Hey and welcome back to the show. Hope you’re well and are ready to hear some powerful affirmations, why I chose exactly these, how I turned them into my core beliefs right before my surgery and what the final result was.
You’ll leave equipped with ideas on how to come up with your own affirmations for any goal you want to achieve, challenge you wanna overcome or any change you’re manifesting. And how to make the most of those because they are much more than just sentences written somewhere that you repeat to yourself daily.
Tune into the episode below:
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Transcript
If you don’t know what surgery I’m taking about, that’s a preventative double mastectomy with reconstruction and the previous episode dives more into why I did it, how I prepared, how I spent the night before the big day, and much more. So you can give it a listen if you haven’t already.
But now I’ll talk more about just one of the many practices I relied on to shift my mindset and go from anxious to empowered, and eventually look forward to the surgery and feel deeply grateful and peaceful at the operating table, which was sort of the culmination of all the mindset work done in the weeks prior to that.
Hopefully this will remind you of the power of affirmations and manifestation in general. And that your most effective tool – your subconscious mind – is always at your disposal and working for you.
You just might need to reset the system sometimes as we are taught to believe some not so positive things, we’ve lived by other people’s standards for way too long, and we have inherited fears from our parents and have been conditioned since our childhood.
It’s our responsibility to change the course of events but first we need to change what we believe on a subconscious level.
That takes times and for some big things it might be years. For other less ingrained beliefs it can be months. And sometimes, when you have enough practice, it can be weeks.
That was the case for me, being in the personal development space for over a decade paid off and I not just chose what empowering thoughts to believe a few weeks prior to surgery, but by the time the day came, there was no sign of fear and anxiety.
And there’s no denial involved here. I wasn’t distracting my mind or anything. I was 100% aware of what was happening internally and I welcomed any emotion that came in, the good and the bad ones.
But when you strongly believe something is gonna go well, when you surrender, feel safe in your body and already have a vision of your amazing life after surgery, then no negative emotion is strong enough to dominate your mind even in the most stressful situation, such as walking yourself to the hospital, getting examined and asked questions and being taken to the surgeons.
I chose the 18 affirmations I will share with you very carefully and mostly intuitively. They fall into a few categories so some of them might sound similar to you, but I just knew each had to be part of that exercise and of my daily life so I can feel the way I want to feel.
I was basically deciding in advance how I want to feel before, during and after surgery. It worked better than I expected and that’s yet another proof that we’re in control of how we feel no matter what is happening in life.
If you train your brain and body well, you can do that for any unexpected and unpleasant event in your life, not just the ones that are scheduled in advance and aren’t urgent, like my surgery.
The body is involved in this practice too. This work isn’t just mental, it’s somatic. Trauma is stored in the body, bad emotions are felt there too. So you gotta get to the energy points in your body and release the tension.
Otherwise, you risk ending up in a situation where you repeat an affirmation 100 times and think it’s working, but your body gives another signal back to the brain so it doesn’t believe what you’re telling it.
And when the big day comes, all the stress, fear, self-doubt and anxiety show up out of nowhere and you feel like you failed. This is the reason most people say affirmations don’t work. Because they don’t go deep, don’t get the body involved, and they give up too early.
The 18 Affirmations I Used
1. My body knows exactly how to heal and at what pace.
With this new belief, I wanted to let go of the ‘how’ – wondering how long it will take to heal, how the healing process will look like, what I’d be able to do after the mastectomy and what I need to avoid for months.
There’s no way to know, it’s different for every woman and trying to figure this out costs you so much energy.
But your body knows best. You have to surrender to its healing powers and let it do its job. Overthinking that and worrying about it can only slow down the process.
It’s been 2 weeks since the surgery now and I can do almost anything I can think of other than actual sports, of course. I still take it easy and don’t do too many things in one day, but I couldn’t believe how much I could move and lift my hands literally right after surgery.
I felt so good since day 1 and it’s only getting better.
2. I release all resistance. I allow the surgeons to do what they are best at. I open myself to receiving their help.
This is about surrendering again, which has always been a struggle for me. I prefer to control things, do everything myself, know how it will go and monitor everything. But in this case that’s impossible. So I’ll go crazy if I have any expectations or resist even slightly anything the hospital staff is doing. I had to let go of the need to control and fully trust their expertise.
This helped me so much that right before they sedated me in the operating room, when the surgeons asked me if I have any last questions, I simply thanked everyone for being there, because it was all for me. What an honour!
I had no doubt they knew what they were doing and were going to do a great job. That kept me calm and I’m pretty sure my body stayed in this state, energetically and on a cellular level, because it’s how I felt when I woke up and for the rest of the day.
This is something I want to practice for every aspect of life – letting go of control, accepting that some factors are totally out of my control, being okay with not seeing how things are going and not knowing how the final result will be. Then we can take more action and risks and make bolder moves in life and in business.
3. I am doing what no other woman in my family knew was an option, had the resources to do or dared to do. I’m so grateful to be chosen for this.
This represents another group of affirmations I relied on. The fact that having this surgery is a personal choice and that itself is a privilege. That it’s my mission to do it, that it’s a blessing as others didn’t have the choice.
Gratitude replaces other negative emotions around the experience and makes the whole thing more meaningful.
Read also: How Constant Gratitude Transformed My Life & Biz + My Gratitude Practices
4. My soul chose this as part of my journey. I have all the resources to go through it safely and learn lessons that will help me become my best self.
This feels soo good, especially once I started truly believing it. Once you know this on a subconscious level, you let go of all worry.
If you’re into spirituality, you might know that our soul makes contracts with the people we are meant to meet throughout our life. It chooses the exact experiences and even challenges we will have, all with the goal to learn the lessons we need to learn in this lifetime and grow.
This resonates with me so I like to believe it and it takes a lot of the pressure away. While I am a fan of free will and think it drives everything, I also know that what’s on our path and what feels right is chosen by us a long time ago. This surgery felt right so there was nothing to worry about.
I’ve had experiences in the past, be it a decision, a relationship, a project, a friend, or else, that felt so off. Now I know it simply wasn’t in alignment with me and I could have avoided it but I didn’t know any better then. Now I make choices based on what’s meant for me.
I knew deep within this surgery was the right thing, it was happening exactly when it’s supposed to, and I had no doubt everything was gonna turn out exactly how it’s supposed to be so I can learn the lessons I need. All in the name of personal growth.
Being a lifelong learner and into self-help can help you so much in situations like that. Because you always come out stronger and have learned so much.
5. I am entering the most powerful chapter of my life.
Simple but so effective. Again, related to the growth that will come out of all this and which made me so excited.
6. Healing from surgery and living in my new body comes easily and naturally to me.
Many of the uncertainties around preventative mastectomy are that you won’t like your new body, won’t feel good in it, life would be different, you might have regrets, and so on. I didn’t want to spend even one second imagining any of that, it wasn’t getting me anywhere.
Instead, I was convinced that things are going to be better than ever. I’m doing what I’m meant to be doing and anything after the surgery doesn’t need to be hard like everyone else describes it. Instead, it can be easy and natural.
And you guys, that’s exactly how it was. I don’t feel different, I don’t even call this my new body. I am as much of a woman if not more, I feel stronger and more empowered.
I will be able to do anything that I was doing before some time from now, and even more because now I feel braver and fewer things scare me.
7. I am safe in my body no matter what it endures.
This one is great. We often associate safety with the wrong things, and safety is one of the most basic human needs. We seek it in places, people, work, money, bad habits, or else. But we don’t need any of that to feel truly safe.
It’s a state you can enter right now by choosing it and giving yourself permission to feel safe in your own body in this very moment. That’s what I learned how to do thanks to this new and simple belief.
Then, no matter where you are – whether that’s alone at home with your anxious thoughts, at the operating table in a hospital gown, at a party around strangers, traveling around a country you’ve never visited before, or even in a dangerous situation – you can feel safe in your body.
That allows you to breathe deeply and regulate your nervous system, which is sort of our most important task. When you’re calm, you can do anything.
Work on this belief if you too want to feel safe in your body. That’s beneficial to positive body image and self-love too.
8. This new chapter of my life is coming with massive breakthroughs. It will prepare me for the next level of my life.
That’s similar to a few others but it makes me so excited for the progress I’m about to see.
Excitement contains very special and potent energy, one that can replace anything negative inside of you and that can attract the right circumstances.
9. If I’m chosen for this, I am also equipped with anything necessary to endure it and come out stronger. The universe only gives us what we can handle.
That’s 2 in 1 but with the same meaning. This made me feel like there’s nothing else I need to prepare, I already have all it takes. And the same goes for you.
If there’s a desire in your heart, it’s yours already.
If there’s a challenge on your path, it’s there for a reason and you have all you need to deal with it.
This belief creates self-trust and that is a weapon like no other.
10. I am healing the lineages before me and paving the way for the generations after me. I am breaking generational patterns and cycles that have lasted for thousands of years.
Oh, that’s a big one. It’s why this feels like my mission and why I see it as something so positive and am so thankful for it.
Literally no other woman in my family had that chance. Not to mention the generations before that.
And I was offered this surgery for free, in a country with a good healthcare system, at a stage in my life where I don’t have much responsibility, and it will save my life and make my future better. This belief is one of the main reasons why I haven’t complained about anything during this period.
11. Surgery day, like any other day, is a blessing and an opportunity for growth.
I admit, for this one, I wasn’t sure I’d get to a point where I believe it. But it worked. I felt so calm and normal and positive on that day just like any other day around it.
12. This will be the ego death I asked for. It’s always a catapult for growth.
My ego has been guiding me for too long so some time ago I declared I wanna be challenged by an ego death. Then I felt that would be it.
It doesn’t feel scary in any way, or like I have lost anything. It just feels right.
Now I’m more cautious when my ego speaks. I try to quiet it, with love because I know it’s just trying to protect me, and I listen to my higher self instead.
13. I am at peace and feel good at the operating table.
Another one that I had doubts I’d achieve but those doubts disappeared throughout the process of turning all those affirmations into my core beliefs.
That’s exactly how I felt in that very moment. I never had a surgery before so I didn’t know what it would be like. But I was in control of my thoughts, and my body and mind were relaxed.
14. This season of my life allows me to put all the inner work I’ve done so far into practice.
This one is another personal challenge. It makes it feel like one big personal growth game and there’s always a next level to reach, even with non-tangible mindset work like that.
I pick challenges that feel good and that keep me going and this one was definitely it.
15. With every next day after surgery, I can do more and more with my body.
That’s how I imagined the future, and that’s how things currently are.
16. I love my body, the way it was, the way it is and the way it’s going to be.
I’ve practiced self-love and loving my body actively for a year or two now so this isn’t new to me. But this affirmation was necessary for me to fully tune into the vision I was creating – one where I love all versions of my body. And that has worked very well so far.
17. I am excited for my surgery, my healing process, the way my body will look and the version of me I’ll become thanks to that.
Again, adding excitement to how things will be after the procedure.
18. I have full faith in my body’s ability to go through the surgery, heal, recover and let me live my best and most active life again.
Faith is key here, it’s self-trust combined with trusting the natural flow of events, knowing the Universe is working for you and this is a co-creation process and that you’re supported at all times.
So these are the affirmations I used. They cover different aspects of the whole surgery thing and I can now say there was no gap left. Nothing more I wish I had prepared for, nothing I wish had gone differently.
I hope you enjoyed these. Let me know what you think.