We hear a lot about detoxing these days. Have you considered an emotional detox?
People are doing food detoxes. They are detoxing their homes. Some people are even detoxing from their phones and electronic devices.
Are you missing out on one of the most important areas of your life in need of a detox?
If you are not sure if you need an emotional detox, this post can help you decide.
Why emotions need detoxing
Like anything else, unresolved emotions can pile up. Over time they start causing more and more trouble.
What is an unresolved emotion? In childhood you had little experience with the world. When something unpleasant or even traumatic happened, you didn’t know how to resolve the situation.
These unresolved emotions became stuck in your mind and body. According to Candace Pert, who wrote Molecules of Emotion: The science behind mind-body medicine (1999), emotions are stored at the cellular level in the form of neuro-peptides. Emotions from childhood are still in your body waiting for resolution. They are still affecting you.
Here is a minor example of how unresolved emotions get created. A young girl raises her hand in class. The teacher invites her to come up and put the answer on the board. On the way to the front of the room something happens and her mind goes blank. She can’t remember the answer. The teacher says, “Why did you raise your hand if you don’t know the answer?” The other students laugh at her. She walks back to her seat. She feels stupid, embarrassed, and ashamed. If these emotions are not resolved, they will follow her into adulthood. They can become limiting beliefs like “I’m not good enough.”
Keep in mind that this is a minor example. Unfortunately, many of you have more serious issues in your past.
Here are the 12 signs you need an emotional detox
1. You over react to everything. A comment or a look can leave you feeling hurt and upset for days. People tell you that you are too thin skinned.
2. You are emotionally shut down. Your emotions were so painful that you stuffed them. Unfortunately, you aren’t feeling many good feelings either.
3. You experience more unpleasant emotions (fear, shame, guilt, despair) than pleasant emotions (hopeful, happy, joyful, love).
4. You judge yourself a lot. You criticize everything you do. You rarely think anything positive about yourself.
5. Your emotions are stopping you from moving forward in life. When you think about making a change, fear and anxiety stop you in your tracks.
6. You had a difficult childhood. You can’t seem to let the past go.
7. You are not hopeful about the future. You can’t imagine a better future for yourself.
8. You are just slogging through life. All of your energy goes into making it through the day.
9. You feel that you have no control over your emotions. Sometimes a painful emotion seems to come up for no reason and you start feeling awful.
10. You feel stressed out all the time.
11. You are self-medicating with food, shopping, social media, games, or maybe even some more serious options.
12. You don’t have much fun.
How can you detox your emotions?
First of all, remember that you are detoxing emotions from your past, not your true emotions.
The poetry of emotion process can help. You won’t be revisiting any painful memories. You will be working with the language of the unconscious mind. Your unconscious mind communicates with you each night in your dreams. It communicates using symbols, metaphors, images, and stories.
An emotional detox may be the most important detox you can do.
Click here if you want to learn more about the poetry of emotion process. It’s free.
Check out my free report, “5 Lies You’ve Been Told about Health and Happiness”.
(Image: Vickie DeLoach)
