Affirmations That Lift Your Inner Voice — Even on Hard Days

The post talks about how positive thinking and affermations help with Bipolar Disorder, the truth is everyone can benefilt from the post. What we think and say is what our brain believes.

Words — whether spoken or thought — carry incredible weight. They are capable of healing or harming. The unkind phrases people tell themselves so often can easily turn into beliefs, shaping an unfair and cruel view of who they are.

If words hold so much sway, why, then, can’t they be used for good?

What if your words and what you tell yourself hold the key to a better life? Imagine if, instead of riding along with the usual negative stream of consciousness, you said aloud: “I am worthy.” “I have the strength to overcome any challenge.” “I have come this far — I am capable.”

Appropriately termed “affirmations” or “self-talk,” these are positive statements that can help you confront and overcome self-sabotaging and negative thoughts and beliefs. When you repeat them often and believe in them, you can start making positive changes and rewriting your story.

When Brain Chemistry Meets Self-Belief

Most people spend much of their waking time talking to themselves, although they might not always be aware of it. And that internal chatter is much more influential than many realize. Mood is created by the balance of chemicals in the brain — neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and so on.

Yet even your thoughts or self-talk can alter your brain’s chemical reactions, shaping emotions and behaviors. What you say to yourself has real-world consequences.

“What you tell yourself is how you are programming your internal navigation system,” says Jill Sylvester, LMHC, MEd, who has a private practice in Hanover, Massachusetts, and is the author of Trust Your Intuition: 100 Ways to Transform Anxiety and Depression for Stronger Mental Health.

In this way, a person’s inner speech functions much like an internal compass or brain-based GPS. The tone of this self-talk influences our feelings, judgments, self-esteem, and actions — guiding them to move forward, change course, or settle into the status quo.

RELATED: What You Say Shapes How You See Yourself

Sylvester’s metaphor is fitting and raises an important question: If someone isn’t paying attention to their self-talk, who is at the wheel? And where, exactly, are they going?

Repeated often enough, this silent self-address ultimately establishes a person’s default or foundational beliefs about themselves, those around them, and the world in general. So, in a sense, engaging in mindless self-talk is a lot like living on autopilot.

Even so, anyone can take back the controls. That voice in your head, after all, is your own.

The notion of thinking good thoughts is at the center of much psychotherapy, in fact. Reframing your negative thoughts is a powerful way to heal from past trauma. Furthermore, thinking positively to make yourself feel better is not self-deception, says Gregory L. Jantz, PhD, founder of the Center: A Place of Hope, one of the leading facilities for the treatment of depression.

In his book Moving Beyond Depression, Dr. Jantz writes that positive self-talk is “not mentally looking at circumstances with eyes that see only what you want to see. Rather, positive self-talk is about recognizing the truth in situations and in yourself…. [It] allows you to discover the obscured optimism, hope, and joy in any given situation.”

Transforming Thought Patterns for Better Bipolar Management

Lorenzo L. of New York City knows this firsthand. In his youth, Lorenzo struggled with “massive mood swings” that much later would be recognized as symptoms of bipolar disorder. Showing wisdom beyond his years, Lorenzo lifted himself out of depressive states by slowing his breathing and using positive affirmations.

With regular meditation, Lorenzo has learned to quickly identify his state of mind. Once he is fully aware of his current mood, he directs his self-talk accordingly: “When I’m coming down from mania or hypomania,” he says, his mantra is, “‘Don’t doubt yourself today. It’s okay that you don’t feel as joyful or productive today.’”

“When I’m cycling up to mania or hypomania,” he continues, “I say, ‘Try not to get too carried away. Use all of this extra energy for productive and healthy activities.’”

And when he is feeling balanced, he uses positive, encouraging inner speech to continue his sense of stability: “I can sustain this mood for more than this moment or day.”

“Self-affirmations,” Sylvester explains, “are positive statements that put a person in the driver’s seat of their life and create a path from which to grow.”

And grown he has. Working full-time and studying to become a certified public accountant, the 37-year-old Lorenzo credits his healthy mindset to meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). With the help of his psychologist, he has solidified his initial forays into mindfulness and self-affirmation into a practical, tried-and-true strategy that improves his mood and alleviates his symptoms.

Train Your Mind to Respond, Not React

When the terrain is rocky and you’re struggling to stick to your wellness plan, positive self-talk can help you persevere by encouraging you to become proactive instead of reactive. In fact, you can harness your inner monologue to promote what psychologists call “self-regulation” —  your ability to exert conscious control over emotional and physical responses to external situations.

You can strengthen your self-regulation by consciously distancing your thoughts from your experiences. One way to do this is to switch your self-talk from first person (“I,” “me,” “my”) to third person — using your own name instead. 

An older randomized controlled trial found that doing so during times of stress fosters a sense of perspective, with net benefits including decreased anxiety, improved performance, and faster, more complete emotional recovery.

So, if you’re feeling anxious about an upcoming event or want to gain a bit of emotional separation from an experience to change your response, consider replacing “I” with your name when speaking or thinking your affirmations.

How Positive Self-Affirmations Protect the Brain From Stress

In times of overwhelm, it can be helpful to remind yourself who you are and what defines you as an individual. From there, you can make better decisions.

When Cheryl W. M. faces negative thoughts, she tells herself, “I don’t sweat the small stuff.”

By linking her desired mindset to her self-image in this way, she makes it easier to follow through with her goal of not letting minor inconveniences or difficulties become roadblocks.

Cheryl explains that her affirmation “helps to keep me centered and positive.”

Science supports Cheryl’s experience. In one study, participants with high levels of chronic stress showed reduced problem-solving ability. However, those who engaged in a brief self-affirmation activity performed significantly better on challenging tasks than those who didn’t.

This suggests that self-affirmations can protect against the negative effects of stress, such as impaired creativity and problem-solving.

Confirming the importance of linking affirmations to your identity, Sylvester says that empowering affirmations work best when they begin with “I am,” such as “I am true to myself,” “I am capable,” or “I am smart.” Set in the present tense, they “affirm that things are happening in the present, versus in the future.”

This is when first-person self-talk can prove beneficial, eliminating the emotional distance between your identity and what you want to affirm.

Kim S., understands the power of using self-talk in this way. Every time she looks in the bathroom mirror, she tells herself that she loves herself; then she says, “I am surrounded by love. I am strong today. I can make it right now, just for right now.”

In addition to using “I am” statements that focus on the current moment, Kim, who’s in her early sixties, also imagines being surrounded by white, healing light and beautiful hearts. “And if I have to,” she continues, “I repeat this five times per day.”

The Science of the Inner Critic — and How to Overcome It

When you’re dealing with bipolar depression, it might feel inauthentic or untrue to say to yourself, “I am happy” or “I am capable.” Depression feels heavy and can often rob you of the belief that you can get out of bed, continue with your routines, and return to happiness. At these times, it’s essential to remember that your brain is mistaken.

Clinical psychologist and author of Overcoming the Destructive Inner Voice, Robert W. Firestone, PhD, identifies the “critical inner voice” — the stream of negative, self-defeating, and highly critical self-talk — as the “enemy within.” He writes that this enemy can be overcome only by recognizing it and actively working against it.

By distancing yourself from the “enemy within” and aligning with your true identity through positive, emotionally charged affirmations, you can move toward a more balanced and uplifting state of mind.

That sense of control can feel especially empowering when your mood seems to dictate your days.

Because internal self-talk influences both beliefs and behavior, cultivating awareness of that inner voice enables more intentional, affirming thought patterns.

Lorenzo says, “I know it’s difficult. If you’re struggling, there are ways to adapt your lifestyle and cope with difficult emotions. Such as, for me, affirmations and positive self-talk.”

“It’s a journey,” he says, “for sure.”

Self-Talk Alternatives to Support Bipolar Stability

There are many ways to increase your sense of personal power and inject some positivity and affirmations into your daily routine. Here are a few to get you started.

• To start off on the right side of the bed, Eric R., of California, says he uses the song “Beautiful Day” by U2 as his wake-up alarm. “It sets the tone for the day by pointing my thoughts in a good and hopeful direction as soon as I awake.”
• To instill your new habit, link your self-affirmation to an existing routine, like brushing your teeth. That way, as you stand before the bathroom mirror, you can say to yourself, “I am strong.” Then repeat the practice before bed.
• Embrace your creativity and turn your favorite affirmation into a piece of art. Paint, collage, draw, or design it however you wish, then display the final product in a place you see every day.
• Take things a step further and record your affirmations in your own voice (ideally when in a positive or neutral mental state), suggests Connecticut-based clinical psychologist Kristina Hallett, PhD. Tailor the words to what feels true, and later, during trying times, you can listen to your own voice of wisdom and move forward with calm encouragement from the one who knows you best.

Our mental health stays balanced from many forms of help and we need to look at all angles.

Melinda

Reference:

Bipolar Hope