"I'm so ugly"
"I'm not good enough to be a musician" and
"I'm a horrible mother"
are all thoughts I used to have on a daily basis.
I thought they were normal(which they are)... but I thought there was nothing I could do to stop them.
Even though I seemed like a happy person on the outside, on the inside I had low self confidence and self love. And I had no idea how much this impacted my ACTUAL happiness!
A few years ago I did some research on self love and positive affirmations. I guess I'd had enough of treating myself like crap! I started to catch myself in the thought process. Whenever I had a negative thought, I'd replace it with a positive one.
"I'm so ugly" became "I am BEAUTIFUL, inside and out!"
"I'm not good enough to be a musician" became "I am CAPABLE of anything I want to do!"
"I'm a horrible mother" became "I'm an AMAZING mother!"
At first I felt silly and phony saying these things I didn't really believe. But with time and consistency, my mind started to change.
I started to believe, deep down, that I AM beautiful, I AM a good mother, I AM a good musician(plus so many other things!). The negative voices eventually stopped popping up... I guess they knew they wouldn't be listened to!
Today I am SO much happier, more confident, and more in love with life and myself. I also saw positive changes in my relationship with my husband and kids as I started to incorporate them in our family's daily life.
When my sons were born, I knew I wanted to do positive affirmations with them. Here are 5 easy ways we use them at home:
Positive Affirmations for Kids: 5 Easy Ways to Use Them
1. Write affirmations down with your kids
I write a page of positive affirmations in my journal at least once a week, and often I'll write 3-4 different ones for the day, depending on how I'm feeling and what I want to work on. When my kids see me do this, they want to do it, too!
Example: "I am capable of anything I want to do!"
2. Say affirmations with your child in the mirror ("Mirror Work")
This is one I learned about from Louise Hay in her book "You Can Heal Your Life". She says it is the quickest and most effective way to get positive beliefs ingrained in your mind. Mirror work is simply looking at yourself in a mirror and saying something positive. It might seem strange or awkward at first... but it works, and soon you will believe what you're saying. I have a bunch of affirmations on pieces of paper surrounding my bathroom mirror so I remember to say them to myself every morning.
Examples:
"I love myself unconditionally"
"I love my eyes"
"I have a beautiful smile"
"I approve of myself"
3. Listening to Affirmations
There are many guided affirmation meditations for kids on YouTube and Spotify. I have also heard of people recording themselves speaking positive affirmations into their phone and then playing it to themselves as they fall asleep. Here are a couple I have found on YouTube - "Self-Love Affirmations" from Jason Stephenson and "Sleep Hypnosis - Your Garden of Affirmations" from Michael Sealey.
4. Positive Affirmation Cards
Grab some positive affirmation cards like these ones from Minniminds.
I love using them with my sons (8 and 11 years old). They like to read through the whole deck and pick their favourite. Then we repeat it together a few times and stick it on the fridge so we can see it all day!
5. Sing Affirmations with Your Kids
Download my positive affirmation song "You Are Amazing" (FOR FREE) which includes 30+ positive affirmations from A-Z for children (and our inner children!) and sing along! Singing affirmations is so powerful because words set to music are generally SO MUCH EASIER to remember!
How do you do positive affirmations in your home? Comment below!