HERLIFE Magazine

about a perceived truth.” According to Alexander,the mind doesn’t know the difference betweenreality and fantasy. By making affirmationsa daily habit, you can “trick” the mindinto replacing negative thought patterns withpositive ones. While it’s difficult to changeyour thoughts with sheer will power, bothphilosophers and psychologists have foundthat positive affirmations are one of the mosteffective tools for altering the subconscious.Doctors have identified something theycall the “mind/body connection.” The body’sability to stay healthy and resist disease isstrongly influenced by an individual’s emotionalhealth. Affirmations that promote goodemotional health can also strengthen the immunesystem and help the body fight disease.These are some examples of positiveaffirmations:I am powerful.I am filled with joy.I am surrounded by love.I have abundant energy.I love and accept myself.I am successful in whatever I do.I am strong and in perfect health.I am grateful for the people in my life.To receive the full benefit of positive affirmations,they should be repeated frequentlythroughout the day. Affirmations should bebrief, easy to remember and easy to repeat.People who have successfully used affirmationsbelieve that they should be personal,specific, in the present tense and employ usepositive phrases. So instead of thinking “Ineed to lose weight” you would affirm “I amgetting thinner.”The concept of positive affirmations isnot new. The repetition of key phrases hasplayed a role in religion for centuries in theform of chants, mantras and prayers. One ofthe early secular leaders of the affirmationmovement was the French psychologist EmileCoue. In the early 1900s Coue promoted histheory of the Laws of Suggestion and encouragedfollowers to repeat the phrase “Every dayin every way, I am getting better and better,”20 to 30 times before going to sleep eachnight.Continued on next pageHERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM 21