The Power of Positive Affirmations and Intentions
While scientists once thought the brain stopped developing in childhood, research has proven that the brain can form new neural pathways and create neurons even in adulthood. We already know that eating well, and exercising can help release feel-good hormones, and the same applies to meditation and affirmations. By creating new rituals and routines – positive daily habits – we are actually stimulating the production of new synapses.
Practising self-affirmations regularly has been proven to increase the self-esteem and confidence of users. And it’s not just about creating these positive daily habits for our children, but also carving new, stronger, and happier paths for parents too.
There’s a wealth of supporting research and evidence to support the use of self-affirmations, including decreasing stress and rumination and increasing self-belief, optimism, confidence, determination, motivation, and more.
Affirmation cards are best used in the morning, ideally soon after awaking. This is because our brains, on waking, are in Theta, or Alpha waves. These phases of brain activity are when we are most receptive to stress and anxiety reduction, when our intuition is at its strongest and when we are best aligned with our subconscious minds. In this state of mental relaxation, our unconscious mind accepts healing related statements without questions and begins to act on them immediately.
The use of such cards also helps to combat the growth of the child’s ‘inner critic’. This voice of doubt tends to creep in from around the age of five and is aligned with the beginning of the deterioration of their growth mindset.
The inner critic can be incredibly harsh. And it’s rare that parents have the chance to hear what goes on in the heads of our kids. The setting of positive intentions as part of a daily ritual helps children shift negative thoughts driven by self-doubt, replacing them with statements of self-belief. When filled with self-doubt, feeling hurt, overwhelmed or challenged, Affirmations cards can be used as a remarkable tool to make fast and immeasurable positive change, shifting negative and unhelpful thoughts and feelings into positive ones.
In fact, it’s scientifically proven that if we are able to identify the messages we need (in order to have increased self-belief), our brain accepts a desire to shift and is open to this belief shift. When we find the right affirmations to overrule our unhelpful thoughts and ensuing feelings, our self-belief increases, and we will more easily overcome challenges.
And while affirmations cards are most powerful when used in the morning, they can be used to refer to across the entire day. This is especially true when facing particularly challenging or testing times as they can keep us on-track and provide a dose of positivity and self-belief as and when needed.
Affirmation cards are just one of the tools The Happy Confident Company recommends using to help children (and parents) harness the in-built strength, self-belief, and determination we are gifted with from birth.
The tools we have developed help families create positive daily rituals that build stronger emotional connections. Our Affirmations cards are used to set positive daily intentions and overcome negative thinking, our Happy Confident Me Journals to help children master self-reflection and focus on the positive aspects of their lives and feel confident to share more with their family. Our FEELIT! cards empower children (and parents!) with the ability to communicate clearly about their feelings, and to shift unpleasant feelings to more pleasant ones. We also advocate the practice of family connection tools such as appreciation activities and family meetings as research proves that increased communication and connection in the family is the basis of happiness and confidence.
