Who doesn’t love spring and the blessings of new beginnings as we clear our homes of clutter and cleanse our bodies from the stagnancy of winter? At this time of year we hear a lot about detoxing and cleansing the body through colon cleanses to kidney, liver and gall bladder flushes. I myself have done many cleanses and felt the energetic and physical benefits. But as we enter into spring I ponder, “What is it that I need to cleanse the most from my own being?”
I have certainly polluted my body over the years with substances that were not in the service of greater health, whether in the form of alcohol, sugar, caffeine, copious amounts of red meat, processed food or even drugs. However, the most potent of poisons, the kinds that continuously leak onto my Soul, are my toxic thoughts.
Thoughts have great power. Thoughts have the force to create or the force to destroy, to increase our vibrational frequency or stagnate it. Thoughts create emotion and emotion creates a discernible physical response. The human body has a measurable electromagnetic field and it is well documented that emotions, generated by thought, have the power to shift the vibration of that field. We know this through our own bodily experiences.
When we are happy and joyous we feel light, almost airy in our presence, vibrant. We even reflect this in our vocabulary. When we are sad we say we “feel heavy with depression”, or “drowned by grief”.
It was clear to the ancient yogis that when the energetic body slowed down, when the vibration of energy neared stagnancy, that the physical body suffered, often manifesting in the form of mental or physical illness or dis-ease.
As we make preparations this month to cleanse our body of chemical and biological pollutants, why not also cleanse the mind and heart of the toxic thoughts that leave a tacky residue on our cells, lower our vibration and our ability to feel into the full vibrancy of spring?
However, I should forewarn you, this is a not 7-day, 14-day or even 30-day miracle cleanse. This is a commitment to daily cleansing. However, if you are like me, hourly cleansing is often needed on those tougher days! But the true power is in our own choices. The thoughts we choose to hold will, and always will, impact our perspective on life, effect how we feel and how others interact with us.
If you need help clearing out tough, grimy thoughts, many spiritual teachers agree that experiencing the feeling of gratitude and love are your greatest workhorses. The emotional charge of this dynamic duo can counter the heaviest of bitter thoughts.
It is important to start with something you can truly feel grateful for because the power is not only in the thought but also in the high frequency emotion that the thought creates. For a long time, I was so saddened by loss the only thing I could feel grateful for was my pet. I still had many beautiful things to be grateful for, and I knew this intellectually, but I couldn’t feel it. My life sucked. Or so I imagined. But in the comfort of my little companion my sadness softened and I could open to gratitude.
Even after years of practice, I still struggle at times to get into the feeling nature of gratitude. It’s a process for many of us that are trying to work through old pains, but the best advice I was ever given was to start small. And don’t ‘should’ on yourself. Meaning, don’t focus on what you should be grateful for but what you actually are grateful for.
Here is a short re-centering meditation to help you.
- Sit comfortably with your spine tall and close your eyes.
- Drop your awareness down into your heart, the home of gratitude and love. Bring into your heart one thing you truly feel grateful for. Begin with what you have, what you can connect to, and get into a place of breath.
- Take full, yet easeful breaths that are smooth and equal in length. So if you inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 4 counts.
- Imagine, feel or sense your breath stoke and give more life to your gratitude, to your love. With each inhale, experience it expanding in all directions. With each exhale feel it sustain itself.
- Continue for at least 5 minutes.
- And be sure to pay attention as the power of gratitude and love can dramatically alter your vibration and therefore your ability to transform your energy, your body and your life.
As you clean out the thoughts and emotions that weigh you down, you’ll create space for newer, higher vibrational thoughts. With this extra room in your heart ask yourself,
What do I now choose to feed my mind, body and soul?
This becomes the opportunity to choose differently.
