“I dwell in possibility” Anais Nin
Everybody is really big on affirmations. And I’m not here to de-bunk them, I’ve used them myself. But sometimes even our affirmations can serve to keep us in a cycle that we’re trying to get out of, because the mind can’t do anything with them. That’s where afformations come in, my friend. While standard affirmations assume a final reality, afformations are a call to action for your mind — a crucial difference. And I’m here to tell you they are profoundly powerful! Like Anais Nin, I dwell in possibility, so I tend to focus on these empowered questions. Here’s why:
The truth is, your brain is like a dog. And it will go wherever you throw the bone; that is, 
your emotions will follow what you think, whether what you think is truth or fiction. And since emotions follow thought (yes, Virginia, they do) this also means that the emotions that cause you to sink or swim through life can not only be controlled, they can be created at will. When we create emotions that focus on dead ends, doubts, and disbelief, we aren’t being receptive to what the world around us has to offer. We aren’t being creative.
Your mind also has an Automatic Search Function, which means that when you ask yourself a question, your mind automatically begins to search for an answer. (Psychologists have referred to this function of the human brain as the “embedded presupposition factor.”) Let that sink in for a moment, because this is one of those Keys to the Universe kinda tools! Your mind will begin to search for the answer, which means that it will begin to seek out all the ways it can find to create the environment that supports the answer. And I don’t know about you, but with this powerful little magic tool I’d like to create a pretty amazing life and world.
Let’s take a quick look at this powerful practice that can help you, starting right now. We’ll peek in on a day in the life of a typical, stressed-out wayfarer and see how it works:
Julie wakes up to the local news blaring in her room and slams the snooze button to grab a few more moments of peace. But a barrage of thoughts is already blaring in her head. Did she even sleep at all? Seems as if worries have been running on a loop all night long. And today is the day: her review at work. She’s got to get that raise.
How will I pay for that muffler I need? If I make soup this week I can stretch the chicken to last… I’ve got to ask for that raise! Damn car will break down any day now. When does it stop? Emma needs her soccer uniform; Kirsten needs a retainer. When can I just get a break! I’ve got to ask for that raise, and I know I won’t get it! Nothing works for me.
Her children call to her from their bedroom. It only adds to the stress and worry.
Oh, God… My boss will never give me that raise. I’ve got to ask. But I know what the answer will be…I never get what I need.
Though she may not be conscious of it, her body reacts to the tension by contracting with signs of stress: quickened pulse, indigestion, increased cortisol output. Her body may be experiencing a cascade of responses from hormones to blood pressure, and her feet haven’t even hit the floor yet.
What she does consciously feel is the telltale heaviness in her heart that she knows will linger all day, pulling her down into a spiral of negative thoughts. Julie has just tossed a big ol’ bone into the abyss, and her brain is dutifully divin’ dooooown…
Deep breath, girl…. Get ‘em up. She drags herself out of bed, already feeling dejected and defeated.
She doesn’t have breakfast even after making it for the kids; she chokes some coffee down while she gets ready. Rushing all around, she spills that coffee all over her outfit and needs to change at the last minute, making her late for work – for her big review, and that raise she so badly needs.
Now, imagine Julie has learned all about afformations… Somewhere in a parallel universe, our girl tries another way:
Julie wakes up to the local news blaring into her room. She slams the snooze button to grab a few more moments of peace. Today is the big day: her review. She’s got to nail this; she’s got to ask for that raise.
Oh, God… My boss will never give me that raise. I’ve got to ask. But I know what the answer will be.
Her children call to her from their bedroom. The alarm goes off again, this time blaring music.
She reaches over and shuts off the static. She lies there a moment, staring at the ceiling and taking a few deep breaths, focusing her thoughts. She imagines the thoughts swirling in her head are just clouds in the sky beyond her room. She sees herself clearing the sky, like wiping the fog from a window. She considers for a moment that she deserves this raise, she knows she has worked hard, and has earned it.
So she chooses her next thought carefully, consciously – while envisioning herself enjoying her new income, giving and receiving money in her life, smiling as she sees her children getting what they need:
Why am I so blessed to have the perfect job for all my needs?
She feels the weight in her chest lift and dissolve, and takes a deep breath as her chest opens up in release, in response to possibility. Her brain on subconscious levels has just seen a positive ‘bone’ get tossed out into the world of possibility, and is already chasing after it, aligning with it.
What will I do with all this abundance in my life?
She imagines this question is like a burst of light in her body. It fills her up and expands into every cell. Her body responds with a lowered pulse and calmness… she allows her hands to open and relax beside her body, eyes wide open and clarity ringing through her body like a bell. And once more, her brain is running after this inquiry. Because the body is just as prepared to respond to abundance + goodness – in fact, and here’s the magic key: to seek it out and create it – as it is to collapse and contract into a box of despair.
Because she knows that gratitude cultivates a receptive nature, and a natural trust in abundance, and she knows that her thoughts create her state of mind, she takes this moment to seal in the goodness she is feeling:
Why am I so grateful?
In the back of her mind, she can hear the susurrus of thoughts running off to show her, prove to her, why. Without trying, images flood her mind: there’s the neighbor who watched the kids so she could get a break, the 10-dollar bill she found in her pocket when she needed it most, the help her co-worker offered on a challenging project. She smiles to herself, loving the calm joy she feels spreading within. She conjures up images of her near future, seeing herself enjoying her good fortune, sharing it with others, with her children. She imagines herself walking out of her boss’s office, a smile of victory on her face.
Ready? she asks deep inside. Ready, her entire being responds. She gets up and heads into her children’s bedroom, ready to take on the day and rise up to the abundance, the possibilities she is determined to create.
What I’ve illustrated above are only two possible responses to the barrage of issues that we face on any given day. The difference should be obvious: one mindlessly reacts, the other actively chooses how to respond and co-create our world. She uses empowered questions – which are at the heart of afformations – and I have been using them myself for some time now with amazing results (thank you, Dr Noah St. John! No, I’m not an affiliate, in fact I haven’t even read his books. I just read this article and it fit my perspective, so I started playing with afformations. Now that I’ve seen personal results, I’m starting to use it with clients as well).
The deal here is that while we can’t control the events, we can control the thoughts we generate about them, and in turn the emotions – and the actions – we create in response. If we get hooked into a negative feedback loop we begin to contract, to shrink, our attention and energy. When we contract into the negative, we close off the brain’s capacity to be creative and consider solutions. Possibilities. Discernment. Even: determination. (And let me tell you: greatness, luck, intelligence – all this stuff is nothing if you don’t have determination.)
The point is to change what your mind automatically FOCUSES ON. Since you are now going to FORM positive questions that assume that what you want is already true and actively being experienced, your mind has no choice but to find a way to make it so.
Can you see how this process must, by definition, change your life?
We have to trick that monkey mind into remaining open and pliable, and the positive query does just that: we have to fake it til we make it (the brain, that is).
In PART TWO, we’ll explore this a bit more with a quick exercise you can do to illustrate this for yourself. Stay tuned.
