Declutter your house, free your flow
from mess... to me; the practice of Saucha.
Tell me if this sounds familiar. You’re having guests come to stay. A week before their arrival you look at your surroundings and begin to think the only solution is a giant bonfire. How did the house ever get to be this crazy? You think about calling off the visit, but know that will make you feel even worse. Then you will still have a messy house and you will continue to miss your best friend. Instead you opt for midnight vacuum sessions and find every decorative basket you own to fill with whatever needs to be stashed for a few days. The only person who really cares in this scenario is you. You know that. And you also know there is more to this than meets the eye.
I am a maximalist at heart with heady minimalist dreams. I want the ethereal aesthetic. I want my home to look curated. I want each room to echo with the spacious simplicity of Hygge. But I am caught between HGTV perfectionism and the reality of my time, belongings, and income. The pandemic era has given me a severe case of clutter blindness. My office has overflowed into the living room. Stacks of books have been pulled off the shelf and earmarked for research. You can see the contents of my mind all over the house. If Jung is right and your home is a symbolic reflection of our inner workings, then what does this mess say about me?
Saucha, purify and clarify outside in
As with so many other things I look to my yoga practice for insight. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras share the yamas and niyamas as two of the foundational limbs on the eightfold path of yoga. These disciplines and observances guide us to expand our practice beyond the mat to an intentional lifestyle. Saucha, the yogic virtue of cleanliness, prepares us in purity of heart and clarity of mind. When both our internal and external landscape are well-kept, we are unburdened and open. Free of distractions we can be attentive to the present moment. It’s then, when I begin to see cleaning as a ritual or a form of self-care, I can find my sanctuary.
Just as much as anything else, we have to take a pause and reflect on our relationship with our stuff. For some, chaos sparks creativity and others clutter is a source of stress. It’s important to witness how you are being affected. If your things are stressing you out, what use are they? I am constantly refining my relationship with my house to try to inspire creativity, clarity, and flow. Clutter is my kryptonite. With too many random piles, I get overwhelmed and lose any sense of clarity. I shut down in procrastination and productivity is sacrificed. I first have to recognize that I am lost in the cycle. Then the only way through is to take action. One simple mindful task at a time.
Zen the den: Quick tips to get started.
A home within a home: Organize and give everything a place.
Take stock: Get rid of anything that doesn’t add value to your life.
Attack hotspots: Notice what kind of clutter tends to accumulate and have an immediate plan for it when it comes in the door.
Choro-doro: Set a timer for 30 minutes a day and go at it. Clean like a mean machine.
Set the mood: Find a cleaning spray that smells inviting or fill your aroma diffuser with an uplifting scent.
Cleanse the energy: Open the windows to let the fresh air move through. Burn some sage or make a room spray with a few drops of sage essential oil and water.
Snowball effect: Declutter an easy spot first. You may get a burst of motivation and keep going.
Turn it up: Make a good playlist that gets you moving.
Creativity boosters: Take tidying breaks in between creative projects. Mundane activities can get the juices flowing.
The impact of our surroundings on our energy flow has been explored for centuries through ancient traditions like, feng shui and vastu, to the modern day concepts of environmental psychology. Our homes are a reflection of our values, priorities, dreams and identity. From the books on our shelves to the photographs on walls, each artifact tells a story of what we want, who we are, and where we’ve been. The contents of each room should be compatible with our mind and mood. Our homes should be a haven for our goals and dreams, not a distraction. Our spaces should support our best living, not just act as storage for all of the things. It’s not necessarily about how we want our homes to look. It’s about how we want our homes to feel.
