Apr 06

Walk No. 22: Affirmation Walk

Posted by Bevin Donahue – April 06, 2021

Categories: General Excerpt Fitness & Sports Health & Healing

Affirmation Walk: An Excerpt from Walking With Glenn Berkenkamp

Affirmation statements are going beyond the reality of the present into the creation of the future through the words you use in the now.

—LOUISE HAY

Overview

Earlier I mentioned the power and effectiveness of positive affirmations not only in helping us to rewrite our negative self-talk, limiting or unkind beliefs, and subconscious patterns, but also as a way for us to discover these things.

Unlike the other walks where I suggest assigning or layering in an affirmation to further deepen or clarify your walk, the Affirmation Walk is 100 percent focused on your chosen affirmation.

Repeating an affirmation while walking allows you to flood your entire being with your chosen affirmation—to wear it and integrate it while you move. Walking also releases what science calls the “happiness hormones”—oxytocin, serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins—so as you’re walking and affirming, you’re also receiving an extra chemical boost to assist in your shift.

Science has told us that our thoughts and words are heard by every cell in our body. So when you walk, and you affirm silently or aloud to yourself—or out to the entire universe—know that, and envision, every cell in your body is not only hearing you, but being affected.

The Affirmation Walk is a walk of empowerment, of change, of drawing to you, and wiring into you, what will serve you best, and releasing from you what no longer serves you.

It is a way to further tune in, become aware, and transform.

Benefits

Allows you to make positive changes at a very deep level.
Opens you to new opportunities and ways of viewing yourself and the world.
Helps you to see where you may be harming yourself, or others, or holding yourself back.
Allows you to move and engage with your body in a way that is connected to a change or changes you would like to make.
Elevates your self-esteem and allows you to more greatly love, respect, connect with, and grow yourself.
Strengthens your faith.
Helps you to heal.

When to Do

When ready to feel better.
When wanting to make a positive change in your thoughts and beliefs about yourself, your relationships, or other aspects of the world.
When wanting to uncover and uproot old, limiting, and detrimental thoughts and beliefs, and replace them with more positive, beneficial ones.
When wanting to release something, or draw something to you.
When needing a break—and a breakthrough.
When needing to affirm a position, outcome, or decision.
When feeling anxious.

How often and for how long should you repeat your affirmations?

Everyone and each situation is different. The simple answer is: until you start to see or feel a change taking place. This can at times happen quickly, such as elevating your mood, or giving you greater clarity; or it may take longer, for instance when seeking to create large-scale change in your life—or undo a deep-seated belief—or when your affirmation may be tied into others who are co-creating something with you, and the collective timing then becomes a factor. As a guideline, consider speaking each affirmation for twenty-one days.

Also, the Affirmation Walk does not have to be a special walk: something you set aside a time of day for. It is something you can integrate into any walk you do, like walking to your car or around town. The important thing is for you to be engaged in the process.

How to Do

Choose a time when you can focus on you. Granted, you may not have the time to focus on you. This may be something you want to look deeper into—and begin to change through your Affirmation Walk, allowing time for your personal well-being: “I allow time for my personal well-being.”

And of course, you can also do this anytime you find yourself walking.

Choose a place where you would like to walk, or a familiar walking area that you feel comfortable in.

When possible, wear clothes that make you feel good and that represent you in your healthiest, most inspired or uplifted way. Wear comfortable footwear as well.

Choose a single affirmation to focus on for the duration of your walk. When selecting a positive affirmation, begin by working with what is currently occupying your thoughts and beliefs in a negative or detrimental way. For example, “I’ll never find a job.” Your affirmation can be as simple and direct as “I will find a job” or a more nuanced version, “The job I need is heading my way. I take the right steps to meet it.” Or, as some people prefer, affirm it as if it has already happened: “I have a job.”

You may also wish to turn your negative self-talk into positive affirmations. For example, if you frequently tell yourself, “I am unlovable” or “Life stinks,” you can turn those phrases into affirmations that serve you: “I am lovable” and “Life is beautiful.” Or even: “I openly accept love into all aspects of my life and being” and “I grow from life’s challenges.”

Some affirmations to consider and/or implement:

“I love myself.”
“I am healthy.”
“I am safe.”
“I am valuable.”
“Life works.”
“Everything will be okay.”
“The answers and insights I need arrive at the perfect time.”
“I approve of myself.”
“I get stronger every day.”
“I look for and see the good in all people, including myself.”
“It’s okay to rest.”

For those with a religious or spiritual inclination, you can create and speak affirmations that align with, or are born of, your faith. Some examples are:

“With God all things are possible.”
“I am one with all of life.”
“I am loved by God.”
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
“Through my faith, all my needs shall be met.”
“I am spirit. And spirit is limitless.”

Before you begin your walk, perhaps even the day or night before, allow yourself to look deep into yourself and your life and see what is either right on the surface or wired deeper into you that now needs to be uprooted, changed, or mentally upgraded.

Turn off your cellphone, switch it to airplane mode, or leave it behind.

Perform your GBS Pre-Walk

Check-In.

See what arises in your mind. It might be “This Affirmation Walk is a stupid idea. I’m going to watch TV instead.” If a thought like this arises, simply thank it for presenting itself, and let it go, with the help of a strong exhale.

Begin your walk.

As you walk, whether it be fifty feet, a hundred yards, or multiple miles, repeat your chosen affirmation. You may do so quietly or with more outward strength. Either way, do so with conviction. It’s beneficial to hear yourself say the words; it’s also valuable to repeat them in your head—getting used to them, as you would a positive thought. Feel free to get creative; you can even create a song from your affirmation.

You can repeat your affirmation with the rhythm of your steps or your breath, or you can just let it flow naturally.

The key element is to let yourself feel it, even if it feels strange or foreign at first.

If something arises within you during your walk, and you feel moved to switch your affirmation, do so.

If and when negative self-talk arises or stray thoughts that are unproductive come, allow them to drift off, much like an overhead cloud, and return to your affirmation. If an emotion arises, be with it; don’t force it down. Breathe. And if you need to pause, sit, or lie down, do so.

As you walk, allow for a positive shift to take place. Look for the good. See it. Discover it. Feel it. And let it see, discover, and feel you as well.

Remember, a lot of these long-held, negative, or limiting thoughts, beliefs, and ideas did not originate in or with you, but are societal, or were handed down or imposed upon you by people who just didn’t know better or could not do better.

At the conclusion of your Affirmation Walk, take a moment to further settle into and reflect on what you have affirmed; and allow yourself to carry it forth in mind, body, and spirit throughout the rest of your waking day and into your sleep.

Takeaways & Reflections

What did you learn from your Affirmation Walk? Are you new to positive affirmations? Have you perhaps done them before but haven’t tied them to exercise or walking? Did focusing on an affirmation affect how you felt as you walked? Did you perhaps notice a shift taking place? Remember, affirmations allow us to not only see who we are (or believe ourselves to be) but also who we can be.

Jot down or make mental notes of anything that may have arisen during your Affirmation Walk, and also know that change is a process that we must continue to show up for, and it can often be scary. But do show up, and know that you’re more than worthy of all you’ve affirmed.