Spring Cleaning

You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present.

-Jan Glidewell

People like “stuff”. We tend to hold onto it year after year. We save and stock up on things that we don’t know what to do with anymore. Maybe we keep things because they hold precious memories of days gone by, or they remind us of our parents, grandparents, past loves or childhood. To part with these precious possessions seems out of the question. A wise mentor, Katie Graham once told me you have to throw out your holy socks to make room for the new. There's a lot to that metaphor.

I never knew how much I had that I didn't need until recently. Since Cheybees passed, I have been living between two apartments. The majority of my belongings are in the old home I shared with Cheybees and my housemate Tatum while the stuff I use daily is in my new home with Stephen. I really never knew how much I had that I didn't need until this experience. This realization has been a blessing. I now know what I require and what is actually excess. Excess is going to be sold at an upcoming yard sale and anything that doesn't sell is going to be donated. I am clean-sweeping the excess in my life and making room for my happy and healthy future! Clearing your space annually, otherwise known as spring cleaning is a great way to say goodbye to your past and refreshen and revitalize your life. With the birth of spring, it's time to welcome the new energy of your happy, healthy future!

For good mental and physical health, we actually have two “houses” that need to be spring-cleaned: our physical homes and our physical bodies. Just as we accumulate “stuff”-in my world it's old Yoga Journals, ticket stubs, clothes and chotchkies that I really don't need, - our bodies also accumulate old food residues and toxins that need to be cleaned out.

To spring clean your body, give it a break from rich and complicated foods by either cleansing or fasting for a short period of time. Cleansing means paring down your food to just simple fruits and vegetables, lots of water and perhaps whole grains. Fasting means limiting most foods and drinking lots of water, fresh vegetable and fruit juices, teas and soups. Without much energy going toward digestion, more energy is available to the rest of your body and mind. Cleansing and fasting can sharpen your concentration, help you gain insight and promote spiritual awareness. It can also bring improved immune function and better digestion.

While you’re cleaning out your body and home, don’t forget to spring-clean your heart. Throw away negative thought patterns and habits you’ve been harboring that no longer serve you. If your heart and mind are cluttered, there is no room for life’s gifts and surprises to enter. A clean, open heart will allow you to receive all the good that awaits you each and every day.

Keep it Fresh! ~Terra