Try Affirmation Workouts for Body and Mind Self-Care

Science shows that positive self-talk during workouts is linked with higher athletic performance and motivation¹. However the words you say to yourself while exercising don’t actually should be in regards to the activity, your body, or performance itself. You possibly can do an affirmation workout that mixes movement with positive self-talk about any topic for some majorly mood-boosting self-care.

“Affirmation workouts got here from the concept we desired to literally address the mind and the body at the identical time,” Alyson Stoner, cofounder of digital wellness platform Movement Genius, says on this week’s episode of The Well+Good Podcast. “It is a likelihood to envision in together with your mindset [and] perhaps adjust a number of the thoughts you were having about yourself.”

An affirmation, positive self-talk, or self-affirmation, is “any thought of oneself that’s believable and vivid and that reinforces positive characteristics, abilities, or skills,” based on the American Psychological Association. The theory of self-affirmation is that maintaining and enforcing a view of yourself as “well-adapted, moral, competent, stable, and capable of control essential outcomes” results in mental stability, and research shows² that doing so through spoken affirmations reinforces these ideas. Some therapy treatments involve repeating affirmations to yourself day by day or having go-to affirmations for whenever you encounter moments of struggle.

That is already a typical a part of many fitness experiences: It’s common for spin instructors or yoga teachers to share positive, motivating words of encouragement that will or may not relate to the actual exercises. Movement Genius takes this a step further with affirmation workouts that pair 15-minute movement sessions (of various difficulty) with a soundtrack of affirmations that are supposed to be repeated to yourself. You possibly can even select the affirmation topic for which you would like an additional boost that day.

“While we undergo the movements, I recite particular affirmations based around whatever theme you select,” Stoner says. For instance, they are saying some affirmation soundtracks offer help “to tap into creativity,” while others are more centered around “alleviating stress.”

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The mix is smart. Exercise has its own mood-boosting advantages because it increases blood flow to the brain, releases endorphins, and over time stimulates the production of hormones and neurotransmitters accountable for regulating emotional disposition. Add in some self-talk while your blood flows, and the idea is you’ll have a synergy of grounding positivity. Not less than, that’s what Stoner sees of their students.

“We found that when people try the affirmation workouts, at the top as an alternative of feeling depleted, individuals are like, how do I actually have more energy than once I began?” Stoner says. “I believe with the ability to feel such as you’re being filled up mind, body, and spirit, it’s an actual gift.”

You possibly can take a look at an affirmation workout on Movement Genius’ YouTube channel. It’s also possible to try incorporating your personal affirmations into your day-to-day workouts—just make sure you first take a look at some suggestions for methods to craft affirmations that feel authentic and never toxically positive. And hearken to more from Stoner on the ability of mixing physical and mental healthcare, amongst other topics, on this week’s episode of The Well+Good Podcast.