The words we use with ourselves and others have a real impact.
Speaking kind words builds confidence and connection with others while speaking unkind words has a negative impact on relationships. But it goes further than this.
Did you know that physical and social (emotional) threats are the same to the brain? This means that some words are treated the same as fists to the brain, which explains why we may react to some words or phrases the same as if we felt physical violence.
In the absence of safe, social interactions and conversations, the body generates a threat response. People respond or react based on how safe they feel.
If we feel unsafe, we may fight, flee or freeze. We could feel hopeless, depressed, frustrated, angry or panicked. It has negative impacts on our memory, brain processing and reactivity, and our physical and mental health.
To learn more visit my recent article on LinkedIn.
We’ve all heard the saying:
‘If we knew the power of our words we’d never speak a negative word again’
I believe Dr Masimo Emoto’s work highlights the impact of our words brilliantly. Dr. Emoto was a scientist who studied the scientific evidence of how the molecular structure in water transforms when it is exposed to human words, thoughts, sounds and intentions.
In his book, The Hidden Messages in Water, Dr. Emoto demonstrates how water exposed to loving, benevolent, and compassionate human intention results in aesthetically pleasing physical molecular formations in the water while water exposed to fearful and discordant human intentions results in disconnected, disfigured, and “unpleasant” physical molecular formations. See some of the results here:
To find out more about Dr Masaru Emoto visit www.masaru-emoto.net/en/masaru
This experiment has been replicated with cooked rice in 4 jars with the following labels:
- Love and gratitude
- Thank you
- You fool
- Ignored
The words were spoken to the rice, with the 4th jar receiving no attention at all.
As you can see, the rice reflects the messages shown and spoken to it.
If our bodies are made up of 70% water, how do you think words impact us?
I have led people for more than a decade and found a clear difference between a person who has come from a supportive, encouraging environment compared to those who have been bullied or are trying to survive in a toxic workplace culture.
Just in case you need a little more convincing, did you know that seeds spoken to with gratitude grow up to 10 x faster than those without?
Check it out in this Ted talk (skip to about the 3 minute mark to see the experiment).
What will you do differently as a result of this information?