Spring Cleaning: An Opportunity to Rejuvenate Body and Mind
Spring is a time of renewal. As the daylight lengthens and blossoms burst forth, nature’s tenacity, as she transitions from dormancy to brimming with life, can be inspiring and rejuvenating. Spring presents us with a wonderful opportunity to reset our intentions and really dig into our goals. We can reflect the changes in our springtime surroundings by refreshing our space, routine, diet and attitude.
Spring cleaning is a wonderful ritual this time of year as we air out all the places that have been collecting dust and debris throughout the winter. Our physical space and how it is kept can often be a reflection of our inner, mental space. If our homes, cars and offices are teeming with clutter and mess, chances are our minds are also full of extra worries, tasks unfinished and thought distortions. By giving ourselves clean, clutter-free spaces, we not only reorganize our external world but our internal world as well. We can open up the windows, crank up our favorite tunes and, as we clean, visualize that we are sweeping out any old habits and ways of being that no longer serve us.
With the warm weather and extra light spring brings, we are given a chance to get up earlier and stay outside later in order to have more time and space to accomplish our goals. It’s a great time to reset or establish a solid morning and evening routine for ourselves. Both mornings and evenings naturally offer a quiet, reflective energy. We can tap into this by nurturing our own needs and focus on recharging ourselves at these times so that we have the energy to be fully available to others. While winter can be a nice time to rest and relax, unwinding by binging on our favorite shows and catching up on our curiosities online, it can be helpful to set limits to our screen time in the spring so we can enjoy and take full advantage of the gifts of this season.
Our bodies can also be treated to some spring cleaning! With warmer weather there comes an abundance of fresh, local produce. We can rejuvenate our bodies after the winter by fueling them with clean, unprocessed foods, focusing on the seasonally available fruits and veggies as much as possible. Other wonderful ways to help our bodies feel fresh are staying hydrated, stretching/yoga, exercising outside and taking quiet time to ourselves with baths, meditation, herbal teas or journaling.
Springtime is an unfolding of beauty, harmony and balance. Our attitudes and intentions can mirror the same budding, youthful energy of spring. Just as Earth has its cycle of seasons, we also have cycles that we go through in our own growth as individuals. We can value and honor ourselves wherever we are in our own journey and embrace all ways we too are blossoming and unfolding.
Author: Devon Smolca, MS
