Affirmations for Making Positive Life Changes in 2020

Photo: Grateful thanks to Artur Kondufor on Unsplash!

by Connie Hernandez, ND

In the natural world, we observe how the seasons flow effortlessly and inexorably through their inevitable annual turning.

Seeds sprout, flowers blossom, petals drop, and living plants wither and die.

Our bodies, similarly, pass through an irreversible cycle of birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age, and final transition.

Our inner emotional worlds and mental patterns evolve as well, though not as naturally, effortlessly, or inevitably.

The qualities of our individual nature are determined to a large extent by the decisions we’ve made in response to the ever-turning circumstances of our lives.

Wintertime is a wonderful time to take stock of where we are standing in the great cycle of life. In winter all nature pauses as if to reflect and introspect – and even our own inner nature inspires us to renewal, to fine-tune our directions and make any needed positive course corrections.

Dr. Connie Hernandez, ND
Dr. Connie Hernandez, ND

Of course, the success of our efforts will depend on the skill with which we are able to work in cooperation with our subconscious, conscious, and superconscious mind,

If we fail to follow through on our New Year’s resolutions, we can very often blame a tendency to rely too entirely on the conscious mind.

The conscious mind is, of course, extremely important – we do need to form clear images of the changes we want to make. And we need to have a clear vision and plan.

A vague and airy New Year’s resolution that “maybe” we’ll start exercising, or “maybe” we’ll lose weight, won’t get us far.

And, let’s face it – it’s very frustrating when even our best-planned and carefully visualized New Year’s campaigns fail.

What can we do?

Here’s the Great Secret. Very often, our desire to change is thwarted by deeply engrained habits of the subconscious mind.

When the going gets tough – when we get busy or distracted – we fall back on our subconscious conditioning.

What’s the Answer?

Methods such as the Emotional Freedom Technique can be effective to help us de-program the subconscious mind and free ourselves to pursue new directions.

Self-hypnosis is another promising attack vector for solidifying new thought patterns.

Vibrational remedies such as flower essences can help, especially when they’re combined with supportive affirmations.

Superconscious Affirmations have time-tested power to change our subconscious conditioning.

My patients lament that affirmations haven’t worked for them. I remember a severely stressed acquaintance who told me how she had stood on a railway platform screaming, “In my world everything’s perfect! Everything’s perfect!”

Sadly, affirmations don’t work, if you’re just repeating phrases you only wished you could believe.

To evoke the full power of an affirmation, it’s important to become deeply aware of the inner vibrational truth of the affirmation. You must believe to the depths of your being in the truth you’re affirming.

The affirmation should be voiced in the first person and present tense. “I AM (insert the quality you are determined to develop or change)!”

Fortunately, there’s a scientific technique for achieving predictable results from your affirmations. The best description of the method that I’ve found is offered in a booklet called Scientific Healing Affirmations by Paramhansa Yogananda.

Paramhansa Yogananda (photo taken sometime in the 1930s)

Yogananda teaches that an affirmation should be repeated first loudly, then in a normal speaking voice, then in a whisper, then silently, and then silently while focusing our attention gently at the spiritual eye, at the point between the eyebrows, and about one-half inch inside the skull. The spiritual eye is the bodily seat of superconsciousness, Paramhansa Yogananda said. He called it the “sending station” where we can direct our prayers effectively to God. (The heart he called the “receiving station” for hearing God’s answers.)

The repetition should not be repeated by rote, without inner feeling, but should be repeated at each level with deep attention, engagement, and desire until the effect is felt.

This stepwise process helps awaken the conscious and subconscious minds and ultimately touches the powerful superconscious mind.

You can write your own affirmations, or utilize affirmations by writers like Louise Hay, or choose an affirmation by a spiritual master.

Affirmations that have been infused with soul power by a true master, or affirmations that have been used by many before you, have a power that will make your journey easier and bring more predictable effects.

One of my favorite affirmations for the New Year comes from Yogananda. I can personally attest to its transforming power:

“Within me lies the energy to accomplish all that I will to do. Behind my every act is God’s infinite power.”

For information about the services we offer at Pacific Naturopathic, please give us a call at 650-961-1660, or use the convenient Contact Form to get in touch. Thank you!

To learn about Dr. Connie’s work, follow the link to her Naturopathic Health Consultations website.