Mine is Declutter.
Despite always being on my radar as a goal or an intention, decluttering often rears its head at the beginning of a new year. Why? I read that the ancient Babylonian, Chinese, and Celtic traditions viewed the period marking the transition from the old year to the new as a struggle between chaos and order, in which order always prevailed. It makes sense, as life can be a struggle, and we need to find ways for order to prevail.
Your sense of order might be a clean house, a clean inbox, or as simple as clean folded laundry, or more complex, like a quiet mind. All these tasks involve a sense of decluttering.
When it comes to defining declutter, I like the Cambridge English Dictionary reference: “to remove things you do not need from a place, in order to make it more pleasant and more useful.” A pretty basic and traditional definition, as it refers to a physical space being more pleasant and useful. Who doesn’t want that, but what place and how?
Your place may be a physical place, such as your room, a closet, your desk, even your entire home. But what about the physical space of your body? Your physical body is home to a vast network of cells, muscle tissue, organs, and skin that provide the structure to your being. Within that physical structure of your body, lies the emotional center, your heart and your mental center, your brain, in the simplest of terms. Decluttering all these places, those outside of ourselves and within, can make us feel more pleasant and useful and provide a sense of order. But how do we get there?
Fortunately, there are countless self-help books and magazine articles that offer decluttering tips for your home, garden, and other physical spaces and places, as well as self-care tips for our indoor landscape in need of help. A dual approach makes sense, as when we declutter outwardly, we feel better inwardly, and when we declutter inwardly, we have more energy and motivation to declutter outwardly. Thus, our place - both inner and outer - is more pleasant and useful. Easy, right? If only!
Decluttering Inwardly
I am much better these days at focusing on the inward decluttering of my body, mind, and spirit, and I have my yoga practice to thank. While yoga is no panacea for all that ails us, its benefits provide both physical, mental, and emotional cleansing and clearing. Those of you who have been practicing for a while get my drift.
When you have pain in your body, it depletes your energy, and your mood dampens, limitations arise, both physically and mentally. Ultimately, the pain robs you of your true self. The simple act of learning to breathe with awareness provides you with a pathway to learn more about yourself and what will give you a sense of order. If we’re alive, we breathe. Learning to breathe with awareness, and how to control the breath is available to us all, yet, it’s easy to take it for granted.
Combining the breath with regular gentle movements and stretches helps to open the flow of energy within you, and your path of self-discovery begins both physically and mentally as you clear out the clutter. Yoga itself might be one big decluttering mission.
Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, one of the founding fathers of modern yoga, used to say, ”Yoga is a ‘cleaning process.' It's just clearing out the dust and the cobwebs so we can differentiate our mind from ourselves." This idea also appears in the Yoga Sutra, the ancient yogic text written by Patanjali. When we remove the things that block our energy through our yoga practice, the result is that we can shine from our true authentic self and order prevails.
I work to remember that life, like yoga, is a practice, not "perfect," and that the small, positive steps add up and can eventually become habits. Give yourself the gift of “breathing with awareness” by signing up on my home page and receive an easy step by step guide. If you are interested in learning how to unblock stuck energy and flow through your life with less pain and more joy, I’m here to help you.
Few of us can be in the zone all the time; life happens too quickly. My intention remains to take advantage of the moments when I am aware of decluttering my mind, my body, or my space as it helps me lead a more centered, and yes, orderly life.
Get Ready For Spring
Want to do a little inner decluttering and get ready for Spring?
Check out my Get Ready For Spring, three-part workshop series, beginning on February 1 with Step Up Your Practice, continuing on February 29 with It’s All About The Hips, and then on March 7 with Restorative Yoga.
Buy the series for $75 or individual workshops for $30 each. All workshops are at Christ the King Lutheran Community Center, 1001 West Esplanade from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.