Spring cleaning: Ideas to detoxify the home, the body & the mind
Spring is here (!!!!) and it's a great time to do some spring cleaning.
For several weeks we've been tackling our basement. What has been a storage space where we put things we don't want to deal with is going to be half mama's yoga space and half Memphis's play area.
Eventually this will be Memphis's play area
Would you believe me if I said this was progress?
Believe it or not this is the same space. You might recognize it from YouTube. I just don't show the rest of the basement. :)
Do you have a space in your house where things go "to die"? A closet or a spare room? Maybe yours is just a junk drawer. I feel like most of us have an area dedicated to "I don't know WTF to do with this so I'll just stick it here."
Our bodies and minds are the same way.
We have some old trauma or built-up stress and we don't want to face it and deal with it so we just stuff it into the junk drawers of our body. Often, this is the hips. But depending on what your stress is it can also be hiding in your shoulders or your belly or your hamstrings or ... anywhere, really. Only you can identify exactly where you stuffed it away.
It's not fun to sort through. Nobody wakes up in the morning saying, "OH JOY I THINK I'D LOVE TO DIG UP SOME OLD TRAUMA TODAY!" Well ... I can't speak for everyone but I know I don't.
Just like I don't ever wake up thrilled to go through our basement.
But it's a necessary means to an end. When the basement is finished it will be a functional space that brings us joy instead of anxiety. I'll go downstairs with excitement instead of dread.
And when I spring clean my body and mind, I meditate, contemplate, move and even look in the mirror more freely. A weight is lifted away and I feel light. Like I can walk on clouds with the Care Bears.
Here are some ideas to help you detox this spring in your home, your body and your mind.
Twist it out
Twisting postures help to detoxify the body by massaging your organs. This week's yoga flow is a 25-minute twisting sequence to help you declutter your body.
Journal
I express myself best through writing. Journaling is the most intimate form of writing. For me, it's a tool to sort through the baggage I'm carrying in my mind and make sense of it so I can let go of what doesn't serve me any longer. The key here is that we have to sort through it — otherwise we'll just stuff it into a junk drawer.
Smudge
Every season I smudge the house. I do it in between too, when I feel like we could "clear the air" — literally and figuratively. For those who aren't familiar with smudging: You light a sage stick. I open the windows and make sure to go into every corner of the house. Sage is known for its healing powers, and its smoke is used to cleanse and heal the person or object being smudged.
Purify
Ever since Memphis was born, I've turned into kind of an essential oils nut. With him around I'm more aware of products I use in the home and on my body. I've been adding the Young Living Purification blend into our diffusers and I also put a few drops on cotton balls in the diaper genie. It's a combination of Citronella, Lavandin, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Myrtle, and Tea Tree that can help purify the air ... and makes it smell fresh and clean (even a bag full of poopy diapers lol). This oil is reasonably priced — if you aren't a Young Living member and just want to buy this oil, send me a note and I'll help you out!
Meditate
I'm a yogi and I'll admit that I don't meditate as often as I could. I tack it onto my yoga practice but I don't have a solid meditation practice on its own. I have before, but somewhere along this journey I seem to have gotten away from it. This spring I'm committing to picking it up again. Just five minutes in the morning — that's a commitment I can keep. And guess what!? There's an app for that. Actually there are several. I just downloaded one that my friend Paul recommended called Calm. I also like Buddhify (a free option). I also went to a 30-minute community meditation with Paul and would like to explore more group/guided meditation settings.
Are there ways you're spring cleaning this year that I didn't mention? I'd love some more ideas!