In the summer of 2015 I began going for long walks each day, repeating affirmations – it was my way of doing a walking meditation. By the end of the summer, I wondered how many affirmations I was actually doing and thought of buying a clicker counter to find out.
Then one day in early September, I got a text saying there would be 3 Monks in town from the Himalayas and they were going to visit a local yoga center. I knew I wanted to meet them. When I arrived they were chanting at the front of the room with about a hundred people sitting across from them.
Toward the end of the celebration and talk, most people left and I stayed with a small group to ask questions. They were gracious, gentle and calm.
I left feeling inspired to be whole-heartedly committed to something. The next morning I went to the local art store, first thing, and asked for a counter. They didn’t have one and recommended I try the hardware store.
I walked in hesitantly, assuming they wouldn’t have one either and to my surprise, there was one right beside the cashier and it was their last. I felt a strong urge to try doing 10 thousand affirmations a day but as I left the hardware store, I began thinking it was a crazy idea and I didn’t know if it was even possible. I stood on the street inspecting my counter, excited to cut open the package and as I looked up from my inspection a car parked in front of me with a license plate that said “Believe.”
I knew then that I was making the right decision.
From September 2015 to April 2017 I completed 7 million positive affirmations in total. For most of May and June I have been on a break but have recently started up again using the affirmation “I am capable” as my current focus. That is a 600 day time frame at 11 667 affirmations per day on average.
Not only did I learn the power of repetition and focus but I learned that I was capable of doing something I didn’t know was possible.
Here are 6 more things that have become clear to me over the last 20 months:
1) The brain can get physically tired
Lots of people get headaches when they are stressed out and are aware of their constant mind chatter but sometimes it can feel like there is no real set capacity. The experience of the mind can seem like a vast and unending realm. But the brain is a physical mass and needs rest, time to process and replenishment. There were many days where I felt like my brain was physically full and I simply could not think any more or repeat any more affirmations.
2) Focusing on one thing is stimulating
We live in a fast paced culture where multi-tasking is completely normal. Sometimes when we slow down, the first reaction we have is boredom. But like Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi discusses in his book Flow, when we focus all our energy and attention on one thing, it can also lead to a highly enjoyable and productive state. Doing Project Affirmations has actually helped me feel a deeper sense of peace because my mental energy is less scattered in multiple opposing directions.
3) My work got done even when I didn’t spend time thinking about it
I think one of the fears we have as a society is that by slowing down and choosing our thoughts deliberately, somehow we will become less productive – when in reality, I think the opposite is true.
Obsessing over our list of to-do’s can cause more anxiety, friction and resistance than just focusing our mind in one direction and completing tasks as they arise naturally.
4) My body is my personal guide and adviser
The more and more affirmations I repeat, the more sensitive I become to what words physically make me feel good, and what words feel bad. From there, I am also becoming more sensitive to what people and situations feel good or bad from the start. There was a time when a situation had to be extreme for me to decide to leave but as my awareness of physical sensations is increasing, so is my ability to be discerning.
5) I have way more control over my thoughts than I thought
There is a lot of doubt around whether or not we can truly have control over our thoughts. But like anything, it is a skill and takes practice, commitment and a strong desire. It is a challenge, particularly at a time when our attention is being demanded from every direction. But when we are ready to take control of our inner world, our desire and obsession for control and power in the outer world will begin to dissipate and this is when we will find a deeper sense of peace.
6) Positive thinking is a skill and discipline, not just a result based idea.
There are lots of articles and schools of thought emerging that say positive thinking and affirmations don’t work. But what does that mean? We tend to view practices as needing to have a pleasing external result in order for us to do them - when I think we are missing the greater point.
I know from experience that positive affirmations ‘work.’ But more than that, learning to discipline our minds is about the type of person we want to be. It is about character. I don’t want to constantly think negative thoughts for the rest of my life. I don’t want an unfocused mind to be running all over the place when I am trying to listen to someone I love.
And I don’t think anyone is born hoping to turn into a negative, scattered mess but unless we believe internal peace is possible and we are capable of cultivating it, I think it is a hard decision to make.
May your mind be full of truth, clarity and kindness, always.
Love,
Mala the CityMonk