We’ve been talking for a while now about how important detox is in order to balance hormones and maintain optimal health, and how my Keto-Green® Diet provides a great foundation for physical detoxification.
Detox, though, is about much more than removing physical toxins from your body and environment.
Today I want to talk about the importance of removing the emotional toxins in your life.
Negative Emotions Truly Can Be Toxic, And In Fact Are Acidic!
Just ask the women in my hormone reset programs, who quickly learn they can not maintain a healthy alkaline state when they are stressed out or thinking negative thoughts.
And this isn’t a bunch of “la-la” stuff…research has shown that when you focus on the positives in your life, and appreciate the goodness in your life, that you will likely reap many health benefits. When you remove toxic emotions and bring more positivity into your life you can see beneficial impacts to your digestion, immunity, sleep, outlook, and mood, and so much more.
It can help you be more resilient, too, so that when things in your life become challenging you will be more able to cope.
And it can make you happier and help you maintain more positive relationships as well!
So What Can We Do To “Mentally Detox”?
FIRST, EXAMINE YOUR DAY, EVERY DAY
Gratitude Journaling: Take five to fifteen minutes and do some gratitude journaling every day.
Ask yourself the questions, “What am I grateful for? Where did I see the face of God today? What have I done to nourish my body and mind today? Where did I see love today?”
Meditated Reflection: And also, do a bit of meditated reflection by asking yourself, “What could I have done better? How could I have been more loving?” This is so tremendously healing and upgrading to our quality of life.
I am a creature of connection, so I always challenge myself at this time: “Was I focused on connection or disconnection during my day?” The answer to that might surprise you. So often, as we get caught up in negative emotions and all of the “things we desire” – and we forget all the wonderful relationships, moments and things that we have – we may even damage or lose our most precious connections.
As you reflect on what you are grateful for you’ll probably find that many of the things you write down in your journal are “external” to you…this is so awesome as it means that your connections are what give you the most happiness… Connecting with the special people in your life, nature, your faith, pets, favorite activities, etc.
Give “Mental” Thanks: I love how I can also mentally “thank” people during this time. Think about someone who may have passed, but was instrumental in your career choice or favorite hobby. Or, mentally thank an early mentor, or even that stranger who let you cut in line at the coffee shop one day! Picture them and how they made you feel, and thank them. It will make you feel great.
Write Thank-You Notes (and I’m not talking emails or texts!): I also like to write (yes, actually write) thank you notes to people at this time, to let them know I appreciate them, whether that is because of something they did or simply because of who they are to me. And let me just say that there is something very gratifying about sitting down with paper and pen in hand, and actually writing a well-thought out – from the heart – thank you note.
Gratitude journaling, meditated reflection, thank you notes, and mentally thanking people…all of these are great exercises for restoring positive energy all around you.
Taking time to express gratitude and appreciation, and focus, towards all the people in your life, whether that is a family member, friend, business associate…or your soulmate, will provide for those same rich thoughts and feelings to resonate back to your own heart.
And focusing on the abundance of what we have versus the yearning of what we still want is so incredibly powerful to how we think about our lives…and ourselves.
NEXT, IDENTIFY THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS TO YOUR HAPPINESS!
We all have psychological barriers that prevent us from moving forward and working to optimize our health and relationships.
I have found a large percentage of people “see themselves” in a negative fashion, in some way. Either they are too fat, or too thin. They don’t see themselves as “enough” of something…social enough, pretty enough, vibrant enough, or sexy enough. They may have a health issue or symptoms that they’ve just “accepted as their new norm” versus trying to get healthier through lifestyle changes.
How Are You Feeling About Yourself Today?
To help address this “negative self attitude” I developed a Positivity Self-Assessment Questionnaire (PSQ). I have used it in my many hormone reset programs, including my Magic Menopause masterclass, for years. You can download a free copy here.
I believe that when we get in touch with how we really feel about ourselves and the world around us, it helps us to confront our issues and deal with them better. So, if you are feeling fat, maybe due to your eating a lot of sugar or white stuff, you will have low scores on your PSQ. But imagine if you eat healthier for a few days and take a walk each day…you’ll see your scores improve.
Believe it or not sometimes I have a program participant fill out the questionnaire for the first time with zeros all the way down the line! So many of us have developed emotional boxes and boundaries…lots of negative self-talk…which can spiral into incredible negativity (even depression)…and impact your health, happiness and vitality.
But I have found that saying these affirmations each day will help you embrace them. Your mind and body will start believing in you. You will make better decisions. You will see a difference and become more happy, joyful, content, social, productive, friendly and focused! Really! Try it for a few weeks and you will see what I mean.
It is simple to do. Each day you will rate yourself on how you feel about each of seven affirmations. The seven affirmations are:
- I am happy and joyful
- I am content
- I am energetic
- I am productive
- I am social and friendly
- I am alert, my mind is focused
- I feel good about my body
Use the PSQ to measure your progress in choosing positive thinking over negative self-talk and toxic thinking...
DETERMINE WHERE YOU WILL POINT YOUR FLASHLIGHT
My dear friend, Dr. Srini Pillay, has a wonderful visualization for how to live your life focused on the positives in your life.
He uses a flashlight, and says, “Think of attention as a flashlight. If you start to feel increasingly negative, say to yourself, ‘I think it’s time for me to take the flashlight and direct it somewhere else.’ I encourage you to ask yourself, every day, ‘How much of my day was spent with my flashlight on negative things? How much of my day was spent on positive things?’”
He realizes life can hit people with all kinds of challenges and disappointments but encourages people to take control of their flashlight, to redirect it to live a life of abundance.
If you’d like to hear more of Dr. Pillay’s beautiful wisdom about unleashing the power of your brain, here is a lovely podcast he did with me recently…
Bottom Line: Live With An Attitude Of Gratitude
Try a few of the “mental detox” suggestions above and see how they make you feel. And stick with it… it will improve your outlook, your sleep, and your overall health.
I also suggest embracing these three things each and every day:
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Nature – Go for walks! Enjoy what God has created for us!… When was the last time you watched and reflected on how amazing the bees are! They work together in perfect harmony and pollinate the world’s crops…without these tiny creatures, we’d soon run out of food!
- Nature – Go for walks! Enjoy what God has created for us!… When was the last time you watched and reflected on how amazing the bees are! They work together in perfect harmony and pollinate the world’s crops…without these tiny creatures, we’d soon run out of food!
- The people you love...of course!
