Have you ever considered how the simple act of eliminating clutter can be so uplifting and motivating?
How about an annual spring cleaning, and why is that such a ubiquitous concept that gives us so much satisfaction?
It is well understood that eliminating clutter and distractions have significant positive effects on our mood and well being.
Why not explore a little mental uncluttering yourself. My recent meditation Spring Cleaning of the Mind, may be just the thing to help.
Diving a little deeper into mental clutter, let us consider how it can be so destructive. I am sure you have heard of the saying about rose colored glasses. This is where we look at experiences in a positive light, seeing the silver lining in the dark clouds. Unfortunately, many of us do the opposite and apply a greyish filter to our experiences, recalling or predicting negative outcomes. This negative bias creates limiting beliefs and feelings of unhappiness. So not only do we have mental clutter but often that clutter is very unproductive.
Now consider how we rehash and carry around all those internal feelings and experiences:
In our minds we experience limiting self talk that creates a noisy feedback loop of negative mental chatter and clutter. This in turn, causes us to second guess our actions and be overly concerned with the opinions of others; thereby impacting our happiness, health and productivity.
And in our bodies, negative energy can manifest in discomfort, tension, pain and ultimately sickness. We even represent this through our language like "my heart aches" or "I feel a knot in the pit of my stomach".
As a personal trainer I can tell you that many individuals carry around a lot of things in their bodies and that there is a deep connection between how we move our bodies and how we feel and our inner state of mind.
What I have experienced in my practice of mindfulness, meditation and movement is that through regular practice and some introspection, you can actually identify negative energy and eliminate those things from your mind and body.
By identifying beliefs, feelings, thoughts and energies that don't serve you and consciously allowing them to be released, you can significantly improve how you feel, act and think. Creating space in your mind and relaxation in your body gives you immense power to be less reactive, more contemplative, more resourceful and to generally feel better.
If you would like work on your own mental decluttering, feel free to visit MindSpanse.com and explore spring cleaning of the mind and our other guided meditations. Subscribe to our Website and YouTube Channel for our latest Guided Meditations.
No matter what mindfulness or meditation resources you use, I encourage you to practice regularly, without judgement or expectations, and just enjoy the experience. You might just be surprised by your own internal powers to heal, grow and learn.