Another tool which helped me meditate better and build my self-esteem is affirmations. Heartfulness has three daily practices, meditation, cleaning and prayer. The previous blog post on awareness helped me live in the moment, meditate thought free, which in turn helped improve my efficiency, and productivity.
Similarly, affirmations helped me do my cleaning, second practice, more effectively and with more confidence. I was assured of positive results, and I knew things would change. All that I needed, and was beneficial for my spiritual progress would find its way into my life. And all that was digressing me from my real goal, and shackling me, would leave me, or have no hold over me.
I heard the term, ‘Sankalp se Siddhi’ from Sister Shivani of Brahmakumaris. The power of thought and its efficacy was a new concept for me. When my mind could not stay on a thought for more than a second, how could thought power change anything for me? I needed to first have the conviction, the self-belief in the thought and stay with it long enough for it to fructify. Affirmations are thoughts backed with faith! And repeated affirmations help them happen, sort of like, fake it till I make it.
The trick about affirmations or sankalpa is to involve all the five senses in your affirmation. Stay in the present and live that sankalpa. Another helpful tip is: keep them positive. It was more useful to think and imagine myself as slim and pain free, than to think that I will lose weight, or I am trying to lose weight. The image of an already healthy, active, pain free me gave me motivation to eat right, exercise diligently, and gave me confidence that I was on the right track.
Thinking of living a healthy, active life in the present, empowered my thoughts, and egged me on.
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