Healing happens when we’re in an empowered state of being. Whether we’re talking to ourselves in our own healing journey or whether we’re supporting others with their care, what we say matters since words are a powerful influence over our body, mind, & spirit! Read on or watch the video below to learn which words we need to hear to make healing possible and powerful. I’ll also share the words we should avoid! Once you bring more consciousness to your speech, and the intentions & beliefs behind it, you’ll wield more power in healing!
Inspiration For This Subject On Mindful Speech
This topic is inspired by the story I shared on YouTube with you a couple of weeks ago about my friend and patient who was recovering from Covid-19 in the hospital. What I didn’t share about that story was that she had just had a baby (who she hadn’t seen or held yet) and was recovering from a C-section. The reason I didn’t share was that I wanted to just highlight her recovery from Covid and all the progress that she had been making. I didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her. Many moms could put themselves in her position and feel despair.
I was also careful with the language I was using with this patient because she was still in the hospital when I was making the video this was still very much she was still in the middle of this healing journey. I wanted to stay positive, hopeful, and encouraging to help her through this process. Now that she is well on the other side, and she and her baby are doing awesome, I wanted to share a little bit more here about this mindful speech because I think it was key in supporting her.
Reasons To Choose Your Words Wisely
I’ve talked about mindful speech before in a parenting article about Nonviolent Communication. But here I want to emphasize the importance of it with regard to healing. Words matter in the healing process, no matter if we’re supporting ourselves or others.
Our bodies believe everything we say!
I learned this when I was in massage school a long time ago. I remember our teacher telling us that we needed to be very careful about how we were talking to our clients when they were on the table, especially when we were touching their bodies. If we found an area that was tense and needed more work, she asked us to say something like:
“This area needs more support”
or
“I see that this area is really opening up!”
We were instructed to talk about the progress of healing.
We were conscious of not saying:
“This this feels really bad”
or
“Wow you’re you’re really broken”
I would even refuse to agree with people talking about their “bad back”, that it was something they’d always have to deal with. I’d try to correct that by letting them know that their body was speaking to them and that the pain was evidence of the seriousness of the message! If we listen to the message and not berate it, healing is possible.
Since then I’ve been conscious of helping clients feel stronger and empowered. That is the state of being that I want to shift them into.
These days, I take this even more seriously and go in much more depth. I believe we can pick up on each other’s intentions. We can pick up on thoughts and feelings from each other too. So it’s not even just what we say but the thoughts and beliefs beyond those words that matter. We really need to be shifting this within ourselves.
Words That Heal
This is what I think people need to hear in order to feel more healthy, strong, and hopeful:
They need to know that…
- healing is possible
- the body does miraculous things every second of every day
- illness is a temporary setback
- this is an opportunity to make more positive changes in their life that their life will be even more amazing on the other side of the healing journey
- they loved and supported by their friends and family
- they are loved and supported by their ancestors
- their healing journey is actually healing this whole family line
- they have support from beyond as well from spirit
When working with clients, I actually go beyond the words to the beliefs and energetic power that I’m holding for them. I see them in this empowered state, sitting up strong and vibrant, and full of joyful light. I hold that vision for them and that is what I’m speaking from.
What makes this powerful is that I believe everything i am telling them and I hold that vision until they can see it themselves. Hopefully this also changes their beliefs about their situation and how they’re talking to themselves.
Unhelpful Words That Can Impede Healing
It’s my opinion that there are some things you definitely should not say.
Of course we don’t want to say, “oh that’s really bad, that’s really terrible” or a variation on that phrase. It definitely does not lift people up and it can magnify the despair.
Nor do we want to say something like “oh if only you did so and so to prevent it”. This is not the time to bring up things they could have done differently that makes them sit in guilt, shame, and regret which are extremely low vibration states. When they are completely recovered, then they can investigate the changes could be made in their lifestyle to prevent it (if there’s a chance of this recurring).
I am also careful to not pity the person and say “you poor thing…”, which can keep them in victim-mentality. And this brings me to the phrase I refuse to say which you may disagree with:
“I’m sorry…”
To me, “I’m sorry” is a variation of “you poor thing”. And it implies that I have some responsibility for how the person is feeling too. If that’s true, I definitely do not want the responsibility of keeping them feeling weak and powerless!
I think we need to be careful with the language and really investigate what these phrases mean. We can be more clear with our intention too. If you don’t feel sorry for someone then don’t say “I’m sorry”, just because it’s automatic. Thing of more helpful words instead . We can still acknowledge that a situation is serious while also being positive and encouraging at the same time.
I truly believe that that’s possible!
Find Practitioners Who Speak This Way To You!
As a side note, I hope you see how important it is to have health practitioners who empower you with their words. In that video about Covid recovery, I shared that my friend’s doctor said a few things that were not at helpful! I’m glad she shared this with me, because it made me be even more mindful of how I was speaking to her. The doctor actually told her she had a 50:50 chance of living or dying! Of course this made her panic (which doesn’t help when you have a respiratory illness that prevents deep breathing!)
I highly suggest you look for practitioners who speak to you with positive language. Look for practitioners who like to build you up and don’t make you feel bad about your choices, while at the same time offering you different ways to do things in the future. Find practitioner who will meet you where you’re at with loving kindness.
I hope that this gave you a lot to think about! Let me know what you think in the comments below! Please share if you have some words of encouragement that helped you on your healing journey or have helped others. Well wishes to you…
