Ultimate “Life” Spring Cleaning Guide: Physically, Mentally, and Emotionally
written by Jasmine Irven
Something I am working on cultivating and appreciating more is my connection with the earth. There’s just something about being at peace in nature, feeling the ground beneath your feet and the breeze against your face that makes you feel truly at home.
Our indoor culture and lifestyle however, encourages us to stay inside more often than not, and so it becomes easy to feel disconnected.
With each season comes the opportunity to create new routines and rituals that re-establish this feeling of peace; shifting your sleep schedule to coincide with the rhythms of nature, exploring your surroundings with regular walks, eating in-season produce, and opening the windows.
If you’re reading this as we begin the transition to spring, the birds are likely chirping, the ground is that weird yellow colour that isn’t so nice but that holds the promise of bright green grass in the near future, and the temperature is almost at the point where you can go out without a jacket.
It’s a very transitional period in nature and it’s a great time to allow for transition in our lives as well.
Spring is also a time of natural purification, healing, and rejuvenation, and is often suggested as a good period of cleansing. So, we’ve curated the ultimate “life” spring cleaning guide to provide an overview of how we’re transitioning with nature physically, mentally, and emotionally.
I hope you have some time over the next couple weeks to take some of these ideas and implement them into your own life; to flow with the seasons of life and nature and create this change in your own life; to rejuvenate your rituals and routines, to find mental peace and clarity, and to connect on a deeper level with your higher self and purpose.
To cleanse, refresh, reevaluate, and move forward with greater intention.
physically
shift your diet
When I say diet I don’t mean some fad or trend, I simply mean the foods you’re bringing into your body. Transitioning the physical body to be in greater alignment with the change of seasons means focusing on purification; lightening the diet to coincide with the cleansing nature of spring. Some simple ways to do this:
Clean out your fridge and cupboards to get rid of any foods that are past expiry, or that no longer serve this season of your life.
Listen to what your body wants! Often in the spring and summer there is a desire to shift to more fresh and easily digestible foods like fruits and vegetables, especially greens which are growing more freely this time of year and are very cleansing. Avocado, grapefruit, lemon, lime, olive, orange, strawberry, asparagus, beet, bok choy, broccoli, spinach, green onion, lettuce, mushroom, celery, etc.
Focus on consuming seasonal foods; foods that are available and grown locally. This not only keeps us attuned to Earth and the cycles of nature but gives us potentially the cleanest foods, as fewer chemicals are needed to store and ship them.
Drink clean, filtered water as much as possible. Include some lemon in your water for added flavour and potentially added cleansing effects (studies on this aren’t conclusive but there’s no denying it tastes good!).
Include more fresh herbs and spices in your meals.
Create a peaceful setting around food preparation and consumption. If there is more stress than peace, more argument than discussion, digestion and nourishment can be negatively affected.
Take time to relax and breathe before eating.
try new movement
Exercise is important year round, but it can be nice to shift the type of exercise you’re doing with the seasons to allow for new energy flow and to reduce any feelings of stagnation or being “stuck” in a routine. Reinvigorate your exercise routine with new movement:
Walking or running outside
Exploring a new neighbourhood
Hiking through nature
Dancing around your house to a new playlist
Gardening
Follow along with an online yoga video
At-home workouts
Swimming
Pilates or barre
Biking or spin
Boxing
Stretching (be kind to your body!)
mentally
clean, declutter, & refresh your space
Our internal environment is very reflective of our external.
That’s why it’s so important to have good rituals and routines you can rely on daily, to hang out with people who challenge you to be a better version of yourself, and to have a clean space.
What surrounds you becomes your reality!
Here are some of our favourite ways to cleanse our space to make room for the new and healing energy of spring:
Clean your home. Taking time to minimize by getting rid of physical items that no longer serve you can really help your space transform energetically. Be honest with yourself when going through your items: does it serve a purpose? Does it make you happy? If you could go back, would this item be something you would buy? This process doesn’t need to be challenging. Consider setting aside the time to get rid of 5 things daily. And remember, don’t just throw the items out! Try to repurpose, resell, or donate the item to avoid unnecessary waste.
Digital cleanse. Go through your computer images, online files and folders, your Google drive, SD or memory cards, hard drives, your desktop, apps on your phone, old messages, email subscriptions, digital notes, etc. Delete what you no longer need and/ or anything that’s not a good use of your time, organize what you do need so you can easily find it, and back-up everything that’s important to you on an external harddrive, or an online platform like Google Drive.
Social media cleanse. Social media can be a great tool for inspiration and connection, but if the accounts you follow create more stress and anxiety than joy, it’s likely going to impact your mental health more negatively than positively. Go through your social media accounts and unfriend or unfollow any accounts that don’t bring you joy. Consider: is this person still in my life? Am I following this account because I want to or because I feel I need to? Do I enjoy the content on this account? Does it align with my values?
bring more clarity around your values & priorities
What’s important to you? Reflect on where your energy has been going lately and where you’d like it to go in the future. Some ideas:
Do a brain dump where you write down everything that’s on your mind. Externalizing your tasks and writing them down is a powerful way to free up mental space and get organized! Once you’ve written everything down, decide what you need to take action on. If it’s quick, consider doing it right then and there so it requires no further thought. If it’s going to take longer, schedule it in your calendar.
Review your recent to-do lists and projects to create an inventory: what are tasks and projects that are/ will actually make a difference in your life? Is there anything you can take off your project list? Anything you can delegate?
Get clear on your goals for the next quarter. Reflect on what you’ve accomplished so far this year, revisit your yearly goals and see where changes need to be made, and determine what goals are important to you to accomplish in the next couple of months. If you’re looking for a full guide on goal setting, check out this post, or if you’re simply looking for inspiration on setting intentions, read this post.
spiritually
raise your vibration
“When something vibrates at a lower frequency, it feels heavy, whereas things vibrating with a higher frequency feel lighter, more at ease (physically and emotionally).
Lower vibrational energies include sadness and stress, whereas higher vibrational energies might include happiness, joy, and love. The important thing to know though, and always come back to, is that we can raise our energetic vibrations. We can change the frequency with which our bodies vibrate at, in order to bring more ease and flow into our lives.”
— An excerpt from our blog post, 19 ways to raise your vibration.
Here are a few ideas on simple ways to raise your vibration:
Open the windows to let some fresh, clean air in.
Bring more plants into your home (greenery is a great way to bring warm and happy energy to your space: they clean the air, reduce stress, and help us feel more at ease).
Plant a garden or some herbs or bring some fresh flowers into your home.
Create an uplifting playlist.
Send a text or physical card to someone you love telling them you care.
Phone a friend or family member.
Get grateful; ask yourself not just what you’re grateful for, but why!
Meditate. Take 10-15 minutes to sit with yourself. start by setting an intention for your practise: “I am practising to ______” (bring more light to my body, to raise my vibration, to bring peace, to experience greater flow). Then, move into focusing on your breath, continually bringing your attention back to your breath when you notice your mind wandering.
allow yourself space for unhurried self-care
Try something creative. Allow yourself to nourish some of the creative outlets you’ve been neglecting — to create without judgement or comparison, but instead with love and compassion and excitement.
Learn something new. Read a new book, listen to a new podcast, sign up for a new course, etc.
Cultivate new habits that serve this season of your life. Sipping coffee or tea slowly on your patio, cooking more meals at home, going on nature walks, reading a new book, etc.
connect with your purpose
It’s a lot easier to thrive and feel motivated to make progress on your dreams and goals when they’re connected to a bigger purpose.
There are a lot of different versions and interpretations of this concept of “finding your purpose” — one of our personal favourite being the Japanese method of Ikigai (blog post on this coming soon) — but use whatever resonates with you!
A simple starting point is to look at what brings you joy and contentment in your daily life. As this will likely shift and become more clear over time, it can be helpful to visit this concept regularly throughout the year.
Here are a few journaling prompts that you might find helpful:
What does your dream life look like? How does it feel? What are you spending your days doing?
If you were to fast-forward your life to the end, what would you regret most not doing? What would you be most proud of yourself for? What moments in your life so far stand out?
What would you do if money was no concern?
What do you feel your mission is on this planet? (This doesn’t need to be intimidating, it can be as simple as bringing more joy, kindness, or love to others).
Whatever you decide to do, make the transition slowly. Focus on supporting your body by truly asking yourself what you need and what feels good:
Look at what you’re currently doing and what may need to be adjusted.
Pick 1-2 areas you feel need the most support.
Implement suggestions as you feel comfortable.
Be kind and patient with yourself. There is usually an evolutionary part of us that is trying to stimulate and guide us toward our new self, while another part is used to the old habits and tries to hold us back with fears and reasons not to change. Give yourself grace. Recognize each day as an opportunity to try again.
Think of this time period as a reset: for your body, mind, and soul. Collectively we can put more focus on changing old habits, and thinking and living in more healthful ways: for ourselves and the planet.
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about the author
Hey there! I’m Jasmine, founder of the Sustainable Bliss Collective, a Certified Meditation Teacher, and lover of all things self-care, slow-living, and personal development.
I believe that ambition and self-care can coexist, and as such I hope to encourage and inspire you to take care of yourself, breathe deeply, connect with who you are, manifest your dreams, enjoy the blissful moments of each day, and make an impact in this beautiful world we call home.
Connect with me on Instagram here!
