When you’re ready to unleash a personal transformation, the following inside/out spring cleansing can refresh and reset your entire life. And after the last good couple years, most human beings have some extra baggage to clean out and release!
The tradition of “spring cleaning” can be more than just a reset for your home as it’s an amazing time to clear out your mind, body, and heart as well.
There’s just a thing about spring (even though this challenge can be done as a reset for any of the seasonal shifts). We feel the urge to clean out, refresh, open up to new life… and we do all the external stuff. We clean-out the house, get outside more, move more, maybe even start eating healthier.
Well, don’t miss the real moment… After a few months in the cocoon of winter (and Covid), it’s an ideal, transformational time to break out, starting with a releasing inside/out spring cleansing. If you’re ready for a full-on refresh, this is for you.
The Spring Cleansing for the Soul Event is set up as a 5-week challenge. There will be clutter clearing and schedule cleaning up, yet the focus is on the inside/out lightening up experience, and how that frees the psyche and the spirit.
Ahead, you’ll find some of my favorite tips and rituals to cleanse and clear away what’s old, heavy, worn out and ready to go, as you invite what’s light, new and nourishing for body and soul, just in time to enjoy a beautiful new season in bloom.
Prepare for lighter, freer, renewed energy, clarity, and motivation… and naturally unleash what’s new, true, and most inspiring to you.
The following 5-Part Lighten Up Challenge is set up to do weekly, but feel free to dive in and work ahead if you have the time and motivation.
The 5-Part Challenge at-a-Glance:
- Cleanse & Clear your Space
- Free Up & Clean Out your Schedule
- Cleanse Negative Thoughts, Limited Mindsets
- Clean Up Your Goals & Habits
- Clear Out Heavy or Stagnant Emotional Energies
The Focus…
Throughout the whole challenge, even while cleaning out the house or the calendar, the focus will be on undoing the negative, heavy stagnant, inner-life. The stresses, the mindsets, the limiting beliefs, and the uncomfortable, heavy, often hidden, trapped emotions anchoring it all. Without healthfully tending to the inner-heavies, release is really only temporary at best.
This is where the Joy transformation happens. Stuff, or a new perfectly clear space alone will not illicit joy. Awakening and cultivating mind-body-heart space, will.
The Rule of Thumb…
Recognize the roots, release the Burdens and the BS, and become very discriminating about what you pick up, and hold onto – it all carries emotional or energetic charge or weight on the mind, body and heart.
Begin with the end in mind…
With each module, there is a practice session with resources, methods, tips and tools to try out during the week or time period of your choosing. Before beginning each segment, take a moment to connect within, relax, breathe… and envision where you’d like to be at the end of the week, or set a goal to continue if needed.
When visualizing a transformation, use all the senses, your feelings and tune into your energy and qualities, too.
It’s your vision so bring to mind all the areas and aspects of your desired change. Your thoughts create your reality, so let yourself dream big!
Week 1/ Cleanse your space
Transform your space for who you are becoming, not for who you are now. – Marie Kondo, Queen of home “tidying”
You may or may not be aware, but our environments do have an energetic and emotional impact on us. A clean, uncluttered, organized home can help or weigh on your mental state as well.
Those untended piles, projects, repairs can steal our precious attention, and our thoughts can get hooked and spin around, taking time, attention and energy. We may fret about how much there is to do, or where the time or money will come from to deal with it… and our powerful focus gets fixated on seeing the negative. Our negative thought loops are among the weightiest baggage we can allow and accumulate. Yes, this gets a section of its own later.
Also, according to the practice of Feng Shui, accumulated clutter, dirt or piles can effect and block the energy flow of the home, as well as our own life force and energy flow.
You may be familiar with Marie Kondo, who’s made a name for herself as the mass-home cleansing Queen. Her style is to do it ALL in one focused time period. She purports her clients have major life transformations as a result.
I’ve found it also works to stay committed to the effort if you’re doing it say over the period of a month, or maybe for the season. Any way you do it, as long as you do it, clutter clearing and cleaning is a powerful way to give your psyche and spirit the message that you are serious about making room for the new, true, and higher quality life you are desiring and sensing.
The Practice Session
1/ Make it intentional. As you move through the challenge, kick off each session with an intention, and bring laser focused aim and energy to the outcomes.
Here’s an example: “As I clear out and organize my office, I intend to open my heart and mind to a prosperous, career transition, and also make space for more fun, joy and light.” Or perhaps, “As I clean out this drawer, I intend to stay present and clear my mind, and I’ll have a great solution when I’m finished.”
2/ Schedule cleansing & clearing time. Schedule a whole day or weekend to unclutter your space, and if you’re up to it, do some deep cleaning, too. Actually dust underneath objects. Clean the blinds. Clean the oven. Donate or recycle items that you no longer need. Or if you’re your schedule is full, pick one deep cleaning project each week, and make it intentional. It still is a powerful way to clear and release, lighten your load, and open the door for the new.
3/ Remember to visualize your outcome for the week. Perhaps organizing your home office space, weeding out old documents, and putting all your important papers into files and binders. Or maybe you do a full house de-cluttering, and envision an more open serene setting with the feng shui flowing.As the tradition goes, spring cleaning is a time to deeply clean and clear out the spaces you live and work in.
4/ For the duration of the week, you can also intentionally clear out at least 10 things (or one project, like a messy drawer) a day. The thought is, once you get started, you may get on a roll.
5/ Once your space has been cleared and cleansed, set new habits that help you feel at peace in your home every day. Making your bed each morning can be a simple way to kick off a sense of order each day, and is also a peaceful way to close the day and head off to sleep. Or, pick what stresses you out most, perhaps a messy kitchen – and prioritize doing the dishes each night to feel settled, and start your day calm and organized.
Week 2/ Free Up & Cleanse your Schedule
Spring can be a wonderful time to reevaluate your weekly routine and make adjustments where necessary. Maybe pick a day that’s routinely wash day, or schedule in self-care time mid-week, reset and refresh before burnout sets in.
It’s also transformative to hone in to the daily detailed look, and clean up your day-to-day schedule and your to-do list.
Make an intention to connect with your Core more often. Stay attuned to your Heart and what matters most to you in the moment as a powerful way to free your life, and spirit.
Take a hard look at your obligations, responsibilities, and tasks. Maybe write down a list. Ask yourself: do I really need to do all of these things?! Open to that voice of wisdom in you that’s telling you what you can afford to drop. Open to a sense of freedom and inner-power: you get to decide what makes the most sense to do, not the “shoulds” circling inside your head. Decide what you can give to others to do – and find the right help to do it. Decide what you could stop doing, whether others pick it up or not.
For a period of time (a day, a week, a year), do not take on a single new major obligation.
Regard all-new activities, events, and tasks as loads that carry energetic weight – toss them onto your life pile only if they feel light, or if they are an absolute priority.
Your first new schedule draft doesn’t have to be perfect. Release just one thing. Do even one new inspired action. Stay attuned and see what inspires you along the way. Hone and fine-tune your schedule as you go, stay flexible and open to life’s ever-changing ride.
Remember, envision the end first… imagine a schedule that feels spacious, streamlined, and enlivening. Imagine how a feel-good balance looks and feels…
As you make space in your schedule, you make space in your life for what really matters. And when there’s space for it, you become open to inviting the new into your life, and more importantly, into your mind and heart.
The Practice Session
To begin, connect to yourself with a heart-synch breathing session…
Bring your hand to your heart, and focus on your breathing… Sense your breath synch to your heart rhythm waves… and rest here for a few relaxing moments as your entire system synchronizes to your calm, powerful heart rhythm, creating a state called coherence or inner-balance.
Add a moment of appreciation, by appreciating any one thing… a serene sunrise, a sweet, funny pet, a beautiful song… as you awaken appreciation, let it land in your heart and observe the sensations within your heart… maybe warming, stirring, softening, opening… breathe here for a few more moments integrating your heart’s innate appreciation and care.
When present and relaxed, drop these questions into heart space,
“How are you, really?”
Then,
“What really matters?”
Listen for any answers… you may sort through layers of things that matter, down to a quality of life and heart. Just listen, and accept all that shows up… and move on to this next exercise when ready…
Sit down with your schedule for the week and create your main categories, such as:
- Life Maintenance
- Self & Soul Care
- Family
- Work
- Passions, Hobbies & Fun
Then, prioritize the categories and take an honest look at any areas that are out of balance and creating stress, resentment, numbing-out, or lack luster life.
Also take an honest look at what you’re really devoted to… or if there are time wasters filling up your schedule, instead of life-enhancers – that is, how are you filling up your schedule with peace, nourishment, and joy?
Decide on at least one thing that needs diminishing, or needs to go. If you can swing it, clear out more.
You could replace it with something you are ready to bring into your life, such as a new class or a side-hustle.
Or, simply leave space for what wants to come… take time to dream, envision from the heart, read, journal, explore… It’s also fun to leave a block of time open, and see what spontaneously arises.
Leaving room for spontaneity is a joyous way to celebrate life and spring… see where it takes you!
Finally, commit to NOT taking on anything else for this whole week. Try very hard to at least schedule something “important” next week.
Then make it a rule, aim to bring life into a feel-good balance, only take on something new when you ditch or de-prioritize something, and make room for it. Make it a weekly practice to review your schedule and “play smarter,” or I like to say align and streamline, and open up space for what really matters.
Week 3/ Cleanse negative thoughts, limited mindsets
Sometimes we internalize negative thoughts about ourselves or our lives, and when left to their own devices, they can gain momentum and snowball. Then there can then be a full-on emotional effect and it can be hard to release these feelings! Bringing awareness to these thoughts, and learning to cleanse them sooner rather than later is the aim of this week’s challenge.
The thoughts may seem insignificant enough, yet they can add up to make a big difference in your perception of yourself, of your life, and how you move through it.
An example of this could be “I’m falling behind again, I’m never going to get everything done.” And the belief we are harboring is, I’m not enough, I’m failing, bottom line, I suck. Or the seemingly harmless “I shouldn’t have eaten that. I need to lose 5 pounds, not gain more. I feel fat…” And if we were to examine the anchoring belief underneath, it might be something like, “I’m flawed, I’m not desirable or lovable like this. Again, I suck.”
The negative thoughts may be directed at others, at events, at the weather, and all too often at ourselves.
These thoughts can create incredible pressure on the psyche, and the body, especially if they become chronic. The following practice will give you a peek into the mind-body effect of negative thinking, and give you a way to turn it around – and thus transform the moment, the day, your life, and perhaps even your health.
The mindful STOP Practice
This is a super practical, go-to mindfulness practice to do as soon as you recognize a negative thought has taken hold or is in a spiral, and STOP it in its tracks.
Awareness (aka mindfulness practice) gives you the power to transform, and the more you practice this, the more you are developing your awareness, and you are transforming in these moments, too.
S-TOP! As you notice your negative thought or feeling, stop what you’re doing, bring your awareness to the moment, and choose to pause and process what’s happening for a moment.
T-AKE a few deep breaths… commit to at least 3 full, releasing breaths, as a way to let go of the hold or fixation in your mind, and bring your kind attention within…
O-BSERVE, Shift your attention to your inner-life and observe what’s happening in your body. Are there any sensations or emotional energies stirred up? You may notice tension, contracting, heat, pressure, tingling, fogginess, or scattered focus… or maybe relaxing and softening… Simply observe and notice what wants to arise or release… and let it all be…
When ready…
P-ROCEED, Pick a stress-free path and proceed. You may want to take time to release or process the emotional life further, or you may need to jump back into life and move forward. As you do, pick a more efficient or love-centered step or choice. You could ask, what would feel most peaceful now, or what would I love to do now?
Taking a brief moment for examination now is beneficial, too.
- First ask, what am I believing? Or what story am I telling myself? The thoughts are often the superficial plot line, and underneath we can find the beliefs that truly block us and weigh us down.
- Then ask, is this really true? And how do you know it’s absolute truth? Is there another perspective or someone else’s truth that may differ from yours?
- Additionally, it can be illuminating to ask yourself if there’s any benefit from thinking that thought.
- Ask, who could you be? How could you feel?
- Also, really imagine and feel how you might feel if you no longer held onto the emotion of bought into the thoughts or belief.
- Finally reframe with a new empowering, loving belief. Write this down, affirm it and keep it with you – this is especially important for when a trigger sets this pattern off again. This step helps you intentionally create lasting positive patterning in mind, body and energy.
Take time to journal the answers to these questions. Examining your thoughts can be a helpful way to work through them, and start disrupting those negative thought patterns.
If these exercises aren’t enough to release those negative thoughts and any emotions that trigger and seem to be a pattern, you might try release techniques, such as EFT tapping, or the Emotion Code™, The Sedona Method, NLP or CBT to name a few.
I’ve worked with them all, and I’m partial to the FreeCORE inner-transformation system I’ve developed, along with 1:1 sessions to help you expunge the deepest roots. This system tailors the release process to each emotion, belief and situation. When we learn to navigate each emotion as needed, we build emotional resilience, and discover that we can face anything, even the deepest of our emotions.
I hope you’ll prioritize taking time for these practices, and taking care of your mental and emotional health. It affects and can block everything you do and every part of your life, including your happiness and wellbeing. And when its free and clear, so is limitless, love-able, You.
Week 4/ Clean up your goals and habits
Many of us set resolutions and goals at the beginning of the year, and spring can be a great time to check in on our progress. In fact, this is the time of year that is more naturally in synch with new life, fresh starts and new beginnings. Every season invites us to reset in its way, but there’s just something so inspiring about spring. Channel the energy and direct it toward getting new projects, dreams and adventures off the ground.
If you had resolutions, projects, or goals in the works, check in on them. Are you still steadily moving toward accomplishing those goals, or do you need to manage your time and effort differently? And the next question to consider… do you still want to accomplish those goals, or has your focus shifted to other things?
Re/create your current list of desires, dreams, visions and goals. Also create a way to track them. Get a binder and set monthly and weekly goals. Track progress and what could block you, and plan accordingly. Also, check out the Core Compass method, which is better than resolution setting, and helps you stay the course in an aligned, inspiring way.
It’s also easy to have habits creep in that don’t benefit your goals. Perhaps in the cold winter months you’ve exercised less, started eating heavier comfort food, or haven’t been focusing on your social life or uplifting activities as much.
As you relook at your goals, also honestly examine your current habits and behaviors. What contributed to derailing your desires or dreams? Or what habits created an undesirable situation, say, mounting debt? Or maybe a distanced relationship? Or increasing burnout and fatigue?
The Practice Session
Consider the main categories: health & body, work life, finances & spending, hobbies & passions, family & relationships, self & soul care, fun and activities.
Undesirable habits may already be coming to mind as you run through each category. Choose one or two main ones, and actually write them down. Then write down one small shift you will do this week to align with your desires and goals.
For example, if the habit you’re focusing on is less couch potato time, more exercising, it might be as simple as adding an after work walk to your schedule 3 week nights. Then consider what triggers or habits might block you from taking this action, like pouring a glass of wine and collapsing on the couch. How are you going to beat this impulse? Maybe you bring your walking shoes to work, and go right to the walking path before heading home.
This new habit has the power to refresh your energy and set a healthy new tone for the rest of your night, and season. Big wins!
Week 5/ Release weighty, stagnant emotional energies
Stuck, trapped emotions can really block you up and weigh you down! Many, even most, people are in the habit of suppressing, bypassing, numbing, or otherwise ignoring them, and we don’t realize they’re festering away underneath the surface, affecting the unleashing of our true, limitless life — that is, until we hit a trigger, a challenge, setback or obstacle. And then those clever emotions seep or blast out in a variety of ways, rarely healthfully.
If you find your habits and goals are not moving forward, or there are any areas of your life that are stuck in an lackluster place, it could be super helpful to tend to possible blocked emotional patterns and limiting beliefs that go with them.
Imbalances and trapped emotions can clutter and bog down your body’s vibration, leading to a wide variety of mental, physical, emotional issues, and have ripple effects out through your life.
The FreeCore Emotional Release System is developed specifically to help move this stuck, stagnant energy out of the body, in a heartful, direct way. By tuning in to your subconscious mind and the emotion, and receiving it and releasing it as needed, these energy healing methods can clear and resolve years of pent-up energy, along with the imbalance that is causing issues!
Unleash the blocks and patterns sabotaging you, and prepare to unleash your goals, dreams, and energy. It’s the central, most powerful way to lighten and elevate your life, in a lasting way. And it’s a loving, healing, beautiful way to spring clean your body, mind, and soul. Enjoy a lighter, refreshed outlook, and life!
The Practice Session:
You can also apply the STOP practice from above to noticing and observing your emotions.
Simply pausing to notice emotional reactions, and give them a moment of your awareness, is a self-accepting and powerful step. This disrupts their typical pattern, and lets you step into the driver’s seat.
While in the O, Observation Step (of STOP) here’s a little more to go on, I call it “riding the wave”
Riding the E-motion Wave:
This practice is about bringing your kind, interested attention to watching the emotional life and sensations as they play out in your body.
A pure emotional reaction has been found to take roughly 90-seconds to live its full course, rush of sensations to flush, the final dissolving through your system.
Observing and allowing it, while keeping the releasing breathing going, all supports the natural e-motion cycle through your system.
By observing it, you can also notice if it decides to stick around, which can happen when they have deeper layers or patterns. And then you can pick up key information about what it needs, you need, and choose your best way to process, release, and take any necessary actions.
For the purpose of this exercise, allow and follow the emotional life for up to 90 seconds.
Become familiar with emotional sensations, perhaps various patterns you carry within, and what each emotion feels like. This awareness will increase your emotional resilience and intelligence.
There may be heat, softening, pressure, tingling, pounding, contracting, opening… and they can move and shift around under your attention. This is good! It means they are getting moving, which is key to releasing them. If they don’t fully release, trust your process, and move to the next step.
When you P-Pick your Path forward, you might try this sequence as needed…
Name it. Process it. Reframe it.
Name it. Giving it a name (anger, sadness, vulnerability…) is another step back into your power. It gives you more insight, even aha’s happen! When they do, release is imminent.
Process it. You can ask the emotion what it needs… journal it out, talk it out, sweat it out, pillow punch it out… the rules of thumb for this are:
- Do it with awareness and hold the intention of processing it for release.
- When “expressing” it or letting it out, focus on how you are feeling about the matter, and not just on complaining and airing the grievance as that keeps you in victim mode. Focusing on the emotion is something that’s in your power.
Reframe it. When finished, look for a new loving or empowering perspective, create a new supportive belief or affirmation, or ask yourself who you will be now, without this old anchor? Feel it, live it, be it!
Then, moving forward, be sure to keep practicing your reframes to wire in a new belief and positive emotional pattern. This is how lasting transformation happens.
Keep the momentum going…
Learn more about these success, mindset & emotional transformation methods or book a session with me today.
Then sit back, pat yourself on the back, and prepare to release to the roots, and unleash any stalled desires or dreams and your most authentic, beautiful, limitless life.
All the very best to you and your big-hearted, best visions and dreams! I can’t wait to see what you bring forth and create.
So much love and admiration,
Kay
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