Words; how can these things made up of letters contain so much power?? And yet they do. The words we use to talk about ourselves, to tell our stories can support us to thrive or fall into despair and disease. Words; they used to just flow freely in the ether of my mind ready to be plucked out and placed into a story. Now they are hidden from me buried deep within, now I must sit in silence, ponder, dig deep to find them. I took them for granted, I did not appreciate them and they were taken away. Now I am grateful to slowly be finding them again; each and everyone so precious.

Often we take speaking and forming sentences and words for granted. It’s a basic function of human beings right? For some though this is not nor ever has been or will be an easy or possible task. I have so much more appreciation for this simple task at this point in my life. Before my brain injury I took writing for granted. I loved it, the words flowed so freely! I wrote short stories as a child that fed my soul and nourished my imagination. I read constantly. I wrote poetry to get me through the difficult times in life, I kept journals. For 48 years I thought nothing of this gift. Then my brain went through some magnificent changes! Due to several injuries in the past and an incredible amount of stress and trauma in my life (of which I exasperated with the words I used to tell it) my brain decided it needed to take a bit of a break and reconfigure itself.

Suddenly there were no more words, putting a sentence together was extremely difficult. Forming a thought was difficult. Writing words, getting my hand to remember the movements involved in the writing process was difficult. Walking became a chore. My passion, cooking and creating beautiful, nourishing, delicious food became a struggle.

I am happy to say that just over a year later that the words are starting to return. Basic motor skills then cooking were the first delights to return. Of course I used nutrition to bring my brain back to health again and during this time I really learned first hand the power of how we use words.

I had my stories. We all do. We use words to describe ourselves and the things that happen in our lives as we perceive them in the moment. But do you really stop to think about the effect of the choice of words on our soul? How are we imprinting ourselves? How this will affect us as the years go by? Do we have the power to change the past? Why does it matter? These memories create either bliss or trauma in our retelling of them. I love this video clip by Jason Silva (and yes, I do have a bit of a crush on him 🙂 how can you not with a mind that works like that?!) I realized I had been using words to create memories of trauma and the effect on my mind and body took its toll. It wasn’t until I was in the throws of working to heal myself that I fully came to understand the power of my words on myself.

The words we use to describe our stories of what has happened can actually change what has happened. That’s how powerful words are. It wasn’t until I started changing the words the I used, changing the “cognitive framing” of who I was and how I had lived my life to date that true healing started to happen. I started with the most painful stories I had. Sitting in a meditative state I would run through my story using the words I always did. Then I would notice how that made me feel; in my mind, in my body, in my soul, in my gut, in my heart. Sitting with those feelings I would then slowly start to replace words until I could feel the shift from devastating pain and sorrow to a sense of calmness and peace. Sometimes the sadness would still be there and that was okay because it wasn’t the kind of sadness that broke me down and destroyed as before. It was a sadness that allowed joy to be present and fill me up. Slowly I went through all the stories and rewrote my life.

This was such an internal process though that it left me without energy or words to express myself verbally or in written form. Only recently have I been able to begin writing again. Slowly words are starting to swim in the ether of my mind again. They pass through quickly and sometime I can grasp them and transcribe them and other times I just smile and acknowledge them and thank them as they pass through quickly.

I would see all these amazing fabulous posts on social media and get so frustrated that I couldn’t find the words to express myself and inspire others as I so dearly wished to. I had to learn to let go of that. So for now I am happy to be able to let down my walls and share my struggle and what I’ve learned in the process in the hopes that those of you who need to hear this will find this and know you are not alone. “I am more than what I was because of what has happened to me.” (watch that Jason Silva clip)

You truly have the power to rewrite your stories and bring yourself back to a place of vibrant living on all levels. Give yourself quiet space and time to stop the mind chatter, practice self care to its utmost, move your body, be forgiving of yourself and others, slowly fall in love with yourself again, practice gratitude. Know that you are not alone. The lessons I have learned over the years from healing myself of an autoimmune disease, physical injuries and now a brain injury as well have all taught me to appreciate the little things we take for granted; walking, talking, writing, moving, performing little tasks we need to get through daily life, being alive. My heart is overflowing with gratitude and love; may that spill over to you and touch you.

I would love to hear from you how words have affected your life. Please do comment below or message me. We are all in this together. As we heal ourselves, we heal the collective. As we change our stories and we change the stories of our ancestors as well.

Namaste

ps. Curious to know more about how to get the most nutrients from your food to feed your brain; to use food as medicine to heal? Then I invite you to check out my book, “Live Vibrantly! 10 Steps to Maintain Youthfulness, Increase Energy and Restore Your Health”. Go here for more information and how to get your free bonuses.