The Power of Spoken Word

We all know avoiding gossip, being impeccable with your word, and speaking the truth is important but how much of an impact can it really make? Do our words have the power to really impact our lives?

“Your word is the power that you have to create; it is a gift.”
Don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements

Impact On Your Growth

When we think of the impact of our words we may be limited to thinking just simply in emotional terms. IKEA performed an informal study on how plants react to being complimented versus bullied.

The experiment used two of the same plants with the same potting, light, and watering conditions. The only difference being the words they were given.

The plant that was bullied began to wilt and look very unhealthy, while the plant that was complimented flourished vibrantly. This begins to make us question in what way are the words we say and the words we hear impacting our growth.

Words and Water

Dr. Masaru Emoto was a Japanese pseudoscientist who published many books on the topic of human consciousness impacting the molecular structure of water. His books show that human words change the molecular structure of water crystals.

He placed words such as compassion, love, wisdom, you fool, and I will kill you on paper and placed it in freezing water.

The structure of the water with positive words and statements were symmetrical while the structure of the crystals with negative words had no symmetry and looked quite chaotic

Since our bodies are about 60 percent water this shows that our words may actually impact our physical bodies as well.

Words and Your Brain

In the book, Words Can Change Your Brain, Andrew Newberg, M.D., and Mark Robert Waldman explain how positive words can actually increase cognitive function.

Whereas negative words can interrupt our cognitive function by stimulating the amygdala (which plays a big role in processing emotions) and creating stress-producing hormones. Below is an excerpt taken from their book:

By holding a positive and optimistic [word] in your mind, you stimulate frontal lobe activity. This area includes specific language centers that connect directly to the motor cortex responsible for moving you into action.
And as our research has shown, the longer you concentrate on positive words, the more you begin to affect other areas of the brain. Functions in the parietal lobe start to change, which changes your perception of yourself and the people you interact with.
A positive view of yourself will bias you toward seeing the good in others, whereas a negative self-image will include you toward suspicion and doubt. Over time the structure of your thalamus will also change in response to your conscious words, thoughts, and feelings, and we believe that the thalamic changes affect the way in which you perceive reality.
Words Can Change Your Brain, Andrew Newberg, M.D., and Mark Robert Waldman

Your Words and Your Reality

The words you use will color the picture of your reality. This is because words trigger certain emotional responses within us. We naturally attach preconceived perspectives to these words and past experiences we may have had with them.

These emotional responses will then form a belief in our minds and a connotation to the word. This is why for instance in competitive sports one competitor may try to break the other teammates focus by making an aggressive comment.

This may stir up emotions within the opponent and cause them to lose focus or doubt themselves. This is another instance of how words can be incredibly impactful.

The Law of Attraction

Through the law of attraction, our words play an intimate role in the reality we live. This is because the words we choose to speak on some level we have chosen to identify with them enough that we verbalize them.

Through this act, we become a closer vibrational match to that statement we said. Keeping this in mind this is how the power of affirmations can work for us.

Sound waves move through matter and creates a ripple effect. This means it can physically affect our reality such as a high note breaking a glass.

Thinking of the impact this can have, we should be specific when choosing our words and consciously use this to create more of what we desire life to look like.