What we call the “law of attraction” actually includes many other laws that a lot of people are not aware of. Often, when people say that the law of attraction doesn’t work it’s because they are actually ignoring or not knowing about the other universal or spiritual laws that are related to it.
This post will be the first of a series where I am going to explain what each of such laws is, and what they do. Today we are going to talk about the law of resistance which is a very important law to know about and understand.
What is the Law of Resistance?
This is a pretty easy one to figure out isn’t it? The law of resistance is about resistance, right? Now the first question I would ask you is what does the word “resist” or “resistance” evoke to you? Does it evoke positive or negative feelings? Most people will have no problem giving the correct answer. Resistance evokes a negative feeling. The law of resistance it’s a law you want to fully understand in order to use it for your own benefit instead of your detriment.
You apply the law of resistance when you push something away, either by using negative statements such “can’t”, “don’t”, “not”, or “ill”, “poor”, “fat”, etc. You also apply the law of resistance when you focus on negative feelings or emotions or even physical pain.
The point is that since the law of resistance does exist we need to learn to work with it and not against it. So let’s see how we can do that.
Avoid Resistance Words
One of the first things to understand is to limit to a stick minimum the use of resistance words such as “I can’t”, “I won’t” “I’m not”, or I “don’t”. The subconscious doesn’t understand negatives. For example, if you keep saying “I don’t like my job”, you are making it harder for you to get out of it. If you are saying “I don’t want to be fat”, you are making it more difficult for you to lose the weight. If you are saying “I don’t want to be poor” each day, you won’t be any closer to becoming rich. If you are saying those things often, you are applying the law of resistance. And you are actually sending out energy that is resisting what you want while improving what you don’t.
Instead of speaking of what you don’t want, ALWAYS speak of what you do want. In order not to use the law of resistance against you, do not say “I don’t like my job”, but “I love my job”, “I love what I do”. So instead of getting more of that job that you don’t want, you are opening the doors for a job that you do want. Instead of saying “I don’t want to be fat”, say “I’m skinny, I’m fit, I like myself, I love the way I look”, so you won’t apply the law of resistance that will prevent you from getting what you want to achieve with your weight.
Here is an Illustration…
Think about it this way. When you want to tell your computer that you are looking for “a red dress” or a “winter coat”, or a “BMW” using the search engines, what do you say (write)? Do you write what you don’t want? If you are looking for a black BMW, do you write I don’t want a white BMW!
Well, the answer is obvious, isn’t it? If you’d write in your search engine box “I don’t want a white BMW” you’ll get all the results with the term “white BMW”. Why?
Because computers don’t understand “don’t”. Our subconscious mind is just like a computer. If you wouldn’t ask what you don’t want to your computer why do you ask for it to the Universe, God, your Higher Self, your Subconscious? Yes, that’s right!
You don’t ever need to mention what you do not want. Every time you do, you actually are asking for it, and resisting what you really want. Treat your subconscious like your computer, because they act the exact same way!
Do Not Resist Feelings, Emotions
Some people are very good at burying their feelings and emotions. In some cases it’s because they want to show how tough they are. In other cases, it’s because they are trying to resist the pain. Unfortunately when you do this, all you are doing is applying the law of resistance. Instead of going through the emotions or feelings, and then release them, you keep them inside and they will come back over and over, and over. As a matter of fact, if you resist them, you’ll NEVER get rid of them.
The fastest way to get rid of a negative emotion or feeling is to acknowledge it and release it. If something in your life makes you sad or depressed, acknowledge your pain, don’t cover it over. And then let it go. Then and only then will you be able to totally release it.
Do Not Resist Physical Pain
Not too long ago I’ve learned from my fiend Melody Fletcher that I could do the same thing with physical pain. She learned that herself during one of her meditation sessions. She found out that by NOT resisting physical pain, the pain would go away quickly, while trying to fight the pain will actually increase it or make it settle longer.
Only few weeks after I learned this tip from Melody, I happened to have a cramp in my right foot (as I sometimes do) while I was standing in a grocery store. When I get those cramps I tend to get stiff and fight the cramp with all my being. Then I end up feeling more and more pain and have to either take my shoe off and put my foot flat on the floor or pour warm water on my foot if it’s possible, depending where I am when I get the cramp.
As I was getting that cramp in the middle of that store I instantly remembered to NOT apply resistance and accept the pain mentally and let it be. For the first time ever, I wasn’t resisting the pain of the cramp but let it be by relaxing all my muscles and mind as much as I could. Interestingly, the cramp went away in just seconds. It was amazing and I was so glad that I actually could experience what Melody was talking about. I could now prove to myself that by resisting pain we only make the pain last much longer and more intensely.
In order to NOT resist physical pain you have to skip a fear factor that makes us resist such pain. It might be a little scary the first time, but it’s worth a try. When you have done it once with good results you will be amazed, and it will be so much easier to do it again the next time.
I know that I can’t explain everything in a blog post, and that’s why I give coaching lessons, but I hope you have grasped what it means to resist or not resist, and will try to apply the law of non-resistance in your life.
So, what do you think? Give us your feedbacks below!
See also my post about the Law of Allowing.
Wonderful post Sylviane!
You explained everything in so well here, which makes it so much easier to understand and learn more about the Law of Resistance. 🙂
Never heard of this Law, though now I know that we use it so often in our lives. And yes, negative words like don’t, can’t, won’t etc. really don’t register and show up on Google – and the same with our subconscious – just as you said. I guess that must be reason the Law of Attraction doesn’t work, because this Law overshadows it.
Being full of negative feelings, words, thoughts, and actions can harm us more than we can imagine. I loved the example of your cramped foot. In fact, when I go for my morning walks and return, I have a similar kind of cramp in one of my legs. But yes, I’ve learnt to accept the pain as it comes, and so does it go – so I guess acceptance of the pain and releasing that negative painful feeling I have of that pain must be helping me overcome it, rather than fight it out that would bring me more pain.
Thanks for sharing, and I look forward to the rest of the series and learning more from you. 🙂
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Hi Harleena,
As I always, I really appreciate your feedbacks. Such theme is not always easy to make clear for the reader, and especially for someone that who would land on this type of blog for the first time.
Those universal laws do exist and are with us 24/7 so that’s why it’s important that people understand them.
Thank you for your input, Harleena.
This is the best explanation Sylviane that I have heard about resisting. I love how you compared it to the computer. I think for me a lot of times I have to have things easily explained to me so I know I’m not the only one.
I remember some years ago with the light bulb finally came on and I “got it”. That as I would complain about things I was actually bringing more of that into my life because like you said here, the computer, our brains, God, doesn’t understand the word don’t. They give us what we ask for so you’re only hurting yourself.
Looking forward to this series, it’s going to be awesome!
~Adrienne
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Hi Adrienne,
Well, that’s a real compliment right there! The best explanation! My mother used to tell me that I had this thing that I could explain something in such a way that people could actually understand. I guess she was right 🙂 that’s why I think coaching is my calling. I so know that I CAN help people.
These type of subjects are usually tough enough to grasp for most people, so you need to do your best to get your point across, and as I write I definitely write for the novice, because I know that a lot of people reading this blog are still new at the law of attraction and the “mysteries” of the subconscious thing 🙂
Thank you for your input, here, Adrienne 🙂
Good day Sylviane. Very Unique article. It was a little confusing to me at first but you pulled it all together by the time I reached the end. I am always interested in self improvement and this artical would for sure fall into that category.
Thanks for the information, and Im sure it will be in mind for the rest of the day.
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Hi Carol,
I know it can be confusing for someone new in this field of information as I was mentioning in both my replies above. But I’m glad that you did catch up. I think that the more you read this type of material the more it will be easy to understand.
Thank you for coming, Carol 🙂
Hi Sylviane
I am with Adrienne this is the best explanation of the Law of Resistance I have ever come across. I have been a student of Abraham, Esther Hicks for years and seen other people teach the principles. Your explanation of searching for a BMW explains it so well. I can see a best seller book coming from you Sylviane 🙂
I am so looking forward to the next in this series.
Sue
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Hi Sue,
Wow, I was already telling Adrienne what a compliment this was and here you come up with one more. I love it when people tell me that they “finally” understood something or that it’s the best explanation they’ve read 🙂 Really appreciate this 🙂
Thank you for your encouragement, Sue. I do have a book on the making and this helps me to work on it 🙂
I soooo loved the illustration you used!!! I hope others reading this realize how important it is to not use negative words and how powerful it is to use the proper terminology!
Awesome info on this law Sylviane! 🙂
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Hi Kesha,
I’m glad you like my illustrations here. It seems that most people did and that’s good feedback for me to know what type of illustration work to bring my point across.
Thanks for coming.
Hi Sylviane,
Actually I loved the way you have applied search engine example and your personal experience in the post. They are visualizing what you were talking back there 🙂
I used to resist my pain, not physically but emotionally. Sometimes I do it now too. But I can’t help that they comes out naturally as I further try to hide them. It takes few hours though. As you suggested, I may try not to hide ’em 🙂
When it comes to physical pain, I’m totally different. I accept the pain and it goes away sooner. I was wondering how it happens and once I search for it online too. Thanks or explaining about it here dear 🙂 That’s something I really wanted to know.
However I do use resistance words for what I don’t need 🙂 I never thought it has an impact on us though. Here, I have to practice the way of using words now on 🙂
Thanks for the wonderful post dear 🙂 Looking forward to others on this series…
Cheers…
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Hi Mayura,
Fist I wanted to tell you that I just found a bunch of comments of yours that were stuck in that crazy comment moderation page. I just published them now. No matter what I do this blog won’t let comment though without moderation, and that’s bad enough, but some even go where they shouldn’t, like yours 🙂 I’ve got to check every time from now on.
I’m glad if this post could helped you not to use any type of resisting words anymore.
Thanks for coming, Mayura. Always appreciate your comments 🙂
Oh yeah Sylviane 🙂 I was on catching things up lately, so I’ve gone through multiple posts of yours I missed last few days. I think they were the ones in the moderation 🙂
Cheers…
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This article reminded me of an article I once read. It was explained that in fact the future (good luck or bad luck) comes from our own minds. If we think that today is our lucky day, then we will get a lot of pleasure and happiness, and vice versa. Just sharing.
Hi Erwin,
And I’m glad you are sharing!
What your read really rings true to me. You see what I write about and teach I’ve seen it in action my whole life, so there is no mistake. You do bring about your own luck, for sure.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts 🙂
It’s funny you said that your subconscious doesn’t understand negatives. I personally never even heard of the law of resistance (attraction, yes – resistance, no). But I remember from my teaching days someone telling me that your brain never hears “no”. So when you say to a kid “don’t sit” all they hear is “sit” and so they do the exact opposite of what you want. I learned to turn everything into a positive, and of course that doesn’t mean making everything sound “good” and positive, it just means leaving out the negative words as modifiers. To your point “I don’t want a white car” is not as helpful as saying “I want a blue car.” I also go through this with clients.
Sometimes we design a logo and I ask them what they want and they give me a litany of what they don’t want – I don’t want anything dark, I don’t want anything big. Ok, great, but what DO you want??
I practice speaking and thinking without negatives quite a lot. It’s pretty hard sometimes! But I agree with your point here about resistance words and even about resistance actions. I’ve experienced it working and it has a huge impact on how I feel about things. Thanks for sharing, I love this concept!
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Ah Carol I love that comment full of your own experiences on the subject.
Don’t you get annoyed by those clients with a list of I don’t want? I’ve seen that many times, I so know what you talking about. Concentrate more on what you do want and less on what you don’t 🙂
Great practice you’ve got going on. Trying to eliminate negatives and speak only positive. I know it’s not always easy, but what an up-building exercise.
Thank you for your great input, Carol 🙂
This is a great article because we often think in terms of the law of attraction, and at the same time we are not listening to ourselves as we are thinking and speaking words of resistance. I’m going to really listen to myself today and see if I’m using some of the words you mention.
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Hi Galen,
Great, I love that. Yes, starting to listen to ourselves, our thoughts, our words… is so important to be able to move forward and progress in this area.
Thanks for coming 🙂
It can affect one’s life so many ways… I think it depends on the people’s personality, how they react to these effects.
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What a lovely post!! The essence of this post is one of its kind. I never even happened to read something about the law of resistance. I was always of the opinion that negative words must be avoided, but wasn’t aware about the concept of law of resistance. The illustration is self explanatory and made the idea of the post crystal clear. After reading this post I realized that few words spoken in the positive direction has a lesser impact than one word spoken in the negative direction.
Hello aayna,
Yes, negativity at any level is to be avoided as much as possible because it does create resistance. However, I’m not saying that one negative word or thought has more weight than a positive one, no, it’s more about how often you think or speak one way or the other.
Thank you for your feedbacks 🙂
Hi Sylviane,
I love your explanation that the subconscious is a computer. I would add also that is is likened to a “small child” in that it believes everything that you tell it. So therefore, if you are always thinking of negative thoughts, the subconscious will not be able to discern whether that thought is “good” or “bad” for you. It will just believe it, hook, line, and sinker.
Also, affirmations should always be given in the positive. Everything that you mentioned above is absolutely true. If you want to change something, you must first reprogram yourself into thinking of it in the positive sense, otherwise you will be just perpetuating the negative belief or place of “less than”.
One more point, since everything is energy and all thoughts are in fact energy, there is an interesting concept to consider, which is “self sabotage”. Sometimes, despite all of our best efforts, there is something within us that continues to hold us back. This can exist on the physical (not losing weight) or emotional (not getting over a past hurt). In EFT therapy (emotional freedom technique) this is referred to as a psychological reversal.
I bring this up because it is important to understand that despite our desire to want to turn our thoughts in a more positive direction, there is sometimes an energetic resistance to this. This can be overcome though, and the ultimate lesson here is to go within yourself to understand why you are in the current situation that you are in.
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Hi Liz,
Yes, you’re right on everything and this post alone was not mean to cover ALL topics, but I do have posts talking about “self sabotage” and “EFT” among many other topics related to the theme of this blog.
I do appreciate your thorough comment, though. That’s how I love them. Thanks for coming by and, please, come back 🙂
I definitely plan on coming back. Your topics are very thought provoking and ask the big questions. 🙂 Glad to add to the conversation.
Hi Sylviane, very interesting post. I guess we can deduce from this that the universe out there is a very simple thing that doesn’t judge good from bad, right from wrong, less from more. In thinking about it I suppose it’s us that’s assigned those values to things based upon our experiences but at the highest level there is no good or bad or even right or wrong – it just is.
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Hi Roz,
Yes, you are making a very good point. While there is such thing as doing bad things at human level, at a higher level it could just be “it” in a way.
However, that is in no way an excuse to do bad things, such as hurting people, for example, and for this we have a barometer called the “conscience” that let us know.
Thank your great feedbacks 🙂
Negativity will just kill any motivation you have to do anything worthwhile with your life. Instead of saying you can’t, think about WHY you can, and act on that. Resistance to everything will just make you unhappy in the end. Thanks for the wonderful article.
Hi Sylviane,
This post of yours really had me pondering. I agree, the law of resistance, I have been affected with this for many times in my life, and most of those times, it’s not a good thing to implement it, even if we are not aware we are doing it to ourselves. There were times I have problems that I do not divulge to others, even to my own family, so I guess there were times I tend to behave irrationally and rudely to other people when they talk to me, because I keep my problems bottled up inside me until I burst up in anger. However, when I came to a state when I began to trust a select few, I confide in them and even if they just listen or give some advice, I feel a little bit better. When we learn how to let go, no matter how hard it is or how painful it is for us, in the end, we can feel peace and tranquility within us.