One of my goals on the cleanse was to wake up each morning and do some light yoga and meditate. I haven't done it once during the past week, and tonight I came across the section of the Clean book with this post's title (page 178), and I have renewed my dedication to start this tomorrow.
Cleansing the mind is a critical component to cleansing your entire self. The connection between the body and mind are undeniable, and thoughts and emotions can be just as toxic as the things that we choose put in our body and on our skin. As Dr. Junger says, "Stressful thoughts find a pathway to the weakest part of your body and begin to disrupt functioning." When making the decision to do a cleanse, you are acknowledging that your body is not currently in a healthy condition. When we think about our bad habits, many times they are connected to our emotional or mental state. Commonly we don't treat our bodies well when we are stressed, sad or angry. Maybe some chose to do this cleanse because their minds or hearts were feeling a bit toxic, and this is a great way to start the process of clearing out fear, blame, sadness, frustration, anger, and any other negative emotion that we commonly store in our bodies.
During this time when we are noticing what we are eating and drinking, and aware of how we are feeling as a result, it opens up a door to cleaning our minds as well. An easy way to start a positive cycle is to realize that many of the things that we experience each day are beyond our control. We can't control what sort of moods our loved ones and friends are going to be in, we can't control if we are stuck in traffic, we can't control if our alarm clock didn't go off. However, we can control how we react to those circumstances. We have a series of choices each day, that we are making at each moment, and we choose how we are going to respond to our experiences.
It helps to stay centered if we start the day off with a positive outlook, in gratitude for all that we have. An easy way to do this is to meditate in the early morning. Five-ten minutes sitting quietly and repeating a mantra in your mind (Om, Peace, Patience, Love - any word that connects best with you) starts the day off calmly. If you don't meditate, maybe a prayer, and if that's not for you, it could be simply sending love and healing thoughts to someone who needs them.
So I am going to set my alarm earlier tomorrow so that I can start my day off right. But if my alarm doesn't go off, I will hopefully react in a peaceful manner. We shall see.
What are you doing to add to your body's cleanse? Skin brushing? Massage? Journaling? There is an entire list of suggestions on pages 188-189. Share some of your good experiences here!
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