Words that heal

by Deepak Chopra

There is a long tradition, both East and West, about sacred words. We don’t resort to that kind of thing very much in modern life. If you are a devout Catholic you repeat the rosary, and in many sorts of Buddhist and Hindu meditations a mantra is repeated over and over. There are two reasons for this, usually. One is that the repeated words go directly to God, as prayers do. The other is that repetition fills the mind with a deeper intention that can create a good effect.

I wonder if it isn’t time to consider how words can help to heal. I’ve been fascinated for a long time about how to update traditional spiritual practices, and this one is especially promising.
What can a mere word do to heal?

In ordinary life words can be incredibly powerful, creating instantaneous, often dramatic changes in mind and body. Think of the difference between hearing the words “You’re hired” and “You’re fired.” How many lives have been changed by “I love you”? Yet we actually know very little about how to consciously employ the effect that a single word can have.

Let me make some suggestions for you to ponder:
Withhold harsh words: Being honest doesn’t mean being brutal. In the name of telling the truth, we’ve all heard — and said — things we’re sorry were ever uttered. It’s worth remembering that every cell in your body is eavesdropping on the brain, and when you feel hurt or shocked by what you hear, the same shock is occurring to hundreds of billions of cells.

I became a doctor just on the cusp of a big change in this regard. It used to be that physicians hardly ever told fatally ill patients that they were dying, often withholding even the diagnosis. (When the last emperor of Japan died, he was not told his diagnosis — the old practice still holds in other cultures.) It was thought that receiving bad news could hasten a person’s death and impair his chances of recovery. This effect is known as nocebo, the reverse of placebo. In essence, your body metabolized bad news and becomes sicker, or it metabolizes good news and starts to heal.

Today, we believe it is only ethical to give patients full disclosure about their illness, and on the whole that is the right thing to do. But it doesn’t erase the nocebo effect. Leaving medicine aside, consider withholding harsh, harmful truths in daily life. There is no reason to discourage a child, for example, by saying hurtful things.

It’s well known in psychology that descriptive statements (such as “you’re lazy, you can’t be trusted, you’ll never be as smart as your sister,” etc.) make a much deeper impression than prescriptive statements (such as “pick up your room, remember to come home on time, be nice to your sister” etc.) Sometimes a single derogatory sentence from a parent or close friend can remain stuck in the brain for life, serving as a toxic seed that grows into a belief that one will never be good enough, smart enough, or beautiful enough. It’s much harder to remove these seeds than not to plant them in the first place.

Words that heal: Besides holding back on harsh and derogatory words, saying words that heal really works. Offering reassurance in an anxious situation settles people. Reminding someone that they are loved, respected, and valued should be a habit. Such words serve to bond two people together at a deep level if the words are backed up with simple, sincere, believable emotion — not over-stated emotion but natural feeling. We tend to be shy about exposing ourselves emotionally, but only if you try can you gain the benefit.

Then there are words we say only to ourselves, silent words of healing. In the East there are thousands of such formulas, many gathered under the loose term of mantra, that are repeated in order to infuse the mind with their good effect. You can’t get much effect from repeating a word like love, compassion, kindness, and forgiveness when your mind is agitated or filled with the flotsam of everyday life. But if you deepen your awareness through meditation, which brings one’s attention to a level of silence beneath the surface static, then healing words can have quite a strong effect.

It is taught that healing words, when said at a subtle level of the mind, can do several things. They can purify the mind of negative thoughts by introducing a more positive effect (such as replacing “It’s my fault” with “Blame won’t help anybody”). A healing word can bring comfort; it can add a positive element to your surroundings. It can improve your mood and the overall tone of your demeanor, which others will notice and take heed of.

I’m suggesting that healing words need to play a more important role in our lives. This is a vast territory worth exploring. As a society, we’ve become experts at words that definitely don’t heal: gossip, cynicism, skepticism, accusation, partisan wrangling, smear campaigns, and character assassination. As a result, we know all about the bad effects of such words. Why not consider the positive effect of saying words that work in the opposite way?
Published in the San Francisco Chronicle

The Law of Attraction is Working for You Only Because You Are Attracted to it from Love

The law of attraction is not so much a law as it is really only a description of what happens. This great law only ever describes the truth about how life works within God. There is only one substance, and all is one. This is the one great truth.

If this truth is true, how can there be any externally working law of attraction?

One substance just forever is and it cannot attract itself to itself. It is just what it is. God has said the same thing in the bible, I am that I am, or I am who I am. No further description is ever necessary or even possible.

Some of us need to take steps to see this oneness once more again. The law of attraction is one such step that leads us back again to this oneness of love that is living within us at all times trying to be us.

The simplest of metaphors is simply to compare it all to love. When you love you attract love, when you do not love, you still attract love. This is because love is a oneness, and whatever you do, you will always end up only ever attracting love back again to you.

How does this compare to the law of attraction?

Well this law of attraction is a sub component of the law of love. Love’s law simply says that all is love. Love makes up all things.

When you allow the law of attraction to bring you what the love in you requires, it will work in the fastest way for you then. However, when you want something other than only love, it will act to bring you love in the exact ways that you are not wanting it right now by wanting something else.

This law and all laws only ever work under the law of love, and so are always subordinate to it.

If the law of attraction does work then it must be a law affecting only the segregated free parts of oneness. Soul is a part of God created as a free independent part.

How does the law of attraction apply directly to our soul then?

I will use here the metaphor of a force field to describe how the law of attraction actually works.

Source

Video - Gratitude by Lisa Nichols

Create Your 2010 Vision Board

A vision board, also called a dream board, is a collage of words and pictures depicting your dreams and goals usually specific to one aspect of your life. Vision boards have received a lot of acclaim lately because of the world-famous book, “The Secret.” A vision board can set you on a path to achieving dreams and goals that may have previously eluded you. The key to a successful vision board is to post it in a place where you have to look at every day and it can serve as a constant reminder of what you are working toward.

Step 2

Take the pictures and words and start laying them out on your poster board or cardboard backing. Discard anything that may no longer fit or does not work. Move things around until they fit well and look right. This is also where you may want to organize your board. For instance, if you are working on your personal goals, you may place images of a house in one corner, money and credit cards in another corner, school or continuing education in another corner and then friends or hobbies in the last corner. Many people organize their boards by themes but there are others who like to place pictures all over the board rather than assigning corners. You may want to consider leaving some space to write words that you were not able to locate in the magazines and leaving a space in the center of the board. Step 3

Step 3

Start gluing and taping. Turn over each picture or word and add glue or tape to secure it in place. Once you have finished getting everything into place, you can use a marker to draw words or images that you feel are important to your vision board.

Step 4

Place your picture in the middle of the board and make certain that it is a picture where you are smiling and happy. This is because your smiling, happy picture will be in the center of all of your dreams and goals.

Step 5

Hang your vision board in a place where you will see it every day. This should be an area in your house where you spend a lot of time or are constantly walking through. Some great locations include the back of your bedroom door, a home office, a refrigerator or a bulletin board. Looking at the board every day will cause you to always be aware of your dreams and goals.

By Stacie Connerty

Welcome 2010!

2010 is here and I feel great!  I am open, able and available to all the fabulous experiences the universe has to offer me. I know that 2010 will be a wonderful year for all those who believe.

To start my year off right, I am watching The Secret (Extended Edition) while writing my list of grateful things in my life. Have you started yours?

There are a few things I will be doing more of this year, the most important being visualizations.  I truly believe that visualizations help you attract what you want to experience.  One important thing to remember about visualizations is to only focus on the end result of all the experience that you want to have.

So to all my readers, I look forward to sharing more positive thinking power experiences, article and videos with you.  Please comment often and remember to Change Your Frequency!

Thank you
CYF