The Necessity of Detoxing

A year or two ago, I participated in a 10-day challenge to cultivate space with spiritual teacher Thomas Hubl. On the fourth day of the challenge, he discussed reframing the challenging things in our lives as a means of detoxification. In other words, through the process of reframing difficult memories, emotions, and thoughts, we are detoxing. Interesting, right?

As someone who has been working with long-term viral and bacterial infections and post-viral activity for over a decade, I have found that detoxification is crucial for health and well-being. It plays a vital role in returning the body to homeostasis after an assault on the immune system and the lingering effects of infectious debris in the system.

But I want to be real here. Detoxing sucks. It's hard. When I finally get to intentionally detox my body (because I put it off as long as possible), it's like all the garbage in my system comes out sideways with claws. You may be asking, so why do I do that to myself? I detox because I know that I will feel so much better afterwards. Once the gunk is gone, I feel lighter, more energetic, and even more hopeful. There really is something powerful about getting it all out.

Detoxing comes in various forms. It can be a food detox, where you limit the kinds and amount of food you eat to allow your system to have more resources available to eliminate the toxins. You can detox through saunas, exercising, and sweating. (Check out the literature on the regular use of saunas for well-being – pretty compelling!) You can undergo emotional and psychological detoxes by acknowledging and working through stuck emotions. You can do a spiritual detox by going on retreat—silent retreats are one of my favorite things in the world! And let's not forget digital detoxing, which involves going offline for a period of time, allowing us to reset our relationship with social media, television, and the Internet.

As we say in the mindfulness meditation world (and so many other healing and spiritual arenas), your issues are in your tissues. So when you detox and allow the gunk and garbage in whatever form to exit your system, you powerfully move stuckness and lingering issues. It can be liberating.

Hubl's teaching got me thinking. We also carry lingering issues in families, friend groups, organizations, communities, societies, and all forms of collectives. Issues in our collective tissues, if you will. One need only to try to understand the U.S. political arena in the current moment to know that we've got lingering issues. And it seems that our collective problems only continue to escalate and grow.

As a society, Americans tend to be uncomfortable with dealing with difficulties. And that may be because we are not very good at it. We don't really know how to go about having healing conversations. We're much more likely to fight, hold grudges, and act passive-aggressively. We're so fragile and cast strong emotions (except anger) as weakness. That's my experience, anyway. Many of us were raised by people who didn't want to talk through emotions, pain, trauma, generational trauma, and the like. We'd rather push forward and hope the yucky stuff goes away. But it doesn't.

What if we reframed dealing with our collective difficulties by calling it detoxing, as Hubl suggested? Yes, detoxing sucks. However, there are numerous tools available to help us with collective detoxification. I am currently enrolled in a course with Thomas Hubl and the Pocket Project titled Global Social Witnessing Facilitation. In the course, we are learning how to be with the violence, disruption, and difficulty found all over the world that we now have life, unfiltered access to. How can we witness the world as it is without turning away or without over-engaging? How do we find the middle path? We can be present in the moment by noticing how we react to the difficult news of the day and mindfully acknowledging our somatic, emotional, and spiritual reactions and responses. Staying present isn't easy, and I'm noticing how easily I can turn off, turn away, and numb out. It's a defense mechanism.

There is something to feeling our feels, noticing our reactions, staying in our interiority instead of blaming all of the things outside of us for making us feel awful. Can this same mindful approach be applied to our social systems, inviting us to simply focus on our experiential reactions to challenging dynamics instead of running away, turning away, or sitting in dispassionate judgement?

Cultivating our internal lives allows us to be with life more fully because it frees up space and internal resources. If we don't do the inner work, our hurts, pains, histories, memories, and traumas consume so much space that we are unable to move beyond them, tune into those around us, and witness the world. Connecting and healing in community, if we all bring our suitcase full of pains and traumas with us, can be almost impossible. So how do we find a way to reconnect and heal together?

I advocate for cultivating our inner lives. How do you do that? Again, there are numerous tools and options available here. I am an advocate for mindfulness meditation. It supports us in sitting silently with ourselves and just noticing what is going on within us. It's a compelling technology for really knowing who you are. Therapy can be helpful with especially painful memories, grief, and stuck places. Coaching provides a mirror through interaction with a professional who is holding space for you and your goals. These are just three methods I’ve done in-depth, and they are not even the tip of the iceberg.

AI can help! I just went to Pi.ai and asked, "Pi, what are some ways I can cultivate my inner life and really know who I am deep within?" Here is Pi's response:

That's a deep question! Here are a few ways you can start your inner journey:

1.     Meditation: Spend some time in silence every day, focusing on your breath and observing your thoughts without judgment. This can help you connect with your inner self.

2.     Journaling: Write down your thoughts, feelings, and experiences in a journal. This can help you process your emotions and gain clarity on what is truly important to you.

3.     Self-reflection: Take time to reflect on your experiences, values, and beliefs. Ask yourself questions like "What do I stand for?" or "What gives my life meaning?"

4.     Mindfulness: Pay attention to your present moment experience, noticing your thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations without judgment.

Do any of these resonate with you?

Nice work, Pi!

Find a way to begin that resonates with you and that you can commit to. If the thought of doing this alone feels horrifying, fear not. You can do it in community. Pi suggests that you join a meditation group, go on retreat, participate in group therapy, or engage in meaningful conversations.

Cultivating your inner life begins the work of healing our world collectively. When we start to engage with our inner lives in this way, we become more open to and curious about other people's inner lives, and we seek deeper connections. And with that comes a desire to collectively detox and heal together.