Spring Cleaning
Spring is a time for rejuvenation, longer days and cool nights. It's also a time for cleaning out our homes, garages, cars, and, for some, our yoga spaces. Along with taking out the trash, we can also use spring as a way to declutter our minds, bodies, and souls. I'm reminded of an episode of my favourite show, The Simpsons, wherein Moe is visited by his old bartending college professor. Moe is an unhappy character who has become deeply unsatisfied with his bar and life. Professor Huntington gives Moe a piece of advice that I use anytime I am feeling a little down; "beautify your hole, and you'll beautify your soul," referring to Moe's watering hole. This crude and silly joke is good for a laugh, but it's also 100% right! Whenever my space feels cluttered and chaotic, I begin to feel down. I also start to notice that this is reflected in my behaviour, and soon I can feel a heaviness in my soul.
When I feel as though my hole, in this case, my home and studio, needs some sprucing up, I start small. I focus on one room or area at a time, and I begin to Marie Kondo the ever living daylights out of my things. I go through and I find the pieces and items that mean the most or have the most use and I set them aside. I box up the items that don't have meaning or purpose and I set them in my car for donation. I also love to throw things out. I usually only throw away things that are junky or useless, but I have tossed OK items as a way of cleansing my soul. I know this is not always the most environmentally friendly option, but there is nothing more calming to me than purging objects that do not serve me anymore. This is a common theme in yoga classes. Purging thoughts, feelings, and even breath patterns that do not serve us anymore helps us attain inner cleanliness. In yoga philosophy, this is called "saucha," the first of the niyamas. The niyamas, part of the 8 limbs of yoga, are five rules or observances to live by according to yogic philosophy. Saucha (also known as "self-purification") refers to a variety of techniques for cleansing the body and mind, and it has even been referred to as the ultimate goal of yoga.
When I am finished with the purge, I arm myself with various cleaning supplies and get to work. I won't lie to you, this is the part I dread the most: cleaning. This necessary and vital step, unpleasant as it is, is the final piece of the soul-cleansed puzzle for me. I tend to go into a meditative state when I clean, which is maybe why I like this step least of all, and by the end, I am reborn into a fully realized person again. Or so I wish. The truth is, I sometimes still feel a little down or off, but I almost always feel at least a little bit better, and mostly I feel like my soul is light again. The next time you are feeling a bit down or off, take a look at your surroundings and see if there is something that needs cleaning or decluttering. Chances are, if you beautify your hole, you may begin to feel beauty in your soul.
