Curious About Affirmations? Here's How They Work + How To Start Using Them

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, they can definitely be effective, especially when you know how to use them.

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

Repeating affirmations is powerful, and research has even indicated that positive thoughts can have equally positive effects on the brain1.

The more you work with your 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 adequacy are within our subconscious or unconscious mind," Yusim explains.

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, try visualizing or feeling whatever 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 with aligned 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."