Every night before bed, it’s common for people to listen to music or audiobooks to help them relax. But what if you’re using affirmations? Can you listen to those while sleeping too? The short answer is yes!
You can listen to affirmations while sleeping as a way to bypass your conscious brain and go directly to your subconscious. Your brain forms memories during the night, so it will remember the affirmations over time.
There are many reasons why listening to affirmations at night can have a positive impact on your life. In this blog post, we will discuss the benefits of listening to affirmations when going through sleep cycles and how they can help improve your mood during the day too.
Do Affirmations Work While Sleeping?
In order to understand how affirmations work while you’re sleeping, it’s important to know what happens when you practice them in your waking life.
When you speak your affirmations, the words travel through three primary states of your mind: the conscious, subconscious, and superconscious.
The first state is known as the conscious mind. This part of yourself is self-aware and active when it comes to decision-making. When you practice daily affirmations in the morning or at night before bedtime, this is when you are in your conscious state.
The next level of consciousness is known as the subconscious mind, which operates out of sight most of the time. Your subconscious works 24/7 to record everything that’s going on around you and inside yourself too. This part of your brain remembers what happened earlier that day or even during childhood experiences! The subconscious mind is very powerful and it stores your thoughts, behaviors, and emotions.
The last level of consciousness we’ll discuss is the superconscious state. This part of yourself works in tandem with God or a higher power that you believe in to bring about positive change into your life. The superconscious represents unconditional love because it brings joy and enthusiasm back into your life.
When you practice affirmations, all three of these parts listen and record what comes out of your mouth. You might forget about them during the day, but they’re still working behind the scenes to bring about positive change in your life.
So What Happens When I Listen to Affirmations While Sleeping?
When you listen to affirmations during sleep, you fall into a state called Theta. During the Theta state, which typically occurs during sleep or deep relaxation, affirmations can bypass your conscious mind and go directly to the subconscious for processing. Theta occurs in our lighter non-dreaming states of sleep and is very receptive to the surrounding environment.
This means that every time you listen to positive things while sleeping, they translate into your subconscious mind. Words become a part of who you are and how you speak to yourself in the future.
This can be especially helpful for those who are experiencing cognitive dissonance. This is the painful situation where you say one thing and do another, which can confuse and fatigue the conscious mind.
When we put our conscious minds to sleep, we are less likely to block out the positive affirmations that we’re hearing. The subconscious mind is less concerned with what’s right, wrong, shameful, or blameful because it simply wants to absorb information and respond to it in the most straightforward way possible.
This is why you’ll feel more energized and inspired after listening to affirmations while sleeping. Your mind becomes more open-minded when the conscious part of your brain isn’t working, which allows new ideas in.
How Do You Sleep With Affirmations?
In order to get started with sleep affirmations, you’ll want to take a few steps beforehand so that you’re ready to go when bedtime arrives.
Choose Your Affirmations
First, you’ll want to pick out the affirmations that resonate most with your goals. You can start by thinking about what you need help to improve in life or even consider looking for inspiration online too.
If you have sleep issues, that is a great topic to develop affirmations around for your sleeping practice. You can also think about your most positive traits, dreams for the future, or even what you’re grateful for.
These positive affirmations will help you to feel joyful first thing in the morning, as well as be mindful of what you’re working towards each and every day.
After you’ve picked out the affirmation that resonates most with your goals, it’s time to phrase them in a way that will be easily absorbed by your mind.
It’s important to say affirmations in the present tense and also use language like “I am” or “My body is.” This effectively bypasses the conscious mind, which may have trouble fully understanding the affirmation if it’s worded in a way that is too abstract or exists in another time.
You can also use positive imagery like picturing yourself succeeding or achieving your goal during sleep practice. This will help you visualize what it looks like to be successful and create neural pathways that are associated with success.
Make sure that the affirmations you create have a strong resonance for you. Choose to keep the ones that feel stronger or that your body responds to. You can also create your own affirmations to make sure you really connect with them.
Write Your Affirmations Down
Once you’ve chosen affirmations to work with, write them down on a piece of paper. You can type them out on the phone or computer as well. The point is to anchor them so you can remember them and eventually record them. Keep track of them so you can add to them later and update them as needed.
Record Your Affirmations
Now that you have your affirmations written down, choose a comfortable place to record them. You can do this directly on your phone with the voice memo app. Record yourself clearly and slowly stating your affirmation. Wait three to five seconds between each affirmation to give yourself some time to repeat them back.
Speak with intention and try to keep your voice calm and steady. If your voice is calming but strong, you will respond well to the affirmations during sleep.
If you don’t feel comfortable with the sound of your own voice, you could have a family member or friend read your affirmations for you instead.
Another option is to get an application that can automatically loop your affirmation for you. The Think Up app provides a free and easy way for you to record your affirmation and loop it in a continuous cycle. You can even add a gentle music track to the background to help you go to sleep.
Develop a Habit of Listening to Affirmations While Sleeping
Now that you have your affirmation selected and recorded, it’s time to decide on your nightly ritual. Perhaps you want to go to bed at 10 pm every night. You can start playing your affirmations while you’re changing into your pajamas, brushing your teeth, and tucking yourself in.
Set a timer that will play your affirmation for about 90 minutes. You can choose to fall asleep with it or simply turn it off when you want. The idea is that your mind will start getting used to hearing the affirmations while sleeping, so you’ll be able to fall asleep quickly without them keeping you awake.
Experiment Over Time
You can experiment with how often you want to listen to affirmations while sleeping. Some people like listening to them every night before bed. Others, however, only need the positive reinforcement once or twice a week in order for it all to sink into their conscious and subconscious mind.
You can also experiment with the length of time that you listen to your affirmations while sleeping. In general, you’ll want to listen for at least an hour. However, if this is keeping you from sleeping well or waking up too early in the morning, then you can try listening for only 30 minutes instead.
In order to make affirmations work while sleeping, they need to be repetitive and easy enough for your mind to absorb them without too much resistance. Consider rewording your affirmations over time to make them as clear and direct as possible.
Keep notes of your progress as well so that you know if there are any changes over time.
What Are Sleep Affirmations?
Sleep affirmations are either the affirmations you use to improve your sleep, or the affirmations you use during sleep, which could be focusing on any topic in your life.
Both can be helpful, even though they address different objectives and goals.
20 Affirmations for Getting Better Sleep
Affirmations for better sleep can help to remove stress from the day, calm the mind down, and encourage a restful night.
Pair these affirmations with other sleep-promoting techniques such as journaling, meditation, a hot cup of tea, or some light yoga.
Here are some affirmation examples for getting better sleep:
1. I easily let go of the concerns of the day.
2. I am ready for my body to restore itself.
3. I am comfortable in my own skin.
4. I feel accomplished with what I’ve done today.
5. I am open to dreams and opportunities.
6. My mind is calm and at peace.
7. I am thankful for today.
8. I am getting ready for tomorrow.
9. Tomorrow is filled with possibilities.
10. It’s time for my body to get ready for rest.
11. I feel comfortable and safe in my bed.
12. I deserve a good night’s sleep.
13. It’s easy for me to fall asleep quickly.
14. I sleep deeply and fully each and every night.
15. I am a treasure to this world.
16. I know that I am safe at night.
17. I am grateful for the strength and power of my body each day.
18. It’s time to go into a deep slumber now.
19. My sleep is always restful and rejuvenating every night.
20. I wake up feeling refreshed and ready for my day.
20 Affirmations for Deep Programming During Sleep
You can use your nightly affirmations for many topics beyond sleep and getting rest. This is a great time to choose affirmations that you want to more deeply instill into your subconscious.
You may want to choose a topic that it’s hard for you to address during the day. If you have a goal that is difficult to put into practice during your everyday life, affirmations during sleep can be a great way to work on it.
Here are some affirmation examples for deeper programming:
1. My life is guided by the divine.
2. I am healing deeply and continuously.
3. I make healthy choices every day.
4. I love myself fully and unconditionally.
5. I live free of fear.
6. My life has meaning.
7. I choose to focus on the good in my life.
8. I am proud of myself for my accomplishments.
9. I am energetic and enthusiastic.
10. I accept myself for all of my strengths and weaknesses.
11. I have a bright future ahead of me.
12. My body is strong, healthy, and capable every day.
13. I trust myself and the loved ones in my life.
14. The world is a safe place.
15. The universe is on my side.
16. I am intelligent enough to make good choices.
17. I attract loving, supportive people into my life.
18. My body is always well taken care of, inside and out.
19. I let go of what no longer serves me in my life.
20. Life is always filled with amazing possibilities.
Final Thoughts
Listening to affirmations while sleeping is a great way to get the most out of them. You’ll be able to more deeply program them in your mind as well as spend more time working with your affirmations each day.
Affirmations help shift your mindset into one that is more positive, optimistic, and full of possibilities for yourself in life. You can literally rest assured knowing that your subconscious is focused on becoming the best version of yourself.