Positive Psychology, Mindfulness, and the Science of Well-Being
  • About Me
  • Consultation/Fees
  • Book Reviews & Recommended Reading
  • Blog

Language, Positive Psychology, and the Rebbe

7/9/2014

0 Comments

 
Joseph Teluskhin just published another book titled Rebbe: The Life and Teachings of Menachem M. Schneerson, the Most Influential Rabbi in Modern History.   Last night, I got to "Part Three: Seven Virtues."  It was totally enthralling!  Almost every chapter in this section has stories that will bring tears to your eyes.

I want to call your attention to Ch. 7 "Optimism and the Careful Choosing of Words."  In this chapter, Telushkin describes how attentive the Rebbe was to language and the shaping of experience.  For example, Telushkin notes that the Rebbe would not use "beit cholim" (hospital, translated in Hebrew as the "house of the sick"); rather, he would call it "beit refuah" (house of healing).  Commenting on this, Telushkin writes: "...what becomes apparent is that the Rebbe's opinion on how to use words represented an innovative way of thinking and an anticipation, in part, and by several decades, of the discipline known as positive psychology." 

I was delighted to read several examples given on how the Rebbe embodied and promoted the careful use of language. Indeed, the very words we CHOOSE to use, have the potential to create choice and possibility or condemnation and criticism, in ourselves and others.  Our words can help or hurt, bless or blame, set in motion an experience of growth and gain, or spiral us to doubt and pain.  

Choosing words that honor the essential self is not always easy, but there are actions we can take to cultivate awareness and intentionality of both our "self-talk" and the way we speak to and/or about others.  The first thing we can do is notice if we make a disparaging remark and replace it with more gentle or neutral words.  Mindful meditation and practices can uncover and attune us to unhelpful patterns of thought and language used.  We can then choose to practice kind speech and see and feel the difference in our relationships, beginning with the relationship with self.  As we practice speaking gently to ourselves and others, it becomes second nature.  Tacitly, through example, we invite others to do the same because our choice of words have helped and may even be the genesis of a deeper healing and generative life-force.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Nadia Brewart, Ph.D., is a student of life with an insatiable curiosity about what it means to be human, amidst encounters with the human condition. 

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.