The Right Use of Affirmation

I’ve been doing a ton of writing lately putting the finishing touches on my e course which is so packed full of information I am having a hard time fitting it into just six week. Anyway, I was writing about the idea of “positive thinking” and “affirmation” the other day . I love and embrace the use of affirmations. Just not in the way you probably think. So, I thought I’d share it here.

We have already spoken about the fact that everything is energy (blog about that). In our minds we store all the energetic resonances of all thoughts, experiences, feelings, beliefs we have ever had. All this information takes the forms of electrical impressions in our brain cells. We have a way of “cataloging” these impressions into file folders of related information. Like giant webs of electrical impressions that have cohesive themes and organization, and can also overlap into other folders. Now, these “files” are filled with information -thoughts, stories, history, and feelings that we have gathered from our experiences (some might even argue that we even come in with some impressions already downloaded). At the very top of the file top are those memories and thoughts that we are more aware of. These tend to be more positive in nature.

A good example of this is nostalgia. Which by definition is the desire to return in thought or in form to a former time in one's life, and a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time. Think back to a time in your life. Have you noticed how even the “bad” times don’t seem so bad? When we think back to a time we often do not, "remember" or are aware of what we didn’t like. That’s because our conscious awareness accesses the top of the folder first, and thus, the more “positive” memories.

I am constantly reminded of this fact when I think about my former home, Maui. I moved away from there five years ago and for very good reasons. Whenever I “miss it” especially when it’s freezing outside (like now) I think about the beautiful beaches, the warmth, and my family and friends. I easily forget about the reasons that caused me to make the move in the first place. That’s nostalgia. And we all do it. It’s why the grass in always greener in another person’s yard, or in my case, island.

Yep, we tend to hide or try to ignore those painful energetic impressions. They are pushed down into our file folders. Toward the bottom our of our conscious awareness. This is why denial is actually possible. We can push this energetic goo really deep. The important thing to remember is this- Those impressions may be hidden but they are very much still present and they are very much still creators of our reality. That’s why I always reiterate the point, don’t look at what you are thinking, look at what is showing up in your life.That is a better reflection of what you are really thinking and believe. You could be “thinking” positive, wonderful things really, but if that is not what is showing up for you there is a hidden energy at work. No matter how you direct your surface thoughts to “be happy” if you don’t access and change the beliefs at the bottom of the folder it’s just smoke and mirrors.

Another important point to remember is that painful or fearful thoughts tend to have the most energetic frequency, the most emotional energy. Of course they do right? These are our fears, our traumas, our judgments- all the thoughts we don’t want to own. In past posts I spoke about the laws of energy, resonance. Think about what that means in terms of our experience. Basically, when two energies are in contact which do you think get’s amplified or animated? The one with stronger or weaker energy? Right. The thoughts and beliefs with the most “energy” is amplified. Thus, where do you think you are creating your reality from? The top of the file or the bottom? That is why we have been working so hard to bring these unconscious thoughts and beliefs into the light. So we can clear our files of that goo energy affecting our reality. Every issue in life starts as mind energy. No exceptions. What is less than must always be examined. Our task is to locate it and remove it so it no longer shapes the reality you don’t want.

So how do affirmations fit into the equation?
Normally affirmations are a positive statement about something we are not positive about. Say if we are struggling with weight the affirmation might be “I am light and free” or some such variation. Now every time we say that affirmation we trigger the “thin” file folder in our minds. What do you think someone that has an issue with weight has in their file folder labeled “thin”? What thoughts and beliefs are deeply hidden in that most likely rather thick file? What thoughts do we fire off unconsciously every time we say that affirmation? The fear, the doubt, the trauma, the judgments stored in that file. Remember if the issue is showing up in your life it’s in your mind somewhere. So the positive affirmation “I am light and free” is actually a way of asserting and strengthening what you don’t want. It’s putting a saddle on a goat and pretending it’s a horse. It’s not gonna work.

That’s why affirmations are a bit off the mark in our present understanding. I hear it all the time “just think positive” . Well, that is true but not in the way that it is implied. We naturally think positive when we have cleared our files of the stuff that isn’t positive. If positive is what’s left in our file than there’s no other way to think right?

So the correct way to use affirmations are as a catalyst for change. We use them to flush out the hidden parts in our files. An affirmation is in fact a positive thought around an and issue that you have a negative one. But it’s much more than just changing the thought. It is an opportunity to look inward at subconscious thoughts and bring them into the light. It is not something you simply pretend or wish is true. Use it to bring up emotion that you don’t believe. Clean out the file cabinets in charge of creating our reality and our reality changes. If you have no scary, judgmental, dis empowered thoughts and beliefs hidden in your folder on “thin” you’ll have no blocks to creating a reality that'll reflect it.

How do we do that?
Here is a brief description. For those taking the course we’ll be going even more in depth but here’s a taste to get you started.

Proper use of affirmation exercise
Take a page and separate into two columns. In the left write the affirmation and in the right everything that comes up in response. By the way, it’s critical you either write it down or do it with another person. We are dealing with mind energy with lot’s of emotion. Our natural response is to go unconscious with it, it’s what we’ve done with these thoughts up until now. By writing it down we stay present and conscious. So write an affirmation about an issue in your life you would like to be different

For example. “I am light in mind and body”
What comes up when you say/think that thought? If it’s a proper affirmation your first thought will be “B.S, I am huge and enormous. The opposite of light and free. I am huge and trapped”
If you get that kind of emotion then that’s the one you want to use because there’s obviously some “stuff” in that file to bring up. Allow the emotions to arise and the memories to just emerge. Just write. Write about when you feel that way. Write the whole scenario, and burn off the emotion.
Now we use the information that we just wrote to create another affirmation, another layer of undoing.

Our example "I am light and free”
Response “BS. I am not light and free. I am fat and angry. I remember being judged about the way I looked from the time I can remember. I was always told how overweight I was as a child by my parents. They never accepted me for who I was”

Now…new affirmation “When I was a child I was totally accepted”

Now Check in.

What’s your mind energy about that? Write it out again. Bringing up all the goo you can.

Perhaps your response to your new affirmation is “I was not allowed to do what I wanted to do. And it really hurt. I wasn't allowed to be who I wanted to be. Everything was held to a specific standard of which I felt I never fit. I was not allowed to be imperfect”

So we create another affirmation from that “I was and am allowed to be perfect just the way I am”

and we see what comes up.

And another. When you get towards the end, where you feel that you have little emotion left. Pick that affirmation and apply into your life. Use it. Say it.

You’ll find that your affirmation that started about the size of your body may not seem to be about the size of your body at all. Your final affirmation may be something like “I need only impress myself”. But make no mistake about it, it is about your weight. When you stop having an emotional charge about it. When your file is clear, your affirmation will become a creative statement and you’ll create it. The goal of an affirmation is to seek the never enough energies within ourselves. When we bring it to light we become master healers. Bringing to light anything less than love melts away.