Toxins that affect our body, mind and spirit come in many forms.
Physical toxins from environmental pollutants, pesticides, chemicals and metabolic waste directly compromise the functional condition of our cells, tissues and organs. Mental toxins, on the other hand, affect our health indirectly through the nervous system. Mental toxins are negative thoughts, beliefs and behaviors that poison our mind and create stress, mental discomfort and unhappiness.
Every day we experience positive and negative thoughts in our mental environment. Every day our mind filters negative thoughts, providing way for mental detoxification. However, when there are too many negative events in our lives, our brain is overloaded, constantly trying to process harmful thoughts. In this case we need to help our brain to activate mental detoxification.
Regular mental detoxification needs to be an integral part of living a healthy lifestyle. First of all, we need to keep mental toxins to a minimum by not allowing them to reach the brain in the first place. It’s very important to keep the mental environment that surrounds us healthy. Very often we overload our brains to the maximum with work, stress, deadlines, multitasking and social media. Mental and emotional toxicity builds up and we immediately go into stress mode, feeling tired, exhausted, and unable to relax, or we feel agitated and excited, extremely tense and, again unable to relax.
The current research identifies twelve chronic conditions that are directly linked to mental toxicity: asthma and allergies, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, fibromyalgia, hypertension, irritable bowel syndrome, migraine headache, phantom pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, rheumatoid arthritis, skin conditions (especially eczema and psoriasis) and ulcer. Negative thoughts and emotions usually worsen these conditions, whereas positive thoughts and emotions, together with mental detoxification, improve these conditions.
Mental toxicity is triggered by problems with relationships, jobs, finances, illness, family, immediate surroundings, and other challenges. A lifestyle that people are forced to live in, that is not aligned with their true beliefs and values can also bring high stress levels, resulting in mental toxicity. One sign that you need mental detoxification is when you begin to feel hopeless, overwhelmed or burnt out.
In order to implement effective mental detoxification, we need to bring into our minds positive thoughts, humor, feelings of gratitude, intellectual games and spirituality, that have the power to ground or transform harmful thoughts. Hypnotherapy, meditation, relaxation techniques, inspirational reading and notes of gratitude or empowering statements facilitate the function of natural mental detoxification. Some of the best mental detoxification strategies include abandoning social media for a period of time, finding quiet solitude for reflection, ensuring that you are where you want to be, exercising, eating healthy, loving yourself, and giving and helping others.
