Jen Hassaj
- Jun 14, 2023
- 4 min read

Toxic Emotions Part 3: 15 Actions and Strategies to Detox from Toxic Emotions.

Updated: Aug 25, 2023

How to Detox Ourselves from Toxic Emotions

As we learned in Part 2, Toxic Emotions can affect our health in numerous ways. Now I want to help you to see that there are things we can do immediately to change the effect that toxic emotions are having in our lives and begin to turn things around to a more positive side with all of the health gains that come with positivity.

Actions that we can take immediately:

· You have the most control over your life on your own home. You are able to choose who walks through the door, what music is played, what type of show is played on the television (or screen), what you read and what you let affect you. If you create your own personal sanctuary that you are able to retreat into after a stressful day where you can spend your time with positive minded friends, listening to uplifting music, reading a motivational book, watching light-hearted shows on TV or doing any activity that is stress relieving and helps you to realign your thoughts and emotions to the positive side, then you are able to reduce the risk of the toxic emotions taking hold of you.

· Laughter- laughter / comedy improves the immune system response and function and elevates our mood immediately.

· Exercise- a great tool when it comes to helping with the harmful effects of toxic emotions. There are numerous benefits to exercising, one of the best known is the release of endorphins (feel good chemicals) that especially help to counter the negative thoughts associated with toxic emotions. Aerobic activity lowers your levels of stress chemicals and allows you to better cope with negative emotions. It does not have to be a full workout at the gym, even a 15-minute walk outside will be beneficial!

· Talking about it with a good friend, family member or even a professional… reach out for help if needed, life is too short to be affected long term for toxic emotions.

· Focusing on positive thoughts and memories will displace the toxic emotions. You can’t stop thinking something, but when you notice negative thoughts or feelings creeping in, you can change your thoughts to something more pleasant.

Coping strategies to help deal with negative emotions appropriately:

· Try to not go over things repeatedly in your mind- this rumination blows things out of proportion. Instead maintain an attitude of gratitude where you are thankful for all of your blessings to help keep you balanced.

· Let go of the past. Constantly revisiting previous negative events will rob you of your present situation (good or bad) and continue to make you feel bad. Instead of lamenting over what you should have, could have or would have done; determine what you can and will do as you move forward.

· Try to be reasonable as bad things and bad feeling happen to all of us and are sometimes unavoidable, think instead of ways to make yourself feel better when they do.

· Take responsibility for your own feelings. Our feelings need to be dealt with rather than repressed. You feel the way that you feel, don’t make excused for being human. Words are powerful and we are able to harness that power to change our emotional state with a simple change of perspective about a situation. For example, if you are disappointed you can choose to say “I’m going to try again and be successful next time around” rather than “I failed and am not cut out for this.” This takes discipline to cultivate a perspective change, but is really necessary to allow us to counter toxic and negative emotions.

· Watch out for ‘hooks’ or the ways that others try to manipulate us. These hooks are aimed to get a certain reaction from us, to get us off center and to use us. These hooks are often striking us where we are sensitive so we are vulnerable to them. Listen to your gut, trust your judgement and avoid self-blame if you do react to them.

· Relax- use pleasant activities like reading, spending time with or talking to a friend, or taking a walk to change your perspective.

· Learn from previous encounters with negative emotions how they make you feel and also what triggers those feelings so you are able to prepare in advance. Eliminate the behaviors that result in toxic emotions.

· Identify the source of your feelings and avoid toxic people. It is said that we are the average of the 5 people we spend most of our time with, so choose those individuals carefully by seeking out positive ones over negative ones.

· Be patient with yourself. The world is full of negativity and toxic feelings will want to creep in at any moment. You can over time become conditioned to automatically detect and remove them but it takes time to achieve that ability. To start with try to identify the toxic emotions as they occur, then you are able to begin displacing them with positive emotions instead.

· Lead your most rewarding and complete life. Toxic emotions can’t take hold when we have a fulfilling life. Being immersed in a positive energy creates a toxic emotion repellant force.

We need to be sure to deal with toxic or negative emotions appropriately, as they can be damaging and even harmful to others or ourselves if we don’t - for example expressing anger with violence.

References: https://ww1.lifeplus.com/uk/en/wellness-centre/wpslug/toxic-emotions/outputtype/article#:~:text=The%20term%20'toxic%20emotions'%20is,lives%20or%20our%20mental%20wellbeing.

https://darrellkilcupdc.com/2015/03/how-toxic-emotions-are-making-you-sick-and-how-to-detox-from-them/

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/negative-emotions

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/about/community_health/johns-hopkins-bayview/services/called_to_care/recognize_cope_with_negative_emotions.html

https://www.shorelinemedia.net/white_lake_beacon/lifestyle/faith/overcoming-toxic-emotions/article_91316a6e-f133-55c6-850f-a4a18a60839f.html

https://rightasrain.uwmedicine.org/mind/well-being/toxic-positivity#:~:text=Toxic%20positivity%20involves%20dismissing%20negative,and%20a%20feeling%20of%20disconnection.

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