Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness.

Today, I'm going to talk about

the power of the words you use.

Now, although we may not pay too

much attention to how we speak,

our words hold a lot of power,

probably a lot more than we realize.

Whether we're speaking out loud

or whether we're speaking silently

to ourselves, our dialogue is

constantly shaping the way that we

see ourselves, others and the world.

Our words have a very powerful impact on

our emotional state and on our behaviors.

Now, if we're not careful with the

way we formulate our thoughts and

our words, we can start to slip into

unhelpful habits like being negative,

judgemental, pessimistic, or unkind,

both with ourselves and with others.

So here's a simple example of

how powerful our words are.

Let's say you miss the

train on the way home.

Now, on the one hand, you could think

to yourself, Ugh, this is a bit of

an inconvenience, or you could think

to yourself, Ugh, this is a disaster.

I'm such an idiot.

Now will those two thoughts

affect you differently?

You bet they will.

Okay.

So let's say you have a tricky

conversation with someone.

You could walk away and think to yourself,

or even say to someone, that person is

just a jerk or you could think or say,

that was a really tough conversation,

but I'm sure we'll work it out.

Will those two ways with words change

how you treat this person and whether

you can work things out for the better?

100%.

Words hold power.

Words shape perception.

And they shape our lives continuously.

So my invitation for today is this.

Take more care with your words, both

within and without, and notice if

they contain judgments or lead you

to feeling negative, angry, or cause

friction between you and others.

If they do, try and see what it's

like to swap those disempowering

thoughts or words for more empowering

ones, more kind, more uplifting ones.

So do this as a bit of an experiment today

and really tune in and notice the impact

when you choose more empowering words.

I think you'll find out pretty quickly

that the quality of your life will

often reflect the quality of your words.

That's how powerful your words are.

I really hope you enjoy this practice.

And thank you again for doing this

inner and outer work in the world and

for being a part of this community.

So I invite you now to settle

in for today's meditation.