Your Body Believes Every Word You Say: The Language of the Bodymind Connection, Revised and Expanded Edition

by Barbara Hoberman Levine

This is the long-awaited, expanded, redesigned, reader-friendly Second Edition of the best-selling, critically acclaimed first book describing the language link between mind and body. This Second Edition contains 100 extra pages of information plus an extensive resource list, index and instructions for 53 self-help experiences.

Watch what you say! is not just a phrase for the children in your life. This book thoroughly examines the link between language and disease. Levine teaches "Verbal Hygiene" to avoid dis-easing language that sabotages wellness. She traces common phrases like "that breaks my heart" and "it's a pain in the butt" to the underlying beliefs on which they are based and the symptoms they cause. Readers learn to decode physical sensations and discover their underlying Core Beliefs and Seedthoughts.

Levine writes from her own experience having brain surgery to remove a tumor AND includes information from experts in psychology, religion and medicine plus an article by Bernie Siegel on Dreams And Drawings. Levine shows that our physical symptoms may result from using dis-easing language. AND she teaches readers how to use language to EASE symptoms and improve their health and well-being.

Genres: Psychology, Health, Nonfiction, Science, Self Help

315 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 15, 2011

Reviews

[Salina Christaria · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author’s 15-year struggle with a brain tumor lead her on an in depth investigation into how our core beliefs affect our physical bodies. Offering compelling evidence showing that the mind and body are functionally inseparable, she encourages the reader to become an active participant in their healing through the thoughts they think and the words they say. What surprised me was how it’s not just about what I tell my body, but what my body is trying to tell me!

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first learned about this book in 2018 in my Holistic Life Coaching program, but we didn't read it at the time. This book was actually slightly hard to come by in the library system--my local libraries didn't have a copy so I had to request it from a library system outside of mine. Luckily, someone had it! I appreciate the ideas presented here, though most of them are things I've learned over the past few years (like through my Holistic Life Coaching program and other related books and teachers). There are some good reminders and probably some revelatory ideas for people who haven't been introduced to self-healing and how powerful our minds are.

“I discovered that by externalizing, verbalizing and examining our hidden emotions in this way, life-threatening illnesses often lead to changes, which in turn allow our emotional and spiritual healing to begin. Personally losing my nerve—feeling fears and developing phobias—showed me what I needed to face in order to heal my spirit. My disabilities led me to the faith I needed to be able rely on: faith in my abilities; faith in my body and my mind; faith in my relationship to a loving God, where previously I had seen God as a being to be feared. I believe faith coupled with right action may be the best protection any of us has.” pg. 7

“I kept remembering words of wisdom told me by my husband ages ago, ‘The strength of your growth will be your belief without proof.’ Faith is indeed belief without proof. During the times when life didn’t seem worth living, I was strengthened by that seed of faith planted within me. Though I now have strong faith, I still look for proof. And proof comes in bits and pieces, with each subtle change in me. But the faith came first.” pg. 11

“A good doctor knows that what you tell yourself about what happens to you makes a very deep impression. How you feel about your current and past life circumstances, including what you tell yourself about them, can add stress to your life, or make the stress less damaging. Holistic healing professionals take time to talk to their patients, to really listen to their ideas, to explore the emotional component of any symptoms the patient is experiencing. A truly holistic doctor understands that talking things out helps to prevent and/or relieve the physical symptoms related to an emotional experience.” pg. 16

“Pollution can be seen as a common factor in most illnesses—pollution of the body with toxic wastes and pollution of the mind with negative thoughts. Both may lead to emotions like depression, anger, resentment, and so on. Digestive pollution comes from eating the wrong foods or overeating in general. Environmental pollution puts stress on the physical body and reduces its resistance. Language pollution comes from using negative words and dwelling on fearful thoughts that create harmful stress. All three pollutions are usually present in disease. Everything that isn’t in harmony with the body pollutes it. We get well by releasing our pollution.” pg. 18

“Your thoughts, fears, and emotions often stimulate detectable physical conditions, though you are almost never conscious of this link or in conscious control of it. But the implications of this discovery are stunning: if you make disease happen, you also have the power to change it, even to get rid of it. Disease often forces people to alter negative thoughts, useless behaviors, and ill feelings.” pg. 22

“In the ongoing, ever-changing drama of health, psyche (the mind and emotions) and soma (the body) engage in a variety of behaviors sometimes called symptoms. We give meaning to the behaviors, such as good or bad, positive or negative, healthy or sick, well or diseased. We often give the behavior the name of a specific disease. But dis-ease is a human behavioral process, not just a specific entity with a label and a definition. The label is merely a convenient way to describe a set of symptoms the ill person experiences. I sometimes hyphenate dis-ease to indicate that when I’m not feeling well, I’m not at ease within myself, that my mind, body, and emotions are out of sync. Dis-ease is the opposite of being at ease. “ pg. 45-46

“You may not want to recognize yourself as the source of your ailments. But until you do, you are not in the driver’s seat and cannot begin to think of yourself as the source of healing as well: you caused it, to some degree, and you can uncause it, to the same degree. There is no self-blame intended in this statement. There are factors involved in any illness over which you have little, if any, control. Nevertheless, you can perceive or recognize that you do have some power over your health via your thoughts, your attitudes, your words, your actions and your behaviors.” pg. 48-49

“It is important to accept yourself and learn from past mistakes, rather than cause yourself more dis-ease by feelings of self-hate and guilt. Most health professionals would agree: Loving yourself is an important component in healing.” pg. 49

“Disease is not a thing that happens to you; it is a way of acting out life. You are responsible for everything in your life, whether you believe it or not. When you recognize this truth you will begin to accept that you are in charge of your health at the subtle level of thoughts and words as well as the obvious level of actions.” pg. 49

“Who or what is controlling these body behaviors? How does it know what to do? Can you guide the inner intelligence that controls the automatic functions and behaviors of your body? Is it possible to gain some control over this creative process and choose your level of health or illness? To a large degree, the answer is ‘Yes.’ Dis-ease is a process over which you can have more control by carefully choosing your thoughts, your words, your attitude, and your actions. When you are responsible, you have the choice of altering the way that you think, speak, and act in order to change the effects. Using healthful rather than harmful words, you are taking responsibility for your healthy functioning. Your creative intelligence is now operating in your behalf, rather than to your detriment.” pg. 53

“Here is how Dr. Ellerbroek explained his results:
‘We humans create mental pictures of what we observe in the external world, our version of reality. This evaluation of reality is often inaccurate, due to limitations of our sensory organs and inadequate mechanisms for verifying our perceptions. At any given moment we have a personal idea of how we think the past, present, and future should be. Reality can be seen as the way we want it to be, the way we think it really is, or the way it actually is.
When our world seems to match our picture of how we think it should be, we feel good. When humans become aware that their version of reality doesn’t match their fantasy of how it should be, they often irrationally and unconsciously demand that reality be changed to match their fantasy. The failure of reality to alter itself to match their fantasy can lead to depression and frustration, the emotions that are the core of illness.’” pg. 54-55

“Ronald Glasser, M.D. writes, ‘It is the body that is the hero, not science, not antibiotics…not machines or new devices….The task of the physician today is what it has always been, to help the body do what it has learned so well to do on its own during its unending struggle for survival—to heal itself. It is the body, not medicine, that is the hero.’ To this I might add, it is the body directed by a conscious creative mind which is most likely to recover.” pg. 58

“The feelings remain hidden, perhaps even from you, until they manifest in some illness. People sometimes push themselves into disease in order to express their unacknowledged emotions. Of course, they don’t generally realize that they are doing this.” pg. 61

“Life-threatening and chronic degenerative illnesses can result from negative thoughts and feelings, among other known causes. Yet disease, rather than an event to be feared, is frequently a positive force enabling us to see what changes are necessary to improve ourselves. We make the necessary changes by taking charge of our behaviors. We take charge when we realize that we act out through disease our conscious and unconscious beliefs and thought patterns. When we look at our illness and other crises in the context of this larger picture we can grow spiritually and emotionally.” pg. 62

“Many people aren’t aware of their power to make themselves sick or to heal themselves. Your initial response to the idea that you cause your own disease might be skepticism, fear, anger, or dismay. Skepticism is reasonable. If your reaction is fear, anger, or dismay, it might be worthwhile to examine the source of your feelings. Perhaps you feel that way because you equate responsibility with blame and shame. You may not be used to forgiving yourself for your mistakes, changing to more appropriate behavior, and then forgetting about it. Some people think they have to act perfectly and when they don’t, they punish and berate themselves with negative self-talk and feelings of guilt.
We are not victims. Rather, when we forget to take responsibility for our health, we often choose unconsciously to harm ourselves. Then we feel like victims of the fates. There is a better way of thinking available.” pg. 63

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.” - Corrie Ten Boom, pg. 67

“There is a language connection between mind, body and emotions. Recent research has shown that much illness is self-created largely through this language. Words are often the trigger (catalyst) that lead to the symptoms of disease: you are what you think, feel, and say about yourself. You are what you believe about you.” pg. 68

“Language is the tangible link between the emotional reality and thoughts of the mind and the physical reality of the body. Emotions can be expressed mentally and physically.” pg. 68

“Fear acts as a magnet for negative experiences. Focusing too much attention on avoiding something really puts energy into what you don’t want. As part of the physical universe we are all subject to the Law of Gravity—‘what goes up must come down.’ So too, we are all subject to the principle of consciousness called the Law of Attraction—‘what you think about comes about.’ Fear, based on negative core beliefs, creates a negative expectation that can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.“ pg. 93-94

“Because emotions are primal or instinctive, the mind and thought is our way of both getting in touch with them and also directing them appropriately. Reacting off of emotions, without thinking things through, often leads us to say or do things that we’ll later regret. Conscious thought helps us deal with our emotions constructively, as long as we don’t use our thoughts to judge or deny them. Right thinking allows us to change our inner beliefs, so we can realign them with our emotions in a healthy, useful way.” pg. 99

“I create as I speak” = Abra Cadabrah, pg. 105

“Telling yourself or another person that you feel bad can trigger such feelings in body and mind. It’s a lie, which is bound to have repercussions: your words and feelings are in conflict. It is unwise to affirm ‘I feel bad’ when you mean it as an apology, because those words are often perceived by the body as an order for uncomfortable physical feelings. Such common expressions convey to your unconscious mind a set of instructions which can cause dis-ease.” pg. 113

“Researchers in perception have demonstrated that we often see what we expect to see, hear what we expect to hear, and feel what we expect to feel.” pg. 124

“The way we believe the world is, is the way we create it.” pg. 127

“Believe in the strength of your body and it will reward you.” pg. 128

“The desirable state is an ability to be open and flexible in mind and body, when such flexibility is necessary, and firm when that is required.” pg. 129

“These cases illustrate how core beliefs affect surface issues and might prevent them from being dealt with. When you get in touch with the underlying beliefs, you cope better with the feelings they engender. You can consciously decide for yourself whether any deeply held belief is still true or useful to you.” pg. 130-131

“When you expect to feel good, your positive attitude helps create it, no matter what the circumstances. Not always, but usually, expecting the best paves the way for the best to occur. To expect the worst paves the way for the worst to be realized. The notion behind a self-fulfilling prophecy is the concept that what we believe is what comes to pass. Self-awareness and honest self-evaluation of your core beliefs—after bringing them to the surface—are keys to a healthy life and a well-functioning body.” pg. 132

“Panic arises from belief in a feared outcome. Hope is belief in a desired outcome.” pg. 142

“As a human being you have some software built into your system, like the operating system of the computer. It’s called the unconscious mind. You also have software that you generate by your thoughts, images, and words. Through your consciousness, you continuously create, revise and change programs for yourself throughout your life.” pg. 158

“‘When you fully experience your experience it will disappear.’ To me that meant that we are supposed to learn something from each of our experiences, and when we do, we can move on to the next experience. By objectively observing ourselves we extract the necessary information in order to learn from whatever happens in our lives.” pg. 169

“Who’s Responsible for Me?
Purpose: To accept personal responsibility for your life without condemning or judging yourself
Instructions: Remind yourself daily until these ideas become second nature:
- I am responsible for my life.
- I choose what to think and feel.
- Responsibility does not imply blame, shame, or a negative evaluation of myself.
- Responsibility is my acceptance (without judgment) of the control I do have over my life.
- If not me, who?
- If not now, when?” pg. 190

“Meditation is not a means to an ed. It is both the means and the end.” - J. Krishnamurti, pg. 192

“Our spiritual lives are strengthened as we find that precious balance between expectant trust in our higher power and responsible reliance on ourselves.” - Sefra Pitzele, pg. 195

“Without some measure of faith most people wouldn’t take the time to meditate, chant or do affirmations and visualizations. Faith plants life-affirming seedthoughts. If you are looking for ways to improve your life, then you already have sufficient faith in a better future to do what it takes to create it.” pg. 205

Emmett Miller, MD (based in Menlo Park) Self-Imagery book and others, along with Source Cassettes, cassette tapes for healing.

“In chronic or recurrent acute illnesses your lifestyle is often key to your state of health. Lifestyle includes how you ‘language’ your life: your attitude, thoughts, emotions, and style of thinking. You can create conditions more favorable to health by removing unhealthy negative belief systems. To be permanently effective, healing must occur in the mind.
The body acts out thoughts and images. Usually you aren’t aware of this process in much the same way that you aren’t usually conscious of breathing and other automatic body functions. But just as you can bring consciousness to bear on the process of breathing (choosing to breathe deeply, for example), you can positively influence many aspects of your body when you choose to pay attention.” pg. 228

“Most people believe what they see. But, you will often see it because you already believe it. Healing from within requires you to discover what you already believe and how those beliefs affect you.” pg. 229

“To regain and maintain good health requires commitment too. Take a stand! Give your word! Promise to work towards good health! Giving your word is evidence of your commitment to your goal, a big part of the language connection. You make the agreement, a promise to fulfill, a resolution you will keep. Love and accept yourself. Be alert to the process without attachment to the end result. If you learn from your experience, you are always a success, never a failure.” pg. 234-235

“Questions Concerning Catastrophic Illness
1. How long do you want to live? - Do you love yourself enough to take care of your mind and body? Do you look forward to the future with hope or fear? These questions help you to uncover your will to live and how much control you feel you have in life.
2. What happened in the year or two before your illness? - List those experiences, both positive and negative, that had a major impact on you. Examples: getting married or divorced, death of a loved one, getting a new job or being fired, starting or losing a business.
3. What does the illness mean to you? - Do you consider it an automatic death sentence? Some people expect to live, no matter what the odds. Others expect to die no matter what the odds. You are an individual who has the power to control how you feel and how you heal. You can beat the odds either way.
4. Why do you need this illness? - Since sickness often gives people permission to avoid things they really don’t want to do, or to do things they wouldn’t permit themselves to do, this is a key question to ask for any illness, major or minor. People get sick to take time off from their usual ways of behaving. A bout with colds or flu might be avoided if people took more ‘personal’ days off from work, rather than ‘sickness days.’ The sickness allows them to escape their ‘shoulds.’ ‘I should do this…be this…feel this way.’” pg. 51

Book: borrowed through LINK from San Jose.

[Storystitcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got to chapter 7 and just couldn’t finish it. I am not denying that our thoughts and feeling don’t have physiological effects on us, but there seems to be a lot more correlation here than causation. Not sure why she muddied in so much bible dripple to what is deemed a science topic. Dr. John Sarno is a much better read.

[Helen Southall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent self-help book. Really shows the mind-body connection

[Marcia Conner · Rating 5 out of 5]

The single most highlighted book on my shelf.

[Nicole Silvester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book. I have read this same concept in other books but it was presented from a different angel. Barbara Levine has put together an easy to read, clear and concise book about the body's ability to heal itself. Before you write it off as some mumbo jumbo, know that she isn't saying don't got to a doctor. These tools are to be used in conjunction with medical advice. It is about cultivating positivity in life. Being grateful for what you have and for where you are in life regardless of the circumstances. Lots of great exercises to assist you in this direction.

[Kandace · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are curious about the mind-body-spirit connection, or know that it exist and want to learn more, pick up this book. Depending on what you know/understand, this book will be eye-opening or a good reminder to you about what you think, what your energy is like, and how that impacts your body and spirit.

[Joseph Piccirillo]

Awesome work for Health and Wholeness.

Awesome book. Indispensable for healthy living. A guide to lead one to healing and to wholeness. Enjoyed her illustrations and admire the work she put into this effort.
Her personal story is inspiring and her references are a revealing education.