Spring-cleaning is an itchy fever we all get! We want to de-clutter our house, garage, closet, office, etc. But what about our minds and souls? In the spring, the flowers bloom and the trees start recouping their leaves and colors. As nature expands in beauty and abundance, we want to prepare our living environment to be harmonious with nature but we should not neglect our inner space.
As we get rid of the junk and stuff that we don’t like any more, wouldn’t it be a good time to also rid our minds of the things that do not serve us anymore? Like tidying up your kitchen cabinets, examining your inner state brings about great freedom. It has a double benefit: clearing out what holds us back makes space for something new to arise and rearranging our inner thoughts gives us a sense of renewal and freshness at any age.
Here are four steps to declutter and blossom inside out:
1. Weed your Inner Garden
Like removing the shrub from your yard, you need to remove the things that encumber your inner space. In de-cluttering your inner space, look for negative emotions, limiting beliefs and destructive patterns that repeat in your life. If we are holding on to any emotional baggage towards ourselves, others or situations, now is a good time to release them. You can make a list of every situation in your life that is making you angry, bitter, resentful or sad. Visit each one, accept it and release the negative emotion. This does not mean forgetting about it but removing the charge associated with it, which takes away its power over you.
Make space for positive things to happen the same way you remove the weeds from your garden to allow the good plants to grow.
2. Ensure your Nourishment System Works
Like preparing the irrigation system and ensuring the water is clean to nourish your plants, you need to take a look at your inside feeders: your belief about yourself. Do you believe that good things will happen to you? What do you think you deserve? Are you not capable of creating good in your life? If you have such a belief, it is certainly limiting your expansion.
Try to ask yourself: where does this belief come from? When did I start believing this about myself? What is the impact of this negative voice on my life? Once you get the answers, replace them with a positive affirmation about yourself. For example if your little voice is telling you “I am not lovable,” think of examples in your life when you are lovable and start affirming that you are lovable to yourself every time you hear the voice.
3. Create a Positive, Repetitive Habit
Like setting the sprinklers to automatically nourish your garden, you need to make a habit out of nurturing and supporting yourself. If you have a destructive pattern that does not allow you to be happy and fulfilled, now is the time to change it. It could range from binging, to smoking, to having a temper. Notice and name your repetitive patterns that are in the way of your success at home and at work. Write them down and how they have affected you. Try to face them without judging yourself. Then, write a list of things that would make you happy and move them to the top of the list — making them a priority. Similar to taking care of people or chores that depend on you to get done, take care of yourself as if your life depended on it. Eventually, this will become a positive, repetitive habit that feels almost automatic.
4. Plant your Garden
Like planting seeds outside, it is time to plant your beautiful inner space. Create a new board or a new notebook and write on it a new story for yourself. You are never too old to reinvent yourself! Start visualizing your life as if your new you has already happened. Read your new story three times a day for 21 consecutive days. Imagine yourself loving your career, your life and your family. Imagine yourself proud of your accomplishments and choices. Imagine yourself completely fulfilled and happy with nothing missing. Plant that image. Let it grow.
Taking the time to clear out old negative emotions, beliefs and destructive patterns can allow your new and wondrous self to shine no matter the stage of your life. In nature, spring brings with it the wakefulness of nature with the blossoming of trees and flowers. Could you weed your inner garden to also awaken to the beauty within?
