When thinking of positive affirmations, does your mind rewind to the Saturday Night Live skit with Stuart Smalley and his famous line ” I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and, doggonit, people like me!” The idea of saying something to oneself may seem foolish and silly but the power of positive affirmations is real.
In class, I introduce the idea of saying positive things to oneself by encouraging shouts of “I’m strong!” and “I’m focused!” in warrior poses. During savasana, I take the class on a relaxation journey using my favorite book, Ready… Set… RELAX. These texts always include positive affirmations along with guided breathing techniques. The kids repeat to themselves positive sayings for example “I feel good about who I am”, “I can let go and relax” and “I can breathe out tension”.
Children with anxiety can use positive affirmations with breathing techniques to help when feeling stress. A little girl in my daughter’s class was having a tough time in gym. For whatever reason, gym class made her anxious and she often made excuses to go to the nurse. Equipped with the affirmations, “I am OK. This is a feeling and feelings change” she is now happily participating in gym class.
I have also seen the success first hand with my own daughter who started waking up at night and having a hard time settling herself back down. I told her to try to inhale— filling her belly with air— while thinking “I am relaxed” and then exhale while thinking “I can sleep”. It worked like a charm and she is now able to get up in the night and help herself fall back to sleep without my guidance. Affirmations are about self-empowerment.
Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese monk and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize teaches what he calls “Breath with Healing Thought”. These different variations of affirmations and breath are actually the key to meditation. Try these simple meditations and notice your happiness and peace grow.
1) As you inhale, repeat to yourself “In”. As you exhale, repeat “Out”. This may seem too easy and simple, but you may be surprised to notice how quickly your mind tries to run away to the past or future! Meditation is about being calmly and joyfully present to what is happening now.
2) As you inhale, repeat in your mind “I am calm”. As you exhale, repeat “I am relaxed”. Then continue only with the words “Calm” and “Relax”. The power of the words will instantly reduce your stress and worry.
3) Breathing in, repeat to yourself “I am joy”. Breathing out, smile, and think, “I smile.” Continue calmly breathing, while you repeat “Joy” and “Smile”. Smiles relax hundreds of muscles in the face, neck, and shoulders and the act of smiling can create feelings of well-being.
Affirmations are a great means to help children become self-empowered which ultimately increases their self-esteem. Thoughts combined with breath are a powerful tool to improving feelings of well being.
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April 10, 2010 at 11:53 am
Donna Freeman
Love the Thich Nhat Hanh techniques for breathing. I’ve also used affirmations to help my children relax before falling asleep and use them with every kids yoga class. The are so wonderfully powerful.
For more information on how to create and incorporate affirmations for yourself or your children visit http://yogainmyschool.com/2009/10/23/affirmations-prove-powerful-for-kids-success/
April 10, 2010 at 8:44 pm
The PranaMama
I recently included positive affirmations in an article I’m pitching with 5 easy ways for kids to relax in 5 minutes or less. I love how positive affirmations can be used by kids with so many different emotions and challenges – nerves before a test or a game, fear of the dark, inability to sleep, social situations…thanks for the great reminder of how we can all use this in our daily lives.
April 11, 2010 at 1:50 am
Denis
Positive affirmations can indeed help children relax and build stronger self esteem. The challenge is to get the children to say the affirmations with conviction. Carsten Sommerskov from Denmark has developed a unique approach to this problem: he has developed a series of relaxing adventure stories that parents can download and play for their kids http://www.worldsesteem.com
The very cool thing about these stories is that kids listen to a great adventure story while at the same time being exposed to positive affirmations. The kids love the stories and want to hear them again and again. Such repetition of course only enhances the positive effect of the affirmations. Parents are reporting that their children are happier and more self confident after listening to the stories. Proof positive that affirmations help kids develop healthy self esteem.
April 12, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Lisa Flynn - ChildLight Yoga
What a wonderful post. I was just yesterday tallking about how it’s okay to have feelings, and the goal is not to get rid of them, but to feel them, have compassion for them, and allow them to pass – as they do change. I love that affirmation: I am okay. This is a feeling and feelings do change.
I very much appreciate the other comments to this post and will be investigation them further. Thanks!
April 13, 2010 at 2:01 am
Danay DiVirgilio
Beautiful article and reminder of the importance of affirmations. I appreciated the example of your daughter who was waking up in the middle of the night and having a hard time falling back to sleep. I am going to share that with a mom of one of my yoga students who has been having trouble sleeping.
In our YogaBuddies’ classes we like having them find 3 things they are grateful for about their bodies while in a certain pose or Savasana. Rather then someone else feeding them the affirmation they are coming up with ideas on their own. It is powerful stuff! And every little reminder helps! Thank you!
September 5, 2011 at 11:59 pm
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