It a great idea, isn’t it? Detox the mind. Reduce the clutter. Our minds create everything we experience; why not give it a little Spring Cleaning? Since it’s Spring now (officially), I thought it would be a great time to knock out some cob-webs.
Tim Atkinson thinks so too, so he posed a little challenge on Facebook (video here) that I heard about through a friend who was doing it, who heard about it from… well, facebook (it is a social network kids.. who knows how many people it went through before I found it :-D ). The challenge outlines a few things that could be quite effective at said Spring Cleaning. So here’s the list; I’ve changed it a bit (but not much) to better suit me:
For 30 days -
1.read something uplifting & empowering for 20 minutes everyday
2.no tv for 30 days – including movies (unless it’s something outrageously inspiring or educational – like the secret, discovery channel, or what the bleep.. you get the idea)
3.only listen to positive & uplifting music – nothing about hoes, loosing your dog, your girlfriend, or your girlfriends dog. Only things that make you feel good and have lyrics that match or no lyrics at all!
4.no newspaper or “news” for 30days – Now news is relative to me; I’m not going to read anything cnn… in fact I’m going to go clean out my rss feeds… facebook doesn’t count in my book (unless you have really negative friends :-) – and if so block them… which leads me to:
5.only associate with empowering and positive people – this one could be tricky as it requires a keen awareness of how people ‘feel’ or how you feel around people. If the person at the gas station is grumpy, and I say hello to them, that’s ok, – we’re talking ‘engage’ with, open to, etc. What does that look like in practice? Well, I will just have to see as I go along; it certainly will make me think more about who I choose to spend time with.
6.drink plenty of water – more than usual – I will drink 2-3 glasses every morning before I even eat anything to clear the way and cleanse my body, then of course a conscious effort to drink more during the day than usual.
7.exercise for 30 minutes a day – one word: GUNS. I’m in good shape, but not as good of shape as I’d like to be; this gives me a great context to hold myself accountable and take my body and health to the next level.
8.reflection by myself for 30 minutes a day – to me, this can be a lot of things; more than anything I see this as a time to consciously focus my attention on positive thoughts (like gratitude) and therefore spend that time in alignment with those high-vibration thoughts. Number 12 and 13 count against this time.
9.choose one day to not speak at all – fun! I might do two days of this; I might even go find myself a camping spot out of (gasp) cell and wifi range
These next items I have added just for me:
10. no drinking for 30 days – When I’m out, most people think I’m drunk anyway; it’s definitely a side effect of being as outgoing as I am. So why drink? It’s expensive, serves no purpose other than to loosen people up (and I’m already loose) or to do something they wouldn’t do sober (I’m all about decisions I won’t regret tomorrow) or being cool/fitting in (I’m an aquarius – fitting in isn’t my thing). Not to dis drinking (can be a ton of fun), it’s just not congruent with my intent for the next 30 days.
11. meditate EVERY DAY – In the book The “Ask and it is Given” by Ester & Jerry Hicks (the movie “the secret” was based off this book), Abraham outlines a number of processes to consciously create the life that you want through the law of attraction. Beyond all these processes, they note that meditation is the shortcut to it all; it’s explained that the natural state of a human’s consciousness is well being, and any result less than perfect joy is the result of resistance to that flowing well being. Meditation removes the mind (and therefore the mind’s resistance) from the flow, and like a cork being held underwater, as soon as one lets go, the cork floats to the top, as does your vibration. …I’ll take the shortcut.
12. write down and ‘be with’ 10 wins for that day, everyday – what an exercise in being positive this is! Imagine having a horrible day and still writing down 10 wins for that day; can you imagine the mindset change? Can you imagine the vibrational change?
13. write down what or who you are grateful for everyday – nothing says flying high like being grateful, and lets be honest, it’s not the ‘normal’ state most American’s exist in on a moment by moment basis. The purpose of this step is to consciously achieve harmony with that feeling of gratitude every single day; if there’s one thing I want, it’s to have more things, people and moments to be grateful for, so to achieve vibrational harmony with those things, I must be grateful (irony, huh? such is the law of attraction).
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So how was my day?
Today rocked! It felt really good to ’start’ something I knew was good for me that I didn’t ‘have’ to do. I had an excuse to stop what I was doing and reflect (felt amazing) and again, to stop and read (I love reading).
My first book in this 30 days is “If the Buddha Dated – a handbook for finding love on a Spiritual Path” by Charlotte Kasl. The book takes a look at what it means to be in a relationship and how it is a reflection of the self. The book is more about becoming aligned with what you want on the inside than it is about ‘finding’ love on the outside. I’m on page 52, and I’m digging the message.
I thought no tv would be easy as I don’t really watch it anyway; that is until one of my roommates pops in a horror movie while I’m downstairs in the kitchen (next to the living room)… I’m fairly sure limiting my exposure to horror films and requisite screaming applies to the cleanse… this might be trickier than I thought.
My exercise today started with 150 pushups before I went to sleep last night and continued today with a run (or ‘being run’ by our house Labrador ‘puppy’ Aspen) to the dog park and back… Aspen’s idea of a leisurely run is a sprint, so it was a great start indeed.
So there it is; day 1!
~Zachariah