Affirmations are a very fashionable topic lately. Attracting love, abundance, money, increasing self-confidence. Each written 111 times or 88, only on a full moon, at an even hour, by candlelight. There are many beliefs around this topic that associate it with esotericism and astrology.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with that, we choose the way of life that favors us. However, today we want to show all affirmation skeptics that this practice has a scientific basis, is recommended during psychotherapy, and properly used - it really works. Maybe this is the perfect time to introduce a new ritual to your everyday life?

The article contains links to download wallpapers with affirmations for your computer or smartphone. You can find them here: CLICK and here: CLICK CLICK.

What are affirmations?

Do you remember your high school physics class? You may have just experienced an unpleasant shiver, but don't worry, it's over now. In these lessons, we regularly calculated energy, we learned the principle of conservation of energy, and one of the most popular formulas is the one related to energy: E=mc^2. Moreover, in simple terms, everything that exists has some kind of energy. Just like words and thoughts. There is no denying that when you convince yourself that you are unlucky, you will become one, and when you believe before the exam that you can handle it, you are much more likely to cope with it. It's not magic, it's psychological theory.

Affirmation in Latin means to confirm something, to strengthen, and that's exactly what it really is. We consider an affirmation to be a statement and self-suggestion, the task of which is to strengthen us in a positive attitude towards life. It is supposed to affect the negative thinking pattern and "reprogram" it. It can be about everything - health, well-being, self-esteem, relationships with others, and even ... sleep.

How it's working?

Affirming is recommended by psychologists, therapists and people dealing with personal development. What can regular manifestation do for us?

• Increases motivation to achieve the goal
• It helps to eliminate unhealthy habits
• It reduces stress and allows you to control negative thoughts
• Increases self-esteem
• Increases brain activity associated with the reward system
• It affects a healthy lifestyle, motivating to change behaviors regarding, for example, mental health, diet, physical activity
• Improves physical health, e.g. in people with cancer

Why does it work?

Although we would like to, repeating to ourselves every day "I am fulfilling myself in the job of my dreams" will not suddenly turn the mobbing environment into a friendly and supportive one. Just saying affirmations, without striving to fulfill them, doesn't make much sense. It can change the way we think, but it won't change our lives. Many skeptics associate saying affirmations with expecting a miracle and believing in magic. Why are they wrong?

Pygmalion effect

In the second half of the 20th century, two psychologists (Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson) decided to check the impact of teachers' perceptions on students. To this end, they conducted an intelligence test of students at a school in California. They randomly selected 20% of the members of each class, misrepresenting them as the most talented of the group. They received more attention from teachers and their motivation to learn increased. At the end of the year, the test was performed again. It turned out that people from the "more talented" group received much better results and made more progress, although in fact they were no different from their colleagues. This phenomenon has been called the Pygmalion effect or self-fulfilling prophecy. When we believe in our success, we have more motivation to achieve it, and the result is magnified by the positive expectations of others about us. In fact, the observations from this study can be observed not only at school, but also in relationships with loved ones or in professional life.

Sleepover effect (sleeper)

This is another psychological phenomenon that comes from… propaganda . It consists in believing information that we initially thought was false. Researchers from Columbia University: Noel Capon and James M. Hulbert explained this phenomenon by increasing the effectiveness of persuasion over time, even if the information comes from an unverified source. This is due to the respondents forgetting the source faster than the content. This procedure is regularly used by the media to manipulate people, but it is possible to use it in a positive way, i.e. for affirmation.

Paving effect

The priming effect is the phenomenon of "setting" the mind to a specific behavior with the help of a specific stimulus. It is about subliminal evoking certain associations in the recipient. In the Florida experiment, social psychologist John Bargh studied a group of college students. Each of them was given a set of 5 words from which they had to choose 4 and form sentences. The words of the first group were random, e.g. yellow or immediately, while the words of the second group were associated with old age and slowness, e.g. gray, wrinkle, forgets. Then, each of the subjects had to travel a certain distance down the corridor in order to fill out the form, while the time it took them to reach the place was measured. It turned out that people composing sentences related to old age needed much more time to do so. The result may seem funny, but it has been tested in many other similar studies and the conclusion was the same. Isn't that an argument for the validity of affirmations?

5 steps to a successful manifestation

Have you noticed the common part of the cited research and results? In each of these, the affirmer either believed the affirmation from the beginning or began to believe it with repetition and time. Have you already guessed what it's all about? 😉 So here's a short manifestation guide:

1. Set the purpose of your manifestation . In our case, let it be a sound sleep.
2. Make a positive statement, preferably in the first person and present tense. Try not to use the word "no". Instead of "I don't want to wake up all night and stress," it could be, for example, "It was a good day for me. Now I relax, let go of everything and welcome a healthy, deep sleep that will regenerate me.” or simply "I'm going for a good night's sleep."
3. Focus your thoughts on the affirmation. Try to imagine a state in which you feel rested, recall the impressions that accompany you after a good night.
4. Support your cause, words alone will not work miracles. If you want to sleep well, take care of your sleep hygiene. Put down the phone in the evening, do a short breathing practice, lie down on your favorite Plantula and weigh it down with a weighted blanket.
5. Repeat the affirmation regularly. Believe that it has a chance to exist. You can stick a note with the affirmation next to the computer, bed, mirror, set it as wallpaper for your phone, record it as a voice memo or enter it in your daily schedule, e.g. by always affirming while taking a bath.

Examples of manifestations for a good night's sleep

You can prepare a piece of paper and a pen, or just use your thoughts. We recommend the first way because of the therapeutic power of handwriting. Come up with your own affirmations or use the ones we have prepared for you. In addition, we have created wallpapers for your phone and computer that will allow you to manifest even more often, even unconsciously. For desktop wallpaper click here: CLICK , and for the smartphone wallpaper here: CLICK CLICK. Remember that sleep affirmations are not only those that talk about a peaceful night, but also those that relax after a whole day or calm down intrusive thoughts. Think about what you need now.

Remember that affirmations can help you, but they won't do all the work for you.

Create appropriate sentences, verify them and strive to implement them. If you have a problem with insomnia, mental or physical health - be sure to see a doctor and consult your condition. Take care of yourself, test different solutions and look for what works for you. Maybe it will be an affirmation, maybe a conversation with a loved one, or maybe therapy?

SOURCES:

Cohen GL, Sherman DK. The psychology of change: self-affirmation and social psychological intervention. Annu Rev Psychol. 2014

Cascio, CN, O'Donnell, MB, Tinney, FJ, Lieberman, MD, Taylor, SE, Strecher, VJ, & Falk, EB Self-affirmation activates brain systems associated with self-related processing and reward and is reinforced by future orientation . Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 2016

Jennifer M. Taber, William MP Klein, Rebecca A. Ferrer, Erin E. Kent and Peter R. Harris, Optimism and spontaneous self-affirmation are associated with lower likelihood of cognitive impairment and greater positive affect among cancer survivors, Ann Behav Med. 2016 April; 50(2)

Epton T, Harris PR, Kane R, van Koningsbruggen GM, Sheeran P. The impact of self-affirmation on health-behavior change: a meta-analysis. Health Psycholog. 2015 Mar; 34(3)

Cascio, Christopher N et al. “Self-affirmation activates brain systems associated with self-related processing and reward and is reinforced by future orientation.” Social cognitive and affective neuroscience vol. 11.4 (2016)

https://psychologia.edu.pl/czytelnia/50-artykuly/1028-formulowanie-skuteczny-afirmacji.html

https://pracowniaszczescia.pl/afirmacje-a-psychologia/

https://uni.wroc.pl/o-sile-samospelniajacej-sie-przepowiedni/

https://emocje.pro/efekt-floryda/