feel and embody the affirmation, going beyond thought and beginning to shift some of those unconscious, deeply held beliefs.
