Positive affirmations help relieve stress by changing the negative thoughts you have about yourself into positive thoughts instead. The goal is to train your unconscious mind to think positive thoughts about what you want to happen, rather than negative thoughts about yourself or the world around you.
These statements are empowering, positive, and should be said with confidence in order to solidify the statement in your mind. The affirmation should always allow you to visualize how you want your life to be, as in how you want to feel and react in a certain environment.
Some believe that the way you think begins to be the way you see the world, so when you think bad thoughts, bad things tend to happen. That’s where the belief that positive affirmations reduce stress, by allowing you to notice all of the good things. This belief goes even further, saying that what you think about unconsciously begins to occur in real life.
So, if you go around thinking something negative, you’ll begin making choices that bring those negative thoughts to real life. On the other hand, if you have positive thoughts, you will begin subconsciously making decisions that’ll bring those positive thoughts and images to real life. Because of this, you can train yourself to relieve stress using powerful positive affirmations.
Positive Affirmations in the Commercial Industry and in the Media
You have likely heard of affirmations, as it has become a hot topic of discussion in the media and in marketing techniques. You can find books, seminars, experts, and self-help groups related to changing your life with a positive affirmation, but none of that is going to help you if you aren’t ready to make the change on your own. Those options all cost money and may not be effective while doing affirmation on your own and for yourself are more likely to work for you.
Affirmations should be a private process, one that you do for yourself, not for the world around you. This means that you must look inside of yourself to determine what you need to focus on and what you need to say. The media and commercial industry shouldn’t be your primary source.
How Positive Affirmations Help to Relieve Stress
Since saying a positive affirmation repeatedly can make the thought come true, telling yourself that you are not stressed out or that you have control over your feelings will help to ease the negative feelings that you may have felt otherwise. This simple process changes your own way of thinking and, in turn, changes the way you perceive the world around you. So, situations and environments that would normally stress you out may become more tolerable and less intrusive on your feelings.
This all-natural way of reducing and relieving stress has been proven to be true, and the results only further prove the fact. By telling yourself that you are less stressed, you will become less stressed. There are different ways that this happens, and there are many different affirmations you can say to yourself.
Why Positive Affirmations Are a Good Idea
- You can do them anytime, anyplace, so this method of stress relief can help you no matter where you are.
- It’s all-natural.
- It promotes long-term relief from stress.
- Affirmations teach you good habits.
- They teach you to train your brain.
- Affirmations increase your confidence and belief in yourself.
- They encourage productivity and goal-reaching.
- Promote better overall health.
- It encourages self-awareness and mindfulness.
- Affirmations lead to greater levels of life satisfaction.
Positive Affirmations That Help Relieve Stress
While you can come up with your own affirmations, sometimes it is easier to start with ones other people have come up with. You could do a quick internet search, or you could take some from the following list:
- I am not stressed.
- I don’t feel the stress building.
- My thoughts are calm.
- I feel peaceful.
- I am not allowing myself to worry.
- The tension is leaving my body.
- I am in control of my thoughts and my stress levels.
- I am feeling positive.
- My thoughts are peaceful.
- I am relaxed.
- Each day, I take time to relieve my stress and ease my mind.
- Even when life gets hectic, I feel like I am at peace.
- I am not allowing stress to control me.
- It’s normal to feel stress-free.
- I can be naturally stress-free.
- Each day I will find time to de-stress by relaxing and enjoying some time to myself.
- It’s easy to release stress.
- I enjoy life when I release my stress.
- I live a stress-free life.
- Relaxing at the end of the day is necessary.
- I am happy and free from worry.
- I attract positivity and repel stress.
- I’m able to handle everything on my plate today, so I am not feeling any stress.
- I am in control of my feelings.
- Only will I give into joyful thoughts, and I will release any stressful feelings or thoughts.
- This situation is only temporary, so I will not allow it to cause me stress.
- There is no problem in my day that I cannot handle.
- I react positively to every situation.
- Deep breathing relieves my stress, so I do it every day.
- I am letting go of my stress.
- My mind and body are calm.
- I am peaceful.
- Finding ways to relieve my stress will make me happier, calmer, and healthier.
- I am living a more stress-free life.
- I am becoming a person who does not give in to stress.
- Thinking clearly is easier now that I am free of stress.
How to Train Yourself to Think Positively
- Repeat the affirmation. Doing this out loud is more effective, but thinking them helps, as well.
- Record yourself saying the affirmations. This way you can listen to them while you’re busy doing other things.
- Write your affirmations on post-it notes. Place these post-it notes in places you’ll regularly seem them, such as on your mirror or in your car. If you find that you get stressed out when you are at work, place one in your workspace to look at when your stress is becoming too much.
- Come up with affirmations for every area of your life, no matter how minor it seems, to create the habit of positive thinking throughout the entire day.
- Take a deep breath before beginning the repetition of your affirmations to help clear your mind.
The more you have these affirmations in your life, the sooner it will become a natural habit to think them in moments of stress. Try to incorporate them in as many areas as you can.
How to Know Which Positive Affirmations to Use
Find the affirmations that work for you in your daily life. If necessary, you can use different affirmations while getting ready in the morning, while driving in your car, and while sitting at work. It’s okay to test an affirmation out and changing your mind about it, as there is no commitment to any specific affirmation.
Determine what you want your environment to be like, and then use an affirmation that applies to that image. This way, you are setting yourself up for positive thoughts and minimal stress in that environment.
How to Write Your Own Positive Affirmation
In order to write your own affirmations, you have to think about a number of factors. You also have to put all of your thoughts into a simple statement, or affirmation, that you can repeat. To begin writing your own affirmation, you should do the following:
- what you want to achieve (a healthier lifestyle, a more supportive person, a better friend, to track your lifestyle better, etc.)
- Brainstorm a few sentences that you could repeat to yourself. When you do this, make the statements as if what you are trying to achieve is already true, for example; if you want to be calmer in stressful situations, think to yourself “I am feeling calmer”, even if you’re not.
- Make your statement realistic. If you can’t actually achieve what you are saying, create a new affirmation.
Final Thoughts On How to Relieve Stress Using These Powerful Positive Affirmations
Stress can be overwhelming and negatively powerful when we let it consume us. That is why you should train yourself to think positive thoughts when you feel yourself becoming stressed out. Powerful positive affirmation can turn your entire mood around, and training yourself to do this regularly and subconsciously can prevent stress from occurring in the future.
Whether you choose to write your own affirmations or you use one of the examples provided above, you should ensure that your message to yourself is positive, uplifting, and directly related to your intentions. You will likely notice that these affirmations become second nature in your subconscious thoughts and that those kinds of thoughts eventually become true in your everyday life.