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How Your Thoughts Shape Your Reality, and Why Affirmations Work Best at Night

You've probably heard that affirmations can help you create the life you want, and you may have tried them with mixed results. Your thoughts and beliefs really do shape what you create, and there's science behind why affirmations help, why bedtime is an especially powerful time to use them, and why for some people they still don't seem to stick.

The power of "I am"

Many spiritual traditions teach that the words "I am" are some of the most powerful we speak, because whatever follows them becomes an instruction about who we are. When you say "I am exhausted" or "I am never enough" every day, you reinforce that identity; when you choose your "I am" statements on purpose, you start shaping your thoughts and beliefs in a new direction.

What science says about affirmations

A 2013 study led by Carnegie Mellon researchers, published in PLOS ONE, found that a brief self-affirmation exercise improved problem-solving under pressure for chronically stressed students who had been underperforming. A 2016 brain imaging study in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience found that self-affirmation activates regions tied to self-related processing and reward, which may be why affirmations can boost motivation toward what matters to you.

Why affirmations before sleep are so powerful

The minutes just before you fall asleep, often called the hypnagogic state, are when your conscious, analytical mind starts to relax. In my teaching, I treat it as a time when the subconscious is especially receptive, so the last thoughts you hold as you drift off can carry into how you feel when you wake. Repeating a few heartfelt affirmations in bed, or listening to them, is a gentle way to set the tone for tomorrow.

How to use bedtime affirmations

• Choose three to five statements in the present tense, such as "I am safe," "I am worthy of rest" or "I am creating a life I love."
• Say them slowly, and let yourself feel them instead of rushing through.
• Pick words your body can almost believe; a stretch is good, but a statement that feels like a lie tends to create resistance.
• Keep them on your nightstand or record them in your own voice.

When affirmations don't stick

If you've repeated affirmations faithfully and nothing changes, you're not doing it wrong. Words reach your thoughts, but a pattern also lives in your feelings, your body and your energy, and when those disagree with what you're saying, the old belief usually wins. I talk through what to do instead in the podcast episode why your affirmations don't stick, and what does.

Keep exploring

• Why don't my affirmations stick?
• I know what I need to do, so why can't I do it?
• How can morning journaling change my day?

Common questions

Sources

1. Creswell, J. D., Dutcher, J. M., Klein, W. M. P., Harris, P. R., & Levine, J. M., Carnegie Mellon University (2013). Self-affirmation improves problem-solving under stress. PLOS ONE.
2. Cascio, C. N., et al. (2016). Self-affirmation activates brain systems associated with self-related processing and reward and is reinforced by future orientation. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

This article is for education and everyday wellbeing; it isn't medical advice. If you're struggling with your sleep, mood or health, please talk with a licensed professional. Keep reading: all answers · the free community · about Tamara Rose