Positive affirmations for anxiety relief in different situations

All individuals possess emotions and experience them to varying degrees based on different situations. Among the most fundamental emotions are happiness, sadness, disgust, surprise, fear and anger. Whenever one feels happy, they tend to notice their surroundings and deduce that the situation pleases them. Conversely, when someone feels sad, they tend to seek solitude and lack excitement regarding their surroundings.

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Most of the time, people do not experience these emotions in their purest form. Instead, individuals experience emotions in variations that are subjective to them. For instance, feeling ecstatic could signify feeling happy and excited and indicates to the individual to continue their current course of action while sadness implies a loss, necessitating grief. Fear is another emotion that everyone experiences differently, and can manifest as being scared, insecure, threatened, frightened, or anxious in the presence of danger.

Generally, individuals would subconsciously evaluate how they feel based on prior experiences and their perceptions of their surroundings. For instance, before conducting a presentation in front of a lot of people, one may feel anxious or stressed due to the fear of ridicule, and on the other hand, another person might feel excitement or enthusiasm for sharing their ideas during the presentation.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a commonly identified emotion among individuals. According to WHO, approximately 301 million people globally had generalized anxiety disorder in 2019. Anxiety is a feeling of worry, fear or unease about the future or uncertain events and is usually experienced in stressful situations. While anxiety is a common response to stress and can even sometimes facilitate productivity, excessive or prolonged anxiety can make it difficult to function in daily life.

Anxiety can manifest through physical symptoms such as trembling, and increased heart rate and also in the way we talk to ourselves. For instance, before a presentation, one may have negative thoughts such as, “You are not good at this, you are going to embarrass yourself” These thoughts can significantly impact our subsequent actions and behaviours in a negative way.

Trying to discourage negative self talk and learning to replace negative thoughts with more positive ones, is one way to deal with anxiety.

What are affirmations?

Affirmations are positive statements that can be used to promote positive thinking. It is a powerful psychological tool that is highly recommended by therapists and psychologists. Studies have shown that positive affirmations can be helpful to overcome anxiety and improve overall well-being.

The effects of self-affirmation can strongly impact one’s behaviours and attitudes. The right affirmations can be powerful in the face of daily challenges that one can face. If you have a therapist, you can work with them to create positive affirmations for anxiety relief or for whatever situation you are dealing with. Let’s explore that a little more.

How do I start practising affirmations?

Getting started with affirmations is easy and can be practiced anytime and anywhere. Having said that, it is important to note that while creating affirmations can be fairly simple, practising them consistently is what can actually have beneficial long term impacts. Let’s look at the steps.

1. To begin with, find a time in the day for practising affirmations. It is generally advised to set aside time in the morning or before going to bed at night.

2. Once you find affirmations that resonate with you, repeat them to yourself as many times as you need to. Say it out loud or repeat it in your mind, whichever works for you.
3. It also helps to write down the affirmation and place it somewhere it is visible to you. This can be at your desk, on your phone, or even a sticky note on your bathroom mirror.
4. Another step you can take is noting down some of your favorite positive affirmations that can be applicable to your everyday life. For example, “I am brave.”, or “I love every part of myself.” are statements that can really help in building your self-esteem.
5. Lastly, there are tons of online self help tools, like Wysa, that have affirmation exercises. These include audio tools or even just jotting them down in the journal. You can download the app and try it for free.

Can I create my own affirmations?

The simple answer is yes. In fact, personalized positive affirmations can be even more helpful as it is tailor made for your specific needs and concerns. Creating your own positive affirmations is all about being with yourself in the present moment and paying attention to what you are feeling. Is there fear? Is there sadness? Can you think of a positive statement to respond to it?

Start by closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths. Then, identify the negative thoughts that are floating around in your head that is causing difficulty in your life. For example, you may be thinking, “I will never find anyone.” The first thing you need to remind yourself of here is that thoughts are only a thought, and not facts. You can challenge these thoughts by thinking of positive statements that resonate with you and provides a more helpful perspective. For example, the positive affirmation here can be, “I trust that the right person will come into my life when and if the time is right.” Repeat these affirmations out loud or silently to yourself a few times to help reinforce them in your mind.