What do you picture when you envision a detox? A lithe, beautiful young women grinning while sipping a forest green smoothie from a straw? Bountiful steamed vegetables and quinoa on a plate where a greasy burger used to be? These images certainly aren’t wrong, but they also don’t communicate the whole picture. While it’s true that leafy green vegetables, fruits and nutrient dense supplements are pertinent parts of a detox, food is only one component of what a detox truly does for you.
Consider what clean food does for your body. It flushes out toxins, rids your digestive system of any “stuck” matter, and makes it easier for you to function. This results in shinier hair, healthier skin, clearer thinking, and increased energy. Why? Because you’ve essentially removed any obstacles your body must overcome and conquer in order to return to its natural, beautiful state.
Our emotions, thoughts, habits, and behaviors are the same. Negative self talk, unhealthy habits and self sabotage can wreak havoc on our lives- but by detoxing our minds, hearts, and circumstances, we can really clear the way for change within ourselves. We’ve listed a few more unexpected benefits to detoxing below.
1. Release thoughts and emotions that no longer serve you
Just like sugar and excessive fat, we are constantly expressing and taking in thoughts and emotions that only damage us. They’re usually subconscious, brought on by deeply ingrained beliefs instilled in us from our childhood and adolescence- worse and moreover, they can be difficult to identify.
But in the clarity of a detox, we can take the time to self analyze what subconscious thoughts are causing us pain, fear, and doubt. Ask yourself these questions in order to identify toxic emotions, and rid yourself of them:
● Am I constantly comparing my physical appearance and professional progress with people online, or people I know?
● Do I believe that I am loved by my partner, family, and friends? Or do I secretly doubt it?
● Am I saying nice things to myself, or is my self talk negative and critical?
● Am I setting challenging, positive goals for myself, or am I selling myself and my talents short? Be aware and careful of these thoughts, as they can be more
destructive than “bad” food. We need to let go of and move on from what we can in order to detox our thoughts and emotions.
2. Create a more organized home and physical environment
It’s time to clear out the closets, junk drawers, and under the bed. The hidden clutter in our physical environment can actually contribute to the mental clutter in your mind- it symbolizes the objects we have been unable to let go of, the problems we have yet to approach, and the hidden conflicts inside ourselves we continue to ignore.
When we detox our bodies, we should also be addressing the components in our environment that need purging as well. We need to get underneath that bathroom sink, into that stack of mail and papers or the junk shoved in the guest bedroom and start throwing away what we don’t need. We can even organize the files on our computer, get rid of the social media we don’t use and delete old files off of our phone.
We’ll feel physically lighter when it’s all over, just like we do when we detox our bodies.
3. Cultivate healthier relationships
Are our relationships helping us grow or holding us back? Social connections are a huge part of our lives, so it’s important to take a step back from them to occasionally evaluate their merit. Though we have a capacity to love deeply, it’s not always the best thing for us. Everyone is on their own separate journey, after all, and we can’t expect them to be as diligent as we are when it comes to growth. Sometimes people are unknowingly hurting us, or stunting our growth.
