DR. JAY KUMAR

Let’s start with the hidden power of language and your thoughts by exploring the wordresolution. When you break down this word, a resolution is in reality a re-solution When you re-solve to do something, you’re generally re-solving a problem or a situation. So if your New Year’s resolution sounds something like, “I re-solve to eat more properly, I re-solve to quit smoking, I re-solve to exercise more regularly, etc.” the underlying message is that you’re attempting to “solve a problem” in your life and judge aspects of yourself that you dislike. While I agree that wanting to manifest changes in your life are worthwhile, if you’re making them from an emotional and mental place of low self-esteem, self-judgment, and self-pity, it only makes it that much harder to continue with your goals and intentions for wanting greater health and happiness. 

This idea of making resolutions from a psychological state of negative thinking connects to the other piece regarding your brain and emotions. The latest findings in neuroscience state that your brain is biologically wired to remember more negative thoughts and emotions over positive ones. The neuropsychologist, Dr. Rick Hanson, sums it up nicely by stating, “The mind is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones.” I’m sure many of you can relate to this idea, but why is that your minds tend to remember the painful, negative experiences but not so much the joyous, happy moments? There’s actually a neurobiological answer that has to do with something called anegativity bias. At the University of Washington a study revealed how a negative experience remains wired into your brain more strongly than a positive one. In fact, it takes up to five positive experiences to outweigh a negative thought! So whenever you perceive aspects of your life as a problem, your consciousness automatically perceives them as negative or unwanted aspects of yourself that you have to rid in order to be perfect, happy, etc. This type of thinking only generates and perpetuates low self-esteem and feelings of unworthiness that in turn compound your attitude of failure and frustration. So it’s no wonder that you might lack commitment and abandon your hopes and dreams that you made with enthusiasm at the start of the New Year. So what’s the answer to stop your unhealthy thoughts of shame or guilt when it comes to making New Year’s resolutions in order to lead a more happy and healthy life?

I invite you to consider the possibility that rather than making a New Year’s re-solutionyou make a New Year’s re-intention for what you want to manifest in 2013! How does that sound to you? Say to yourself – “I’m making a New Year’s REINTENTION!” When you say this phrase, you set a positive intention to manifest change in your life by affirming aspects of your life that are currently working for you. By making a re-intention you focus on all the empowered positive choices you’ve already made, rather than on re-solving all the problems you believe exist in your life. In the same way that a re-solution "solves" a problem you don't like in your life, a re-intention "intends" a committment for you to change something in your life. 

In the fields of cognitive psychology and neurolinguistics, the language and words that you use have a very powerful impact on how you act and how you live. In neuroscience, this concept is known as creating a neural network. The thoughts and words that you choose to believe about yourself rewire your brain physiology eventually creating a neural network that reinforces these patterns of consciousness. (Watch video of brain making a new thought) In essence, your thoughts literally influence your brain, body, and being! As the Buddha eloquently states, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make our world.” This quote is relevant to our discussion. When you shift your thoughts and language from a re-solutionto a problem to a re-intention to affirm change in your life, you in turn alter your consciousness from viewing your life as a series of pesky problems to one of joyous affirmations.

So here are two great exercises you can do. The first is to reword your New Year’s re-solutions into re-intentions. Taking the examples of resolutions I used earlier, you can rephrase them by saying, “I intend to continue being happy, healthy and to love myself in 2013 by eating more properly, by quitting smoking, and by exercising more regularly.” Can you feel a difference in the language in this new intention? The fundamental shift is that your re-intentions begin with your intention to the positive and joyous aspects of your life, which in turn make it easier to create the changes you want

The second tool, which addresses the negativity bias, is to make a list of five aspects or qualities in your life that you already do well. If you recall it can take up to five positive thoughts and emotions to outweigh an unhealthy one. I encourage you to have this list near you at all times by keeping it on your cell phone, in your wallet or purse, your bathroom mirror, on the fridge, or on your office desk. This is your “affimations” list, which will help alleviate any frustration and disappointment you might have as you move forward in your goals for 2012. Repeat these affirmations to yourself on a daily basis, or whenever you feel the need.

These exercises of rewording your resolutions to re-intentions and of creating your “affirmation list” help you to focus on those aspects of life that empower you, instead of shame or guilt you. In turn, cultivating more emotionally and mentally healthy thoughts creates the foundation for more transformation to occur in your life. In just a short time, you will quickly learn to use these newly created New Year’s re-intentions and begin the gradual steps to realize your goals. The key word here is gradual. Deep and profound change rarely happens instantly or overnight. So be patient and compassionate to yourself, knowing the great news is that you can continue manifesting your New Year’s re-intentions all throughout 2013! Watch the full video clip on Youtube here to learn more!

So if you’ve already broken your New Year’s resolutions, I’m here to tell you that there’s still hope. The answer for you to fulfill your dreams and goals for the year and beyond is to transform your New Year’s re-solutions to New Year’s re-intentions. Have a wonderful day and an amazing 2013 as you manifest genuine health and abundant happiness in Brain, Body, & Being! 

Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
Facebook – Dr. Jay Kumar
Twitter – docjaykumar  

My spot last week on the Doug Stephan Good Day Show was a BLAST! This is why I love being on the show...you've gotta' check out the podcast with all the jokes, great fun, and laughs as we discussed the "Neuroscience of Affirmations." Catch all podcasts of Awake with Dr. Jay Kumar on ITunes and be sure to catch me live every Thur. morning 9:30amET at www.dougstephan.com! Have a great and AFFIRMING DAY!

Happy 2012! So how many of you who made a New Year’s resolution are still keeping up with it? Believe it or not, studies show that 90% of you will break or abandon your New Year’s resolutions by the second part of January! Do you wonder why that is? Well, I have a couple of ideas. One reason deals with language and the word “resolution” itself. The other key entails your brain and the emotional place from which you make your resolutions. In fact your language, brain, and emotions all are factors in determining if you’ll succeed or succumb to your New Year’s resolutions. Curious to learn how you can stick to your New Year’s goals?

Let’s start with the power of language and thoughts and explore the word “resolution.” When you break down this word, a “resolution” is in reality a “re-solution” When you “re-solve” to do something, you’re generally “re-solving” a problem or a situation. So if your New Year’s resolution sounds something like, “I resolve to eat more properly, I resolve to quit smoking, I resolve to exercise more regularly, etc.” the underlying message is that you’re attempting to “solve a problem” in your life and judge aspects of yourself that you dislike. While I agree that all of these resolutions are worthwhile to make, if you’re making them all from an emotional and mental place of low self-esteem, self-judgment, and self-pity, it only makes it that much harder to continue with your goals and intentions for wanting greater health and happiness.

This idea of making resolutions from a psychological state of negative thinking connects to the other piece regarding your brain and emotions. The latest findings in neuroscience state that your brain is biologically wired to remember more negative thoughts and emotions over positive ones. The neuropsychologist, Dr. Rick Hanson, sums it up nicely by stating, “The mind is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones.” I’m sure many of you can relate to this idea, but why is that your minds tend to remember the painful, negative experiences but not so much the joyous, happy moments? There’s actually a neurobiological answer that has to do with something called a “negativity bias.” At the University of Washington a study revealed how a negative experience remains wired into your brain more strongly than a positive one. In fact, it takes up to five positive experiences to outweigh a negative thought!

So whenever you perceive aspects of your life as a problem, your consciousness automatically perceives them as negative or unwanted aspects of yourself that you have to rid in order to be perfect, happy, etc. This type of thinking only generates and perpetuates low self-esteem and feelings of unworthiness that in turn compound your attitude of failure and frustration. So it’s no wonder that you might lack commitment and abandon your hopes and dreams that you made with enthusiasm at the New Year. So what’s the answer to stop your unhealthy thoughts of shame or guilt when it comes to making New Year’s resolutions to aspects you perceive as problems in your life?

I invite you to consider the possibility that rather than making a New Year’s “re-solution” you make a New Year’s “re-affirmation” for what you want to manifest in 2012! How does that sound to you? Say to yourself – “I’m making a New Year’s REAFFIRMATION!” When you say this phrase, you begin to “affirm” aspects of your life that are already great and working for you. By making a reaffirmation you focus on all the empowered positive choices you’ve already made, rather than on “re-solving” all the problems you believe exist in your life.

In the fields of cognitive psychology and neurolinguistics, the language and words that you use have a very powerful impact on how you act and how you live. In neuroscience, this concept is known as creating a “neural net.” The thoughts and words that you choose to believe about yourself rewire your brain physiology eventually creating a neural net that reinforces these patterns of consciousness. In essence, your thoughts literally influence your health and wellbeing. As the Buddha eloquently stated, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make our world.” This quote is relevant to our discussion. When you shift your thoughts and language from “re-solving” a problem to “re-affirming” an intention, you in turn alter your consciousness from viewing your life as a series of pesky problems to one of joyous affirmations.

So here are two great exercises you can do. The first is to reword your New Year’s resolutions into reaffirmations. Taking the examples of resolutions I used earlier, you can rephrase them by saying, “I reaffirm to continue being happy, healthy and to love myself in 2012 by eating more properly, by quitting smoking, and by exercising more regularly.” Can you feel a difference in the language of this new affirmation from the previous resolution? The fundamental shift is that your reaffirmations begin by “re-affirming” the positive and joyous aspects of your life, which in turn make it easier to create the changes you want.

The second tool, which addresses the “negativity bias,” is to make a list of five aspects or qualities in your life that you already do well. If you recall it can take up to five positive thoughts and emotions to outweigh an unhealthy one. I encourage you to have this list near you at all times by keeping it on your cell phone, in your wallet or purse, or on your office desk. This is your “affirmation” list, which will help alleviate any frustration and disappointment you might have as you move forward in your goals for 2012. Repeat these affirmations to yourself on a daily basis, or whenever you feel the need.

These exercises of rewording your resolutions to reaffirmations and of creating your “affirmation list” help you to focus on those aspects of life that empower you, instead of shame or guilt you. In turn, cultivating more emotionally and mentally healthy thoughts creates the foundation for more transformation to occur in your life. In just a short time, you will quickly learn to use these newly created New Year’s reaffirmations and begin the gradual steps to realize your goals. The key word here is gradual. Deep and profound change rarely happens instantly or overnight. So be patient and compassionate to yourself, knowing the great news is that you can enjoy your New Year’s reaffirmations all throughout 2012! Watch the full video clip on Youtube here to learn more!

So if you’ve already broken your New Year’s resolutions, I’m here to tell you that there’s still hope. The answer for you to fulfill your dreams and goals for the year and beyond is to transform your New Year’s “resolutions” to New Year’s “reaffirmations.” Have a wonderful day and an amazing 2012, as you continue Living Your Lightâ with your new reaffirmations!

Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
Facebook – Dr. Jay Kumar
Twitter – docjaykumar 

Statistics show that in the second part of January, 90% of people break or abandon their New Year’s Resolutions. Why is that? Well, I have an idea. It’s the word “resolution” itself. You see, the word “resolution” is in reality a “re-solution.” When you “re-solve” to do something, you’re “re-solving” a problem. So when you make a New Year’s “resolution” or “re-solution,” the underlying message is that you’re addressing a “problem” in your life. Whenever you perceive aspects of your life as a problem, your consciousness automatically perceives them as negative or unwanted aspects of yourself that you have to rid in order to be perfect, happy, etc. This type of thinking only generates low self-esteem, feelings of unworthiness, etc. that in turn compound your feelings of failure and frustration. So it’s no wonder that people lack enthusiasm and abandon their hopes and dreams that they make at the New Year.

 So I invite you to consider the possibility that rather than making a New Year’s “resolution” you make a New Year’s “re-affirmation” for what you want to manifest in 2011! How does that sound? Say that to yourself – “I’m making a New Year’s REAFFIRMATION!” You “affirm” aspects of your life that are already great and working for you. You focus on all the empowered choices you’ve already made rather than on “re-solving” all the problems you believe exist in your life. Our language and our words have a very powerful impact on how we act and how we live. Our thoughts create words that in turn influence the language by which we live!

The psychologist Carl Jung famously said, “Would you rather be good or whole?” This is relevant to our discussion. When you shift your language from “re-solving” a problem to “re-affirming” an intention, you in turn alter your consciousness from striving to be “good” to becoming “whole.”

So here’s a great exercise you can do. Make a list of three aspects of your life that you already do really well. Have this list always be in the back of your mind. This “affirmation” list creates the foundation within which more change and transformation can occur in your life. So you can learn to take these newly created re-affirmations to create gradual steps to make change in your life. The key word here is “gradual.” Deep and profound change rarely happens instantly or over-night. Rather, the process is a gradual one.

So if you’ve already broken your New Year’s Resolutions, I’m here to tell you that there’s still hope. The answer for you to fulfill your dreams and goals for the year and beyond is to transform your New Year’s “Resolutions” to New Year’s “Reaffirmations.” Have a wonderful day and an amazing year, as you continue Living Your Light with your new Reaffirmations!

Check out the video to learn more. (The video is from 2010, but the message is still current!)