Affirmations are positive statements that can help individuals overcome negative thinking patterns. Addressing these tendencies can result in individuals feeling more positive, less self-critical, and more accepting of themselves and others. Anyone considering yoga teacher training may want to adopt affirmations into their own practice as well as into their teaching to others.
At Vancouver School of Healing Arts, you can expect to learn to adapt your practice to a number of varying environments, demographics, and styles. Becoming an intuitive instructor who learns to identify and provide what class participants need can help you succeed in a rewarding career. Continue reading to see how affirmations may aid in your journey, as well as your students’ journeys, to deeper self-discovery.
A Quick History of Affirmations for Yoga Teacher Training
While affirmations are common in the world of self-improvement, they are actually rooted in science. Many researchers have studied what characteristics help create successful people and how these characteristics may be improved and built upon for greater achievements. In general, increasing positive behaviours and decreasing negative behaviours help individuals think more clearly and remove any subconscious barriers they may be facing.
Today, after lots of research on the topic, affirmations are used widely to create positive, non-limiting ideas of self. After yoga teacher training, affirmations can be a great way to get to know your clients. Helping them identify their language patterns, create relevant affirmations, and put them into practice can help build their trust in you as their instructor. Affirmations should reflect a desired feeling, action, quality, etc. Instead of structuring them as wishful thinking, making them into more realistic phrases can be very effective. For example, instead of “I wish I was more confident,” a great affirmation could be “May I find confidence in myself and my strengths.”
Using Affirmations for Motivation and Inspiration
Affirmations are a great tool to use for improving positive thought patterns. No matter what phase in life you or your future clients are going through, the adoption of affirmation practice can help ease any mental strife. When an individual is expressing doubt in themselves and their capabilities, they can change these negative thoughts with positive replacements.
After adopting this practice and committing to the constant implementation of affirmations, individuals may start to feel more motivated and inspired by their own way of thinking. Examples of affirmations that inspire motivation include “I am progressing and improving as each day passes,” “All I need for success is within me,” and “I can achieve anything I put my mind to.”
Affirmations for Actionable Change
After you finish yoga teacher training courses, you and your future clients may want to work on creating affirmations that not only increase positive thinking but encourage actionable change in day-to-day life. While the above affirmations are structured to generally help with overall motivation and inspiration, more specific affirmations can help with behaviour change as well.
For example, if an individual is working on being more kind to others, then they may use an affirmation such as “May I lead with kindness and compassion during all situations.” If someone wants to be able to better appreciate the present, a great affirmation may be “May I take time each day to slow down and appreciate the present moment.” Creating affirmations with specificity can help individuals get used to the actions that need to happen in order to see their desired change. While motivation and change are strong candidates for the adoption of an affirmation practice, they can also be used for navigating stress, emphasizing positivity, improving feelings of self-worth, and more.
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