CODEPENDENCE - DEAN AMORY

Self Help Affirmations That Work
Memory Storage:
It used to be thought that information is planted in long term memory through repetition.
Today, we know that information transfers to long term memory through association
between new data and the already stored information.
Affirmations that Don’t Work:
Ever promised yourself, “I’m going to do better, I’m going to do better, I’m not going to
eat so much junk food, I’m going to eat healthier” to find you ate even more? Most try
such affirmations hoping the repetition, earnestness, positive words and thoughts will
transform a habitual negative behavior. Wrong! Truth is, for the most part, just the
opposite transpires. You often end up doing more of what you don’t want and less of
what you do want. Affirmations done in this way just may be a part of the problem, not a
part of the solution.
On a conscious brain and body awareness
level, you made a promise that the
unconscious brain and body did not hear,
understand or agree to. Often times, the
more the incongruent affirmation is
repeated, the further into despair and failure
you can sink. Sometimes the only result is
increased guilt, hopelessness, powerlessness
and self doubt that further sabotage your
positive intention to change. Detrimental
early experiences, generational coding, and
environmental learning drive the
unconscious reactions and are not readily
resolved with traditional affirmations,
medicine, or treatments.
Learning new habits requires unlearning
existing ones. For several reasons, it is
easier to learn something new than to
unlearn something old. First, many factors
influence how information is stored in the
memory. The hippocampus part of the brain
records a lifetime of experiences and
thoughts. One thought connects to another.
Information is retrieved by searching
through the network of interconnections to
the place where it is stored. The more
frequently a path of retrieval is followed, the stronger the path becomes. It took years to
create the negative part in the first place, so how many repetitions would it take to
create a new one in it’s place? You could just try harder, but the latest scientific research
found it takes at least a 1000 repetitions before a habit begins to change on the
unconscious level. Most people are not motivated to commit to such a long term process
of repetions, no matter how much they desire the outcome.
Second, the unconscious does not hear or process negative words. Traditionally,
affirmations state what you don’t want, plus what you do want. For example, you may