3 Steps to Clear Karma
What is karma?
Simply put, the definition of karma is the law of cause and effect. It is the ancient understanding that the sum of each person’s actions, thoughts and words affects him or her in the future. This is sometimes called karmic debt, and it can create a cycle of trauma and struggle through which our spirit chooses to grow. Each of us carries our own unique karma, and the good news is that karma clearing is possible – this blog explains three ways to approach it in a simple, everyday way.
It’s important to understand that karma is a lesson our spirit has chosen to learn. It is not a punishment, even when it feels difficult. Karma clearing offers a sense of agency and personal empowerment that can help turn challenges into opportunities for new growth. The karmic lessons through which we choose to grow may be experienced over many lifetimes.
Although we in the West only recently became aware of the notion of karma, it’s been around for centuries as a fundamental tenet of Indian religious traditions.
To bring it up to date, modern research into neural plasticity shows us that every moment we experience consciously is conditioned by earlier experiences. Our brain keeps track of all this activity and its capacity to create new neural pathways is affected by our experience and our perceptions. These pathways map our personal memories, thoughts, feelings and habitual responses.
Why should I clear my karma?
Challenging or painful experiences often lead us to suppress negative energies. We don’t want to feel pain, after all. Yet when we suppress our feelings and energy, an imbalance is created in our energy field which, over time, can result in poor health both physically and emotionally. Those imbalances can also leave us repeating difficult experiences, getting stuck in the same situation over and over again. It could be relationship problems that recur, with the same or different partners. It could show up in recurring financial challenges, or simply in a feeling of powerlessness or victimhood that keeps you from moving on.
That’s a sign that it’s time to go to the root of the problem, to really clear the original wound or trauma that’s still rippling through your life. And that’s true whether the original wound was in this lifetime or a past life.
Clearing and rebalancing karma means we open up to more choice and more freedom in our lives. It offers a way to escape the stuck places in our lives and create new possibilities for the way we show up in the world.
And that’s not all – scientific research shows that actions we take to clear our karmic debt help both ourselves and others.
3 steps to clear karma
Here are 3 simple steps to clear your karma, that you can easily make a part of your day. Each one is nourishing to your energy, and helps to return you to balance throughout the ups and downs of your everyday world.
Gratitude
It’s easy to dwell on all the ways life is unfair on you. But doing that keeps you in a rut and attracts more negativity. Make a habit of finding small things to be grateful for. It could be that cup of delicious coffee, or the sun on your face, or the hug you receive from a friend. Finding gratitude will rewire your brain to appreciate all the ways in which the Universe supports you.
It's also a way to attract more abundance – whether of money, love, friendship or health. When we connect to the expansive energy of gratitude, we remember our own expansive nature and all the ways in which we are in relationship with others.
Turn fear into love
When you find yourself stuck in fear or anger, take a deep breath and release it with the outbreath. Find a feeling of love in your heart, perhaps for your child or pet or partner, and grow it with each subsequent breath until it grows bigger than the feeling of fear or anger.
Fear or anger aren’t wrong. They are natural emotional responses to situations where we feel threatened or under attack, and so at their essence they are protective. Because of trauma or past history, however, they can feel too big, and that’s when we react in a way that doesn’t bring healing.
When we learn to detach from the intensity of these emotions and transition into the heart-space of love, these feelings feel less overwhelming. We can then choose our words and our actions from a more centred, balanced space, rather than reacting from a place where we’re feeling triggered.
Forgive
When you hold a grudge, or a need for revenge, this will create a heavy burden on your energy. Remember that many people behave badly when they themselves are struggling or stressed. Release the burden of any lingering anger and feel the new lightness in your being as the energy that remained bound up in the grudge, is allowed to flow again.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean you consent to, or condone the behaviour that hurt you. It’s important to acknowledge that behaviour and the ways in which it affected you, and it’s also important to make sure you stay safe, avoiding people and situations that are harmful or abusive to you. But choosing to forgive is a really a gift to yourself as well as the person who offended you. We forgive to heal ourselves and others, bringing compassion and understanding to what has felt hurtful.
Karma rebalancing
Follow these 3 steps to keep your energy fields clear and free of karmic burdens. If you’re struggling with issues such as depression, anxiety, and addiction, reach out here for support with deeper karmic cleansing or rebalancing.
Finally, remember that all of these steps will support you to live a life free of toxic situations and old habits that no longer serve you, as you move towards a new life filled with more love, expansive possibility and new choices.