The words we speak have immense power. Here’s how to use yours to breathe life into your body, mind + spirit when it’s bogged down by stress and overwhelmed by your symptoms.
Sister friend, I want you to lean in close. I want you to breathe deep + prepare to hear me because your heart might push back to what I have to say + that’s okay. 10 years ago I would have pushed back too. When you’re neck-deep in the struggle + run down from symptom management, the last thing you want to hear from someone is how you can use affirmations for chronic illness to help you feel better.
But, that’s exactly what I’m here telling you. Even if you’re rolling your eyes already, I want you to hang with me. Keep reading. I promise you that there is so much more here than meets the eye when we dig into our brain + body connection. Let’s jump in:
Desperation is a great motivator
In truth, I was the QUEEN of trying all of the physical things to help me feel better during my long ass battle with chronic illness. I struggled with migraines, chronic fatigue, mis-diagnosed fibromyalgia + IBS, food allergies, aches + pains + honestly what felt like “my-body-is-broken-and-falling-apart-itis”.
I tried eliminating gluten + then dairy + then sugar + then…you know how that goes. I tried pills + prescriptions. More water, more fibre. Testing + treatment + all of it.
And do you know what I was? Still sick as ever + more stressed about my body than ever before.
Once I was officially diagnosed with Endometriosis, I was put onto a waiting list for surgery. But month after month, while I sat waiting for the magic pill to make me better, my symptoms were actually getting worse. I can remember both fearing + even believing that it was always going to be this way. I was always going to be sick and be in pain.
What do limiting beliefs have to do with chronic illness affirmations?
A limiting belief is just what it sounds like: it’s a belief that you have about yourself, about the world, that limits you, that keeps you small or stuck, that tells you that you aren’t enough or that you can’t do something.
You will absolutely have limiting beliefs about all sorts of things in your life:
- I’m too old or too young.
- I’m too emotional or too loud.
- I’m socially awkward or I don’t make friends easily.
- I’m not smart enough to _________
- I’m not brave enough to _________
What the heck does a limiting belief have to do with your chronic illness or with affirmations?
I want you to answer something for me here + to answer honestly. At any point in your journey, did you ever wonder if your illness was in your head? Did you ever struggle with believing there was real validity to what you were carrying, to the knowledge that something was off in your body? I know I did.
Those thoughts usually come from somewhere. I know for me, it came from a mixture of doctor’s comments, from the countless tests that came back negative + from watching all of the people in my life live completely normally…not struggling with any of the things that I was struggling with. Over the 17 years that I searched for an answer, I started to believe that I was sick because I was weak.
And even once I was diagnosed, I couldn’t let go of the fact that I couldn’t make myself better. I tried diet protocols and supplement regimens. And I couldn’t figure out why the heck nothing was working…until I uncovered my limiting belief. I didn’t believe that I had any control. I believed that I was weak, a victim to my illness.
The funny thing is, we normally live out what we believe, right? When you have a belief, you’ll see it everywhere. It is the lens that you live out your days through. You are going to look for proof of your limiting beliefs everywhere.
And for me, failed attempts at diagnosis, failed attempts at treatment, recurring symptoms just continued to solidify the belief that I was a lost cause. That my life would always look like this. That I would always be sick.
The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way. We can choose another option. We get to write our story because our BELIEFS are ours + they can change. And that is where affirmations come in.
Affirmations For Chronic Illness
Affirmations and speaking truth are pretty much interchangeable in my book. Truth always trumps belief. And since our repetitive thoughts are the ones that make the biggest marks on our lives + actually create well worn grooves in our brain, we’re going to use affirmations to harness that power for good.
If deep in your heart, you’re struggling to believe the same things too:
- that you’re broken
- weak
- you’ll never be better
- it will always be this way
- you’ll always be in pain
- nothing ever works
Let me speak these affirmations for chronic illness over you right now + I challenge you to spend some time importing them on your heart. Repeat them to yourself. Write them down every day. Put them on post it notes around your house.
As you change your brain, you might be shocked to feel your body changing too.
P.S. if the affirmations below really speak to your heart, we walk through new ones together every Monday over on instagram, so be sure to come hang out with me there.
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