If you have a teenager who is in need of emotional support, you need to read this.
Have you noticed that your teenager’s mental health is declining?
Unfortunately, anxiety and depression are on the rise among the teenage population. It’s not uncommon to hear teenagers say, “My life is over.” Or “What’s the use?”
Society tends to reject these declarations as overdramatic, but for many teenagers, it truly seems like the end of the world. Adults tend to forget that being a teenager is an extremely emotionally volatile time. Still, there is something you and your teen can do: Positive Affirmations, or as we like to call it, power thoughts and words.
What are Positive Affirmations or power thoughts for Teens
Positive affirmations are repeated statements or phrases to help combat negative thinking and propel growth. Positive affirmations for teens focus on improving their self-image, self-esteem and sharpening their positive thinking while opening the door to creative possibilities.
If you’re searching for a way to improve your child’s mental state, consider practicing positive thinking and reciting positive affirmations. Thoughts and words are powerful; you can alter and improve your reality by recognizing and eliminating thought patterns.
Try these family activities.
Activity #1
As a family, come up with some affirmations that are a solution to some of your family problems or a focus that you have. Some families come up with 5 new ones each Sunday and then they repeat them in the morning before school and before bed. These times of the day prepare the brain to go out and face the world and then process at the end of the day. Affirmations or mantras can be personalized to each child or pick just one the entire family works on for the week. Repetition used with emotion is a powerful way to cement in the mind the affirmation. Getting a power thought into the brain can help when things are tough and a refocus or recentering is needed to bring in the calm.
Example – “I make a difference.” “I love my life.” “I am a caring friend.” “I am capable” “I make good decision” or “I can do tough things.” The internet is full of examples of amazing affirmations for reference.
Family activity #2
Have everyone draw on a piece of paper a side view of their face with a thought bubble coming out to the side. Leave lots of room in the large thought bubble. Have each person write the negative things that they say to themselves in the bubble. If kids will make fun of each other, you can do this on a private individual basis. Next, on another paper, draw another side view and bubble and this time write the affirmation that will counter their negative thoughts. Here’s some examples moving from a simple way to rephrase to more solution based.
Bubble 1 says “I am always forgetting.” Bubble 2 says, “I remember important things.”
Bubble 1 says, “I can’t afford the jeans I want.” Bubble 2 says “Ways to earn money are popping up in front of me.” Opening the door to possibility allows the Reticular Activating System in the Brain a chance to pay attention to opportunities for you. Affirmations are not magic; they are science based.
Bubble 1 says, “I’m horrible at math, I’m flunking.” Bubble 2 says “I may not understand all my math, but I’ll stay after and ask for help” or “I may not know all my math, but I’ll search online for tutorials”. We can move our thoughts to solution based.
Bubble 1 says, “My friends ignore me.” Bubble 2 might say, “I hope my friends are okay, I’ll check in on them”. This puts the emphasis away from victim mode and onto thinking about feelings of others.
Finding the bright side of any situation is the ultimate goal of practicing positive thinking. Everyone has the power of choice to either think positively or succumb to the grip of negative thoughts. When you teach your mind to focus on the positive, you will reap a variety of benefits, such as inner serenity, stronger connections, improved health, more joy in life, and more happiness in relationships with others and with yourself.
What are the benefits of positive self-talk for teens?
If you want to know the trajectory of your teen’s life right now or your own for that matter, just listen to the words you speak. Those words are a reflection of what is in your subconscious mind. It’s literally as if your mind has a microphone attached to it. So, listen to your words and listen to the words of your teen.
Negative self-talk uses words of limitation and words of obligation such “I never…., I have to… It’s impossible… it will never happen.”
Positive self-talk opens us up to using words of choice such as “I get to, I want to, and I choose to.” We signal to the brain that we have the freedom to choose, and we move into positive self-talk.
Here’s an example
“I have to go to school.” With positive self-talk it’s a “I get to go to school, because I live in a country that allows educational freedoms.”
“I have to go to work” Opening it up to the positive we would say, “I choose to go to work so that I can have food on the table and enjoy the comforts I have.”
Can you feel the difference? Positive affirmations and self-talk open up the door of possibilities and change our focus to what is good in our situations.
How Can Know Brainerz Program Help?
Think of life as a giant video game. The journey of life is enhanced as you master specific talents or abilities. Just like its name suggests, the Know Brainerz Level Up curriculum strives to give your teenager the skills they need to maneuver and thrive through whatever life throws at them.
Learning affirmations is just one of many skills taught in this engaging and fun course. When we can see the patterns of thinking we have, we can gauge what we are creating with our words and thoughts. If we want our life to change, we need to change the thoughts and words to reflect what we desire.
There is power in learning to speak the language of conscious creation. Here at Know Brainerz we have a full chapter on learning the language that empowers possibilities.
Would you like to learn why affirmations don’t work? Tune into the podcast Know Brainerz Empowering Possibilities episode #42 to learn the low down on how to get affirmations to really stick and more about why they are a CRITICAL tool for young and old. For a fun way to learn the language of creation, check out the new family game “Rephraseology”. Learn 4 languaging skills with affirmations as one of them. An Edutainment game for ages 8 and up, this is a talk, laugh and learn way to uplevel your families’ words.
