Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I spent the last weekend visiting a friend at her lake house. The house sits perched above the lake nestled in the woods. The weather was beautiful, the setting very peaceful. Over the course of several days we were visited by hawks, heron, deer, chipmunks, squirrels and even a black cat. I feel renewed and energized for the start of another school year!

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

"You learn things by saying them over and over and thinking about them until they stay in your mind forever."

Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

SUCCESS TOPIC - The Power in Words

I've been reading a series of interesting books by Masaru Emoto about the effect words have on water. Over the past several years, Mr. Emoto has conducted research into the properties of water and has reached the conclusion that water takes in "information" and is then transformed by it.

What does he mean by information? Not information like you would see reported on the evening news but more subtle information that affects the mind and body. Mr. Emoto uses a method of freezing water, then takes it out to observe it as it melts. Within one or two minutes the water crystallizes into different forms based on the information it was given. Together with an assistant, he managed to photograph the water crystals under the microscope as they emerged and formed.

Because everything in the universe vibrates at a sound frequency (in waves), Mr. Emoto began experimenting with exposing the water to different frequencies. He took water from the same source, exposed it to different words (written on the bottles), and froze them for the same amount of time. What he discovered was astounding! Water exposed to kind and positive words developed into the most beautiful water crystals. Water exposed to negative words formed irregular and asymmetrical shapes or none at all! He also did extensive testing to different kinds of music, with varying results dependent upon the type of music. (see below for more information on his books)

What are the implications for us as teachers, parents, or social workers? When you remember that 70% of our bodies are made up of water, the implications are tremendous. Can words have an effect on our body chemistry? Bruce Lipton, cell biologist and author of The Biology of Belief believes our very cells are affected by our self-talk and beliefs which are formed by words.

In his books, Mr. Emoto speaks of an experiment that verifies his findings on the effects words have on our environment. In the experiment, three jars of rice were allowed to ferment over a period of time. Every day the words thank you were spoken to one jar, the words you fool were spoken to another jar and the third jar was ignored. After one month, the rice that had the words thank you spoken to it fermented into a mellow smell of malt. The rice in both of the other jars turned black and rotted. The rice in the jar that was ignored turned black and rotted before the rice that had you fool spoken to it. These experiments have been repeated many times with the same results. It would seem negative attention is better than no attention at all. Think of those implications!

This same experiment could be done by science teachers or language arts teachers who want to help students make a hands-on connection to the power in words. If you decide to try this experiment or one similar, email me your results!

Emoto, Masaru. 2001 -- The Hidden Messages in Water, Atria Books, NY. 2003. The True Power of Water, Atria Books, NY.

YOUR CHALLENGE

Are you diligent in using only positive words? Do you have a student, colleague, or family member that causes you stress? Focus on saying only positive things to them for one day. What you will probably notice is that it takes you out of your comfort zone and feels unnatural at first. How many times do you tell the people who distress you most not to do something or point out what they are doing wrong? Challenge yourself to communicate what you want in a more positive way. "You were so respectful yesterday; I now know you are really capable of controlling your temper. Thank you for making the effort." or "I know you're unhappy with the situation, but I also know you are a very creative person, capable of coming up with an awesome solution!" Say "thank you" a lot! Then take a look at the response you get, you may be surprised at how your relationship with that person changes for the better.

I love hearing your stories! Please email me with your experiences of using intuition in a school setting.

Success Mindset For The Year 2006 is written and produced by Linda Tarr. If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me.

© 2006, Linda Tarr, P.O.Box 7475, Springfield, IL 62791.  All rights reserved.

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