Spring Cleaning For Mind, Body and Spirit
"Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions. ―Barbara Hemphill
When your home is cluttered it can feel like a bunch of “stuff” just hanging around that you’re not sure how to deal with, yet it’s taking up residence in your surroundings and distracts you on a daily basis. You haven’t made a decision to do anything with it, and you haven’t gotten rid of it, either.
It’s that in-between space that can tend to feel stagnant. And that stagnant feeling has an impact on your energy, mindset and well-being. Spring cleaning feels so good because it’s a way of becoming more clear, decisive and intentional, and clearing the indecisive, stale and ambiguous that is lurking around.
You may have noticed, physically clearing out clutter in your house seems to free up a lot of mental space too, right? But you can take that even further and intentionally clear out your mental and emotional space, too, for a holistic spring cleaning.
And, it doesn’t have to be a chore. Here are three steps to declutter your life this spring that will enliven your mind, body and spirit and help you start the season feeling more revitalized, vibrant and alive.
The question of what you want to own is a question of how you want to live your life. ―Marie Kondo
Step #1 Physical Decluttering: Clearing Out
As a coach, I always begin with vision. Without vision, there’s no direction and you find yourself reacting to life rather than moving toward what you really want. So when you start to clean things out from your home or office, it’s important to ask yourself, “Is this part of my vision? Do I love it?”
When you look at your space as belonging to the version of you already living your vision, you start to curate your life in a way that aligns to your dreams. By doing so, you are sending a clear signal to the universe, “This is who I am. This is how I live my life, and this is the type of environment I’m choosing.”
You will inadvertently start attracting more people, objects and opportunities that reflect your vision as you begin to actually live it. Decluttering your physical space is a significant step toward decluttering your mental space, which is step number two.
Clutter is not just physical stuff. It’s old ideas, toxic relationships and bad habits. Clutter is anything that does not support your better self. ―Eleanor Brownn
Step #2 Mental Decluttering: Releasing
If we’re being honest, the way we think is so habitual, isn’t it? A lot of the same thoughts that have been running through our minds in childhood are still running through our minds now. And it’s a huge energy drain when we’re trying to accomplish something new and the same old self-defeating thoughts keep stopping us in our tracks.
The good news is you have control over our thoughts. Sure, your subconscious has been programmed over the course of your life, based on the experiences you’ve had and the beliefs you’ve formed as a result, and there’s a strong gravitational pull to our familiar way of thinking. But once you realize that your thoughts are changeable, you can begin to reprogram your subconscious mind simply by choosing new thoughts and allowing yourself to feel how those new thoughts cause you to feel.
Because when you emotionalize a thought, your subconscious mind sees it as real. It takes it seriously. And the more you “wire and fire in” those new thoughts and feelings, the more you begin to naturally feel that way. It becomes authentic and automatic.
But you have to be willing to release the old patterns of thinking, just like you would get rid of old stuff from the attic. It may be familiar, but it’s just getting in the way. So if you want to feel more confident, self-assured and decisive, start thinking and feeling that way.
Decluttering your mind is a way of claiming back your mental space so that it reflects who you truly want to be. It’s rigorous, but with repetition it will stick, and you’ll realize that your self-doubt was never true, anyway.
Clutter smothers, simplicity breathes. ―Terri Guillamets
Step #3 Emotional Decluttering: Letting Go
Feelings can be addictive, because we interpret our most familiar feelings as a “comfort zone.” And a lot of the time they aren’t even good feelings! We’re just used to them, so anytime we want to venture into the unknown and try on a different emotion, we can get triggered in fear and go back to what we’re used to.
You may have experienced this with relationships. Maybe you found yourself in romantic relationships or friendships that reflect your family dynamics growing up. You might have wondered things like, “Why do I keep dating the same kind of guy?” But it’s just a matter of feeling familiar.
You have to be willing to let go of those “familiar” feelings in order to emotionally declutter, feel good and move forward in your life. Because your thoughts and emotions are not “truth-tellers.” They aren’t there to reveal something about who you are. They’re simply showing you where are right now so that you can make changes in order to think, feel and be who you really are.
When you’re willing to declutter your emotions and choose to feel differently, you’re free to be yourself, have healthy relationships and find the peace of mind you’ve been after on a very profound level. By decluttering your physical space, mental space and emotional space you claim back authority over your life and like an artist, have a blank canvas to create whatever your heart desires.