Q. Several years ago I attended part of a Women’s Retreat and heard you say that affirmation was the programming language of the brain. What did you mean?

A. Affirmation can be defined as a style of communication  that utilizes short, positive, present tense, unconditional, and empowering statements. It is the most effective way to communicate with your subconscious mind, program your brain for success; communicate with yourself and others, and positively influence the health of both brain and body.

Since affirmation is so powerful, you would think that everyone would hone a positive mindset and an affirming communication style. Unfortunately, growing up most people heard seven to nine negative comments for each positive. With all that negative input many never learned the art of affirmation. Consequently, it’s no wonder that communication problems abound. Fortunately it’s never too late to hone one’s skill. It just takes knowledge, commitment, and practice.

Your thoughts create your own reality and your reality is reflected in physiological changes throughout the brain and body. The brain thinks in pictures and finds it relatively easy to deal with positives. That’s a one-step process. It finds it more difficult to deal with negatives (the reverse of an idea) because that involves a two-step process. For example, when you are told, Don't touch the stove, the brain initially pictures touching the stove and then must try to change that internal picture by imagining the opposite. It’s usually more effective to say, Keep your hands away from the stove, and create a picture of the desired behavior initially. In a similar way, negative thinking patterns tend to increase one’s problems in life as the brain mentally pictures (visualizes) negative outcomes.