Want to Heal? Detox Your Home... and Yourself
"If you don't take care of this the most magnificent machine that you will ever be given... where are you going to live?" -Karyn Calabrese
Are you on a course of healing? Making your way on a healing journey? Are you trying to get a better handle on your physical and mental health and overall well-being?
One of the areas often overlooked when moving to a healthier lifestyle is where we live... our home, whether it be house, apartment, RV, or some other structure. We sometimes overlook the issues that are right under our noses.
This article showcases five areas in your home that may need detoxing in order to help facilitate and elevate your continued healing and health (with additional resources listed at the end).
How to Detox Your Home
1. Detox Your Pantry. There are so many bad foods lurking in your pantry -- and I'm not talking about all that old, expired stuff you haven't gotten around to dumping.
Eliminate (or greatly reduce) your use of: refined sugars, corn/sugar syrups, overly processed foods, bleached flour, bleached rice, inflammatory oils (corn, vegetable, canola, sunflower, cottonseed, safflower, soy), factory-raised foods (veggies, fruits, meats).
If you want to avoid as many pesticides and Roundup in your food as possible, buy from local providers doing it the right way and/or buy organic. Buy meats and eggs from local providers.
2. Detox the Chemical Use In Your Home. People introduce a LOT of chemicals into their homes; are you one of them?
Eliminate all unnaturally-scented soaps, detergents, fabric softeners, air fresheners, scented candles, and deodorants. If you want some fragrance, use essential oils or live/cut flowers.
Eliminate all caustic chemicals, including: drain cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners, bleach, rat poison. You can clean just as effectively with vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice.
3. Detox the Chemical Use Outside Your Home. Are you one of those folks with luscious lawns, gardens, foliage?
Eliminate all chemicals, including pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, and fertilizers. You can still have a nice lawn (though it seems really unnecessary), flowering shrubs, and a happy garden -- all without the use of toxic chemicals. Use natural replacements, such as manure for fertilizers.
Eliminate all excess caustic chemicals in your garage: paint thinner, propane tanks, antifreeze, and windshield wiper fluid. Make certain all containers are tightly sealed.
4. Detox Your Electronics. We can be prisoners to our screens, right? How much time are you spending on your laptop, tablet, phone, television, or game station?
The first step to detoxing is logging just how much time you spend on each device -- whether for work or play. This step alone may be enough to shock you into action and reducing your screen time.
The second step is examining how much time you spend on ALL social media platforms. Next, you need to review the types of interactions and connections you have on all these platforms -- and whether these are positive and healing connections or negative ones.
Finally, make some changes to clear out the negative time-suckers in your life. Replace screen time with community (family and friends), walks/hikes in nature, reflection/meditation/prayer, and other positive activities. Another good option is limiting all electronics in the bedrooms -- not just for the screen time, but the EMFs from all the wireless electronics, as EMFS are potentially dangerous.
5. Detox Your Prescriptions. If you are taking a number of different prescription meds, you really need to take a look at why you're taking them and any side effects or other interactions among them.
Ready to be shocked? Americans filled almost 4 billion prescriptions in 2020 -- nearly 13 prescriptions for every man, woman, and child in the United States. According to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), nearly two-thirds of all patient visits to physicians result in one or more prescriptions.
Be your own health advocate and be wary of polypharmacy -- the simultaneous use of multiple medicines (some definitions say 5 or more) by a patient for their conditions. Polypharmacy can land you in the hospital... or worse.
Let me add that if you are on any antidepressants or anxiolytics, you really need to do your research on whether these drugs are helping or hurting you. They were never meant for lifelong use, only for temporary relief of symptoms.
While you're detoxing from all these chemicals and pharmaceuticals, let me put an idea into your head for future research: intentional psychedelic medicine work. Many of our ailments can be traced back to past trauma, and psychedelics help us find a clear path to healing and recovery -- with work.
Final Thoughts on the Importance of Detoxing
You can't heal without detoxing. You have to clear and clean what you eat, breathe, consume... how you live. You have to be committed to a whole-life detoxing -- foods, chemicals, people, devices, prescriptions.
One author states: "The average home contains 500-1000 chemicals and toxins, most of which you are unable to see, taste, or smell."
Finally, one healthy element to bring IN to your house: Consider keeping several purifying indoor plants, such varieties as Spider Plants, Snake Plants, Rubber Plants, Elephant Ears, Peace Lilies, Pothos, and English Ivy.
Additional Detoxing Resources
Dr. Randall Hansen is an advocate, educator, mentor, ethicist, and thought-leader... helping the world heal from past trauma. He is founder and CEO of EmpoweringSites.com, a network of empowering and transformative Websites, including EmpoweringAdvice.com.
He is the author of the groundbreaking Triumph Over Trauma: Psychedelic Medicines are Helping People Heal Their Trauma, Change Their Lives, and Grow Their Spirituality and the well-received HEAL! Wholeistic Practices to Help Clear Your Trauma, Heal Yourself, and Live Your Best Life.
Dr. Hansen's focus and advocacy center around true healing ... healing that results in being able to live an authentic life filled with peace, joy, love. Learn more by visiting his personal Website, RandallSHansen.com. You can also check out Dr. Randall Hansen on LinkedIn.
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