Spring Cleaning with Sunshine Yoga Life

Spring cleaning time has arrived!

Have you heard of spring cleaning your closets, or "give your house a good spring cleaning?"  Just like we need to de-clutter after winter in our physical environment, our inner environment also benefits from cleaning.  You are what you eat; literally, what you eat becomes your body and mind.  Energy cannot be destroyed, only transferred.  If you eat healthy and vibrant food filled with micronutrients, your body will thank you.  Your skin will shine brighter and clear up.  You can heal yourself from the inside out.  How can you bring clarity to the different parts of your life?

Here are nine ways to bring spring cleaning to a whole new level!

1. Let's start with the physical world.  Clean your home, I mean really clean it.  That includes washing the windows, floors and baseboards. - your external environment has an impact on your inner world.  Have you heard the phrase, "Clean home, Clear mind?"

2. Organize your closets and donate anything you haven't worn in two years - making space will allow new energy to flow your way.  If you want to buy some new spring clothes, first donate some old ones.

3. Commit to a wholefood-plant-based diet and try a juice cleanse.***  If this is completely new for you, start slowly with Meatless Mondays.  Going veg for one day a week is a great way to start eating a more plant based diet.
*** Read about my juice cleanse here 

4. Mental Spring Cleaning:  Start a gratitude journal - start your day by writing down three things you are grateful for.  This simple practice can have long lasting effects on our happiness scale.

5. Skip the news in the morning - if you want to be informed but do not want to be dragged down by negative news, read the headlines on a reputable online newspaper.  I am in no way saying to ignore the news, rather that you can choose to click into the story if you want to know more.  Shawn Achor shares his research here

Watch Shawn Achor's TED talk on happiness below!

6. Start an exercise or yoga home practice - do you let yourself off the hook a lot when you do your practice on your own?  Say you planned on exercising for 30 minutes and after ten minutes, you say, "I'm good!"  Developing the discipline to work beyond our limitations, especially limitations in our mind, will ultimately provide freedom.  The American Heart Association recommends 30 minutes of exercise daily to decrease your risk of cardiovascular disease.  The work is hard, no doubt.  Keep showing up.

7. Start a daily meditation practice - taking quiet time allows your mind to rest from the constant worrying and planning.  Need help getting started?  
Email me for beginning meditation tips!

8. Practice random acts of kindness - write a two minute email thanking someone on your contact list or the next time you are on line, offer to pay for the person standing behind you or simply let someone pass in front of you in traffic.  Always offer these gifts with love and a smile.  Even a smile is a gift to the receiver!
 
9. Go outside and play - this is the most important step to welcome spring!  Join me on a yoga hike this year.  See the yoga hike schedule here!