Detoxing for the body is pretty common. Our bodies take in so many things that aren’t good for us that sometimes we need to detox and get back to the basics. But, a lot of people don’t know that the same thing can happen to our souls. Our minds and bodies can both be filled with negatives and things that are bad for our health.
“Many health professionals identify depressive rumination as the root cause of unhappiness,” says Dr. Andrew Weil.
These are some signs to watch out for when it’s time to detox your soul, and how to start letting things go and getting your soul back in order…
Here Are 10 Signs Your Soul Needs Detoxification
1. You seek negativity
As the old saying goes “misery loves company”. When you find yourself scrolling through various news feeds or reading things that you know will upset you, then it’s time to step back and think about detoxing your soul.
“Negative people can drag you down over time, and you might not even realise it until it’s been happening for too long. It’s certainly worth mentioning that there’s a big difference between a negative person, and a person that happens to be going through a negative situation – so be mindful of that possibility,” says business mentor Bev James.
Turning off your device and connecting with people you love is a great way to stop seeking misery and feeding bad things to your soul.
2. You’re not mindful when you speak
Do you find that most of the time when you start to talk, everything you say is sarcastic? Do you tend to hurt people’s feelings or put them off without meaning to? That calls for a detox of the soul. You’re not being mindful of the things you say because you’re so full of negativity. Purposefully uplifting others and thinking of kind things can help with this.
3. Your friends don’t want to be around you
If you’re constantly giving off negative vibes, then it’s no wonder that your friends probably don’t want to hang around you as much. This is a major red flag that your soul needs some serious detoxing so that you can start connecting with your friends again. No longer seeking negativity and surrounding yourself with people who make you happy will do wonders.
4. You feel numb
Emotions are what make us human. No emotion is bad. Emotions are neutral, and it’s how we deal with them that make the situation better or worse. But when you start to feel numb, and nothing is either good or bad, it’s time to detox your soul.
“We treat the chronic pain with pain medication. We treat the insomnia with sleeping pills. We treat the weight issues with diet and exercise. And most damagingly, we may label soul loss as mental illness, such as depression, and cover up the symptoms with psychiatric medications that may make things worse by slapping a Band-aid on a wound that’s not healing underneath the bandage,” says physician, speaker and author Lissa Rankin, MD.
Therefore, getting in touch with all of your senses can kickstart your emotions back into gear and help you heal that wound underneath the bandage.
5. You enjoy other people’s misfortunes
Instead of feeling sympathy or empathy when things go wrong for other people, you find yourself being gleeful that something is going wrong for someone else for a change. How would you want others to react if you were in their shoes? Confronting the ugliness honestly is the best way to detox.
“The problem is that many bitter people don’t know they are bitter. since they are so convinced that they are right, they can’t see their own wrong in the mirror. And the longer the root of bitterness grows, the more difficult it is to remove.” – Craig Groeschel
6. Happy people annoy you
Being surrounded by others who are happy can make you feel even more miserable. You may feel cut off from your positive emotions.
“A trait that many happy people share is the ability to accept things as they are. While we don’t have control over everything that happens in the outside world, we can control what happens inside of us: how we choose to think, feel and react to those outside situations. The quality of our lives is determined by those very thoughts and actions,” says story-teller and copywriter Dawn Gluskin
Meditating and keeping yourself surrounded by a support system of people you love will help lift this particular negative feeling and help you detox your soul. Happiness should be contagious, not upsetting.
7. You don’t sleep well
Either you have a hard time falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up. Maybe you have nightmares that wake you up in the middle of the night. This is your soul trying to tell you that you need to detox, immediately. Meditation can be a great tool to help if you realign your soul and get you more sleep so you can feel positive during the day.
8. You’re always the victim
At least, that’s how you see yourself. You’re always the one who has been slighted, or someone has done wrong against you. If you find yourself in situations where you’re always being victimized, it might be time to take a serious look at your soul, and ask yourself: are you really the victim here? Maybe the negativity has just caught up with you.
“Negative thoughts give birth to negative words, which in turn create more negative thoughts. Train yourself to notice whenever you are thinking, speaking, or even behaving in a negative manner, and as soon as you notice it stop yourself and turn it around,” says author Dar Payment.
9. You avoid meditation or prayer
These activities are what force us to spend time with ourselves and our thoughts in our most honest and vulnerable moments. If you’re avoiding doing this, it’s probably because there’s something inside your soul that you don’t want to confront. Take it baby steps at a time and focus on meditating more and more each day until you can start the detoxing that your soul needs.
“Meditation soothes the soul. Turning inward is a beautiful way to clear away the muck of spiritual junk food. Listening to your internal wisdom is a quick path to shedding that which does not serve you,” says inspirational speaker and yoga teacher Rebecca Butler.
10. You’re always bored
Nothing seems fulfilling. Your hobbies don’t entice you anymore and nothing sounds fun. Your soul is in need of some serious detoxing so that you can start feeling emotionally connected to the things that you love again. Reaching out to your support network and getting in touch with the things you love again will be a big help.
Final thoughts
“When bad chemicals build up in our bodies, it causes a toxic overload. This can make us feel lethargic or even make us sick. In a similar way, negative emotions can build up in our bodies, too. This can weigh heavily on our minds, spirits and bodies when ignored,” say Dr. Eric & Sabrina Ann Zielinski.
Our bodies and our souls both need attention when it comes to negativity and things that are bad for us. Keep in mind these red flags if your soul needs a serious detox. It’s not just our bodies that can become sick – so can our souls and our minds.