Thoughts and words have measurable frequencies

Quantum physics claims that you cannot have a universe without the mind entering into it. For that matter, the mind is shaping everything that is perceived. It has also been proven scientifically that an affirmative thought is 100 xs more powerful than a negative thought. We must chose our thoughts carefully and that is easier said than done, considering that we have about 60,000 thoughts a day. This idea that thoughts are powerful has also been proven in Olympians. Researchers using sophisticated biofeedback equipment monitored Olympic athletes while they were envisioning their running course in their minds. During envisioning, the same muscles fired in the same sequence as if they had been on the track. Amazing isn't it?

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” (Buddha) This claim makes me uneasy, if I think of the misery that is all over the world. But over time I have come to realize that caring, forgiving, loving and positive thoughts do change remarkably how other people respond to us. In addition, with that, our possibilities change and the environment in which we operate will change. In the film: “The Secret” (available on Netflix) we hear that our feelings let us know what we are thinking. Bad feelings show that our thoughts are negative and good feelings show us that our thoughts are positive. So our feelings are a tool to keep us on track.

Masauro Emoto is a Japanese Scientist who attempted to prove that thoughts and words are energies, which affect us. You may want to read his books: The Hidden Messages of Water, Messages from Water and the Universe, The True Power of Water: Healing and Discovering Ourselves, Love Thyself.......and more. He used a special camera to photograph changes in ice cubs after words and phrases were repeated continuously. Those ice cubes showed imprints from words uttered (this description is of course simplified). Benevolent words showed symmetrical snowflake like patterns, while harmful thoughts and words showed ugly pattern. “I will kill you” showed literally an imprint that looked like a person with a gun. The opposing view from some scientists is the claim that Emoto has not presented to certain scientific entities and has not gone the route a scientist should. Hence they think his findings should be discounted. Nevertheless, neuro science is coming to the rescue. Emoto may be disregarded in the academic community, however, his claims have been proven repeatedly by renowned neuro-scientists.

Words can Change Your Brain, a book written by Dr. Newberg and R. Waldman addresses the impact of negative and positive words. “Words can heal or hurt, and it only takes a few seconds to prove this neurological fact.”¹ “Any form of negative rumination-for example, worrying about your financial future or health-will stimulate the release of destructive neuro-chemicals.”² “There is mounting evidence that strongly negative terms can interrupt the normal expression of genes that regulate one of the most important language centers of the brain, the Wernicke's area.”³Using brain scan technology, these findings can be verified. At the same time if people meditated, or prayed, that strengthened areas in the brain that are involved with lowering anxiety and depression. This activity rather enhanced empathy, compassion and social awareness.⁴ Newberg describes that the language of love is the most sophisticated communication process of all.

Interestingly we are not even close to understanding what impact our words have and even less so, the impact of our thoughts. “Dean Radin, senior scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, did a double blind study on the effects of human intention on another person's autonomic nervous system, and his team discovered that the sender's compassionate thoughts generated small changes in the skin conductance of the distant receiver, even though the person receiving the thoughts was unaware of the exact experiment. Radin's team also showed that our thoughts might be able to affect inert substances at a distance-such as water crystals that were located literally on the other side of the planet.”⁵ In this case, Emoto would certainly have been right with his findings. Considering that all humans contain a large amount of water, we would be quite easily affected by thought, if thought truly has such power.

Let me bring up the fact that humans think many negative thoughts; speak many negative words, more so than positive ones. Sometimes it seems people get a kick out of being negative or using foul language. Imagine just for a moment, having two magic wands in your hand, one creates rainbows and beautiful landscapes and the other creates mud and more mud. Before we know it that mud is in everything we see, use, and do. Those are our negative thoughts and words. The mud is so deeply entrenched that we would have to consciously make major changes in anything, from school, media, workplaces, pretty much anywhere a human interacts.

We would have to create a word and thought measuring meter of some sort to make visible our very creations we are currently so unaware. I suppose only then could we be convincing or become convinced how harmful negative thoughts and words are and how life-giving positive ones are.

Exercises:

Read some of Emoto's books to open your mind.

Listen carefully to what people say .....sensitize yourself to what the energies of the words feel like.

Pray for others.

1Andrrew Newberg, MD and Mark Robert Waldman, Words Can Change Your Brain, (NY, Hudsonstreet Press, 2012), 23.

2Andrrew Newberg, MD and Mark Robert Waldman, Words Can Change Your Brain, (NY, Hudsonstreet Press, 2012), 25.

3Andrrew Newberg, MD and Mark Robert Waldman, Words Can Change Your Brain, (NY, Hudsonstreet Press, 2012), 33.

4Andrrew Newberg, MD God Changes Your Brain, Breaktrhough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist, (New York,Ballatine Books, 2010), 149.

5Andrrew Newberg, MD and Mark Robert Waldman, Words Can Change Your Brain, (NY, Hudsonstreet Press, 2012), 55-56.


© 2013 Angelika Mitchell

Selfcontrol, Sports and American Culture

Any society functions on certain values and understandings whether true values or not. Over time, those societal values will start to bring fruits; things will come to a head. That is then the time when we need to move toward self-examination within society. If we refuse to do that and just want to engage in quick fixes, the problems will accelerate, and societies will self-destruct.  Any historian could give you examples of societies who fell by their own hand.

TV coverage of Sports shows us the cultural differences between America and other countries. Of course, different cultures do things differently. It also shows if we carefully examine the differences, how our culture progresses as well as where it might fall short. For example, in the Wimbledon tennis, the BBC commentators (British) speak as little as possible during points and save their observations for the changeovers. On the other hand, Geoff Mason, producer for NBC, called the British telecasts 'a little bit sterile for our audience.’ American culture calls for focus on emotion, being super aggressive, and getting closer to the action. Reserve and respect are not our way of doing it.[1]  Respect does not seem to be a virtue in our country.  A reporter, a public figure, presumed to be speaking out for the majority, will influence young people negatively.

            There is the misleading idea that competition in all possible fields will diminish the kind of hostility, which leads to war. However, there is the alternate view presented within individual research.  “Anthropologist Richard Sipes selected a random sample of cultures around the world and rated them for the frequency of their wars and the presence or absence of combative sports. (sports that involve body contact, the real or symbolic gaining of territory, and any warlike action)...” the out come was…, that societies that encourage violence in their sports are those that have the most wars.”[2]  In addition, if fans learn behavior from players then we are teaching, amongst other things, our children and youth behavior we have no business teaching them.

            In an article on aggression and violence in sports, I found following: “Sports are based on motivation theories since the core of athletic competition is linked to the human compulsion towards excellence and superiority. Thus, it seems logical to accept that sports are based on human motives (e.g. Compulsion to win), which if not adequately fulfilled, can elicit extreme behavioral patterns (e.g. Violent acts), which in turn are the byproduct of repressed aggression.”[3] This explanation makes it clear that sports are not helping prevent wars.  Besides when it comes to the human compulsion toward excellence and superiority, can they ever be fulfilled? If we succeed, we want more and more of it. In one of my other blog entries, I investigated the notion of superiority as well as how it violates everything that is human love. Would it not make sense that training children to be aggressive in their sports expands to all areas of their lives? Is it then a wonder that our children are acting out; engaging in violent behavior? The interesting thing is that not only the players but also the fans are more hostile after a game, even if their team won. In Oklahoma, the Thunder games have produced a ban because of the violence caused by fans that not only were exhilarated at the win, but also seemed to want to totally extinguish the opposing fan base through physical attacks on persons and properties.

            Aggressiveness by definition is ‘being out of control,’ hence, a cultural and learned response. Often fans are not entertained unless there is a presence of aggressive behavior of their sport heroes (especially in Football, Wrestling, etc.). Hence, the heroes are encouraged and often go un-penalized. If such behavior on the other hand was penalized it would bring back balance and perhaps put it to a stop, but who would want to stop it?

            The question becomes, as much as sports promote fitness, are all sports good for us with present day guidelines and rules that allow for lack of respect, honor, or even balance within the institutions that govern them? If aggressive sports have such a negative impact, the conclusion would be NO! Non-aggressive sports are rarely given the same airtime during Olympic coverage; I believe they are not emotionally stimulating enough for the American audience. Look at the research and the statement made.  Tavris, points out “when the Cowboys lose a football game, the crime rate in Dallas goes up...Professional athletes in combative sports become more, not less, aggressive and hostile as their season progresses, and during the off-season they are more hostile than non-combative athletes and non-athletes.”[4]   I believe it is our tolerance (and since we consider it entertainment, our enjoyment) to aggression, that invites out-of-control behavior.  Anything we choose to tolerate, become desensitized to, or find excuses to remain unchanged, will continue.  Moreover, anything we choose to refuse to tolerate affects change, or will stop due to having consequences. There is a need to show that aggressive behavior is not OK.

Another problem is that we adore individuals instead of just enjoying the sport. The statement made by Tarvis supports this; “The purpose of sporting rules, like the purpose of manner, is to force us to put the game ahead of the individual.  Yet by and large, we are a nation that celebrates the individual over the team, the emotion over its control, the rule-breaking over the rule, competition over cooperation. These values are apparent in the sports we most enjoy and the players we pay most highly.”[5] We encourage rule breaking by paying players who show violent displays, highly.  If anyone in any other social setting would be displaying the same behavior, the consequences would be ‘go to jail.’ Not only do we encourage rule breaking, we have created injustice.

It is not that sports is the only piece in the puzzle of our increasing violence amongst children and youth, but it IS an important piece nonetheless. The ultimate question is not ‘can we learn self control,’ the question is, ‘do we want to learn self control.’  It is a well-known fact that if we come to understand early enough that self-control is essential to a functioning society, change is affected.  Therefore, one individual at a time must make this choice before our country comes apart. Will we as individuals, and as a community, be willing to make some of the sacrifices for a better future? This should not be taken as a suggestion to stop playing sports; the time has come when we need to move toward self-examination within society. It is time to look at those societal values and their fruits. Must is a word that is pivotal to making change in our attitude toward them, or at least the behaviors that have become so prominent surrounding them. 

           

Self control exercises

Sit quietly for a moment and breathe. Try not to think of anything, just breathe. Soon you will notice that your thoughts have their own conversations going on. Notice what is being said there, and then let it go. Again, try to empty your mind. Keep on doing that for a while. What have you learned?

Are those thoughts saying hateful things, self-demeaning things? Often they do! Once you notice what those random thoughts say and repeat, cut those thoughts off and instead choose purposely a thought that counteracts the negative narrative. That cannot be done overnight, but with practice you should notice the thoughts and emotions that are hidden.

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[1]    Carol Tavris, Anger the Misunderstood Emotion, (..........), 191.

[2]    Carol Tavris, Anger the Misunderstood Emotion, (..........), 183-184.

[3]    Http://ezinearaticles.com/?Aggression-and-Violence-in-Sports&id+319892

[4]    Carol Tavris, Anger the Misunderstood Emotion, (..........), 184

[5]    Carol Tavris, Anger the Misunderstood Emotion, (..........), 190-191

© 2013 Angelika Mitchell