Gearing Up for Spring Cleaning

By Jessica Hoelzel

Who’s ready for spring? We get a lift in the springtime. Naturally it’s due to the increased warm sunshine and growth of new plants, budding leaves and flowers – all good chi! We need good chi, or life force energy, to enhance our vitality after the darkness and quiet of winter. In the spring we are moving from a more yin - a passive and introspective time, to a more yang time, which means being more active and busy in the world.

As winter comes to a close, the door to springtime promise opens…

Spring represents new life. After quieter, introspective times, we transition to taking all that was gained – restored energy and clarity – to start something new. As we soak up the beauty and the stirrings of the natural world around us, we are uplifted and inspired. We are ready.

The element of springtime is wood. It signifies taking initiative, starting something new and upward growth. As the season approaches, prepare yourself by reflecting on what that means to you. You can’t start something new if you are burdened by the old. How will you ensure a fresh start this spring?

Finish up old business
Remove to-do’s hanging over your head
Tie up loose ends and get closure
Pay off debts
Clear your clutter

Dedicate some time to looking at exactly what needs to be done, and plan times to make it happen.

Then dig in. Getting rid of clutter is the first step in Spring Cleaning. Cleaning around it just doesn’t do the trick. Clear out the old, unnecessary things you are holding onto, one-by-one, bit by bit. With your space clear and your load lightened, you can then proceed to giving your space some tender loving care.

Stay tuned for more to come on Spring Cleaning…

Are you stuck?

By Jessica Hoelzel

If you are feeling bogged down, frozen, weighted down or stuck, chances are clutter may be to blame. We are connected to everything we own, tied to it with invisible strands of energy. This energy could be light or it might be heavier, depending on our experience and our emotional attachments to it. Like it or not, consciously or not, everything we own and surround ourselves with has an impact on us.

Too many sentimental possessions and general clutter can cause a feeling of oppression, preventing the occupants from moving forward in life.
- Lillian Too, author of 168 Feng Shui Ways to Declutterr Your Home

So if you are feeling stuck, you may want to check out what is going on in the environment around you. Take an inventory of the state of your affairs, feng shui-wise:

What does the environment around you look like?

What does it feel like?

Listen quietly – is it saying anything to you?

What needs your attention?

Once you let go of some things that are no longer serving you, or deal with some things that may have been burdensome, you will feel lighter. You will feel like you can breathe easier, and have the space to move. Clearing clutter gives you the freedom to move again – in whatever direction you’d like to go.