For a very long time I ran away from anything related to positive affirmations, I felt skeptical, I thought they were about suppressing reality and I basically saw them as superficial masks to cover up what was “really underneath”; positive affirmations were basically a no-go zone for me. Fast forward a few years later and I have developed a completely different relationship to them, as I have come to realize that they can also be powerful allies that can pave the way to open up a dialogue with the experience of embodying the ancestral and everlasting universal question of Who Am I?
To Affirm
So here I am in my chair, I breathe in and repeat the words “I Am Safe” and then a thousand questions come out, as eyes that start to blink surrounding a forest night. This is my subconscious speaking, all these thousands of eyes, always there but not always visible to the naked eye, unless I summon a question, unless I summon an assertion. And why is this? that an assertion, inherently becomes a question in itself? that the unconscious responds so strongly and many times so powerfully against a certain idea of myself, against a certain identity I would like to contemplate, construct, or simply integrate into my life?
“This is my subconscious speaking, all these thousands of forest eyes, always there but not always visible to the naked eye.”
There’s a dialogue happening there, — I say “I am safe” and the body responds are you sure? and then so many paths open up, and then I can choose to continue to say, yes “I am safe”, or I can maybe engage in a logical explanation of why is it that I am safe or my mind may even ‘betray me’ and remind me of how unsafe I am.
For this reason, positive affirmations can be tricky, and being conscious of the dialogue that takes place within this space that opens up during inner-work makes all the difference. When an inner dialogue unfolds, for the most part, we are by default, not always present with it. Thought patterns are so part of us, that we naturally become engaged with them without much awareness or distance from them.
It might sound trippy, but many times dialogues can go on for years without us ever being conscious of the tape that’s playing, unknowingly carrying a feeling or a persona that’s being embodied through these dialogues. When it comes to asserting positive affirmations, the dialogue that’s playing becomes ever present and ever clear, giving one, the opportunity to listen to what’s really happening inside.
“While asserting positive affirmations, the dialogue that’s playing becomes ever present and ever clear, giving one the opportunity to listen, to what’s really happening inside.”
Positive Affirmations Are a Door
To repeat “I Am” is a knock, a desire, and a confrontation with the mirage that’s there. Positive affirmations are at their basis, very philosophical, meaning they are directly related to fundamental questions of existence. And for this very same reason, the mind replies to them, not as a direct truth but, as an extension to an emotion that’s already there. This reverberation holds a mirror to the same mirror we are holding ourselves. In other words, the holdings of the mind become exposed when an affirmation knocks and shows up. These “holdings” or attachments of the mind surface from the mammalian to the reptilian brain, all the way to the memories held through the nervous system that extend throughout the body memory that reacts. Hence, the door.
“The holdings of the mind become exposed when an affirmation knocks”
The door to the subconscious is closer than what it seems to be, but it gets complicated when we try to open it with force. This is obviously an issue as most of humanity does not live in a monastery with plenty of overflowing time to explore with deep patience, what is happening underneath it all. Nonetheless, there are many things we can still do as the are many tools at our disposal to find a deeper and stronger bond within ourselves. To affirm a thought, a feeling, or an idea as a reality is to allow the unconscious to surface, to talk to us, to laugh and cry with us, to feel with us, and to be there for us. To realize there is a whole world of feelings down there, creates a space for growth and a sense of understanding of our true needs.
“To affirm a thought, a feeling or an idea as a reality is to allow the subconscious to surface, to talk to us, to laugh and cry with us, to feel with us, and to be there for us. Allowing ourselves to start to listen.”
Positive Affirmations + Journaling
To affirm a positive thought is not about invalidating what you feel or who you are in order to deny your emotions or the different facets of you, it is instead a proven way to hold a space for your inner child to speak. Journaling facilitates this space, as it gives a platform to the thoughts that have so much to say but that many times can feel fearful to speak through other avenues. Journaling is a way of profoundly listening to the roots that hold the tree that gives the fruits. So next time you repeat a simple affirmation, remember that there is so much more to it and that you can always explore your vast inner world through it.
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