December 8, 2023 "Free your mind...The declutter will follow"
Everyone who knows me knows that I keep a very clean and organized home. I am the type that everything has a place and purpose. I can’t stand clutter. Well, how did I get here?My kitchen was driving me crazy. Rushing daily, instead of taking my time to place the Tupperware or pots and pans back organized I got to the point where I would just open a cabinet slowly and just throw them in quickly so nothing else would fall out. My junk drawer started to overflow to the point where I couldn’t close it completely and then one day, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I grabbed the garbage can and I cleaned out every drawer, pantry, and cabinet in my kitchen. Two garbage bags later I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders and I felt at peace. I then noticed my sock drawer, which is organized from long socks to workout socks to color coordination, yup I am that anal, well even this drawer was in shambles.
Many of us have a secret part of ourselves we feel we cannot share, so we hide them. I cannot even begin to describe the weight that most of us carry. Whether we are hiding a small quirk or a large secret identity, we feel that we will be judged if we are ourselves. We also feel we are the only one struggling with this.
Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions!
To understand clutter, we need to define where it comes from, and I believe that it really emerges from indecision. We have stuff around our homes because we haven’t decided where to put them, and we have clutter in our lives because we haven’t taken control and decided what is and isn’t important to us. When we don’t make decisions, we end up with a clutter MESS in our lives and you know we are NO MESS!
I realized I was hiding my issues behind the clutter thinking they would just go away. I knew I had some difficult business decisions to make this year and instead of facing them I started hiding my feelings, I started to see this in my home with me just stuffing things in drawers not having to deal with the real issues. This behavior was toxic for an OCD person like me. It wasn’t until I faced those issues and made the hard decisions that my home, life, and business became decluttered.
My clutter was exposed in my home and the multiple to do lists never got completed. Others may observe this with their weight, unhealthy eating, or unhealthy lifestyle. We look up one day and we can no longer fit our clothes, we can’t walk a flight of stairs without being short of breath, our lab values are out of wack and we’re now put on medications.What are you hiding? What is cluttering your life? What do you need to be freed from?
1. Break the barriers: You’ve created barriers for yourself that keep you imprisoned. We all have self-limiting beliefs. “I could never do that”, “I could never wear that”, “I could never be that flexible”. If you believe you won’t, you won’t. Expand your thinking and allow more into your life.
2. Stop trying to control others: When I first started training this was my biggest struggle. I thought if I could just physically show them and educate them the right and wrong ways to lose weight and get healthy, they would just change their ways, and everyone would be happy, healthy, and fit. This was a huge false concept. We only truly have control over our own thoughts, behaviors, choices, actions, and decisions.
3. Exhale: As you practice yoga, my favorite exercise, you are taught to take a deep breath. We often take for granted taking a deep breath. With an audible sigh, exhale through your mouth, releasing all you no longer want or need (anxiety, stress, guilt, fear, shame or worry). Inhale deeply through your nose, drawing in all that you need (peace, strength, serenity, courage, and love). Repeat this cycle, allowing your exhale to become longer and deeper than your inhale and notice your mind-body-spirit calm and relax.
4. Purge unnecessary people and belongings: Clear your home and office of any items you neither love nor use. Make space in your life for peace and joy. Have the courage to terminate relationships that drain you, raise your blood pressure or make you lose sleep. Create space in your life for new and healthy relationships. Make room for NO MESS!
