Spring Mind Cleanse

​Spring is a natural time for cleansing and detoxification in Chinese Medicine. In my previous post, I presented simple ways to detox on a physical level. There are also ways to work on clearing your thoughts and emotions. Eliminating negative thought patterns can help to improve your outlook on life as well as reduce unnecessary obstacles that occur due to chronic negative thinking.
 
The tricky thing about working on this level is that your thought patterns can become so habitual that you may not be aware of consistent negative thinking. It takes a high level of awareness for a consistent time period to identify your most common tracks that play over and over. These are the tracks of self- sabotage, negative thoughts about yourself, about others, blame and criticism also fall into this category. The good news is we do have full control over what we choose to think about. 
 
I have a few favorite techniques that work well to stop negativity in its tracks. The first one is flip switching. With Flip switching, you have a list of thoughts ready to go that you can use to counteract negative ones. Say you often think about not having enough money (a very common theme for most people) You can identify a replacement thought such as “I always have enough. ““I have many talents and skills ““I enjoy the feeling of having enough money. “. Or you can choose thoughts that do not relate to the subject at all that help you to redirect your thoughts to something else completely such as “I love the feeling of riding my bike.” I love to see my kids enjoying themselves. ““I really enjoyed our last vacation.” You can use any subject that makes you feel better. You can list statements and try them on. Use the ones that work the best, which are those that help you to feel lighter, happier and help you to redirect your thoughts. 
 
Another technique, which works really well with things you may be struggling with is to ask yourself “What if this were easy.” “What if this were fun.” “What if this just worked its own self out?”  These types of statements help you to let go and ease tension in your body and mind that might be caused by repeating negative thought patterns.  It takes dedication and effort, but if you keep working at it, you will soon find yourself with less and less negativity that causes resistance in your energy field. You may not be able to accomplish 100% positive thought, but reducing the negativity by even 30-40% can take you a long way toward a more fulfilling and joyful life experience.