The words that come out of your mouth, therefore create the reality you inhabit.
We often hear the phrase “words have power,” but did you know that they can also have a profound impact on the growth and health of living things? Recent studies suggest that when we speak positively to plants and use encouraging words, they may tend to grow better in comparison to when we speak negatively and use discouraging words.
In one study, researchers at the University of California actually found that plants that were spoken to positively grew more than plants that were not spoken to at all. The researchers believe that this is because positive words can illicit less of a stress response, which in turn can promote better plant growth. In a similar study, researchers at the Nippon Medical School in Tokyo found that plants which were grown alongside music grew much more than plants that were grown in silence.
Don’t get me wrong: my interest in plants isn’t significant enough to write about and absolutely not enough to share in a blog post. Whether or not the scientific results are debatable, it is still interesting to consider the possibility of how something can be influenced by positivity and care.
My point is simple: while there’s no evidence that plants have emotions, humans do. And if positive energy can affect plants, one might imagine how deeply they can affect us humans with deeply complex emotional structures. It is becoming increasingly clear that our brain is affected when we hear negative words. The brain releases stress hormones like cortisol which can have a number of negative effects on our bodies, including increasing our heart rate and blood pressure and suppressing our immune system. It can also make it difficult for people to focus and make decisions.
Likewise, positive words can have a number of beneficial effects on our brains. They can release feel-good hormones like dopamine, which improves our mood and makes us feel more positive. It can also help us to focus and make decisions more easily.
Positive words can help to build our self-esteem and confidence. When we hear these kinds of words, we are more likely to believe in ourselves and our abilities.
If you want to increase self-esteem, motivation, and optimism in yourself or others, find the full half of the glass. Should you choose negativity and discouragement instead, you can only expect a decrease in self-esteem and motivation, which can hinder personal growth and development.
When we speak positively to others, we are not only positively impacting their growth, but we are creating a positive environment and producing a reciprocity that impacts our own growth as well.
Words have power. They shape our thoughts, our thoughts shape our feelings, and our feelings shape our actions.
So choose your words wisely. Use them to build up, not tear down. Use them to encourage, not discourage. Do for others what you wish will be done for you.
Your words have the power to make a difference. So be mindful of them – and careful.
Do something amazing,
Tsahi Shemesh