The Power and Energy of Words

“Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. I don’t know who ever came up with that quote, but I do remember saying that phrase as a young girl, hoping that there was magic in those words to take away the hurt that I was feeling.

The phrase had no magic, because the words did hurt. In fact, the words hurt much more than any physical slap that may have accompanied the words. Words cut deeply. Just ask the victim of a bully. Words can build us up or tear us down. Words create. What do we create daily with our words?

As I was pondering this topic about the power of words, I remembered reading, The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz.

The first agreement is:

Be Impeccable with your Word.

“The word is not just a sound or a written symbol. The word is a force; it is the power you have to express and communicate, to think, and thereby to create the events in your life. But like a sword with two edges, your word can create the most beautiful dream, or your word can destroy everything around you.”

Ruiz goes on to give the example of Hitler, who manipulated his country and led them into war with the power of his word. In our political climate today, the word is being used to spread anger, hate, division, racism, and fear.

Why do negative words hurt? Because words carry energy . Words are energy in motion. Words carry the energy of the intention held by the person expressing the hurtful words. In fact, even before the words are verbally expressed, the energy can be felt. Did you ever feel that someone was directing negative thoughts toward you, and you could feel the energy of those thoughts even though the person may not have verbally uttered the words to you?

Words are like seeds that grow and create belief systems. As children, we don’t choose our beliefs. We listen to what our parents, teachers, religious, say about us, and we believe them. So we become a mirror to our parents’ words to us without even realizing it. And then, we swear when we grow up, we will never talk to our children that way. But, the cycle continues. The energy of the words is still lodged within us. As children, we are like sponges, soaking up the energy of the words first uttered to us by our parents. We hear the words that vibrate love, or not. Babies don’t understand the words, but they certainly feel the energy of them. They are masters of reading and feeling the energy of those around them.

We have the power to change the energy of our words.

In the work that I have done with The Emotion and Body Code, there is one example after another of trapped emotions resulting directly from the negative words used toward the child. These negative emotions begin to be trapped in the womb. From there, just after birth, it continues. Words of welcome to the world, “You beautiful child, I love you,” these should be what a child hears and feels as he/she enters this world.

Yet, many of the trapped emotions that I have cleared from clients were trapped just after birth. More than one person's trapped emotions were when the father or mother expressed: “You should have been a boy.” “We wanted a boy.”

I would like to underscore the incredible power of words through the example of one specific client that I have worked with for quite a while now. We had been working on trapped energies underlying weight issues, relationship issues, and self worth. During one session, she asked if we could specifically focus on the verbal abuse that she suffered from both her parents beginning at a very early age. I use the example of this client because the focus of the session was specifically on the abusive words that she remembered being called and the repeated derogatory comments to her by her parents. Throughout her life, she has always felt the ramifications of these words, mostly in her relationship with herself and her beliefs about her self worth. With her permission, I would like to share just a few of the trapped energies that we were able to discover and release. These are not a complete list, but merely a sample to underscore the power of words:

All her life, her mother called her “fat ass”. Every morning, her mother would say, “get out of bed you son of a bitch bastard”. Her father would make derogatory comments about her looks. She would be called stupid. This verbal abuse began in the womb and thereafter. She was told she never should have been born, she was not wanted. Below are just some examples of the trapped energies that we were able to release as a result of this ongoing verbal abuse. Again, there was also physical abuse involved, yet it is the power of the words which has created the greatest negative effects.

Together, we discovered and cleared the following:

There was an imbalance in the root chakra due to an underlying disconnection of the spirit body with the physical body. This occurred sometime after birth. Now the root chakra is related to your sense of belonging, your tribe, your family, your survival, and sense of security. Without her mother’s words of love and nurturing, my client’s spirit became disconnected from her body. In other words , her life force energy was out of sync with her physical body. Her sense of being safely grounded and deserving to be here was not established with loving words from her mother or father.
There was also an imbalance in the solar plexus which occurred just after birth. This lack of emotional connection with her mother created emotions of abandonment , vulnerability, grief, and insecurity. There were absolutely no words of welcoming this beautiful child into the world, no words of love or comfort or joy. The solar plexus is linked with one’s sense of personal power, self esteem, and self confidence.
We uncovered a Heart Wall that was specifically related to verbal abuse. This is very significant because we had previously released a Heart Wall that held trapped emotions from many different situations, not just from verbal abuse. Some of the emotions that were trapped in this particular heart wall were : depression at 2 yrs old, terror at 5yrs. old, failure age 5, feeling that the negative words said to her were the truth about her and she was a failure in her parents’ eyes, heartache 10 months old, conflict age 6, feeling misunderstood, again a lack of personal power, indecisiveness age 5, not trusting herself, no self confidence, both shame and vulnerability at 10 mo. old. This latter is an example of feeling the energy of the words because clearly an infant of 10 mo. does not know what shame is or why she would feel ashamed. Yet she feels the energy of shame and the energy of vulnerability as abusive words are hurled at her along with a physical slap. The child within her holds this shame throughout her life, feeling the energy of it without being consciously aware of it. When a situation arises that calls for her to to demonstrate self confidence and empowerment, she feels blocked, not good enough, judged.
A number of psychic traumas were uncovered. Psychic traumas occur when 2 emotions are felt simultaneously, and they are trapped as one ball of energy. A psychic trauma of both shame and humiliation was trapped at age 4, again words expressed by parents that were demeaning and disempowering in addition to physical abuse. Love unreceived and abandonment were trapped just after birth. Helplessness and abandonment were trapped just after birth, again connected with the lack of emotional nurturing from mother; lack of any nurturing words of love or joy for this baby.
An emotional resonance of love unreceived was also noted. An emotional resonance is like a ringing or a reverberating in every cell of the body. This constant ringing of love unreceived started at 6 mo. old, again the result of verbal abuse.
A mental energy of “ no will to live” was trapped just after birth. This “no will to live” energy becomes trapped when we lose the desire to live. To me, this is one of the most disheartening examples of the power of words. This baby, whose sense of belonging, safety , and self worth were extremely compromised, lacked a desire to thrive. You would think this is a natural instinct in a baby, to come into this world ready to live her life. But, if a mother is rejecting her child with her negative words or lack of loving words, then that instinct to survive and thrive is hampered. Our babies and children need the nurturing energy that comes from the power of loving words. I can not think of a time when the power of words is more important than when a baby angel enters this world. The power and energy of words of love are the breath of life to this angel, this gift from God, and this is the greatest gift a mother/father can give to the child.

We all have at some time in our lives been the recipient of words that hurt us. But, the good news is that by being more aware of the power of words, we can consciously “be impeccable” with our word, and be responsible for what we create.

Furthermore, with the Emotion and Body Code we can identify and release the negative energies that hold us back from knowing the real truth of who we are and connecting with that beautiful, innocent child within. Instead of holding on to false beliefs about our own self worth, which have been ingrained in us with the misuse of the word, we can grow in unconditional love for that child within who never felt the power and energy of the words: “I love and cherish you for the perfection of who you are. Welcome to the world, sweet angel!!!”

My client is now living a life of abundance and success, both professionally and in her personal relationships. She has achieved greater clarity with every trapped emotion released, and she continues to evolve and grow in her relationship with her true self, having an ever greater understanding and appreciation of how far she has come.

I end with the power and energy of these most beautiful words. From my heart to yours,

“The Divine light in me honors and acknowledges the Divine light in you.”

“Namaste”

In love and gratitude,

Kathleen