Keep getting lighter and brighter and freer.
This is part three of a 4-part series about how to clear clutter from the inside out.
Here’s part one, where you can get oriented to this topic.
And now, here are four more types of inner clutter and how you can get started with clearing them today.
1. Family Issues and Ancestral Patterns
We all have inner clutter that didn’t even originate with us.
While it’s always a good idea to approach inner work with kindness, compassion, and non-judgment, ancestral and family issues are an excellent reminder that such challenges are not your fault. But, because they have been passed along to you, you can choose to see them as your responsibility.
There is freedom in recognizing a challenge that comes from old family dysfunction and ancestral programming. That recognition gives you the power to unravel, unwind, and eventually heal that challenge.
You can start by looking at your childhood and your relationship with your parents and caregivers: not as an excuse to blame anyone, but as an avenue to gain clarity. Did you receive unconditional love and support? If not, what were the conditions you tried to meet in order to receive approval? Did you feel lonely, unseen, hurt, or alone? When, and by whom? What type of support would you have preferred to receive? What would have better helped you to thrive?
Always allow yourself to feel the feelings connected with how you were treated growing up. If you were mistreated or neglected in any way, there will certainly be anger and sadness. Remember that feeling your feelings is not a sign of disloyalty or ingratitude. It’s simply a sign that you are alive. Everyone has a right to their feelings, whatever those feelings may be.
Besides, denying your feelings doesn’t make them disappear. It just keeps them stuck. It’s only in feeling your feelings that you allow them the space to move, change, and eventually dissipate and disperse, like cloud patterns in the wind.
Once you’ve given yourself the clear message that all your feelings are welcome to be exactly as they are, you can compassionately examine and investigate the patterns that your parents and caregivers were operating under, as well as their caregivers before them. In your family’s past, there have been all number of tragedies and upheavals. You don’t have to fully understand all of it. You can just open your heart to your family and ancestors, feel your interconnection with them, and send them compassion, gratitude, healing, and love.
Light a candle. Announce, to yourself and the Divine, that you are willing to feel and heal old ancestral and family patterns and pain. Then pay attention to your dreams and intuition, send compassion to your ancestors and family, and continue, every day, to be willing to heal.
2. Stagnant Energy and Energetic Blocks
Radiant, harmonious personal energy is a vital prerequisite to a healthy mind, body, and spirit.
That’s why I’m more likely to leave the house without brushing my teeth than to leave the house without tending to my personal energy field: cleansing my aura, balancing my chakras, and calling on Divinity to surround me in a shield of protective light.
When you get in the habit of tuning into your personal energy field regularly, you will begin to sense what you need. Perhaps you need to engage in some gentle exercise, to drink more water, or to get more sleep.
Here are some other ideas for taking care of your personal energy field:
- Take a sea salt or Epsom salt bath
- Go for a walk outside
- Breathe deeply, even just for a few breaths
- Laugh deeply or cry deeply
- Garden or stand barefoot on the earth
- Eat fresh fruits and vegetables
- Work with crystals or gem elixirs
- Spend time with flowers or take flower essences
- Spend time among the trees
- Listen to music or dance
- Take a yoga class or engage in another kind of sacred movement practice
3. Mental Ruts and Emotional Routines
Our minds are mind-boggling. It’s kind of hilarious how impossible it is to fathom the complexity of our very own selves.
Still, it’s safe to say that (A) we get into mental and emotional habits and routines, and (B) we have significant power and ability to change those habits and routines. In the case of (A), neuroplasticity can be a burden. In the case of (B) neuroplasticity can be a blessing: the key to setting down that burden and getting free.
So, for example, you may be in the habit of feeling anxious about social interactions and overwhelmed with your everyday schedule. If you do nothing, you will probably continue to feel this way, and those patterns in your brain might even get stronger over time. But if you get proactive, it is conceivable that you can actually change these conditions over time.
So, staying with the above example of social anxiety, the next time you feel that way, you can notice your shallow breathing pattern. Then you can choose to place a hand on your heart, send yourself compassion, and take one deep breath. You can remember that everyone feels socially anxious sometimes, feel slightly less alone in your experience, and then take one more deep breath. Then you can shift the focus from yourself to the other person: how are they feeling, and how can you help them feel more comfortable? With one more deep breath, you realize you’re in a much different – and better – headspace than before.
If you keep up with this habit, over time, you’ll likely start to welcome social interactions rather than fear them.
Make a list of your unpleasant mental ruts and emotional routines and plan some similar proactive strategies for changing the patterns.
4. Past Life Issues and Vows
Do you believe in past lives? I do.
If you don’t, you can skip this one. But if you do, I will tell you that I have found great value in examining past life patterns in order to heal them. All number of recurring challenges and issues in this life can have roots in a past life. Some of us even took vows of celibacy, or poverty, or swore we would never (could never, should never) love again.
While most of us don’t have past life experiences stored in the front of our memory banks, we can access past lives that are relevant to our present challenges through simple meditations like this one.
Learning about past lives is not only interesting, it’s also a practice with a wealth of potential for healing and empowerment. Once we gain clarity on why and how a particular issue began, we can give ourselves compassion for going through the original challenge, feel our feelings around it, unwind it, and let it go.
P.S. Each and every one of these types of inner clutter often show up in my Akashic clearing work, which I would love for you to check out here.
Did you like this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts and realizations below.
Enjoyable reading! Thank you
Barbara, yay! Thank you for letting me know you liked the post.