Practicing daily self care rituals helps you check in with your goals and priorities. And while massages, dry brushing and salt baths offer up some major R&R for the body, conscious language can work wonders for the mind and ego. Our daily communication with others and our own self-talk has a huge impact on our daily realities and can leave a negative or positive stamp, depending on the route we choose to take. Becoming conscious of the way we communicate and the language we use helps us get to the root of what is blocking us from our own authentic joy. And when we become more aware of how we speak about ourselves on a daily basis, we become more aware, present, and empowered to focus on making true long-lasting change from the inside out. The best part? You don’t need to squeeze this ritual in between your daily to-do’s. It all comes down to awareness!
When we are more aware of the vocabulary we use to address others and ourselves, we start to feel a powerful shift toward transformation. Having this sense of mindfulness with the words we choose helps us not only become more present and focused on the changes we want to make but empowers us to make true, long-lasting change from the inside out — all thanks to the power of conscious language.
One easy way to make a shift to more conscious language is to practice gratitude and apply the words you would use to describe your gratefulness to your regular vocabulary. Think: “I can,” “I will,” and “I get to” instead of “I’ll try,” “I need to,” and “I have to.” Do you feel a shift already?
The act of replacing words with more grateful words is simple yet powerful. Just reading the more conscious phrases puts me in a better mood! This is an easy strategy for texts and emails, too. Before hitting send, re-read your message and look for the words that could be replaced with more conscious language. The switch could result in feeling lighter and more confident in your communication both at home and at work.
The Benefits of Conscious Language
Speaking from gratitude doesn’t just make you feel better in the moment, it can have a huge impact on your overall well-being and health. Self-talk is so important that it has been a focus for researchers since the early days of psychology studies. And what they found is nothing short of miraculous.
According to research, flipping the script from negative self talk to positive self talk is the key to stress management. In fact, studies show that positive self-talk can improve your mental and physical health, reduce distress, lower rates of depression, support cardiovascular health, help with resistance to the common cold, and make you feel more equipped to handle difficult times and situations as they come up. And, if that wasn’t enough, positive self-talk has also been proven to improve performance in athletes. Imagine what it can do for us while we are out there running the marathon called life!
How to Practice Conscious Language
The foundation for positive self-talk is gratitude and motivation. And sprinkling the grateful words shared above into your vocabulary will help you experience that magical, effortless, graceful shift. One way that I like to practice conscious language is to create a paper trail so I can track my progress. To get started, take out your journal or a pad of paper and sit with your thoughts for a few minutes. What is the story you are telling yourself? What are the negative comments you repeat to yourself far too often? How can you reverse those?
Here are some examples:
Negative: It’s too hard.
Positive: I will try a different way.
Negative: I don’t know what I am doing.
Positive: I have the opportunity to learn and grow.
Negative: This sucks.
Positive: I will get through this.
Negative: I failed.
Positive: I am proud of myself for attempting.
These examples are a small glimpse of the many ways negative self-talk has a way of sneaking into our lives — and the many ways we can change them! When writing your negative self-talk down, don’t be afraid to get specific. If you are feeling particularly self-conscious about a body part, write it down and then write down what makes that body part beautiful. For example, “My forehead wrinkles make me look old” could be rephrased to “Not everyone gets to live as long as I have; getting older is a gift.” Looking at both the negative and the positive alternatives next to each other can kickstart that shift and help you look for the positive language as you communicate with yourself and others throughout the day. With practice, it will soon become second nature.
Within the online Aligned Life Studio we do daily affirmations as part of the 10 week Taller, Slimmer, Younger Transformation program. This will be launching again in Fall 2020. Plus you will also find some of my workout sequences that release negative energy, such as the 'Smudge & Bounce to clear Negative Energy' and 'Release Negative Energy' which is currently free in the FROM FEAR TO FREEDOM program.