Affirmations (New Age)

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New Thought

Divinity
Omnipresent God
Ultimate Spirit
Higher consciousness
Beliefs
Law of attraction
Life force ("energy")
Activities
Affirmations
Affirmative prayer
Creative visualization
Personal magnetism
Positive thinking
Glossary
v
t
e
Affirmations in New Thought and New Age terminology refer primarily to the pract
ice of positive thinking and self-empowerment fostering a belief that "a positive
mental attitude supported by affirmations will achieve success in anything."[1]
More specifically, an affirmation is a carefully formatted statement that should
be repeated to one's self and written down frequently. For an affirmation to be
effective, it needs to be present tense, positive, personal and specific.[2]

Contents [hide]
1 New Thought
2 New Age
3 Rhonda Britten
4 Controversies
5 See also
6 References
New Thought[edit]

The New Thought movement is not part of New Age but does share certain practices
. This concept has grown popular due to Rhonda Byrne's The Secret (also a 2006 f
ilm) These books and teachers express similar ideas to Napoleon Hill's classic b
ook Think and Grow Rich. Byrne was inspired in particular by New Thought pioneer
Wallace D. Wattles' 1910 book The Science of Getting Rich. Affirmations are als
o referred to in Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), Neuro Associative Conditioni
ng "NAC" as popularized by Anthony Robbins, and hypnosis.
A related belief is that a certain critical mass of people with a highly spiritu
al consciousness will bring about a sudden change in the whole population.[3] An
d that humans have a responsibility to take part in positive creative activity a
nd to work to heal ourselves, each other and the Earth.[4]
In 1984 Louise Hay a Religious Science Practitioner published You Can Heal Your
Life, a guide to changing thoughts and beliefs. Hay's affirmations are designed
to help the user re-program their thought patterns, the intention being that har
mful underlying beliefs which Hay believes psychologically support illness will
be replaced with healing beliefs, and thus remove a barrier to healing.[5]
New Age[edit]
Esther Hicks, author of the The Law of Attraction series,[6] is a proponent of u
sing affirmations when one is already in a state of happiness and peace.
New Age affirmations come in different forms, spiritual
, Affirmative Images,[7] Affirmative Words, Affirmative
ants. Proponents of New Age affirmations say that it is
reative beings, and that with our thoughts, desires and
world.[8]

talks, lectures, classes

Videos or just mantra ch
a creative art made by c
emotions, we create our

According to Brendan Baker, Founder of The Start of Happiness, affirmations work

best when they encompass three elements: 1. Visualisation of the affirmation in
your life; 2. Feeling the affirmation in your physiology; and 3. Vocalizing the
affirmation in a way that you are already congruent with that affirmation.[9]
Rhonda Britten[edit]
According to Rhonda Britten, affirmations work best when combined with acknowled
gements because the acknowledgements build up a backlog of results in one's mind
to prove that one can do what one is affirming.[10] So, for example, the acknow
ledgement "I bought a good pair of sneakers and some gym clothes" could compleme
nt the affirmation "I can reach my goal of losing 20 pounds." The goal is to foc
us on steps one has taken toward accomplishing one's goals rather than criticizi
ng oneself for what one hasn't yet accomplished, or could theoretically have acc
omplished but didn't.
Controversies[edit]
It was reported in 2009 that a study had found Positive affirmation to have a de
trimental effect on those who need it the most, because people with low self-est
eem will perceive the affirmation as so unbelievable that it strengthens their n
egative mindset. Those who already have high self-esteem feel slightly better, a
nd those who don't will feel worse than if they had been allowed negative though
ts. When people with high self-esteem uses positive affirmation, it acts as a bu
ffer for constructive criticism that goes against the self-perception, and when
people with low self-esteem uses positive affirmation, it rings untrue and there
fore brings to mind exactly how they are not successful, loved, etc.[11]
However, the use of self-affirmations, which involves writing about one's core v

alues rather than repeating a positive self-statement, can improve performance u

nder stress. A 2014 article from Stanford University finds many positive results
from value-based self-affirmations.[12]