Negative affirmations

[Lauxa]

I just wanted to let everybody know I'm back on top of the world! So many amazing events and opportunities for loving connection have been flowing into my life recently, I am simply in awe.

Focusing on material things (travel) was leaving me too depleted to continue to manifest happiness. But happiness in itself had become to easy and boring; I had to keep pushing the boundaries. "Facing my fears" didn't work, too much resistance. So I went for playful, which was a pure joy, and that has led me to strong. I think I need to build my power base a bit before I can comfortably stretch out and change my physical environment.

I'm really loving focusing on strength right now, it's an upward spiral to awesomeness.

And I know I have mentioned posture a bunch on this thread, well, it just continues to get better and better. My back is stronger and more flexible now than ever before in my life and I am so happy and grateful for the change. A friend recently told me that when I first started working on posture he thought I'd never be able to straighten up (I was practically living as a hunch back, I should show y'all the picture of my HS graduation) but that he has to admit that I've been a spectacular success. I know I'm doing amazing, but it's always nice to get that external acknowledgment!

Love and support to everyone on the path.

[geniegal]

I think the emotion you have along with the affirmation is important. I used to do affirmations and not really beilieve in them - and for me i project negativity when i say 'i am not calm'

what works well for me is saying 'I wish i was calm' and more than once this has actually produced the desired thing

[Lauxa]

Originally Posted by geniegal

I think the emotion you have along with the affirmation is important. I used to do affirmations and not really beilieve in them - and for me i project negativity when i say 'i am not calm'

what works well for me is saying 'I wish i was calm' and more than once this has actually produced the desired thing

I'm glad you've found something that works for you!

[brendannz]

I think it's to do with carrot and stick motivation.

For eg. if our affirmation is "I DON'T want to end up homeless" it's much less empowering than having an affirmation of creating wealth in our lives, etc.

[lsm285]

I've been wondering about positive affirmations vs negative affirmations more now, after attending a few new years parties and some birthday parties.

I noticed the attendees were split into smokers, non-smokers, and I smoke only when I drink-ers

But what I noticed is when any non-smoker was asked to smoke they all replied almost exact: "No thanks, I don't smoke"

So if common wisdom is true about positive affirmations being more effective, and negative affirmations leading exactly to what you don't want (I don't smoke equals to your subconscious "I smoke") Wouldn't all these non-smokers eventually start smoking??

So I'm not necessarily sure anymore if your affirmations MUST be formed in the positive. I might try negative affirmations on something that wouldn't be a huge deal if it backfires lol

Cool experiment!

And thanks for sharing such detailed results consistently. I have wondered the same thing in the past, and tried "worrying" about good things happening to me. It was kind of hit or miss, but had some small successes in the social arena. i.e. what if I go to this party and everyone loves talking to me so much that I constantly have to excuse myself from conversations.

And ya, a HUGE misconception people have is that traveling is easy and all roses and relaxation. It's definitely NOT, which is why so much growth happens so quickly when a person pursues traveling. Definitely a short cut to massive personal change. Good on ya!

[lsm285]

BTW, don't have time to read this whole thread again, but have you been sticking with this idea below or have you moved on?

What I have been pondering...

I have heard/read before that you can't do a negative affirmation. For instance, an affirmation of "I am not poor" would not work because your brain filters out the "not" and only hears "I am poor". But at the same time, you have to be able to believe your affirmations to make them effective. So affirming "I am rich" might not get the desired outcome if you can't believe it.

I am wondering about the effect of affirmations to the effect of "I am not rich". It seems that the brain would hear only "I am rich" but belief could be activated because intellectually there is the "not".

I have been playing with the voice in my head, anytime it focuses on something I have that I don't want turning it around to something that I don't have that I do want. It seems too big a stretch to me to turn it into repeating that I actually have something that I want, so I stick in the "not". So instead of "I am angry" I'll turn it into "I am not at peace". Starting out, I have noticed that I am at least actually focusing now on things that I do want and I think it is a subtle improvement.

Has anyone else played with this? Any thoughts on whether this could work?

I'll be playing with this for the next couple of weeks and report back with results.

[ChrisGinsburg]

We all have a filter that uniquely sorts our thoughts and affirmations. It is unique to us and our beliefs. In this way, virtually anything can work for anyone but almost never universally. The only universal truth that I have found about LOA is that you must not be attached to what you desire. You must be content within and then proceed with your intention in a playful manner. This is why it is exponentially easier for a wealthy person who feels content in their financial situation to perpetuate their wealth than a poor person. There is no "neediness" in their intent. Beyond this, you can not "wait around" for what you desire. It must be released and free from your thoughts. If you think something is too far out of your reach- it probably is. Once you connect with an idea as being possible it once again is within your reach. You can not convince yourself of something being possible. You simply know it. If you're trying to manifest something and you feel a strong resistance, you likely don't believe it is possible to manifest it. In this sense, it is a skill that needs to be built from the ground up. Start manifesting things you conceive as "possible" and continue to up the anti. You wouldn't ski down Mt.Everest the first day you try to learn skiing would you?

[Lauxa]

Originally Posted by lsm285

BTW, don't have time to read this whole thread again, but have you been sticking with this idea below or have you moved on?

Thank you for asking, yes I have been sticking with it, to some extent. When there is not too much resistance, I can go directly to the positive affirmation statement. When I find resistance, I bypass it be using the negative version. The thing I have found most useful was spring boarding from the negative affirmation to visualization of the affirmation realized. It has been interesting to train my mind to make these new connections and I have found it very worthwhile.

[Lauxa]

Went through a really rough emotional patch yesterday, and I found a way to combine my "negative affirmations" with EFT that is proving helpful so I thought I'd share. To me, I haven't found much value in the "tapping" part of EFT, the words/mantra part seems to be enough, so I usually stick with that.

I experienced a bout of intense anger/rage along with self-destructive urges. Something triggered it, but I am recognizing more and more that this is MY pattern, not something caused by some uncontrollable thing outside myself. My usual response is to simultaneously withdraw and do nothing and also burn out the rage energy in extreme physical activity. These days, that usually involves juggling, which brings a boost of happiness all by itself. However, my options were limited because we were on a road trip and I was stuck in a car for 12 hours. So naturally I had a total meltdown.

I was trying my negative affirmations of "I am not at peace" but my mind/ego was really resistent to releasing the anger. The thing I found that brought some immediate relief was the mantra "Even though I am not at peace, I deeply and completely accept myself."

I am still not finished working through the trigger issue, but I am feeling much better and more emotionally stable.