An introduction to working with positive affirmations

WHAT ARE AFFIRMATIONS?

Affirmations are not about convincing ourselves that the affirmation is true for us, they are a tool for self enquiry as much as they are 

Whether we are using affirmations in our yoga practice or in a guided mediation, or stand alone, we want to notice how the affirmation makes you feel. 

Some affirmations will feel great to repeat, these affirmations are a great way to re-affirm the positive beliefs we have about ourselves. 

For others, repeating the affirmation to yourself might feel almost “icky” to you, they make you cringe, or roll your eyes or just think what nonsense they are. Instead of simply bypassing these it’s really useful to notice which ones brought up these sort of feelings so you can get curious about why they caused this reaction - maybe you have some past hurts or blocks around this, some limiting beliefs. Why is it that you don’t feel that this is or could be true for you.

If you can, give yourself a little time after using affirmations in our yin yoga practice or our meditation to journal, simply pen and paper and explore which affirmations felt natural, what felt uncomfortable, any physical or emotional reactions. Just note and explore your experience.

If you would like the affirmation to be true for you, what do you need to work on to be able to believe it to be true?

For this challenge I will offer you affirmations around the emotions that we are looking at for each module.

USING AFFIRMATIONS IN YIN YOGA

When we are in a pose I will give you an affirmation Listen to the affirmation and repeat to yourself whilst in the pose. This practice draws your focus inwards but working with them in the same way, noticing how they make us feel. 

If you would rather not work with affirmations at this time then please do feel free to just focus in on your breath instead in your yin yoga pose.