Positive affirmations have become a popular way to improve wellbeing with many people using them as part of their mindfulness routine.

The power of a few minutes of repeating positive mantras is a proven technique to improve mood, reduce stress, and boost confidence. The trick is that your subconscious tends to believe what you repeatedly tell it.

So what exactly are positive affirmations? Put simply, they are positive statements that you say to yourself to challenge negative thoughts and beliefs.

Have you ever been doing something really hard and you’ve said to yourself, ‘I can do this!’ This is a positive affirmation.

Many swear by the power of affirmations to create changes in everything from finances and career, to relationships and weight loss, to improved self-confidence. These simple statements flood your brain with positive self-talk. They’re phrased in the present tense and declare what you want to be true about yourself or your life, as if it were already true.

Positive affirmations can be done as part of a routine, for example when you wake up or before you go to sleep, or they can be created and spoken (or written) as and when you need them.

When we repeat these affirmations over and over they become engrained in our mind, and we start to believe more and more the positive things we say to ourselves. This helps us to feel more positive and have a better self-image.

Some people say affirmations out loud in front of a mirror. Others simply write them down in a journal. You can also repeat them in your head during meditation.

The important thing is to find affirmations that resonate with you. You can create your own or adapt others to suit your needs.

Here are 10 Woman’s Way favourites:

1/ I wake up today with strength in my heart and clarity in my mind.

2/ I love myself, respect myself, and accept myself exactly as I am.

3/ I am inspired and motivated to achieve everything my heart desires.

4/ Today, I abandon my old habits and take up new, more positive ones.

5/ I am the architect of my life. I build its foundation and choose its contents.

6/ I am in complete charge of how I feel and today I am choosing happiness.

7/ I will not allow negative thinking to penetrate my thoughts, dictate my decision making, or intimidate my hope for the future.

8/ The past has gone. I choose to focus on the wonderful life ahead of me.

9/ I am full of energy and vitality and my mind is calm and peaceful.

10/ I choose to be kind to myself and love myself unconditionally. I am enough.