Feeling overwhelmed? between work, family and the stresses of everyday life, it can be hard to carve out time for yourself. You always seem to end up at the bottom of the priority list. But then if you do get some precious time away, a niggling feeling of guilt can creep in. Jobs you should be doing. People you should be looking after. You can end up ‘shoulding’ all over yourself, sabotaging your own alone time.
by Sara Gamal
When we are weighed down by our thoughts, this leaves us feeling disconnected from our bodies.
What does “detox” actually mean? It can be defined as a process or period of time in which we abstain from, or rid the body of, toxic or unhealthy substances. With this meaning, we usually understand detox as directly related to avoiding something we have been doing to our body: eating unhealthy food, consuming a lot of alcohol, taking drugs or other substances, etc. We are also our personal judges of what we call ‘normal’ behaviour and we ourselves must be the ones to judge whether we are in need of a detox.
As we go through each day, our minds become cluttered with thoughts that can leave us feeling foggy and unclear. When we are weighed down by our thoughts, this leaves us feeling disconnected from our bodies. On the other hand, when we take time to cleanse and detox our thoughts, we can reduce the emotional charge to a situation, feel less cluttered and fragmented in our thoughts, and feel much more present generally.
Some of the ways in which we can create change within our brains is through our:
Thinking (Beliefs and Attitudes)
-Emotions (Mindfulness and Resilience)
-Behaviour (New Healthy Habits
Also, it’s important to remember that as humans we are emotional and sensual beings and that means being able to play out and ‘sit’ with the full spectrum of human emotion, even the perceivably negative or ‘bad’ emotions.
We don’t think that we ever get truly comfortable with emotions like sadness, resentment, jealousy, anger, rejection or rage, but we can make peace with them being an inevitable part of our everyday experience. When we try to reject or disown these parts of our emotions, then we are rejecting and disowning these parts of ourselves.
Not judging ourselves for having an emotion, even if it is one that may be perceived as bad
Ways to detox your emotions:
-Movement is a great way to bring emotions to the surface, for us to move through the body and release – in particular, movement like yoga and running
-Taking time for introspection and alone time – this doesn’t mean cutting yourself off or removing yourself, but simply tuning in to when you might need time and space to process your emotions
-Not attaching too much to any emotion – be it good or bad
-Letting emotions come and go, knowing that tomorrow is a new day
-Not judging ourselves for having an emotion, even if it is one that may be perceived as bad
-Understanding that there is no such thing as a bad emotion, simply a message that requires our attention to be acknowledged and worked through.
Humans are social, tribal creatures, it’s ingrained in our DNA and has been hard wired for our survival. The people in our lives are often there because we’ve collected them on our merry way through life, but we don’t often stop to ask ‘is this person or relationship lifting me up and empowering me to be the best version of myself?’ Often, we end up in friendships, with partners and work dynamics feeling stuck and unheard.
We are those with whom we spend the most time, and experience shows that happy, successful people spend most of their time with other people who are happy and successful too. Ask yourself, are there any people or relationships in your life that are preventing you from stepping more towards the visions that you have for yourself? You might not be able to remove yourself completely from these, but in what ways could you limit time/interaction and conserve your boundaries around this person or these people?
Surround yourself with the people you love, know your values and focus only on the things that improve your mood.
Don’t put pressure on yourself to cut out anyone and everyone that doesn’t serve your best interests. Sometimes it’s not always possible to cut people out as they might be family or a friend we’ve had for most of our life. If that’s the case, you might limit the time spent around those people and put tools in place for the times where you do have to deal with them. Make peace with those who have come and gone from your life, either with them directly or if that’s not possible, then you might release them yourself through writing them a letter which you keep. Remember that each and every person in your life has contributed to your growth and evolution in some way, practice kindness to yourself, knowing that not everyone will be with you on your journey forever, some are here for a lifetime, some a season and some a reason.
Finally, you’re the only person who truly knows the things that’ll make your heart sing. But for me, the moment I decided to take care of my body (eating healthily, regular exercise, etc.), my soul starts to heal itself. Surround yourself with the people you love, know your values and focus only on the things that improve your mood.
A proud Egyptian girl. A dreamer. Translator. Writer. I’ve worked in the translation industry since I graduated in 2008. I see translation as a craft in itself. Born a storyteller, raised as a writer, and living the life of making these passions my reality.
I am a proficient Creative Writer for magazines and newspapers in Egypt; SHE HUB, Mamlkty Magazine, Al Masary El Demokraty Newspaper, and Al Haram El Masry News. I firmly believe that passionate dreamers create many of the things we enjoy in life. That’s why your dreams are important.