Purification

There’s no time to waste on linear thinking, mediocre living or half done projects. It's time to clean house and I mean ... now. 

There are so many distractions out there that, if we’re not careful, we will become so numb to pain, that we’ll morph into robots. Little robots who can’t formulate a sentence; who can’t look at someone in the eyes and can’t sit up straight because they are too used to looking down into an electronic device. We’ll have our phones tethered to our waist, a bluetooth in our ear, and eventually glasses on that hook us up to the Internet in a blink of an eye ... literally.

I’m sorry, but I think - and I could be mistaken - that we were born to feel. And to feel deeply. So, then why do we humans keep creating things that keep us from doing that? We have to stop.

What to do? Purify the vessel you are currently inhabiting. And since the body we walk around with all day, every day is dense, we may as well start there. Purifying the body. How do we do it?

Move your body.

Well, we start with moving it. I mean . .we are a society that sits so much it’s ridiculous. I read an article about ten years ago that said that most people of Sicily actually live to be 100 years old because they spend their lives outside, tending to their land. Moving their bodies.

Watch what you eat.

Because anyone can run, bike, sweat in yoga, and do a 1,000 sit-ups but it doesn’t mean anything if you’re putting unhealthy substances into your body. You’ll just have a food hangover and feel worse about yourself. I have come to subscribe to this. If you cleanse once ... I mean one really big, huge cleanse, and then eat food that will nourish your body and not contaminate it, you should be just fine. What does that look like?

Well, the list could go on and on … no sugar, no dairy, no white stuff, no caffeine, no alcohol and no processed food. For the love of God, no fast food and no GMOS.

Green juice ... every single day.

Turmeric kills everything. So does apple cider vinegar. Put those on lots of food. Buy local, organic food when you can. And when you can’t, read the labels and do your best. Drink water. Educate your kids about why you are so intense about this process - and why you give in sometimes, too.

Purify the mind.

Did you know that we have about seventy thousand thoughts a day? And, of those seventy thousand thoughts, about 1% of them are new thoughts. That means that we are running on a program based on old thoughts ... almost all day long. Not only that, but we only take about fifty thousand breaths in one day. So that means we have more thoughts in a day than we do breaths.

So how do we slow those thoughts down? We breathe slower without doing anything else while we are breathing. We watch the thoughts and we begin the self-inquiry process of discernment. Is this thought helpful? Is it kind and loving? Is it mine? Is this a pattern? Is the pattern working for me?

We run at warp speed, to be sure, and, honestly, I think we are all working on these patterns that, if we really stopped to look at them, we would realize are taking us away from what we want instead of moving us forward.

Look at what you are watching on TV.

Violent, dramatic programs ... not so good. The news... for the love of God, NO! We are drawn to drama and fear-based programs to … distract. What are you watching? Is it filling you up? How is it making you feel? What are you dreaming about afterward? If you must watch TV, pick only those programs that offer you solid information or make you feel good inside and fill you up.

Computer time.

Oh, that lovely, shiny box that promised us our life would become more efficient. Just like the microwave did. A devil in disguise. This thing is an evil necessity, so treat it as such. Do what you need to do and then be done. Create transition time in between this “work” and bedtime. Look at how much time you are spending on it and only do what is necessary. Set boundaries. This is about your energy and how you are using it. You’re not moving your body if you are on your computer or hunched over your phone.

Get up every forty-five minutes and move! Then at the end of the day, shut it down and read, practice yoga, write, make love. Anything that re-wires the energy input into your eyeballs and through your fingers.

Your phone.

Ok ... super-fun ring tones, tweet sounds and vibrational noises are unique to each individual. Whatever works, so you know whether the call coming in is important or not. However, it’s not important for you to answer your phone right away. It’s really not. Let the thing sit for a minute after the bell and then go for it. We are programmed to jump when that bell goes off. Stop it. I remember reading something about how fireman get all messed up in the head being woken up by those alarms and having to be prepared and ready to go in the blink of an eye. This is no different. Except... newsflash… there’s no fire you have to put out right this second.

Your friends.

Who are you hanging out with? What are their beliefs? What do they like to do? How positive are they about the world around them? How do you feel around them? And this may shift over time because you are changing. Let’s be honest, sometimes it’s just time to switch up your circle of friends. And everyone will be better for it. Look at how much energy you are inputting into the relationship and ask yourself if it is imbalanced. If it is, you have the responsibility to make it right.

Then, of course, there is purification of the heart. Now I had no idea that this was a book but, apparently, it is. I have never picked it up, on purpose. I wanted to formulate my own thing here. This is what I came up with.

The breath.

We were given this breath the second we were born and it’s the last thing we do before we pass on to the next life. The breath is the element of the heart. So then how do we go through so many of our days not taking gratitude for the breath? Not taking long, deep breaths. It’s a necessity for clarity, for health and for life. It creates space between thought and reaction. And you want that so you react from a place that is laced in truth and love ... not patterns.

Love.

Who are you loving? How are you loving? Are you showing them gratitude and appreciation? Are you loving them as they are and not trying to change them? Are you telling them that you love them without expecting anything in return. Random acts of kindness ... unnecessary love notes. That’s what I say!

Forgive.

What’s in there darkening your light? What is it? Someone hurt you, yes. We all get hurt. It’s part of life. It is life. Now what? Do you want to hold onto it and talk about it some more? How does it make you feel? There are many quotes on forgiveness and here’s the deal: the only person you are hurting when you don’t forgive is yourself. That’s it. I don’t care what it is ... forgive it. You needn’t forget it ... just forgive. Without understanding, without attachment to an outcome, without even needing to tell that person you are forgiving them. Just be right with it in your own heart.

In times of chaos it’s so easy to get caught up in the patterns, the energy and the feeling that is swirling around you. Don’t do it. Stop, drop and breathe. Sit. Be still. Observe what you are doing and how you are showing up. That is the only job you have. From there you can function from a place that is real and true. Everything else is someone else’s path and you want to be on your own ... pure and simple.