Enjoying emotional health: Benefits of detoxing our mind

Polluting our mind with toxins can lead to problems that affect our mental and emotional health. Toxins such as hatred, criticism and violent thoughts can escalate into rage and fury. If we live in such an angry frame of mind, it can lead to emotional problems. For example, anger and rage affect our relationships with family, friends, neighbours, co-workers, and even strangers.

When we light a match of anger, it can quickly escalate into a raging, out-of-control fire. When others react to our anger with their negativity and rage, we become hurt and upset. Thinking that we have done nothing wrong, we cannot understand their reaction to us and why the relationship has taken a downward turn. We could have found a calm and peaceful way to work out a problem rather than letting it burst into flames, leaving us emotionally scarred.

Consider the effects that intolerance, prejudice and bigotry have on our emotional and mental states. We become filled with disdain towards people who are different from us—whether it is how others look, act, or the language they speak. This creates barriers between people and ruins relationships. Our mind then pigeonholes people into stereotypes. We enter a cycle where we either avoid people or lash out at them for being different. When we interact daily with many people who are different from us, it is hard to get through a day peacefully.

Think of the effects that lying, deceit and hypocrisy have on our mental and emotional state. When we try to hide the truth, whether in word or action, or pretend to be someone we are not, we are filled with the toxins of fear, anxiety and even panic. We are always worried about someone finding out the truth we are trying to suppress. If someone were to find us out, there may be consequences. Our integrity and reputation may be destroyed. Even if we tell the truth in other situations, people will be suspicious. Thus, we enter a tailspin of anxiety, fear and panic that keeps us mentally and emotionally upset.

When we worry about the past or future, we may become so obsessed with those thoughts that we lose the ability to function normally. We cannot focus on our work, loved ones, or health. Some people enter into depression and cannot function in day-to-day life. Becoming so consumed with regretting a past we cannot change, or inventing scenarios that may or may not happen in the future, we become emotionally upset. If we take any other toxin—such as greed, ego, envy, jealousy, attachment, possessiveness, selfishness, or desires—we can trace its effects to emotional and mental pains.

If flooded with greed, our mind is in a state of conniving about how to get more or to take from others. This can affect our relationships if we see others as sources of supply for our greediness rather than as human beings to love and cherish. When filled with ego, our thoughts, words, and deeds are consumed by trying to boost ourselves higher than others. This can mar our emotional relationships with others when they are hurt and when we treat them as our inferiors. These conflicts between people affect our mental and emotional state.

Attachment to our possessions at the expense of our relationships can result in interactions that cause us mental or emotional pain. If we treat people as if we own them, it can result in reactions that create barriers and distance between hearts.

Mental and emotional benefits of detoxing our mind
 

Imagine waking up each day to the sun shining through a blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. A clear lake reflects the colours of the sky. A garden of fragrant flowers delights the senses. Gentle fountains bubble into streams that flow through the garden. Joy fills us. Our mind is calm. Our spirit is filled with happiness and love. This is our natural state of mental and emotional stability.

We can live in this peaceful state by detoxing our mind. It does not mean that life won’t throw us challenges. No one can escape those. But when we learn to detox, we can deal with them in a way that does not put our mind and emotions into turmoil. We may be aware that we have a problem, but we don’t let it affect our emotional and mental balance. When we learn to detox from these poisons, our mental or emotional pain will reduce. We will then be on the road to stability and a life of happiness.

Becoming consumed with regretting a past, or inventing scenarios that may or may not happen in future, we become emotionally upset. Take any other toxin—greed, ego, envy, attachment—we can trace its effects to emotional and mental pains.