If you’ve attended a yoga class, you might be familiar with the instructor asking you to set an intention in the beginning of that class. An intention is usually something recognized as the practice of bringing awareness to a quality or virtue you can cultivate for yourself in the moment. Simple things like: “I am relaxed” “I am grounded” “I am present” “I am grateful” are all examples. It’s a way of being.

An affirmation is similar with a slight twist. Affirmation is one sentence statements designed to retrain your mind/thought process/actions into behaving differently so that you may better and easily manifest a certain outcome. It’s a short, positive statement of intention to help you connect inspiration, motivation and action.

Mahatma Gandhi said “Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.”

When formulating your affirmations, it’s important that they don’t feel like lies. Your brain won’t tolerate such things. They need to feel true for it to work properly.

Therefore, if your intention is to be making consistent money but you’re not currently doing so, instead of your affirmation being “I make consistent money” which your brain knows to be false, you would try something like:

• I am abundant in all forms

• Abundance surrounds me.

• I am ready to receive consistently.

• I allow consistent abundance into my life.

• I welcome consistent abundance into my life.

• I allow myself and my business to grow consistently.

In summary, an affirmation is not something that is specifically true, but something you desire to be true eventually. The more you think about something in a specific way, at a biological level, neurons that fire together, wire together. What you practice, you get better at, whether it’s playing violin or being self-critical. When you practice positive thinking, it’s harder to get stuck in a self-critical rut. 

Some examples:

I am achieving total well-being

I am evolving into a greater and greater expression of myself 

I am the love and light that I truly am

I am loving and loved

We love to use affirmations from the late Louise Hay, who has created a plethora of affirmations for our clients to find inspiration from.