A Positive Affirmation Practice to Relieve Stress + Live Your Dream

A personal affirmation practice can boost your problem-solving skills when you’re stressed and afraid to take the next step, a study at Carnegie Mellon University suggests. Here, Mary Beth LaRue shows you how to create a customized affirmation. Repeat yours at least 25 times a day

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Step 1: Be positive.

Start with an affirmative statement like “I am,” “I have,” or “I love.”

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Step 2: Be here now.

Language creates our reality. Use present tense to cultivate your intention. For example, “I am rooted and powerful.” Or, “I am a loving, ever-changing parent.”

Step 3: Don’t worry about how.

Resist getting caught up in the minutiae of how your intention will come true. Leave room to be surprised.

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Step 4: Keep going.

Write or create as many affirmations as you like. “I think of setting intentions all throughout the day as a way to cultivate how I’d like to feel,” says LaRue.

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