The 10 Dots Experiment

Louise transformed her life by using affirmations. “I learned that every thought you think, and every word you say is an affirmation,” Louise tells me. “They affirm what you believe to be true and, therefore, how you experience your life.” A complaint is an affirmation. Gratitude is an affirmation. Every thought and every word affirms something. Decisions and actions are also affirmations. The clothes you choose to wear, the foods you choose to eat, and the exercise you choose to take or not – they are affirming your life.

“The moment you say affirmations, you are stepping out of the victim role. You are no longer helpless. You are acknowledging your own power,” writes Louise in her book Heart Thoughts. Affirmations wake you up from the sleep of the daily unconscious. They help you to choose your thoughts. They help you let go of old limiting beliefs. They help you to be more present. They help you to heal your future. “What you affirm today sets up a new experience of tomorrow,” says Louise.

When you spend time with Louise, you get to see that Louise Hay doesn’t just think about affirmations, she lives her affirmations. She doesn’t just do ten minutes of affirmations in the morning, and then get on with her day. She takes her affirmations with her all through the day. To help, she has affirmations discreetly placed around her home. Affirmations like “Life loves me” on her bathroom mirror; “All is well,” by a light switch in the hall; and “Only good lies before me,” on her kitchen wall. One in her car reads, “I bless and prosper everyone in my life and everyone in my life blesses and prospers me.”

It’s time now to introduce you to the second spiritual practice of Life Loves You. It’s called “10 Dots.” The idea is to practice one affirmation all through the day. We recommend you start with the affirmation that’s the main theme of this book. We invite you to begin the day by looking in the mirror and saying out loud “life loves you.” Please repeat this ten times. For variation you may wish to affirm,

“I am open to life loving me today.”

“I allow life to love me today.”

“I say YES to life loving me today.”

“I am grateful for life loving me.”

“Life loves me and I feel blessed.”

Next, we want you to place 10 dots in places you will see them all through your day. These are self-adhesive dots that you can find in most stationery stores. Any shape will do: a circle, a star, a heart, a little angel, a smiley face. Stick these dots on all your mirrors, on your tea kettle, on your refrigerator, on your car steering wheel, on your wallet, on your computer screen, and anywhere else you may frequently look. And every time you see one of your 10 dots, be sure to affirm consciously life loves me.

We encourage you to do the 10 Dots experiment for seven days. “Be patient with yourself,” says Louise. “It’s not like I said three affirmations and then set up Hay House.” It’s common in the beginning to experience some resistance. Also, you may notice you experience the opposite of the affirmation, i.e. thoughts and feelings that reflect the belief that life doesn’t love me. Remember, this affirmation is a new beginning. It is re-aligning your thinking to your basic truth I am loveable. It may require a period of adjustment. Stick with it. Just like with mirror work, affirmations don’t work in theory; but they do work in practice.