According to Gary Null, PhD, “We live in a society that always wants more.  But with ‘more’ we get more tension, more fear, more disease.” We must not only detoxify our bodies, but our minds. We must detoxify our minds by making our lives more simple…clean out the “dead wood.”

A great way to clean out dead wood is by practicing meditation. You say…”Ok Martin…I am not into any type of religion.” That is not what this is about. Meditation is pure and simply a form of mental relaxation. We are so mentally overloaded on a daily basis and often we do not take the time to do a daily detox of our brains. Meditation is a simple and quick way to de-stress. It is a great way to mentally and physically relax. So much of the stress and tension we experience on a daily basis comes from our mind. Many of the problems we encounter, including disease and illness are caused by stress.

Go to a quiet place in your home and sit with your eyes closed for 10-15 minutes. You can sit in a chair or you can assume the “lotus” position with your legs crossed. Breathe in and out deeply and slowly, only focusing on happy, peaceful thoughts.  Just the deep breathing alone will calm your body and your mind.

Meditation calms the mind, thereby allowing you to become more focused. When you are more focused, your ability to manage your time will improve. Improved time management decreases stress. Decreased stress yields increased productivity. You see how this can be perpetuated.

Concentrate on visualizing a beautiful light or someplace that you have visited in nature that was peaceful or serene. For some this might be a rain forest…for others it might be a scene at the ocean. For some it may be a star-filled night in the middle of the desert. Whatever you visualize, focus on it single-pointedly with each deep breathe for a count of 25 breathes, or until all the negative thoughts have left our minds.   At the end of this, your mind will be clean and pure.

Perform these breathing exercises at a relaxed and steady pace.   Do not force anything. You might feel that as you meditate, your mind becomes busier, however it is you just becoming more aware of yourself.  Whatever you do, do not force yourself…when this happens, you naturally tense up and defeat the purpose of your meditation atmosphere.

Creating this type of mental exercise without invoking any religious base is an empowering way to mentally detox and clean out the “dead wood”. Isn’t it about time you cleaned out some “dead wood?” Ask yourself…when was the last time you detoxed your mind?