Affirmations are the words we use to make things "firm" in the world. Words have active creative power. They can be used intentionally to create positive change in the world -- including enhancing your state of health. In this article, we'll explore three challenges that interfere with health, along with sample affirmations to modify the challenges and enhance health.
Holistic health challenge #1: an inappropriate relationship with food. While specific food choices are based on an individual person's values and culture, there are some general themes that apply across the board. Difficulties may arise...
* When a person loses touch with the feeling of hunger and eats either substantially more or less than their body requires in order to be satisfied and nourished.
* When a person places convenience over health and begins to rely on processed convenience food products instead of whole, fresh foods.
* When a person takes their food source for granted, failing to appreciate the cycles of nature and human effort that makes their sustenance possible.
This stands to affect your health in several ways, including inadequate nutrition and weight challenges. Affirmations for a health-promoting relationship with food might go something like this. (Modify as desired to suit your own situation.)
* I listen to my body's messages of hunger and satisfaction, eating the perfect quantity of healthy foods.
* I enjoy eating the fresh whole foods that nourish my body, mind, and spirit.
* I am thankful for the foods that nourish and sustain me and my family.
Holistic health challenge #2: thinking, speaking, and acting in a way that demeans your own intrinsic value and worth. It is one thing to accept responsibility for a mistake, yet another thing entirely to demean yourself in the process. It's a critical distinction. The fall-out from undermining self worth may surface...
* When a person speaks about themself in derogatory or critical terms.
* When a person fails to recognize and make use of their natural talents and gifts for the benefit of all.
* When a person allows fear of criticism to interfere with expression of their deepest personal values.
* When a person works to exhaustion instead of honoring necessary time for rest and contemplation.
Health challenges of poor self-concept include reluctance to engage in health-promoting behaviors and to become a proactive advocate for yourself. Here are some sample affirmations for honoring a positive relationship with the self:
* I express my natural talents freely and easily.
* When I am authentic, I am truly alive.
* I love and appreciate my unique nature.
* I balance active times with rest and rejuvenation.
Holistic health challenge #3: placing more faith in an outsider's opinion of what's best for your life than you place in your own. Of course we consult experts for advice -- on everything from health care to taxes to plumbing! Yet it's also true that you are the ultimate expert on your own life. Nobody on the "outside" understands your situation in quite the same way that you do. Difficulties may arise...
* When a person constantly asks other people what they should do (often ignoring the advice in a continual quest for even more) instead of looking inward for their own wisdom.
* When a person receives most or all of their expert advice from a single source or perspective instead of balancing opinions from various viewpoints.
* When a person acts on an expert's advice, despite the inner conviction that the course of action is not right for them.
Health-related effects of unwillingess to take responsibility for your intrinsic wisdom include poor health care choices and choosing inaction by default. Here are a few sample affirmations for building a stronger relationship with a person's own internal voice of health and wholeness:
* I consult with others, consider their advice, and then form my own opinions.
* I honor my own deepest wisdom.
* I seek solutions that support the highest good, both for me and for the world around me.
Practice affirmations in a way that suits you -- either repeating particular postive statements on a regular basis or weaving them into the continuous texture of your daily life.
Elizabeth Eckert can help you explore how simple everyday choices create health — or undermine even the best of intentions. With a background that ranges from energy medicine to structural bodywork to developmental psychology, this "Stick-To-It Coach" has the experience to support you in creating the healthiest possible expression of — you!
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