Emotional junk.  Just like junk in the kitchen drawer, boxes in the basement, or clutter in the closets, our hearts can become the junk repositories of hurt, anxiety, fear, anger, or hate.  Old or new, these feelings (like physical clutter) can take up residence and affect our daily lives, impacting our finances, health and safety, time, and energy.  If you're ready to start letting go of some of your emotional junk you can begin to move some of that anxiety or fear by actually clearing out physical clutter.

Clear your stuff, clear your heart.  Because everything is connected, you can clear closets or empty drawers and visualize clearing and emptying your negative emotions, letting go of them too.  With every dated magazine, broken lamp, pile of unworn clothing you place in a box for donation, dumping or recycling, include an emotion you're ready to dump: offensive comment, hurt feelings, anxious worry, or fearful what if.  The action of actual cleaning can release an emotional hold.  And when the physical clutter has been removed, wipe out the drawer (with soap and water!) or mop out the closet (with soap and water) and say, "I'm cleaning out my resentment (fear, anxiety, etc) as I clean out this..."

The power of water.  Soak, bathe or shower.  And drink lots of water.  In her book, Soul Coaching, Denise Linn says, "...be aware of the cleansing and purifying aspect of water.  Visualize negative patterns and thoughts spiraling away, down the drain.  Imagine guilt, resentment, and fear swirling down through the plumbing."  And drinking lots of water gives you lots of opportunities to visualize negative feelings swirling down the plumbing -- just where they belong.  If you've ever experienced a body detox or cleanse you know that an important part of the process is drinking lots of water.  Water flushes out the impurities and toxins in our systems.  And because our emotions and feelings can get tangled up with our mental clutter and head games, drinking water can also improve brain function.  Try clearing your emotions by hydrating your brain.  

Note: I took a workshop from a noted gerontologist many years ago who said that foggy memory, word-finding problems, and decreased brain function were often associated with dehydration.  In nursing homes, he found that as soon as water intake increased, brain function improved.   Rule of thumb: drink half your body weight in ounces of water each day (e.g. weight 150 lbs = 75 ounces of water per day).

This week think of your emotions and feelings as a living, breathing organism, functioning better when healthy.  Healthy means plump and moist, not dry and wrinkled.  It means growing and blooming, not stunted and withered.  It means supple and flexible, not stiff and rigid.  And it especially means fresh and clean not soiled and messy.  Can you find time to give yourself an emotional cleanse this week?