Photo by Marion Michele on Unsplash
Today’s guest post is from Trevor McDonald, a writer and recovering addict who has posted with us before and is writing for Sober Nation. He has tons of great insight for our health and well-being, including this piece on ways to cleanse your body and spirit – not just your living space. Thanks Trevor for getting us inspired!
When we think of spring cleaning, the first thing that comes to mind is organizing the house, landscaping the yard, and throwing away expired food in the fridge (just to name a few examples). That’s the spirit of spring cleaning, right? Of course! However, aside from housekeeping, it’s important to remember that our well-being can use some much needed emotional and physical cleansing or detox, too. This Spring, put self-improvement at the top of your priorities!
These are six ways you can cleanse your body and spirit:
Meditate daily.
In the midst of staying on top of responsibilities and obligations, we often experience a mental and emotional disconnect from ourselves. Taking a moment to meditate creates a bridge, and brings us to a deeper sense of self-awareness. If your default is to power through the day, slow down by carving out a bit of time to focus on you, your emotions, and current circumstances. As a result of intentional reflection, you are then able to put everything into perspective, prioritize the most important things, and prevent yourself from burning out. Plus, meditation is relaxing as a whole, which is a great coping mechanism for stress.
Replace bad habits with good ones.
Bad habits stem from either stress or boredom and do nothing except negatively impact our health. Instead of absentmindedly succumbing to your bad habits, replace them with good ones that are healthy or help make life more productive. For example, if you bite your nails out of nervousness or anxiety, direct your emotions towards another action such as squeezing a stress ball, taking slow deep breaths, or cleaning. Furthermore, identify the triggers that induce your bad habits and either avoid them or think of how to combat them in a way that is actually beneficial rather than harmful.
Do yoga.
Yoga not only strengthens your body and improves endurance and flexibility, but it can also nourish the soul. Like meditation, yoga enhances awareness of current emotions in addition to the physical since the practice requires us to move slowly through positions, take deep breaths, and ultimately find our center. Integrating yoga into an everyday routine helps you recognize the state of your body much more quickly, which can prompt you to take a step back from life and analyze why you are not feeling your best, like a spiritual cleanse. Additionally, yoga is an exercise that diminishes stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms by stimulating the production of dopamine and endorphin hormones.
Eat healthy (i.e. avoid the processed stuff).
Everyone loves a sweet treat or savory meal, but these things should only be consumed in moderation. Otherwise, you put yourself at risk of developing cardiovascular problems, obesity, and diabetes. Processed foods are manufactured with harmful chemicals and have highly addictive properties, making them a hazard to your health. Therefore, choose to mainly eat wholesome food and be mindful of the ingredients on nutrition labels. Doing so will increase your energy, prevent fatigue and actually prolong your life!
Reduce technology and social media consumption
We live in the age of technology: people are always texting away on smartphones or scrolling through their social media feeds. These habits aren’t necessarily bad things, but they can get out of hand! If you’re someone who checks your phone for email or notifications constantly, consider taking a technology and social media detox for a day, or even a couple of hours. Rather than texting friends or family, arrange to meet up with them in person! Putting your phone away can also open up your time to indulge in much-needed self-care, such as pampering yourself or picking up on a hobby. You don’t always want to spend the present moment behind a screen!
Practice forgiveness and learn how to move forward
We have all felt pain or inflicted pain on others from time to time; this is part of life. However, we must ask ourselves if we are still holding a grudge, or have not forgiven ourselves for past mistakes made. They both prolong resentment and bitterness. Clinging to these feelings creates anger inside of us, which becomes harder to heal over time. Resentment, bitterness, and hatred are completely understandable emotions to feel, but are exhausting to one’s heart and overall well-being. There’s no rationality in dedicating your precious energy and time into hating another person or yourself. You cannot change others or something you have done in the past, but you can control your own actions, move forward, commit yourself to better, more meaningful things, and learn how to stop being so self-critical and instead become forgiving, compassionate, and kind.
About Kelly Seal
Kelly is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, CA. She blogs about dating, relationships, personal growth and what "healthy living" means to her. You can follow her on Google+, Twitter @kellyseal or through her website www.kellyseal.com.
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