Affirmations are a very powerful way to put focus and intention towards more of what you want. Often people use them to bring more abundance, health and happiness into their lives simply because they focus on a good thought for long enough to begin a surge of energy towards that aspect of themselves. Essentially we only ask for things which we desire – and anything we desire we can manifest.
The key method to affirmations is to ensure the wording is well written. Sending Reiki is as good as saying ‘and so it is’ and then watching the entire affirmation gently unfold. It may not unfold in the way you want, or the way you expect, but unfold it will – if you are paying attention!
So, to create a good affirmation, here are some essential guidelines:
1. Present tense – always use the present tense ‘I am….’ Not ‘I will…’ This seems counter intuitive as you are asking for something you obviously don’t have at present eg. “I am happy” or “I am abundant” and you may not feel like either – but it is the point of sitting in the knowledge that all these are yours, you really are all of these things already, that allows you to uncover the truth for yourself. Affirmations are not really about bringing things to you, but allowing what is already yours to become more present in your life.
2. Positive – we often know what we don’t want, “I don’t want to be sick”, “I don’t want to be depressed” but the Universe does not understand negatives – for example, if I ask you NOT to think about an orange tiger, you immediately think of what I have explicitly told you NOT to think about. When you keep thinking about not wanting something, what you are really paying attention to is the exact thing you don’t want. Affirmations need to move you towards what you want, not what you don’t want. Sometimes just realising what it is you really want can be very liberating and enlightening.
3. Use ‘I’ – make it personal, there is no point asking for something for someone else or the world if you do not have it for yourself first. Always be modelling what you want for the world within yourself first as you cannot give to the world what you yourself do not have. No point asking for ‘World Peace’ if you do not have inner peace, no point asking for a good relationship between your mother and father, if you do not have a good relationship with them. Always work on yourself and others will either follow your example, or not.
4. Believable – I think one of the biggest pitfalls in creating affirmations is people tend to ask for things they really don’t believe they can achieve. This is setting you up for internal conflict and inner berating. Be gentle with yourself, if you are in enormous financial difficulties; don’t affirm you are a millionaire! Affirm you are living within your means first! If you are on anti-depressants, there is no point affirming ‘I am joyful’; begin with something that you have already experienced, even if it is a stretch (that is the point – to stretch yourself) and go for an affirmation that challenges you to reach for something more consistently. If you currently experience contentment once a year, say ‘I am content’ and reach for this occurrence once a month, one a week, then when it becomes a daily occurrence you can reach for the affirmation ‘I am joyful’. Affirmations are stepping stones not ridiculous leaps of faith.
5. One at a time – it can be very exciting to think you can begin to shape your life and the especially the quality of your experience. The thought of becoming more abundant, more healthy, more happy can lead you to write 15 affirmations and send to them all. This is never a good idea as it tends to throw your experience into chaos, and it also stops you from experiencing how the Universe is responding to your request. How do you now which affirmation you are allowing? Can you honestly look at all these affirmations and say you are ready for ALL of them? Be discerning and choose one, the one that will make the most difference in your life right at this moment, and send Reiki to this one. Once you begin to see changes and you sense you are being more open to this one, then send to the next, and so on. Frankly I can wok on just one affirmation for 5 years and it can be a very freeing experience, simply sending Reiki to ‘I am joyful’ has been an ongoing project of mine for the past 10 years! I continue to be delighted with the results and the continuing allowing I see happening in my life.
Once you have written your affirmation (and I really recommend a ‘sending journal’ to record what you do and any thoughts and insights you receive during the send), then I always draw a Cho Ku Rei over the words to empower them and with the words in front of me as a reminder, I send for 15 minutes to the affirmation, being present to the feelings, intention and focus of what I have written. So if I am sending to ‘I am joyful’ I focus on the feeling of joyfulness and I try to bring it into my consciousness as much as possible for the entire 15 minutes. What you are saying to the Universe as you send Reiki is ‘here, this feeling, this is what I want more of’ and when you send, the Universe ALWAYS responds.
I write notes in my journal afterwards – sometimes I feel resistance to the sending, that little voice in my mind that tells me I am not worthy or who do I think I am or what makes me so deserving – this is the key to my lack of joy, the resistance to my own inner peace, and it is useful to notice and gently reassure myself its ok, there is joy for all, it is not a limited resource, and I am part of the Universe and the Universe is abundance and love.
