Who here likes 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. Like my kids' artwork. I have to keep each page, right? Or the shorts that are way out of style but will surely come back into rotation with next year's trends.
Maybe we keep things because they hold precious memories or they remind us of our parents, grandparents, past loves or childhood. To part with these precious possessions seems out of the question. Alas, “You have to get rid of the old to make way for the new.” If you are feeling stuck or stagnant in your life, try spring cleaning. Throw out some of that stuff, say goodbye to your past and welcome the new energy of your happy, healthy future. I try to do this each year sometime in April, and it truly does help! I see SPACE in my house and there is FREEDOM is less mess.
Try these three ideas:
1. 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 the form of outgrown clothes, magazines, rusty bicycles and random keepsakes, so do our bodies accumulate old food residues and toxins that need to be cleaned out.
2. 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 or clean protein. 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. When I feel far from God, a time of prayer and fasting really helps get me back into alignment. It can also bring improved immune function and better digestion.
3. While you’re cleaning out your body and home, don’t forget to spring-clean your heart. Throw away negative thoughts and habits you’ve been harboring that no longer serve you. A clean, open heart will allow you to receive all the good that awaits you each day. If your heart and mind are cluttered, there is no room for life’s gifts and surprises to enter!
Sources:
Institute for Integrative Nutrition, April 2011.
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