Do Affirmations Really Work?

Every time your friends and peers talk about affirmations, you picture them standing in front of a mirror repeating positive mantras of motivation. Perhaps you’ve even tried them before but they felt ineffective and awkward. At this point, you probably think it’s all hooey or at best want it to just work.

While psyching yourself up in a mirror isn’t entirely wrong, that’s not the type of affirmation we’re talking about here. An affirmation is a command to the subconscious mind. but first, you must understand how the subconscious mind is the key to unlocking the power of affirmations.

Your Two Minds: How Affirmations Work

The simple reason affirmations do not work for many is that most people do not understand how your two minds work. Two minds? Let’s explain.

Within all humans are two or more states of consciousness. We are most familiar with the conscious mind, which we use almost all of the time. Even when we are sleeping, the conscious mind stays on alert and is usually fully awakened by unexpected noises such as a ringing phone. It is always on duty.

The subconscious mind is just like a filing cabinet. You can open it or close it, and it will show you, or reflect back to you, what is in it. It doesn’t argue with you, it doesn’t challenge you, it simply exists to do two things: store information and reflect it back to you. It doesn’t judge, like or dislike, agree or disagree, it acts just like your Documents storage on your computer.

But the alarming thing about the subconscious mind is that it is both fascinating and a humble servant, all at the same time. You are storing information of which you are aware, and at the same time the subconscious mind is also collecting information all around you without your knowledge.

In fact, your subconscious mind is the great betrayer, because what is reflected back to you may have been completely unknown to you, and this is when you ask, “Where did that come from?”

Although hundreds and thousands of bits of information flow into our conscious mind at any given second, the conscious mind can only process about 40 bits of information per second. So a lot of information does not register and just gets lost.

But, compare that to the 11 million bits per second of information processed by the subconscious mind, which is unfiltered and slips right in. Because of this staggering rate of processing, the subconscious mind is an unlimited repository of everything known and unknown to your conscious mind about yourself. It is so vast it is difficult to imagine the infinite number of bits of information that reside in the subconscious mind.

It also stores your past memories. So if you multiply all three: information you want to store in it, information it is collecting on its own at all times (without our knowledge), and information about your memories, then we realize that the amount of infinite information stored in the subconscious mind is unknowable.

The situation then arises: The subconscious mind automatically reflects back to you what is there. If you have a bad experience, it files it away, and then the next time when something just a bit similar appears ready to show up, the subconscious mind brings up that file, connects it with your present experience, and reflects back to you a negative experience in your life. You then have a new negative experience, which is also stored in your subconscious. Over a lifetime, there are millions of thoughts about negative experiences you have had, or heard about, or witnessed stored in your subconscious mind.

So the reason that affirmations do not work is because there is a lack of understanding about the subconscious mind.

Affirmations: Statements and Commands

An affirmation statement is not effective. But an affirmation command to the subconscious is. Here is how to use affirmation commands to the subconscious mind to your advantage.

Step 1: Write out an affirmation of a desired outcome.

Step 2: In a quiet place, do a simple breathing technique to slow down the mental processes as well as the body. Breathe in, hold your breath, vibrate while visualizing your body enveloped in white light, exhale and relax. Repeat 3 times.

Step 3: See a shimmering light of healing, or wisdom, or knowledge at the third eye center.

Step 4: Let this shimmering light of Wisdom flow through your brain.

Step 5: Give your affirmation command to the subconscious mind using the following as a template and substituting your desired manifestation.

“Now, I am addressing my subconscious mind. I am giving you new information and instructions to put into the folder named HOME. In this folder, your new information will reflect back to me, and manifest back to me, in the physical world. I give you the information that I now own the home of my dream in the location of my choice, in the city of ___________. I see this house fully furnished with furniture and people that I want in my home. I see this home as beautiful in all details.”

Step 6: Repeat several times and visualize this command going into your subconscious mind.

Step 7: Always close your sessions or exercises with gratitude, which is the secret door to manifestation. 

Now that you understand the roles of the conscious mind and the subconscious mind, and how affirmation commands will work for you and bring you your desired manifestation, practice this exercise daily and know that it has already been fulfilled by bringing it into the present. Not waiting for it, but accepting it as done. And living in the state of eternal gratitude.

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