Affirmations: What They Are, Health Benefits, and Getting Started
Whether you’re feeling proud of yourself after a major accomplishment or feeling down on yourself after a day when you can’t seem to get it right, the way you talk to yourself matters.
That’s the idea behind affirmations — short phrases you can repeat to change the way you think and feel about yourself. If you meditate or practice yoga, you may already be familiar with affirmations — they’re often integrated with these practices.
In a tweet last year, Jennifer Lopez revealed the affirmations she uses: “I am whole, I am good on my own, I love myself.”
Michelle Obama said in a Twitter post last year that her daily mantra is: “Am I good enough? Yes, I am.”
Affirmations are free and easy to practice anywhere, anytime, so they’re a really accessible tool to cope with stressful current events, says Corey Yeager, PhD, a Minneapolis-based licensed marriage and family therapist and the author of How Am I Doing?: 40 Conversations to Have With Yourself (a book about building self-awareness).
“People are latching onto simple ways to help themselves,” he says.
Affirmations, also referred to as positive affirmations, are phrases that, when repeated regularly, can change negative thoughts and behavior patterns, per the Cleveland Clinic. They can be said aloud or to yourself. These statements are usually intended to help shift thinking from negative to positive, motivate an action, reduce stress, persevere through difficult times, and increase self-confidence and well-being.
“Affirmations help build and improve your self-esteem. They can also act as a way of challenging and replacing your negative and anxious thinking when it comes to stress, depression, physical pain, and anxiety,” says Lee Phillips, LCSW, EdD, a psychotherapist and sex and couples therapist in New York City certified by the Integrative Sex Therapy Institute.
Affirmations do this by replacing negative self-talk, explains Dr. Yeager. For example, if you made a mistake and then think, “I’m so stupid,” Yeager says, you’re unintentionally using a negative affirmation.
But if you can spot the negative affirmation, there’s an opportunity to change it to a positive one. In this case, you might tell yourself: “I can learn from my mistakes.”
One psychological theory of self-affirmation comes from research on the self carried out in the 1980s by Claude M. Steele, PhD, a social psychologist. His theory is that when people have thoughts or experiences that threaten the way they think about or perceive themselves, they are motivated to restore their self-image.
Dr. Steele suggested that people generally want to have a positive image of themselves, so when they experience a threat to that image (such as somebody telling them they’re not good at something), they tend to affirm their sense of self — which, in turn, allows them to handle these threats in a more secure, balanced way. The affirmation is a way to help navigate that stressful situation.
Some research suggests positive affirmations can have benefits for mental health and general well-being. Sam Zand, DO, a clinical psychiatrist based in Boise, Idaho, points to neuroplasticity as one explanation for the potential health benefits of affirmations. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to create new patterns and adapt, per an article published in Frontiers in Psychology in October 2017.
If we practice affirmations every single day, we may be able to create new pathways in the brain, explains Dr. Zand. It is similar to muscle memory: Instead of flexing our very negative thought processes, we instead create a habit of flexing a more balanced and positive self-view. “I would call affirmations a neuroplastic habit,” he says.
Here are some other potential benefits.
In a small randomized controlled trial, researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to better understand how affirmations affected internal processing and reward systems in the brain. They found that participants who used positive affirmations reflecting their values had more activity in the reward center of their brains (neural processes associated with positive self-view and self-competence) than those who didn’t.
Research suggests that affirmations can support people who are trying to make positive behavioral changes (like following a healthy diet plan, limiting alcohol intake, or limiting caffeine intake), according to a meta-analysis of 144 studies.
Affirmations could also improve your ability to problem-solve while under stress. In one randomized controlled study, participants who repeated an affirmation related to a value they saw in themselves (like creativity, independence, or sense of humor) performed better in a stressful word-association problem-solving task than those who repeated an affirmation related to a value they didn’t consider important to them.
In Yeager’s real-world experience as a psychotherapist for the Detroit Pistons, he uses affirmations with NBA players to help them remove the opportunity for negativity to set in during a game. For example, an affirmation may help an athlete improve their game or rebound from a play that didn’t go so well.
“I talk to players a lot about how, when you’re in the game and something negative happens, you turn the ball over,” he says. He’s not talking about the basketball itself; you reframe the way you see the situation, he explains. The athlete might have their own personal affirmation, or Yeager might suggest using this one: “I was built for this. I’m not worried.”
Finally, while affirmations can help in all these ways, they are not a substitute for professional treatment if you need it. If you’re experiencing persistent feelings of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, self-doubt, or stress, the Cleveland Clinic advises talking to a mental health professional who can help.
Starting an affirmation practice can be quick and painless. It requires no equipment or setup. Here’s how to get started.
The first step in starting an affirmation practice is to pick an affirmation. You can use a phrase you’ve heard that really resonates with you, or, Yeager advises, you can also come up with your own affirmation that will serve your purpose. Some steps:
Affirmations can be said in your head or out loud. Sometimes it depends on when you want to use them. If you’re at home in your bathroom, you can stand in front of the mirror and say an affirmation out loud. If you’re in a public setting, say on a bus, you’ll probably want to say it in your head.
When you choose to practice really depends on why you’re using the affirmation. If you want to get your day off to a positive start, Dr. Phillips recommends practicing them in the morning. To help you relax and regulate your nervous system after a long day, he suggests saying them in the evening.
Once you’ve decided on your affirmation(s) and a time that suits your schedule, try to make a regular habit of it. For example, if you decide it’s going to be for the morning, make it part of your morning routine. Repeat it as many times as you need. Practicing affirmations regularly is key to their effectiveness, especially if you’re trying to change thinking patterns or behaviors.
To help you stick with the practice, the Cleveland Clinic notes you can write your affirmation(s) on notecards and place them around your home; keep them in your phone's Notes app so they’re accessible; and set a reminder to repeat or reread your affirmations at the same time each day.
Need some affirmation inspiration? Here are some recommendations from Phillips, Yeager, and Zand.
Affirmations are phrases that can help move your thoughts and actions in a positive direction. Research has found that they can potentially improve your sense of self and help you problem-solve better under stress. To start, pick a purpose, choose a short phrase as your affirmation, and remain authentic in your daily practice.
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