Spring Cleaning Came Early

Perhaps it’s just me, but lately, I’ve felt a big buildup of things.

For me, this energetic buildup begins in the Fall… when things literally begin to fall and I’m surrounded by the leafy accumulation in the environment. There’s also this physical desire to eat hardier foods, layer on the warm equipment, and tuck away into hibernation mode. The darker days, too, lead to an emotional and mental buildup.

Although there are beautiful aspects about the dormant months (a friend recently told me things aren’t dead; they’re dormant), I can’t deny that I get a strong desire to purge before spring hits the calendar. To get rid of all the excess; to start anew; to inject freshness wherever I can.

Today I woke up and decided: today is a day to purge! Ironically, the sun decided to shine bright today (a rarity recently), which really energized me to get to work done around the house (Michael knows this state of mine… he says I am in constant “nesting” mode).

Sharing a few of my personal tools for cleansing the home/body/mind. I’ll call these my REMOVE (minus) and ADD (plus) lists. Note these are general rules/guidelines I stick to.

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CLOSET/DRAWERS

• Remove all items I haven’t worn/used in the last 6+ months

• Remove all items I simply feel aren’t my style/don’t inspire me anymore

• Remove all items that feel overworn/stained/time to replenish

  Example: panties and pajamas

• Remove redundancies/reiterations of a type of item/garment unless I wear them all

  Example: I have five ivory cardigans but keep them all because I wear them all so much

• Condense multiple containers of the same thing into one container (or simply get rid of partially used items you no longer use/take up space).

*Tip: if you’re unsure to keep or get rid of something, try to store the piece a place outside of your closet and see if you miss it… often times, you won’t!

BODY

• Remove processed foods from your pantry/diet

• Remove sedation from your lifestyle — i.e., move your body daily (even if its a quick walk)

• Remove mouth toxins by tongue scraping and oil-pulling

• Remove toxins by sweating in a sauna/steam shower

• Add a good exfoliation and dry brush to your routine

• Add a celery juice to start your day (ideally with lemon and ginger)

• Add spa to your life — even if it’s a bubble bath at home followed by a nice massage with body oil.

MIND

• Remove information/content that is no longer serving you

  Example: social media follows, email subscriptions. mainstream news)

• Remove notifications on apps

• Remove time on screens (you can monitor/limit your screen time with setting features)

• Add journaling to your morning/evening (even The Five Minute Journal is great)

• Add a book you enjoy (novel or nonfiction is fine)