Emotional Detox: How to get rid of toxic emotions

The concept of detoxification is familiar to us. We are aware that toxins can build up in our bodies and, over the years, can also cause damage to organs and cells. For this reason we worry more and more about what we eat and we carefully inform ourselves about the substances contained in food.But toxicity is not a phenomenon limited to the physical level, there is also a mental toxicity. When we are accumulating tension and stress every day, when we maintain negative attitudes for a long time, when we feed unfounded worries and when we remain immersed in negative emotional states, we are creating and maintaining toxic thought and relationship patterns that will eventually show us the bill. Therefore, it is important to resort to the emotional purification.

The 5 toxic emotions that accumulate day after day

First, it is important to note that emotions are not positive or negative in themselves. Emotions are simply a reaction and, as such, they indicate something. The problem arises when we fail to manage them and they become permanent emotional states. Only then, by cumulative effect, do they become highly toxic to our mental health.
1. Anger. Anger has a positive side because it is an emotion that gives us the strength we need to protect ourselves and survive. However, it is especially bad when it becomes our usual way of reacting. In fact, did you know that anger increases the risk of suffering from a heart attack by up to 75%? Anger is an emotion that keeps our bodies constantly boiling, and prevents us from finding the inner peace and tranquility we need.
2. Resentment. Resentment is the inability to forgive, to go beyond. When we experience resentment, we are tied to a past event, to which we attach such importance that it continues to affect our present behavior and causes us emotional pain. If we feed resentment, with recriminatory thoughts, it will grow until we take away our peace and we will turn into bitter people and perpetually angry with the world.
3. Sense of guilt. Guilt is one of the most negative emotions that exist, because it doesn't keep us going and keeps us in a vicious circle of regrets and remorse. When we give free rein to negative thoughts about our abilities, when we pity ourselves by crying on ourselves, or when we draw conclusions that are completely out of context, which make us feel the only ones to blame, we are fueling emotions that can lead to nervous breakdown.
4. Dissatisfaction. A certain degree of dissatisfaction can be positive, because it pushes us to change and improve. But when dissatisfaction becomes a chronic state, when we feel no pleasure at all and nothing satisfies us, we lose the ability to enjoy life. At that point we are assailed by despair. When a person focuses only on what he is missing, he loses the ability to enjoy the present and, as a result, life slips out of his hands.
5. Fear. Fear is an emotion that warns us of danger and keeps us safe. However, when it becomes a common response to the most varied situations, it becomes an obstacle that holds us back and limits our potential. Some people are afraid of life, and do not dare to take a step for fear of failure, in these cases fear becomes a limit that prevents us from fully enjoying things and keeps us in a perpetual state of anxiety.

The process of emotional cleansing

The emotional cleansing process is very simple. It does not plan to plunge into the past and it is not even necessary to look for the causes of certain emotions, because the goal is to reach a state of inner peace, letting go of the emotions that have accumulated for various reasons. In the process of emotional cleansing you simply become a conscious observer of the emotions you are feeling. - Becoming aware of the emotions. Daily life is so hectic that we often accumulate emotions without realizing it. Obviously, there are some that hurt more than others. Therefore, the first step in emotional cleansing is to identify emotions. It is therefore not necessary to adopt a particular position or to be in a quiet place, just pay attention to your reactions. Do you often react angrily to most situations? Do you always feel dissatisfied? Do you have feelings of guilt or resentment? If necessary, you can also keep a diary, a notebook in which to write down the emotions you have felt during the day and in which you also indicate their intensity. You will be surprised to find out how many negative emotions you experience every day. The interesting thing is that the process of researching and labeling emotions is already therapeutic in itself, because it allows you to look inside yourself and think about what you are feeling, thus removing weight from emotions. - Experience emotions. Our society has not taught us to manage emotions, but to hide and deny them. But emotional cleansing includes experiencing the emotions that harm us. Thus, you learn not to be afraid, to feel relatively comfortable with them, to take them as your own and, consequently, to take power away.During this step it is advisable to focus on one emotion at a time, using the visualization technique that helps you to leave. go the emotions as if they were leaves carried by the current of a river, through which you will learn not only to experience the emotion but also to let it go. In this regard, a particularly interesting study conducted at Harvard University revealed that when we experience painful experiences that we have not assumed, areas of our brain such as the amygdala, the fear center, and the visual cortex are activated. However, when people have accepted the experience, the greatest activation occurs in Broca's area, which means that the experience has transformed into a narrative experience that stops causing pain and suffering. emotions and labeling them helps us to assume them by subtracting the negative impact. Ideally, you should do this inner seeking process once a day or at least once a week.