(Photo: Matt McGee)
In my current quest to relieve stress and lessen the load on my adrenal glands, I've begun to add affirmations to my day. I do five sets each of my two affirmations. The purpose for me is two-fold: First, slow down enough to focus on something that's important to me and second, both consciously and sub-consciously allow the message of the affirmations to inform my actions.
For my 10-day Project Renew experiment, I chose two affirmations. The first, simple affirmation is one that I've adopted since I ran my first (and only) marathon in 2006. It got me through a windy, rainy 26.2 miles and more recently, a very long labor and childbirth: "My body is healthy and strong."
The second affirmation was tailored specifically for this challenge, under the belief that my actions, not uncontrollable circumstances, were responsible for my overwhelming fatigue. I chose the two biggest contributors and focused on the fact that with those in place, my body had everything it needed. "I rest when I am tired, eat nutritiously when I am hungry and operate at my highest function."
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If you don't believe in the power of positive affirmations, ask yourself this: Would you rather hear positive, uplifting facts about yourself, or negative self-defeating ones? Even if you don't think repeating positive affirmations will create better habits or make you a better person, you'll be better company...for yourself. No one likes a downer, so give it a try: Believe the best about yourself and then say it out loud.
Here are some resources on affirmations:
- Health Journey's Affirmations , which is available as downloadable mp3 or CD. (I really like this company and listened to this CD while pregnant).
- ipop*ins can be loaded onto your mp3 player and shuffled with your music. Or sit down and repeat them a few times each day.
- Lance Armstrong's Livestrong.com has a great write-up on self-affirmations, along with some suggestions.
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Read more about Project Renew.
