Positive Affirmations by Tara Stiles

The stories we tell ourselves are the ones we believe. It can be such a challenge to pull ourselves out of the negativity bias habit, but creating a new habit with positive affirmations can shift our mood, create a lasting feeling of wholeness, and are lots of fun to practice, especially with little ones.

Daisy (my daughter) and I make a fun celebration out of positive affirmations. We started a little routine before bedtime when we were brushing our teeth and happened to have a mirror handy. We repeat a little mantra that goes quite simply, "I'm awesome! I'm awesome! I'm awesome!" The last one we get real big about it. We all do our best as parents and for us it's a lot about having fun while we are learning how to be good to ourselves and others.

I want Daisy to know she is beautiful from the inside out. I want her to understand that being a good person, taking care of yourself, and others is what makes you a beautiful and awesome person. We spend time picking up trash when we go to playgrounds and do our best to connect with other kids and parents, whether that's playing together, or simply saying hi, or making sure we leave spaces a little better than we found them. I also sneak in a few right before bedtime affirmations to her before she goes to sleep. It's always a little different but often includes:

You're amazing.
You can do anything.
You are so nice to the plants, the animals and the people.
You are incredible.

Along with a bunch of I love you's and snuggles we have a good time of it, and hopefully it helps us both become better every day.

Tara Stiles is a wellness expert, bestselling author, and the founder of Strala Yoga. The Strala approach combines yoga, tai chi, and Traditional Chinese and Japanese Medicine to help people release stress, heal, let go of negative habits, and move more easily through everyday challenges. Tara’s bestselling books, which have been translated and published in multiple languages, include Strala Yoga, Make Your Own Rules Diet, Yoga Cures, and Slim Calm Sexy Yoga, and she has been featured in The New York Times, Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, Esquire, and Shape. Tara’s work has been used in a case study by Harvard University, she is a sought-after speaker on topics of entrepreneurship, health, and wellbeing, and she has lectured at venues that include Harvard and New York University. Tara works with The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, an initiative with the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation that combats childhood obesity, in order to bring Strala classes to more than 30,000 schools around the United States. She also supports the BOKS program, which delivers Strala classes and wellbeing resources to educators across North America. Her newest book, Clean Mind, Clean Body: A 28 Day Plan for Physical, Mental and Spiritual Self-Care (Dey Street Books), was released December 2020.