Are Affirmations Worth Doing?

A poll of our graduates including 81% of corporate executives and 89% of

college students absolutely hate daily rituals. They do not make a habit
of daily prayer nor reciting positive statements to program their mind.

Our research indicates there are very powerful benefits and results to
consistent repetition of affirmations. Like what? Money, creativity, health, and
improved relationships. Affirmations appear to counterbalance daily
chronic stress.

So what? Stress – the real thing – chronic stress – is a precursor to heart disease,
cancer, and stroke – the Big-Three of cashing in your chips. New research shows
stress disorganizes the nervous and immune system, and Telemeres.

Telemeres protect the repetitive DNA at the ends of our chromosomes. It appears to
be directly related to health and longevity. Telemerace is an enzyme that stabilizes
the telemeres from unraveling at its ends. Google: telemerace, telemere.

Sounds Stupid

How can repeating slogans (affirmations) to yourself ad nauseum, change the

physiology of the body and mind? Oh, I get it – new-age stuff, like mind-over-
matter. Not for me and other normal folks.

For centuries science has believed in Reductionism/Mechanistic thinking in physics,

chemistry, and in cell biology. Today scientific research centers on Holistic and
Complex explanations. In 2009 we know the mind initiates or inhibits healing. The
old principle of pure Materialism without recourse to the mind is 19th century.

What is an Affirmation?

Let’s keep it simple – it is a form of Autosuggestion and Placebo Effect that causes
physical reactions, behaviors and decisions. What? You don’t believe in
autosuggestion or Placebo, hypnosis or dowsing?

The American Medical Association (conservative doctors) and the U.S. Food And
Drug Administration recommend it to physicians. Up to 50% of what new drugs
can accomplish, occurs naturally without drugs through our expectation and beliefs
producing the Placebo Effect. If new drugs are no better than Placebo – No Go.

Affirmations repeated regularly with emotion and confidence, create a neural

circuit in our nervous system. Each repetition strengthens this circuit, and causes
neurons to fire together. Google: Donald O. Hebb, The neurons that fire together,
wire together.

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For Inquiring Minds: this firing and wiring takes place at the Synapses between
neurons where information (communication) is transferred. The latest research
indicates that memories (concepts and beliefs) are stored in the neurons. Where?
Our Dendritic Spines.

These memories are linked to our Hippocampus and PreFrontal Cortex

for retrieval. Less than 1% of folks understand the connection.

How to Program

There are three things to remember to produce effective Affirmations (commands)

from our conscious mind to program our brainstem (nonconscious mind).

a) The one or two sentence affirmation must be in the Present tense, not
the future. Never use I Will or I Will Not. Try this -
“I am feeling healthier each day, and producing excellent work.”

b) It must be a Positive statement, and not about terminating a negative

state of mind or body. “Every day in every way, I am learning faster
and faster, and getting better and better at learning.”

c) Short and sweet, and if at all possible have a rhythm to it. Rhythmic
affirmations go on mental autopilot quicker, and create new neural
circuits. “Every day in every way, we are getting smarter and better.”

When to Program Affirmations

a) Just before you fall asleep (twilight) you have a window of

opportunity to condition your nonconscious mind by your statements.
Neuroscientists call it Hypnagogic < Gk leading to drowsiness

b) Just before you wake up, you can program your nonconscious mind
easily by issuing commands – affirmations. It is called Hypnopompic:
< Gk sending away sleep (wakefulness).

c) Daydreaming and meditating and two additional windows of

opportunity to program your nonconscious mind.

How Long Does it Take

If you do two-minutes on awakening, and two-minutes prior to sleep, you are on-
track to new programming for your mind for improved behavior and better
decisions. Any extra practice produces faster and better results.

Autosuggestion

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In spite of the fact that hypnosis has been a scientific fact since Benjamin Franklin
criticized Animal Magnetism experiments by Frenchman Franz Anton Messmer,
more than six out of ten people still do not believe hypnosis is real or scientific.

It is too scary to believe a stranger can control our mind with mere words, so we
reject the benefits of both hypnosis and autosuggestion (self-programming).

Autosuggestion is where we program our nonconscious mind to change our physical

health, or improve our behaviors, beliefs, or attitude. The secret is repetition,
emotionalizing the affirmation, and the programmer.

Shortcuts

Our brain has structures that recognize faces, voices, and words at a glance.
Have you ever seen the back of the head or profile of someone you knew, and
instantly recognized them with little or no more information?

Get this – our brain requires just the first and last letter of a word to recognize
words you know and have stored in your long-term memory. You can misspell
the middle of the word, or reverse letters, and our brain automatically uses
System Restore to correct it.

Question: who does your brain trust the most – your mother and father, Significant
Other, career superior, or…?

Right – your brain is hardwired (conditioned) to believe Y-O-U above all others,
above the President of the U.S. and Congress. When you silently (internal dialogue)
or chant (aloud), state your beliefs, desires or goals, at the right time, with feeling, it
has a special power to create a new neural circuit. It leads you to better activities.

Whether the affirmation will survive or not is based on how often you repeat and
use the result of your Mind Command to your nonconscious. It either withers away
from disuse or thrives from constant triggering.

Is it scientific? Is a heart attack from chronic stress, scientific? Indeed. There is a lot
more, but first comes losing your skepticism.

Endwords

Would you have a career competitive advantage if your can read and remember
three (3) books, articles, and reports in the time your peers can hardly finish one?
Ask us how – now for promotions and success.

See ya,

copyright © 2009 H. Bernard Wechsler----------------------------------------------------

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