We often talk about the clutter in our homes and how it takes up space energetically! But have you thought of the clutter you may be holding onto internally?
When we experience emotions good or bad, and we hold on to that energy it can create discomfort within the body. This can show up as physical discomfort, anxiety, depression, stress, and unwanted feelings or states of being. Do you ever feel your throat getting all tense when you get upset? Tears that want to flow but instead you hold them in?
That is exactly what I am talking about! We can’t hold onto that energy or we will end up full of “clutter” preventing us from experiencing the joyful lives we are meant to live!
When we learn to channel our emotions and turn that energy into a different form, we can allow it to move through us and let it pass.
“Energy is neither created or destroyed, only transformed”.
Out of all the major organs and functions that the body can preform with out us even thinking about it, the breath is something we can control. We can manipulate it to excite us, or to calm us down. In sanskrit “Prana” means breath, it is our life force energy. When a baby comes into the world, the first thing that happens is that gasp for breath, and when we leave this physical world, we do so by exhaling our final breath.
The ancients believed that the more control we had over our breath through meditation and yoga practices, the easier it was to remain present in the moment and channel through those emotions so we could be free from discomfort, and experience a happier state of being.
Have you ever comforted your child, a friend, or a loved one when they were upset or experiencing a panic state? Do you often find yourself saying just take some deep breathes, lets calm down, just breathe?
I think we all have at some point. That is exactly where you can start to begin to use your breathe in your own situations. By simply just breathing and exhaling we can begin to calm ourselves and our thoughts so we can enter a state of response to the threat or emotion versus reacting to it.
Now, this does take practice, but it is extremely effective!
“When the Breath wanders, the mind is unsteady, but when the Breath is still, so is the mind still.” – Hatha Yoga Pradipika
Now what about the thoughts that create clutter in our minds?
What is that voice in your head saying to you? Do you believe that voice? Or do you recognize it isn’t you and if you take a step back and simply observe what it is saying perhaps you will recognize it is saying things that aren’t so positive and loving all the time.
Each day we have an average of 50-80000 thoughts, and we are consciously only aware of about 1% of those thoughts. Our thoughts have the power to create our reality and re-wire our brains! It is actually pretty amazing!
So this practice of mindfulness, and how we choose to speak to ourselves becomes so important to designing a life you love!
Mantra comes from the sanskrit language, it is made up of two words “manas” meaning mind, and “trai” an instrument or tool (for your mind). We can use mantras as tools to help with the clutter in our minds in a meaningful or meaningless way.
The ancients also believed that we could use mantras to connect with the invisible vibrational sounds of the universe. Repeating sounds creates a physical vibration.
Regardless of what type of mantra we are using, we need to be clear on our intention so we can choose the mantra that is best for the situation.
Perhaps you are a runner so a mantra such as “I have strong legs and can run like the wind” can be useful when you come to a steep incline and begin to feel discouraged.
Maybe each day you wake up you look at yourself in the mirror, right in your own eyes and say “I am beautiful, I am loved, I am amazing”. Or perhaps we want to connect to the vibrational sound of the heart, which allows us to receive and give love unconditionally. We can chant the sound YAM, to open up our heart centre and become more connected to giving and receiving.
Maybe, we just long to sit in stillness and quiet our thoughts, we can use a meaningless mantra such as SO-HUM to create a point of awareness, but it has no meaning at all. With any mantra or affirmation, know that your mind will wander, it is normal to do so, and when this happens and you become aware of it, simply bring your awareness back to the repetition of the mantra.
Be gentle, and be kind to yourself, as the ultimate goal is to remove the internal clutter that is holding us back from living a life we truly desire.
Using these tools is one action step we can take to move our energy and bring us back to being in the present moment.
If you are new to meditation and mindfulness practices I invite you to download my free 10 minute mini vacay meditation as my gift you!
Namaste,
Live Juicy!
Tarah Abram
