'I am' versus 'I feel'

All of my client sessions have a similarity - whether they are coming to see me for a physical, emotional, spiritual or chemical stress imbalance - I work with everyone on the language they use in their heads and with others.

The intention behind language and what it brings in for us is powerful, and as such, being impeccable with your words is vital.

When we say ‘I am angry’ we are owning that label as part of us, identifying with it as a part of our being and bringing it, and the vibrational resonance that goes along with it, into the core of our being. The same goes for other negativity such as ‘I am stupid, boring, fat, unworthy, unloveable, etc.

‘I am’ has the same vibration in the Universe as the word ‘God’ and the sound ‘Om’. As such, it can be a powerful spell under which we operate without intentionally sitting in that space.

As the Law of Attractions says, that which is like unto itself is drawn. With that in mind, if we are angry take a guess at what we bring into our world? Likewise, with other negative labels we identify ourselves by, we are creating limits, putting ourselves in categories and boxes, and selling ourselves short.

Many people who are unwell often use the same language ‘I am obese’, ‘I am diabetic’, ‘I am a cancer patient’, etc. I feel that the labeling of our self with illnesses as integral parts of our psyche and being limits us further when we identify what we actually are at the heart of our Self.

To further ourselves from the ownership of our feelings, diseases and labels, try using phrases such as ‘I feel’. When we acknowledge that we feel angry, and that we ourselves are not inherently angry, we gain distance, observation and the ability to reflect on why the emotion is there and to work through it. With illnesses, we can rephrase as ‘I am living with cancer/diabetes/etc’, ‘I am a cancer survivor’, ‘I feel obese’, etc.

By distancing our integral human soul from the labels, emotions and illnesses we attribute to ourselves, we give ourselves space to discover alternate realities, the freedom to identify with what we truly are at a soul level - pure peace, love, compassion, non-judgement, acceptance - and the ability to look around without blinkers to what may be possible without limitation.

If ‘I feel’ doesn’t provide enough distance between you and the feeling so that you can more objectively observe the emotion within you, reflect on it and discover a new response within the situation, perhaps try speaking to yourself in the 3rd person. For example, if I say to myself ‘Amanda thinks/feels she’s fat/stupid/unworthy/etc’, I feel my compassion rise up as though my best friend was saying such nasty things to herself in front of me and I will never stand for my friends abusing themselves with words and negativity, so why would I do it to myself?

For me, and my clients when they reflect on their implementation at home of the technique, it really brings up that compassionate side that questions ‘Are you really?’ and allows me to find alternative ways to embrace my true nature and approach the situation. I have the space to ask myself why I’m feeling that way, what the lead up was to my feelings arising and whether I could or can do anything to alter the perception of what went on or change how it will turn out.

If you need to use an ‘I am’ phrase, perhaps you could try using a power phrase such as ‘I am strong/beautiful/powerful/abundant/perfect health’.

Try replacing the negative ‘I am’ with an ‘I feel’ or positive ‘I am’ and let me know what differences you notice. When we silence the inner itty bitty shitty committee, we can employ the internal guidance that speaks to us like we are our own best friend - with kindness, compassion and love. And don’t we all want and need a little more of that!