Affirmative Sleep talk - The magic solution

A lot of parents come across situations wherein their child would forget to carry their

textbooks to school or leave their tiffin behind. Situations like these and many more get us

bogged down. How can one change these habits? We introduce you to affirmative sleep talk.

Affirmative sleep talk is a very powerful tool that can be used by parents to bring a positive

change in their child.

Affirmative sleep talk is statements that can be either spoken by your child just before they

sleep or that can be spoken to your child immediately after they sleep.

Our minds are most receptive when we are just about to sleep and immediately after we

sleep. Hence in this receptive slumber, we allow ourselves to subconsciously open up to the

positive suggestions we make. Whatever we say to ourselves just before sleeping or while

sleeping, it gets ingrained deep into the mind.

For instance, if I tell myself, “I am willing and happy to get up at 6 am tomorrow”, just before I

sleep, it is most likely that I will get up at 6 am the next morning.

I used ‘sleep talk’ very often with my son for various reasons.

I recall an instance when my son, Ansh, didn’t enjoy being in his nursery class ‘Pee-ka-boo’.

He would cry throughout his class. He hadn’t settled in his nursery class for about 6 months.

So I tried affirmative ‘sleep talk’ with him. For around 10 days, just after he would sleep I

would say,

“Ansh, I love you and you enjoy being in Pee-ka-boo”. I received a call in 10 days from his

nursery class teacher, “Geeta! What have you done? Your son has just stopped crying.”

I remember telling my son, when he was in grade 5, to read his tables in the night just before

sleeping. He did that for about a week and by the 2nd week, he had memorised the tables

with minimal effort.

My son used to get many remarks for his handwriting. Before he slept, I asked him to tell

himself, “My handwriting is legible and I write neatly.” He did that for about 2 weeks and his

handwriting did show a considerable change.

Affirmative sleep talk is a very simple, practical and effective technique which you can

practise and it takes just about 5 to 10 minutes.

If your child is able to do ‘Affirmative Sleep talk’ by themselves, let them say the affirmative

statements themselves. All they need to do is say the affirmative statements at least 5 times

just before sleeping.

In case your child is not able to speak the affirmative statements (they are possibly too

young to do so), then you can do the ‘affirmative sleep talk’ for them. Just when your child

has slept, you first bond with the child, by gently stroking the child and saying “I love you”.

Then, say the affirmative statements at least 5 times.

Things to keep in mind while doing ‘affirmative sleep talk’.

• Keep the statements simple and short

• Be mindful about the intention of using sleep talk.

• Affirmative sleep talk needs to done continuously for at least a week for the change

to happen.

Affirmative sleep talk can be used to address various concerns that you have about your child, whether it’s nail-biting, not sleeping through the night, being fearful, low confidence, bedwetting etc. It can also be used to change habit patterns of your child like not waking up at the right time,

not packing the school bag or not brushing, forgetting books, not washing hands before

eating etc.

“You are safe, secure and loved”, “You are responsible” “You are confident”, “You are calm

and relaxed”, “You sleep through the night”, “You get up in the morning at 7 am.”

“You brush your teeth every day” are some of the affirmative statements that you can use.

I call ‘affirmative sleep talk’ as the “magic solution”. Not only does the child benefit from this

but also the entire family is happy with this most simple and easy solution. This also

becomes a great way to bond with your child while they are sleeping.

-Edited by Juhi Ramaiya

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Geeta B Bhansali

Geeta B Bhansali, has been practising therapy and healing, related to mind , body and emotions since 15 years. She is a Heal Your Life Workshop Leader certified by Heart Inspired, USA for over 6 years, and also accredited as Heal Your Life Coach and TeenPlayshop facilitator. She uses skills from Voice and Body movement, Play back Theatre, Theatre of Oppressed, Non violent Communication and Theta Healing while working with adults, children and youngsters.

Geeta believes that when we are aware of our own thoughts, emotions and energy, we create an environment where we all can thrive.