The Power Of Positive Affirmation
Bhagwad Gita, Chapter 6, Verse 34,
Arjuna tells Krishna चञ्चलं हि मन: कृष्ण प्रमाथि बलवद्दृढम् |
तस्याहं निग्रहं मन्ये वायोरिव सुदुष्करम् || (The mind is very restless, turbulent, strong and obstinate, O Krishna. It appears to me that it is more difficult to control than the wind)
Lord Krishna replies
असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम् |
अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते || ( O mighty-armed son of Kunti, what you say is correct; the mind is indeed very difficult to restrain. But by practice and detachment, it can be controlled).
In today’s fast-paced life and world, we are sometimes or maybe many times run over by negative thoughts that harm our mental health by dampening our mood and eclipsing our confidence. While many mechanisms exist to counter this, one of the best and simplest is ‘positive affirmation’. Simply defined, positive affirmations are brief phrases, repeated frequently, that are designed to encourage positive, happy feelings, thoughts, and attitudes. Feeding our mind with positive, empowering and uplifting thoughts/phrases are the ideal way to train it and reverse the negativity.
Just as physical exercise and a good diet are essential for a healthy body, similarly repetition of positive affirmations is essential for a healthy mind. Our mind/brain has an exceptional ability to change and adapt to different circumstances. Basically, how we use our brain will alter our brain. Thinking patterns - both positive and negative - will run certain tracks into our brains. The more we use the same track, the deeper, more automatic, and easier it gets. So what we feed our mind, we become that. And that’s why and how affirmations work. They create positive tracks and alter the negative ones.
Positive affirmation is great when you are at a low: stress, professional hazard, grief, loss, abandonment etc. But, they are equally effective in up/enhancing your already great state of being which gets a solid boost.
Some of the direct benefits of positive affirmations are:
- Increase in positivity.
- Increase in self-confidence.
- Improvement in self-esteem.
- Control of negative feelings such as frustration, anger, or impatience.
- Resilience to stress (which leads to better health)
- Improved productivity.
- Improved academic achievement.
- Increased ability to overcome a bad habit.
- Help in achieving goals.
