Hi there! I hope you all had a great weekend! Mine was, and wasn’t at the same time. I had some health issues pop up on Friday and linger through the weekend so I spent a lot of it resting (and not running. I was suppose to run 10 miles in my half marathon training…). I’m still not feeling 100% but fortunately for me over the next 3 days I only have about 30 minutes of cardio to get through, the rest is mostly all yoga and strength training which is pretty easy on me (to teach).
Anyway, even though I was feeling a bit under the weather it was a beautiful weekend (the warmest it’s been so far this spring!), which got me in the mood for some spring cleaning/organizing. Because I am still feeling inspired to make more time to do the things I enjoy, my weekend organizing and cleaning was all about clearing out “stuff” to make more room for the things that matter.
Never under estimate the power of decluttering you make you feel good. Any time I reorganize and purge a bunch of stuff that isn’t serving me I feel so. dang. good. I cleared out both my bedroom closet and our coat/storage closet on Friday and I’ve spent way too much time looking at them with smug satisfaction ever since. It’s so nice (especially if you are an OCD organizer like me) to have everything put away and still have room to spare. *insert sigh here
Because it feels so darn good to clear out the clutter, I thought this week would be a great week to tackle some of the places we might forget to clean out during our spring cleaning: our minds, bodies, closets and to-do lists.
You might be wondering, how on earth am I suppose to spring clean my mind?! And that’s a fair question. We aren’t in actuality going to go in with a Swiffer and clear out the cobwebs in your brain, instead I want to share with you a few tips and/or tricks you can easily implement to help you clear out some of the clutter by reorganizing and purging some inner “stuff”.
Reorganizing
Reorganizing your brain is as easy as sleeping! No really, it actually is! Have you ever been studying for an exam, or taking a course or something and when you go to bed you feel like you have no clue what you’ve been taught or studying – then in the morning you wake up and suddenly it makes a lot more sense? That’s because while you are asleep your brain is busy organizing and making sense out of what has happened that day and even goes to work solving problems you may have encountered.
My second favourite way to get the cranium organized is meditation. If you’re not familiar with meditation you might think that to meditate you need to empty your mind and that seems impossible. That’s not what meditation actually is, meditation is focusing in on one thing – just one (often your breath) and trying to let all other thoughts and feeling fall to the side. Bex from BexLife has loads of wonderful guided meditations for most any problem you can think of (here is a link to her meditation videos on YouTube). Many are under 10 minutes in length, so even if you are sceptical why not give it 10 minutes of your life. You might be surprised at how much different you feel at the end of those 10 minutes.
Most of our employers would frown upon you taking a 30 minute nap in the middle of the day, but many of us are entitled to 1 or 2 10-minute breaks, and how many of you actually take those breaks? Maybe make it a new habit that every afternoon you take a 10 minute break and do a self guided meditation (using one of the videos above, or download an app on your phone), or if it’s nice go outside for a quick walk. Just getting away from the office for 10 minutes can make a world of difference (especially on a sunny day!). Even if you don’t get a break, taking 5-10 minutes in your car after the work day is over to do some deep breathing exercises ora short meditation can make a world of difference in how you feel the rest of the day. Give it a try!
Purging
Tossing out old information that no longer serves you can be hard because it’s often that outdated information and feelings that we are clinging to the most. Of course our brains do a lot of purging for us, I joke all the time that I toss out unnecessary information and my brain deemed most everything I learned in science math as unnecessary because I couldn’t solve f(x) to save my life now. All I know is that it would probably take 1-2 pages of looseleaf to solve.
But what about all of those memories, things that people said, things people did that helped up form our opinions of ourselves? The cruel thing that some mean kid said or did to you on the playground in second grade. The time someone made fun of your shirt and you’ve never been able to wear that colour since, or whatever it is that happened long ago that has in some way formed who you are today. The negative things that you cling to and hold you back. How do you purge those?
The answer can be as simple as breathing.
Once again, meditation is a wonderful way to work your way through these thoughts or expectations that are holding you back. Another method is using the Breath of Fire which can help you awaken your spiritual power and heal those problems that are hurting and holding us back. In an effort to not reinvent the wheel, here is a great tutorial on what it is, how to practise, and other questions you might have about the breath of fire.
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That brings us to the end of part one in this four part series. Who knew organizing and cleaning out your brain could be as easy as making sure to get adequate sleep and breathing? Well it is! The shocking thing is that most North Americans don’t allow themselves enough rest, nor do they breath properly. No wonder we tend to be such a high strung, stressed out group!
Now go take a stroll, do a few minutes of meditation, and get yourself to bed early tonight!
Oh, and check back here tomorrow for part 2: cleaning out your body (don’t worry, it won’t be anything crazy and drastic, I promise!)