Week 5: Day 2 Mindful Affirmations

Welcome to Day 2, where I will be doing a quick dive into Health Affirmations. Since my diagnosis with Lupus, I have found out that managing my chronic illness requires one crucial thing: changing the way I think and what I spend my time thinking about. For me, spending my time thinking about my pain and feeling hopeless well led me down a road of despair. It took a lot of trial and error and work on my part to rewire my brain. Instead of feeding it constant negative thoughts, I replaced those negative thoughts with positive affirmations.  I repeated them daily. Your brain becomes stronger and more resilient with the information you feed it. So make sure you feed it good loving thoughts! Another thing, continuous negative thoughts to the brain can trigger inflammation causing chronic illness to feel even worse. Practicing Affirmations is a win win in my book!

I know you think it isn't as simple as repeating affirmations and feeling better. And you are correct. Learning to change your mindset and rewire your brain won't happen overnight. It isn't something you can read and be done with. Rewiring your brain takes the willingness to want to replace those negative thoughts! Reminder: this doesn't mean pretending your illness doesn't exist either. That shouldn't be ignored. But you can certainly change the way you think and talk to yourself about it.

I'm also going to be throwing some gratitude affirmations into our practice throughout the week. Expressing gratitude for the positive aspects of your life, even in the face of chronic illness, can shift your perspective and enhance emotional well-being. Gratitude can be a powerful tool in finding moments of joy and appreciation. 

It's important to remember that affirmations should be focused on you and your specific journey. Feel free to create your own unique affirmations and if you feel comfortable please share them with the group in the comment section below! Your affirmations should be comforting, uplifting, and easy enough for you to remember to have on repeat. As I said earlier, I  know affirmations won't cure our  illness or pain, but they will help you create a better head space. With a better head space comes better thoughts and positive changes within our minds and body. 

Approach todays practice with a balanced perspective. Practice self-compassion and cultivate gratitude. The way you use these will be unique to your situation. For some, repeating them in the morning will be enough to set them on the right path for the day. Others may need to listen more often throughout the day when pain, anger, or negativity seep in . 

The mind is more powerful that we could imagine, which is why these affirmations for chronic illness can help to reduce symptoms and improve your quality of life. Let's give it a try together! 

Much love,

Katie

RN, Certified Personal Trainer, Wellness Coach