Afformations

Why am I feeling so happy lately?

Why am I feeling so peaceful and strong?

What I just did was treat you to a few “afformations,” a new psychological tool
everyone needs to know about.

You’ve probably heard of “affirmations.”  These are sentences uttered in order
to create or “install” in the mind a supportive or generative belief about
reality.  “I am peaceful and happy.”  “I am making plenty of money.”  “I deeply
accept myself.”  Etc.

The practice of affirmation is based on the fact that our minds contain a whole
structure of beliefs about reality, some of which are supportive and generative
of success, others of which are limiting and generative of paralysis or pain. 
If, for example, we are beset by shame, we might want to install the belief,
“I deeply love and accept myself.”  If we feel financially stuck and think we
can never make an adequate income, it may be useful to install
“I can easily make enough money to satisfy my needs.”  If we feel overloaded by
duties and obligations, it may be helpful to install “I set boundaries
gracefully and powerfully to create space in my life.”

WATCH THIS AND SEE HOW THEY WORK

 

I was never a huge fan of affirmations, even though I used them on occasion. 
I always felt unpleasantly tense when saying them, like I needed to work the
affirmation against a strong internal resistance. 

But, a revolution has occurred.

I have learned from a teacher a new way to install beliefs, and I’ve been
finding it powerful and effective.  More

It is this:

Instead of saying, “This is so,” about what you want to believe, you ask
yourself the question, “Why is this so?” 

So, instead of, “I am peaceful and happy,” you would say, “Why am I feeling so
peaceful and happy?” 

Instead of, “I make enough money to satisfy my needs,” it would be: “Why am I
making such a satisfying amount of money?” 

Instead of, “I set life-serving boundaries clearly and straightforwardly,” it
would be, “Why am I setting boundaries so clearly and straightforwardly lately?”

You don’t actually need to answer the question, though you can say answers if
they pop into your head.  But all that is necessary is to ask the question, and
to ask it repeatedly if you want to make it stronger.  Then, let your
unconscious mind do the rest.

I’ve been using these “afformations,” as they’re called, for several weeks now,
and I love them.  They’ve worked well for me on both short-term and longer-term
issues. 

I’ve done “Why am I giving such a good math lesson?” and then taught a great
math lesson. 

I’ve done “Why am I enjoying myself so much at this family dinner tonight?” and
then enjoyed myself at the family dinner (when I’d walked in feeling like hell). 

I’ve done “Why am I getting along so well with so-and-so?” when so-and-so and I
had been arguing, and then got along fabulously with so-and-so.

For longer-term issues, I started with “Why am I feeling so happy lately?,” and
lately I’ve been feeling happy after years of feeling not so great.  I’ve done,
“Why am I making such a good income?” And, wouldn’t you know it, my income has
gone up significantly in the last few weeks.  I’ve even done, “Why am I enjoying
my body so much lately?”  And for the first time since I was a little child,
I’ve had in the last few days moments of enjoying my body.

I don’t mean to imply that these afformations are magic or that I have not also
been doing other things, and other work, to bring about these changes; I have. 
I also don’t wish to suggest the new age premise that we can be totally happy
and peaceful and blissed out at every moment of our lives, and that if we are
not, we just need to “believe” differently.  Life is far more complex than that.

But I acknowledge that complexity.  I know how to look at challenges and pain
straight in the eye; I understand the importance of accepting anger or sadness
or pain with kindness and compassion; I am well practiced at allowing myself to
be aware of uncertainty, doubt, and the like, as facts of my experience.  And in
this context, I really feel like these afformations are helping me markedly —
and I’ve also gotten great results teaching my math students how to do them.

Now, why are the afformations so powerful?

For a very simple reason: they hypnotically address the unconscious mind, in a
way that brilliantly bypasses resistance. 

You see, when you ask yourself a question, your unconscious mind cannot help but
begin to search for an answer.  This is simply the way the unconscious mind
works — ask it a question, it begins to generate answers.  And the answers to
questions like, “Why are you so happy lately?” are, indeed, useful answers to
know.

But more importantly, an afformation is a loaded question.  Which means that in
order for your unconscious mind to work on answering, it must accept the premise
with which the question is loaded.

It’s really quite brilliant.

Now of course, when someone uses loaded questions against you maliciously, it is
important to identify the trick and block the trojan horse from entering your
mind. 

But given that the premises with which you are loading your afformations are,
presumably, premises or psychological realities you want to install, there is
obviously no need to block them out. 

That is to say, you can “trick” yourself enthusiastically and with a clear
conscience.

So: Why am I feeling so happy lately?  Why am I making such a good living? 
Why am I setting boundaries so clearly and straightforwardly?  Why am I learning
so much about life, and at deeper and deeper levels?

Go ahead, try some of these out right now, out loud!  See what it feels like.

And then, whatever state of affairs you’re looking to promote within yourself or
in your life, I’d heartily propose that you experiment further with
afformations.  Ask, ask, and ask again; imbue your questions with a spirit of
intense curiosity; and then watch what happens over the next few weeks, months,
and years. 

Filed under: Health Solutions

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