Empowering Parenthood: Affirmations to Strengthen Your Bond with Your Child

Empowering Parenthood: Affirmations to Strengthen Your Bond with Your Child

Sometimes I feel really rubbish in my parenting, I feel like I'm not doing enough, the kids are having too much screen time or I'm not doing as much as other families. Sometimes these thoughts come when I'm experiencing migraine, a pain flair up or am just exhausted. Days when I need to rest, and I need to do what I need to just to get through the day, but nevertheless my brain still pipes in with these negative thoughts. 

It can be really hard on these days, because as much as you may know it's not true, it still feels rubbish. 

In this post we will be looking at why affirmations can be useful as a parent, how to effectively use affirmations, how to transform affirmations to work for us, 10 affirmations for strengthening bonds with your child, and how to start using them. ​

Using affirmations for empowered parenting

When I started to use affirmations in my parenting, I felt huge relief. I was able to focus my mind on the positive words, tap into that empowered feeling and feel so much better about myself and my parenting. Instead of focusing on the bad and feeling completely helpless, I was able to focus on the good. I was able to strengthen my bonds with my children in those moments and beyond. 

How to use affirmations effectively

Our brain wants to believe what we tell it. If we tell ourselves how bad we are at something, how stupid we are or that we are a bad parent - we start to believe it. Sometimes we don't even notice we are doing it (this is why self-awareness is so important). 

You can start using affirmations by writing them down and putting them on your mirror/ some place you'll see often, using them as passwords, using them in meditations or simply just repeating them to yourself when needed. You can include them in your journal, on your vision board or even practice mindful colouring of affirmations, I've seen some great books for this!

Do affirmations always work?

I like affirmations and they work for me but the ones that resonate with me, may not resonate with you. This is important because you need to be able to tap into the energy of an affirmation. If you feel like it is a complete lie, it is going to cause you more stress. 

Just like in Liar Liar when Jim Carrey was trying to say that the pen was red. He was trying to tell a lie but couldn't, he could only tell the truth - the pen is blue. If you don't believe what you are saying, it is going to be stressful!
If this is the case, then you may need to build up towards that affirmation. Let's stick with this pen analogy. We can't say 'the pen is red.' even if it was red, we just don't believe that it is..... too confusing? Stick with me here. 
We could say 'May I start to see this pen as red.' We can feel a bit better about this right? 

This can work for times when we really don't believe that we are good enough, beautiful enough, smart enough, a good enough parent etc. In this case, it feels like a lie if we are to say 'I am good enough.' This is where I like to change 'I am' statements to 'May I see that I am' or 'I am learning to' or another way to change the statement to make it feel good. 

For example - I am beautiful. This could be a really difficult one for someone to repeat in front of a mirror or to themselves if they were having real body image issues. By repeating it to themselves over and over it could get very upsetting. Instead this person could say - 'I am learning to appreciate my beauty' or 'I am learning to love myself exactly how I am' or even 'My body is healthy and functions well.' 

So when choosing your affirmations, take a moment to notice how they make you feel. Do they make you feel empowered? Do they spark joy or confidence? Is it challenging to say? Can you re-word it in your own words to make it 'fit' better? 

10 ​Affirmations to Strengthen Your Bond with Your Child

1. "I am doing my best as a parent and my child knows that."
2. "Every moment spent with my child is a chance to learn and grow together."
3. "I am creating beautiful memories with my child that will last a lifetime."
4. "I am an amazing parent who is constantly learning and improving."
5. "My child feels loved and appreciated, even when I can't spend as much time with them as I would like."
6. "I am teaching my child valuable life lessons through the time we spend together."
7. "My child cherishes the time we spend together, no matter how much or how little it is."
8. "I am making a positive impact on my child's life by being present and engaged when we are together."
9. "Every moment spent with my child is an opportunity to strengthen our relationship."
10. "I am a mindful parent who is inspiring and empowering my child to be their authentic self."

How will you practice yours?

Choose one affirmation for now and decide how you will use it. Remember this could be writing them down and putting them on your mirror/ some place you'll see often, using them as passwords, using them in meditations or simply just repeating them to yourself when needed. We also mentioned mindful colouring above. 

One way I like to practice is to have one I work with for a whole week. I repeat this to myself 3 times when I wake up, and then again when I go to sleep. They help me in so many areas, one of those areas being my parenting and strengthening the bonds I have with my children. 

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Summary

In this post we have looked at why affirmations can be useful as a parent, how to effectively use affirmations, how to transform affirmations to work for us, 10 affirmations for strengthening bonds with your child, and how to start using them. 

Strengthening bonds with Yoga

Practicing partner yoga poses with your child is a great way to strengthen the bond between you and your child. It allows you to connect with your child in a fun and playful way while also promoting physical activity and mindfulness. The shared experience of practicing yoga together can create a deeper sense of trust and understanding between you and your child, and help to bring you closer together.

Sign up now for Partner Pose Playtime! A 40 minute class for you and your child to spend quality time together while caring for your well-being! 

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