Let Your Spring Detox Include Your Home

Clutter is a collection of things lying around in an untidy mass.  We all have clutter because we are a society of consumers that keep buying things.  Advertising has convinced us that we need new and improved trinkets and inventions and clothes to keep us happy.  Yet, many of us feel smothered and would like a better way.  It is no wonder that the book by Marie Kondo on removing clutter (The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing) has been on the best sellers list for an amazingly long time.

Last week I wrote about how our bodies undergo a natural detoxification in spring, according to Ayurveda.  Ayurveda also takes the approach of holistic health, which is health for both the mind and body.  A holistic detox should include the mind, and a good way to detox the mind is to remove clutter.

Physical matter has an energetic quality and impacts our mood.  Our personal surroundings do affect our physical and mental well being.  Here are some things clutter does to us:

• It makes you feel heavy and weighed down.
• It reminds you of the past instead of allowing you to be open to new possibilities.
• It confuses your ability to think and focus because it is distracting.
• It affects relationships because of your potential attitude that you have to keep old things and aren't entitled to a neat, well functioning space.  People may think you are stodgy and and not interested in or capable of new experiences. People may even treat you poorly.
• It can make you enjoy life less because your time is spent maintaining all this stuff instead of focusing on the things that really matter to you. 

So, do you own your stuff or does your stuff own you? Knowing that the clutter is taking up more than just physical space helps you look at it in a new way and start to make new decisions about whether you want to keep the clutter or not.  

Go into spring with a living space that lets you feel good.

Stay healthy & well,

Lisa