Your Body Hears Every Word You Say

Your Body Hears Every Word You Say

By Lauren Archer Finkelstein

“Sticks and stones can break my bones but names will never hurt me.” Or so they say.

It’s common in our culture to toss around popular casual phrases without consciously noticing their underlying meaning.

Here are just a few examples – how often do you hear people say these?

Words both reflect and affect our experiences. We may think that it’s harmless to use these cliché’s,

but repeated over time, their impact has a cumulative effect. All words create an energy pattern.

That pattern affects us depending on its energy – whether it’s strong or weak, positively or negatively

As a Hypnotherapist, I use the power of the spoken word to help my clients transform their thoughts,

beliefs, behaviors and even physical manifestations. Through hypnosis, we bypass the literal, rational

conscious mind and access the sensory, creative subconscious mind. Generally speaking, the conscious

mind is only capable of being aware of 7 things at a time (plus or minus 2), while the subconscious mind

is constantly perceiving everything in our environment and processing it on a deeper level.

What impact do our words have on our subconscious? This is very important to understand:

The subconscious mind doesn’t screen out negatives. An example is “don’t think of a red apple right now.”

Of course your mind conjures up an image of a red apple. This same principle applies to your health.

If you are saying to yourself, “I’ve got to stop eating junk food,” your mind conjures up images of eating junk food.

If you think, “I have to quit smoking,” your mind gives you an image of smoking.

As the words we say trigger subconscious images, these images simultaneously trigger physiological

One of the first things I teach in my classes is the concept of watching your words. Many of us haven’t yet

learned to be able to consciously control our thoughts – that takes a bit of study and practice. So the place

to start is with our words – they are a tangible reflection of our thoughts. We can hear ourselves say them out loud,

and then we can begin to notice how we talk about ourselves and others. Try it for a few days -- think of it as a

science experiment. Don’t judge yourself, just be the observer. Once you start observing your words objectively,

you can begin to catch yourself when you say an old cliché. Then try simply saying, “cancel that,” and rephrase

One of the most compelling pieces of scientific research that shows the physical effects of the power of the word

Dr. Emoto created a method to freeze water samples in Petri dishes in such a way that the surface tension forms

drops of ice in the dishes about one millimeter across. He was able to magnify and photograph the formation of

crystals in these tiny drops of ice. Then Dr. Emoto conducted hundreds of experiments to see what effect, if any,

The results of these experiments have been published in several books including “The Hidden Messages in Water.”

The photographs demonstrate the ways that thoughts and feelings can affect physical reality. By producing different

focused intentions through written and spoken words and literally “presenting” them to the same water samples, the

water appears to "change its expression.” Beautiful, perfectly symmetrical crystals form when the water was presented

with the words “Thank you,” or “Love and Gratitude.” In contrast, crystals did not form when presented with the words

“You Fool” or “You Make Me Sick.” Dr. Emoto also conducted water crystal experiments with different kinds of music

The implication of Dr. Emoto’s research is vast and profound. Consider that our bodies are largely made up of water.

If we are sending critical messages to our self or others in the form of thoughts or words, we are literally affecting the

physiological structure of our cells to our detriment. If, however, we stop sending critical, negative messages and start

consciously sending loving, positive messages, think of what a difference we can make. We can heal our bodies, our

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your words, for they become actions. Understand your

actions, for they become habits. Study your habits, for they will become your character. Develop your character,

So send a message to your body this week by choosing positive, compassionate words.

Lauren Archer and Positive Central are divisions of Laurie Finkelstein Consulting LLC