*Elephant is not your doctor or hospital. Our lawyers would say “this web site is not designed to, and should not be construed to provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion or treatment to you or any other individual, and is not intended as a substitute for medical or professional care and treatment. Always consult a health professional before trying out new home therapies or changing your diet.” But we can’t afford lawyers, and you knew all of that. ~ Ed.

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Spring has sprung!

Spring and autumn are my favorite seasons. I always feel like there is a certain magic in the air in those two seasons. Springtime is Mother Earth waking from her slumber. The birds and the bees are fluttering around. The buds are ready to burst into full bloom. The vibrant colors of nature’s palette bring the gardens to life and paint a serene picture against the blue skies.

Springtime also means tidying up.

It’s time to dust off those cobwebs that have settled in over the winter. Pack away the winter wear and pull out some fresh, colorful, cool sheets.

As we begin the transition into this new season, we need to clear out the clutter in our home—our physical residence and our mental space, our physical body and our soul’s home. To create a space for new life opportunities, we must clear out and release what is not serving us or what we’ve outgrown.

This is a beautiful opportunity to practice self-love and self-care. It’s an invitation to take inventory of your life areas that can be cleaned up or cleared out. Clearing space in all of these ways creates a clutter-free environment that will help keep us motivated and creative and will bring peace and happiness. Once you have cleaned up, you will feel energetically lighter. When we’re lighter, we are more productive and have better control of our thoughts and moods.

Work and Home

First, let’s begin by focusing on our environment. Now that most of us are working from home, what was once two separate worlds has collided and become one world, and we almost can’t tell the difference between our workspace and our home space.

1. Take this time to clean up your work area. Filing away forms, receipts, and finally emptying the shred bin…yes, I’m talking to you. Dust off your area and tidy it up. Maybe add some fresh flowers to your desk and make your area inviting. Clutter breeds anxiety and can cause us to feel overwhelmed.

2. Next, go to one area of your home in which you most enjoy spending time. If it’s the living room, maybe add some new (handmade or eco) accent pillows or blanket. Organize the space with baskets, and clear out drawers and pantries. As you go around to the different rooms in the house, create three separate piles: recycle, donate, and sell.

3. Electronically tidy up by cleaning up your email box. Delete the endless rows of promotions and unsubscribe from 10 accounts you are no longer active in or for which you no longer have interest.

Mind

Next, let’s look at some ways we can declutter our minds.

1. Social media break: our minds get overstimulated by all the information on social media. Give yourself a two to three-day hiatus. When you come back to it, “clean up” your feed by unfollowing groups or “friends” who don’t add anything beneficial to your life, or who you don’t truly connect with.

2. Journal: this is something I enjoy doing and that I encourage my clients to do—I even provide journal prompts. Journaling helps to release thoughts and emotions and allows us time to reflect.

3. Mindfulness moments: incorporate a few mindfulness moments in the day, like when you eat, or you’re walking to the car or bus stop. Take notice of the trees, find something beautiful around you, and take a pause to emotionally check in with yourself.

4. Gratitude is the attitude. Each day, spend three minutes in deep gratitude. Remember a moment in your life you were grateful and relive that moment as if you were there again. Journal it and try to remember the small details. You will be surprised how good that feels.

Body

Okay, now let’s take a look at our body and how we can create a healthy environment there.

1. Sweat it out. Sweating filters out toxins from the body and helps boost our immune system. It also helps to regulate body temperature. So pick your favorite routine, get your body moving, and sweat it out.

2. Gentle colon cleansing: do you get bloated after eating? Do you tend to feel lethargic during the day? Do you crave sugary or starchy foods? If you answered “yes” to those questions, then a colon cleanse may be a good idea. A gentle colon cleanse is a pathway to release toxins and excess bloat from your tissues, reset your digestive system, and renew your baseline of well-being.

*Editor’s note: please check in with your doctor before trying any kind of cleanse! 

3. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, especially if you plan on sweating out toxins and doing a colon cleansing. Adding lemon to your water will also flush out toxins.

4. Dry brushing exfoliates the skin, helps reduce cellulite, unclogs pores, and helps stimulate the lymphatic and circulatory systems by breaking up lymph nodes and getting your blood flowing. Dry brush three to five times a week before you take a shower.

Soul

Finally, we come to clearing the clutter from our souls. While this might sound like a daunting task, a few small steps each day can help create a space of peace we need and deserve. Here are some simple ways to clear your soul.

1. Forgiveness: this is not a mental or emotional exercise; it is a spiritual one. It says, “I know you hurt me (or I hurt myself), and I will no longer be under the control of the pain. I choose to release in order to live in peace and freedom.” Pain is too heavy to carry. I teach my clients a series of forgiveness exercises to help them work through their pain.

2. Take a relationship inventory. Surround yourself with people who nourish and make you feel good. Be around supportive and positive people who want to see you succeed and don’t have a problem for every solution. Be mindful of energy vampires who can suck the life out of you.

3. Mediate: take a few moments each day to quiet the mind and connect with the divine and your higher self. This will help you in aligning yourself with your message and purpose.

4. Rest. That’s right, rest! With all the things we have to do each day, permit yourself to just be—and rest.

Happy cleaning!