Experts Explain How Affirmations Actually Work + How To Use Them Properly (2024)

If you've heard of affirmations, the idea that saying a few sentences can magically improve your life might sound a little far-fetched. While that's not exactly how affirmations work, theycandefinitely be effective, especially when you know how to use them.

Here's why affirmations are so powerful, a list of affirmations to try yourself, and tips on how to get started with an affirmation practice, according to experts.

What are affirmations?

Affirmations are self-selected phrases that embody who we would like to become, according to psychiatrist Anna Yusim, M.D. For example, you might sayI am content or I am on the right path.

The idea is that positive thinking creates self-improvement, Yusim explains, and repeating your affirmations throughout the day can transform thought patternsand mental attitudes. "Together, with honest self-reflection and concrete action steps," she previously told mindbodygreen, "positive affirmations can be a wonderful part of one's behavioral change regimen."

Why affirmations work

The more you work withyour affirmation, the more the positive thinking can aid in self-improvement, as they help to transform negative thought loops and patterns. "[Affirmations] work primarily at the conscious level, whereas many of our conflicts about ourselves and our sense of adequacyare within our subconscious or unconsciousmind," Yusim explains.

And as licensed marriage and family therapistTiana Leeds, M.A., LMFT, notes, our brains are actually wired with a negativity bias that serves as a survival strategy to identify threats. "However," she notes, "this has significant drawbacks, [so] by weaving affirmations into your day, you are combating this negativity bias and rewiring your brain toward more helpful thought patterns."

How to use affirmations

Affirmations are a promising way to go about reconstructing limiting beliefs because they only require your attention and awareness to get started. Getting into the habit of simply saying your affirmations out loud, thinking them in your head, or writing them down somewhere you'll see them often, will slowly but surely start changing the way you feel from the inside out.

And to make your affirmations even more powerful, Yusim suggests bringing as much heart and emotion into them as possible: "Say it out loud, like you really meant it, and put as much emotion and conviction as you can into it," she previously told mindbodygreen.

On top of that, tryvisualizing orfeelingwhatever you're affirming as you say it—what does it sound like? Look like? Feel like? "These simple practices change the affirmation from a cognitive exercise to one that also incorporates your heart and body," Yusim explains.

As Leeds previously explained to mindbodygreen, it's also essential to back up your affirmations withaligned action. "If you tell yourself that you treat your body with love and care but don't spend time moving your body or nourishing yourself with healthy food," she explains, "you are being incongruent, and your affirmations will lose their effectiveness."

You can repeat your affirmations at any time of day, but according to Leeds, the closer tofalling asleepor waking up that you do them, the better. "Other great times are while youget ready for the dayand as you wind down for bed, especially while you arelooking in the mirror, for example, or while doing your hair," she says, noting that pairing affirmations withself-care activitiescan also be highly effective.

Affirmations for any situation:

Daily affirmations:

Positive affirmations:

Manifesting affirmations:

Morning affirmations:

Self-love affirmations:

Happiness affirmations:

Confidence affirmations:

The takeaway

Repeating positive affirmations is a great way to prime the brain to make a change. It's all too easy to get caught in negative thought loops, but with a few personalized andempowering affirmations(paired with some honest self-reflection and aligned action), you can slowly but surely start to unlearn and reshape those patterns and improve your day-to-day mindset.