Energy in Words

Quantum physics teaches that thoughts and words have physical weight. Oh my, don’t you just know this to be true? Consider the way words like anger, fear and sadness feel heavy in body and mind, while words like peace, love and understanding feel light and free. Respecting the energy in words can change your life.

Many years ago psychiatrist and spiritual seeker David R. Hawkins created a “map of consciousness” that laid out the energy signature of various thoughts, words and emotions. What he discovered, using applied kinesiology and muscle testing, is that concepts like anger, fear and sadness have a very low energy vibration, while expressions of peace, love and understanding have a very high energy vibration. The lowest of all is HATE while the highest of all is UNITY CONSCIOUSNESS.

In the Yoga tradition we have a similar teaching from Patanjali, writing the Yoga Sutras around the first century CE. He offers this gem: When thoughts that are “perverse, unwholesome, troublesome or deviant” arise, “contrary thought should be cultivated.” (Sutra 2.33 translated by SwamiJ) We often call this “opposite therapy” which replaces negative thoughts with positive ones.

It’s important to understand that Patanjali isn’t merely advocating positive thinking as if that would make our problems magically disappear. No, he is not promising that here. Rather, he is calling our attention to the energy signature of our thoughts. We are always in a much better place physically and mentally if our energy is high rather than low. From a higher vantage point we can see our situation more realistically and respond in helpful rather than hurtful ways.

Try it for yourself!

One of our favorite meditations is CPR – Calm Peaceful Relaxed. Tune this simple mantra to your breath whenever you are in need of “opposite therapy.”

Breathe in “I am,” breathe out “calm.”
Breathe in “I am,” breathe out “peaceful.”
Breathe in “I am,” breathe out “relaxed.”

Now you can think clearly. Now you can act wisely. Now you can be of service to the world.