Self care Saturday 4 - affirmations

Self care can take many forms. We do things for our health and well being. We do things just for enjoyment.

There were many turning point in my stroke/aphasia recovery. This Monday I will discuss some of these.

One of these was deciding to set intentions every morning. I started with one thing I would do for myself and one thing for others. This helped me tremendously. One thing I included was saying Affirmations. An affirmation is a positive statement you tell yourself. Repeating these positive statements can help to rebuild self esteem and help in your recovery.

For those of us who have aphasia, apraxia, or dysarthria, I would suggest you use affirmations in your daily speech practice. Build you own affirmations list or use mine and read them out loud. You will find that it gets easier each day you do this.

I have a few suggestions.

1. At first make a short list. You can always add more later.

2. record yourself. you can then use this recording to do your affirmations any time. I find that listening to them either at the beginning or end of the day helps me. You will then have a record of your success.

If you Google positive affirmations - for health, motivation, self care, etc. you will find many great affirmations. I would suggest you choose some that match your goals.

Here is a short list of affirmations that you can use to live well with aphasia and apraxia:

I am a special person. There is nobody else like me.

I am a strong and capable person

I am still smart

I have many skills

I have done difficult things in the past and I can do them again

I don't compare my progress to others'

I will achieve my goals

I am still ME

I am enough just as I am

I love myself

I am worthy of love and happiness

I believe in my self

Nothing can stop me from achieving my dreams

My voice is important

Everything is possible

I am perfect just the way I am

I am enough

I am whole and complete

I am worthy of compliments I receive

I am grateful for my body, my health and my life

I love who I am

I am proud of myself

I live in the present and confident of the future

I love and accept myself unconditionally

I can do this

sometimes some of these affirmations can make you uncomfortable. I have learned that these are the things you really need to say perhaps. These are the things you may struggle with in your life. Even though you have trouble saying them out loud, please continue. After time, you will know it is true. You can do this!

Until next time.....