Affirmations are powerful tools for creating a positive mental environment. The power of affirmations lies in their ability to reprogramme the mind through repeated use. You can easily create affirmations to release negative energy and put you and your body in a positive, affirmative state.
Affirmations are positive statements that help you reprogram your mind. Affirmations should be stated in the present tense and be as specific and as practical as possible.
The daily impact of negative thinking
I seem to have surrounded myself in a large amount of negative energy in the last year. You may be the same. This is my (non-comprehensive)list of what has caused such a negative mindset. How many of these do you recognise in yourself:
I have been striving to achieve goals, trying to pack lots into the day, not living in my zone of genius, not relaxing in the way that my body needs, not looking after my body’s needs with a healthy lifestyle, obsessing over past mistakes, not sticking to my routine, not tidying up and living in the environment that makes me happy, neglecting my personal grooming, not exercising or looking after my physical body (in order to get more work done) and not regularly attending to any spiritual practices like prayer or meditation.
No wonder my body is full of anxious, toxic, hyperactive, and at the same time lethergic, negative energy.
And yet I know that a few positive changes, the injection of some positive thoughts, positive energy created by exercise and letting go of negative thoughts through a journaling practice, will all help restore the inner peace to my mind and balance to my body.
Affirmations play a positive role in restoring a tired, anxious body back to equilibrium. This blog post will take you through different ways in which affirmations can be used to release negative energy caused by modern life.
Body Positive – using affirmations to release negative energy in the body
Keeping your body in a healthy state will ease the impact that negative energy can have on you. Regularly during the day take a big deep breath. We tend to breathe more shallowly (if that’s a word) when we are stressed, or when we are concentrating. If you sit down for the majority of the day move your head to release tension in your neck, take regular breaks from the chair.
When you take care of your body, you can tell yourself that you are looking after yourself. For example when you are out on a walk you can be really intentional and say to yourself,
I am outside, in nature, being me. I love being out here, I love the feeling it creates in my body, my body feels good, my mind is clear.
Sometimes when I am on a walk I have a really simple affirmation and it is this:
A walk heals
I love that phrase, it’s such a powerful thing for me. In a way it might be more of a mantra than an affirmation because the way it resonates in my body is so beautiful. But it is also affirmatory, a walk heals. Love it.
I could maybe turn it into more of an affirmation by being more specific:
I look after my body each day I walk in nature. Each time I walk I feel re-energised and rejuvenated.
You can create your own affirmations around being body positive. When you go for a run, affirm the running, when you go for a swim, whatever form of exercise it is, affirm it.
Other specific positive body affirmations you can use or use to create your own
My body is amazing and it supports and helps me every day
My body is renewing every day.
My body is unique to me, it is my own tool, it can do exactly what I ask it
My body is a great gift. I look after it by exericising it, giving it lots of rest and nourishing it with food, massage and moisturiser!
I totally love and accept my body. It is an amazing machine and I am grateful that it works so well
If you have any kind of additional physical needs then still regard your body as amazing, even if the way that it functions is limited. Edit the affirmations as necessary to reflect your particular circumstance.
Create positive statements
Positive, healing statements are the first step towards healing from negative energy
Try these, or create your own:
I am well, my body is well, my mind is well, my spirit is well.
It is well with my soul (from a favourite song)
Physically shake out your hands and say, ‘I release negativity’, then stop shaking your hands, be still and say, ‘I welcome peace. Repeat until you feel peaceful.
I prioritise myself, my life, my existence.
I create my life each moment in peace and harmony with my body
Positive energy flows through me and wraps me in light
Healing from negative self-talk
Negative emotions are so pernicious. Most of the time I don’t realise how negative the thought patterns are in my head. Some of my negative beliefs I believe as fact, so it’s important to really observe what you are thinking. If you don’t know whether you are engaged in negative self-talk, one of the best ways to discover your thoughts is to do the following:
Easy exercises to combat negative self talk
Sit or life comfortably. Let your mind wander and become calm and still. It’s important that you relax and that your mind can just follow the path it wants. Then, after you have been relaxed for a while (10-15 minutes) go through in your head the thoughts that you have had and write them down. Are they actually very negatives. They certainly were for me.
Write down your negative self-talk in a journal. Take a week or so to do this. Create a list.
When you are ready go through the list.
For each negative phrase ask yourself if it is true. (Grateful thanks to Byron Katie for this process)
Is it true? Can you absolutely know it’s true? How do you react, what happens, when you believe the thought? Who would you be without the thought?
This should start to show your brain that not everything you are thinking is true.
After the Byron Katie exercise go through the list again. Next to each negative statement write an opposite and positive statement that you can believe instead.
For example, if you write, ‘Nothing I do works’ your opposite phrase could be, ‘Some things I do work out’, or ‘Some things work out, some things don’t that’s just life’. If you have trouble believing something as positive as, ‘Everything I do succeeds’, why not try a ladder thought such as, ‘I am willing to believe that some things I do succeed.’
How are you feeling? What do you need?
I love these two phrases.
Ask yourself how you are feeling. Then ask yourself what do you need.
Firstly this gets you in tune with your real emotions, and secondly you are able to self heal through identifying what it is that you need. Effectively you are going to your higher self for help.
So, how are you feeling? Tired
What do you need? A nap
When you are in tune with yourself, your sense of self-integrity rises dramatically and this will expel the negative energy in your body because you are no longer at the mercy of your feelings, you are in charge of them. And being in that positive state of mind will help induce calm, optimism and joy, quicker than any form of medication or other negative responses like over-eating, over-drinking, over-spending. Try it yourself whenever you need to get back to a more positive mindset.
Affirmations for positive mental health
Much of the mental health issues I have had, have stemmed from not living in the present moment. Either anxiety about the future or anxiety about the past rob me of my present moment.
A very simple antidote to this is to create a ‘good things’ affirmation list. This is an effective way to stay grounded in the present. It’s like a gratitude journal, but rather than creating new list items each day, you have a list of positive phrases that you come back to each time.
List out all good things you are grateful for. Write them in your journal. You can even create them as images and paint them and make them really beautiful.
And then you repeat them back to yourself, either out loud, or in your head. Or you can keep a journal for the specific purpose of writing out your good things affirmations list.
Your ‘good things’ affirmation list
I am here, I am grounded, I am ready.
I am capable and ready for the day.
Everything is good. My family is good, my house is good, my pets are good.
I love being outside, I love exercise, I love walking the dogs.
I am grateful for the love from my boyfriend, children, husband, parents, friends.
I am optimistic, ready to laugh and have joy in my heart.
(You get the idea, simple statements that make you feel energised, thankful and ready to tackle the day.)
Stress and negative energy
Negative and anxious thoughts trigger the release of stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline into our blood stream. These hormones are designed to protect us by giving us the energy to run away from the sabre-tooth tiger. The release of these hormones is designed for us to take action (by running away). Once the action has taken place the hormone levels drop and you return to your pre-adrenaline state.
In our modern lives we experience stress on a daily basis and when too many stressful situations happen the body is constantly flooded with hormones like adrenaline and cortisol which start to disrupt the body’s processes as well as keeping you in a constant state of stress. You probably know that constant stress is a health risk and a cause of many problems such as:
depression
digestive problems
weight gain
heart attack
high blood pressure
strokes
heart disease
memory and concentration impairment
By creating affirmations for yourself specifically for stressful periods of time and situations you will be reducing the physical and mental toll on your body and helping it to return to a relaxed state.
I have found that simply talking out loud to myself in stressful times can help to alleviate the stress. It’s as if talking out into the world, bursts the inner bubble of stress inside me.
Even when I say simple things like, “It’s ok, it’s going to be ok”, that seems to calm my subconscious mind and actually make me feel quite positive.
Something I learned from Brenee Brown was ‘pain pain’. It’s a great little technique. When you go through a stressful experience, you simply say ‘pain, pain, pain’ out loud. It’s so good. I taught it to my children! I think it was from Daring Greatly but will look that up and edit in here as necessary.
At times of high stress which increase my negative energy, the simple, grounding affirmations tend to work best. Like I’ve said above, the simple act of speaking out seems to be a stress relief in itself.
Affirmations to release stress out of your body
I am ok
It’s ok
I am grounded
Release, release, release said over again until you feel the stress releasing out of your body. Not so much an affirmation this one but highly effective for letting go of body stress.
The obstacles are no problem, I will find a way
I have the power to overcome my worry and doubts.
I am kind and compassionate towards myself (good one as it’s hard to be stressed and compassionate at the same time!)
I have the power over myself, I am strong, resilient, loving and kind.
I am the head, not the tail. Stress I release you from my body.
I am wonderfully and fearfully made, I have power over my mind and body
I am willing and able for this moment and choose it with joy
This evening I will be stronger and braver for the experiences of the day.
I am grateful for all experiences that make me stronger and braver and approach them with thanks
Positive thinking
Staying in a positive state will release negative energy. You can’t experience both states simultaneously. Use a list of positive affirmations to develop new neural pathways in your mind that create a new positive state in your brain and body. Positive affirmations send a positive message to the brain that all is well. Repeated reguarly, the brain will accept that all is well. Try not to reference negative experiences. You want to give the brain positive words to focus on.
Use positive affirmations such as:
I am in charge of my mind, body and spirit. I choose to walk in positive energy every day
I can remain calm and at peace through all the day’s challenges
Which technique will you use today to release negative energy?
I hope you have enjoyed this post and found it useful. If you liked this post you may also like:
How to journal and create positive affirmations for anxiety
Powerful journal therapy ideas to heal anxiety and trauma
Journaling prompts for depression and strategies to cope better