by Tamara Kulish from https://tamarakulish.com/

A deep dive into why Affirmations are useful, and not just wishful thinking…

As many of you know by now, I’m a big fan of Positive thoughts and Affirmations, in fact if you follow this link, you’ll find a bunch of them I’ve posted over the years. This isn’t toxic positivity, where we simply ignore the bad or the negative, instead it is all about rewiring our brains to think and act differently!

Source unknown

Why do I keep talking about affirmations? They seemed to be the stuff of wishful thinking when I first came into contact with them. It didn’t seem possible they could do anything other than help me to momentarily feel better, let alone be powerful enough to help me change my depressed and angry thoughts about myself into loving and kind thoughts, but when I started to give them a chance, they very slowly started to help me to how I saw myself.

I was tired of feeling desolate, depressed and hateful towards myself, but had no idea how to make any changes. I had no resource to find help, nor did I even know what was wrong with me or know what I needed.

It was as though the universe took pity on me, for I started hearing faint whispers in my soul to try to hold onto the gentlest of hopeful thoughts. Even those very gentle thoughts were very difficult for me to hold in my mind for longer than a few brief moments, but I knew I needed them to heal me, to give me hope.

I painted “Always believe something wonderful is about to happen” in yellow acrylic paint on my bathroom mirror. I had it up for over a year and only scraped it off when it was time to move. With time I slowly found other quotes that I printed out in appealing fonts, filling a letter size piece of paper, and posted them up on my home and office walls.

Looking at them helped me feel more positive, for I hoped that if those thoughts made someone else feel better, then they might help me too!

It was only after I left my second husband and all the difficult times we had been though that I was able to slowly start to heal.

Writing and creating art helped me to process all the emotions and thoughts I had buried deep inside of me that wanted and needed to come out. It was very painful and very slow going. I wrote 2 books detailing my journey so you too could follow those steps, and in those books are the very quotes that saved my life and mental health.

Once I was through the worst and was slowly starting to practice holding positive thoughts about myself gently in my heart, I became fascinated with finding out how simply choosing different thoughts to think could have such a profound effect on my mental health and how I perceived myself and my life.

Of course, I’m not expecting to just take my word for how positive affirmations can work, please peruse the articles I have listed below. There is real science behind how our bodies process thoughts, both positive and negative, and even from 10 years ago there is far more understanding of the process.

Let me share with you what doctors and scientists have been finding happens to our bodies and our minds when we do something seemingly simple as choosing different thoughts:

Here are some other sources:

Here are links to videos on the benefits of positive affirmations. (If the list don’t show up, you can Google “videos for benefits of positive affirmations”

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=benefits+of+positive+affirmations&qpvt=benefits+of+positive+affirmations&FORM=VDRE
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?&q=benefits+of+positive+affirmations&qft=+filterui%3afilterhint-shortvideo&FORM=SVRTRT

Here’s where to find a whole bunch of affirmations, plus emotionally supportive posts: Mental Health and Rewiring the Brain || Healing and Developing Ourselves || Positive thoughts and Affirmations

Here’s a few to get you started:

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Blessings!
Thank you for liking, sharing this post and for following me!
Tamara

I hope you’ll poke around my Archived Posts Main page divided up into 3 sub-pages: Mental Health and Rewiring the Brain || Healing and Developing Ourselves || Positive thoughts and Affirmations to find a wonderful trove of supportive and encouraging posts!
https://tamarakulish.com/

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36 thoughts on “A deep dive into why Affirmations are useful, and not just wishful thinking…”

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  6. Thank you for your helpful and wise post about positive affirmations, Tamara. I’ve learned so much from you about these, both from your posts, and your books. I am very grateful to you for this. I find them very helpful, although not always easy if I’m having a bad day. However, usually, I write one new positive affirmation every day and try to reread it and practice it regularly. You have been so much help to me (and many others) over the years that I’ve known you, and for that, I’m truly grateful. Ellie X 💐

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    1. I’m very happy that you have chosen to be persistent with your work! No, it’s not easy. It’s very difficult some days. You are however making progress! I’m honored to be part of your journey and the team who is helping you along your way!

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        1. Thank you Ellie! You have chosen to see, rather than ignore, so you owe yourself a pat on the back for opening up!

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  7. The way I look at mistakes I’ve made in the past is to work through how I came about the decision I made. Often, I did the best with the information I had, and that can make me feel a little better. And if I didn’t make the best decision, well, I can learn from that mistake.

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    1. You are very wise! I love how you aren’t beating yourself up or taking it all personally, but just look objectively at what you can do better next time! This is what I had to work hard to learn to do! Glad you’ve got it under your belt! (Maybe black belt?!)

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        1. I get it! Seems like it took me a long time to learn some lessons that others consider easy and basic. At least I finally did! Grateful for that! Glad you did too!

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  9. I love affirmations, I start the day with one. They’re incredibly helpful and I loved your post. They help us tap into our unconscious and change our way of thinking.

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    1. Yes, I discovered them “by accident” and found they worked wonders for me! I’m happy you use them too and have found them helpful.

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        1. I thought it was all nonsense previously, until I gave them a chance and was I ever surprised to see how it worked in my own life.

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            1. Yes! My thought was “What have I got to lose?” I figured if I didn’t tell anyone then I wouldn’t even have to face embarrassment!

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    1. Thank you Dr. Stein! Your words are very kind and mean a lot to me. I was tired of the mental and physical struggle I was going through and was looking for something to help.

      Luckily God, the universe or my Angels sent me those inspirational thoughts that started my healing. Since I didn’t have any other options, I just kept at it, and gradually I saw it was helping, so I continued.

      I had used art therapy to help others I’m the past, so I incorporated that plus writing into my healing routine and saw it was helping me even if it was very difficult.

      I recognize that my DIY methods are not the norm, so I try to write about them to help any other people who may find themselves in the same place I was in.

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  11. This is so inspiring, Tamara. I love that your painted your affirmation on your mirror — it’s so powerful to fill our minds with positivity and hope for a positive outcome, even when things feel a bit dismal. This post came at a perfect time for me, as I’m feeling a little overwhelmed for the future and was planning to dip my toes back into being more conscious of my thought patterns. A big “thank you”, Tamara!!

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    1. I’m very happy you found what you needed at this moment, I know you are going through some difficult things at this time!

      You may not have the super power to control the outcome, but at least you can do your best to control your thoughts by choosing the more positive ones! It’s about flipping the script!

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  12. Tamara, I’ve also found that positive affirmations has made a difference in rewiring my thinking process. I especially like the quote in the captioned image. I continue to work on being kind to past versions of myself.

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    1. I’m so delighted that you have been putting this into practice in your own spirit and have been seeing results! Yes, being kind to past versions of ourselves is vital, lest we continue to shred ourselves at every opportunity! Developing a deep peace of mind depends on us learning to love and accept previous versions of ourselves that were in a much more raw form!

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  13. Love your personal story about affirmations and the links you provide to the research on their effectiveness. You are wonderful for all you do to help others. And I hope you see that as an affirmation!!

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    1. Wow! Thank you Wynne! I love your very supportive words, they mean a great deal to me! I shall cherish them, and yes use them as an affirmation as I continue to move forward in my own life and sorting through my own past! Thank you!

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