We all have an emotional washing machine inside that lets us clean out the emotions that don’t serve us and get a fresh start.
When I’m working, there are times when I come up against so many dilemmas, conflicts, and unexpected roadblocks. Every time that happens, I run my emotional washing machine and make an effort to become centered once more. Regardless of what I’m facing, when I’m completely centered, I feel the courage to keep moving forward and get new ideas on how to do that.
To keep that center, I also clean out my emotions regularly, before they get out of hand. Every night before bed, I run my emotional washing machine. Then my brain is free of emotional sludge as it processes my day as I sleep. Instead of those emotions being embedded in my subconscious, I wake up refreshed with a hopeful outlook.
The Emotional Washing Machine
So what is this “emotional washing machine” that I use? It’s simply the ability of our brain and body to release and clear emotional energy while replacing it with fresh, bright energy. Everything has energy, and our emotions are no exception. By removing the negative energy of our emotions, we no longer feel controlled by those emotions. Without that energy, or emotional charge, even if we remember an emotional incident or trauma, we won’t feel the same weight of our emotions we did at the time.
There are many different detergents we can use to run this emotional washing machine. The ones we use and the amount of time needed for cleaning depends on the number and strength of our emotions.
The key to running the emotional washing machine is bringing our attention inside ourselves—the deeper, the better. The more we’re aware of what’s going on inside us, the more carefully we can clean what we need to clean.
The awareness we direct inside us also brings something else. Our awareness sends energy to whatever it’s focused on. This energy has the flavor of whatever our intentions are. So as we look inside with the intention of emotional cleaning, that cleaning will happen more deeply and powerfully.
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I also do exercises for the third chakra to operate the emotional washing machine. Our chakras are the nodes of our bodies’ system of life energy, the kind of qi (chi/ki) energy described in Asian medicine. The third chakra (solar plexus chakra) is associated with our desires and willpower. When we can’t achieve what we want, we tend to hold stress and anxiety in our third chakra, and the energy there becomes blocked. Releasing this blocked energy calms us and opens the way for better energy flow through the other seven chakras in our bodies.
Around the area of the third chakra, we find major organs such as our stomach, liver, and kidneys. These organs tend to hold the emotional energy of anxiety, anger, and fear respectively. When we do exercises that clean the energy of the third chakra, the emotional energy in these organs gets cleaned as well.
Emotional Washing Machine Exercises
Here are some exercises you can use to run your emotional washing machine. Choose the ones that suit you best on any given day. You can use them alone or in combination as you focus on all the sensations you feel inside. Perform each exercise for as long as you need to feel calm, clear, and relaxed.
[Illustration from Brain Wave Vibration by Ilchi Lee]Organ Dancing
Bring your fists in front of your chest with your elbows up at shoulder height. Keeping your neck and shoulders relaxed, repeatedly twist your ribs and hips in opposite directions. Move as fast as you can, exhaling out your mouth and breathing through any discomfort you feel. If you feel very sharp pain, slow down your movement or massage that area to relieve the pain.
Get Bright Method (Joongwan Healing)
[Illustration from Water Up Fire Down by Ilchi Lee]
The Joongwan is an acupressure point in the center of the solar plexus associated with the third chakra. Tapping and pressing this point, along with breathing, helps to release energy that is stuck in this area. Follow the video below for an exercise sequence you can do for your Joongwan (Note: You can replace the Belly Button Healing tools I use in the video with a similar tool):
Vocalization
Speak whatever you feel inside. You can use actual words, or you can simply make sounds or speak in gibberish. Your voice is a powerful tool for moving energy and actualizing intention. Feeling all your emotions and physical sensations, vocalize until your inner landscape becomes peaceful and bright, and everything has become clear. Here is a Gibberish Meditation video to encourage you to speak your self without inhibition:
When we wash away our emotions with exercises such as these, we’re pressing the reset button on our lives. We can begin each new day, and even each new moment, unburdened by hurt or clouded by anger. We always have the means to feel lighter and brighter with our internal emotional washing machine at the ready.
Editor’s Note:
You can take group and private classes for emotional cleansing at a Body & Brain Yoga and Tai Chi center. Body & Brain centers offer online and offline classes based on Ilchi Lee’s Brain Education methods. Find a center near you at BodynBrain.com.
