As we go into spring, it’s time to have a chat about detoxing; not just our bodies, but our minds too.
Before getting into supplements and detoxing herbs, it’s important to recognize one thing: What do we really need to detox from right now? What do we really need less of? Of course we eat too much and drink too much, but at the end of the day these are just externalities that happen as a result of internal triggers.
Detox from your own toxic thoughts and beliefs: get rid of the toxic mind chatter, those negative, diminishing thoughts that go through our heads.
The most poisonous and toxic stuff is what we carry in our minds: the fear, the jealousy, the anger, the thoughts of “I’m not good enough,” “I need to be better,” “I need to do more,” or “I’ll never get what I want.” All of that is toxic. The need to be perfect is one of the most annihilating and paralyzing trials in life. Perfectionism kills creativity. When you try to focus only on one goal and grow obsessed over perfecting it, you lose sight of everything else happening. You lose your ability to remain open and available to things.
Life is multidimensional, not one long straight line. It’s curvy and it goes in circles, it goes and comes back and plays around. When we try to straighten everything out, try to iron everything flat, we miss the opportunity of living an exciting reality; a beautiful state of being.
What toxic thoughts are you playing on repeat in your mind day in and day out?
We have to control our mind, so that we can direct it to light, clear, and more elevated pathways, instead of letting it drive us into a fog of dirt and confusion. We have to watch our minds, just like we would watch a young kid around sharp objects. We have to become vigilant so that it doesn’t just drift off in an endless maze of thoughts rooted in fear. Let’s rewire our mind circuits towards more exciting and joyful possibilities. We have to be our own activated-charcoal detox to absorb the toxic thoughts, and then flush them out of our psychological and emotional system.
Before becoming so concerned about cutting out sugar, dairy and gluten from our diet, it’s really important to detox from the mind chatter. That’s the real deadly poison that will eventually kill us inside.
Victimization
Often we stick to the negative, critical aspects of ourselves because, in a way, they enable us to feel justified in our sense of righteousness for feeling victimized and resentful. We also try to project the negative critical aspects of ourselves onto other people (lovers, relatives, bosses, and institutions) and in doing this we actually give them tremendous power over our lives. Truth is doing that only disempowers us and makes us lose our ability to deal with people and situations effectively.
Thoughts materialize into words and then not only are we intoxicated, but we intoxicate others and just like that, we all end up living in a poisonous cloud of negativity and weight.
Paralysis
Negative thoughts of self doubt, insecurity, and fear also paralyze us. All of a sudden we become petrified when it comes to pursuing our own life with a sense of authenticity and security grounded in our own abilities. This paralysis numbs our capacities to be productive, energetic, creative, independent, and confrontational in any possible way. When we feel paralyzed, we unconsciously try to heal ourselves by seeking a someone else (a friend, partner, relative)— who will always be understanding and supportive. But that’s not the solution; we have to become loving, understanding and supportive of our own selves. We have to show up for our lives now, and get rid of whatever is intoxicating our inner environment.
Open yourself to life, soften up, loosen your body, loosen the mind, and let experiences and other people happen to you. Don’t try to control and move everything around the way you think it should be moved and maneuvered. Be endlessly fascinated by life and to what is happening around you.
A Tip
We need an inner hold of things by concentrating on breathing. This can be performed consciously by simply breathing in and breathing out in a relaxed way through the nose. The more one concentrates on breathing, the more the external stimuli start to fade away into the background.
Detox Meditation
Sitting in a comfortable seat, close your eyes, and focus on your breath. Inhale and exhale saying the mantra inhaleLET , exhaleGO. You can even add this: inhale LET , exhale GO of anger, fear, and anxiety.