It’s Spring cleaning time! The birds are chirping, the sun is slowly peaking its way out, letting us know it’s time to detox, let go, slough off the old layers and step into the crispness of Spring. Taking what we learned in the dark of Winter and putting it to good use — the creation of who we are; the next evolution waiting to be revealed. In Winter, we tuck in, condense, and hunker down to learn and experience what restriction feels like. In Spring, we get to let all that go and shine with the lessons, reflections and understanding we garnished in the darkness, like sand in the pressure of an oyster becomes a pearl, so are we each year the sun dawns again. As the snake sheds its skin to become its newest self, so must we slough off the old to rejoice in our newness.
I recently discovered that goop.com has a podcast now, and I just happened to catch an interview with Anita Moorjani. If you haven’t read her life-altering book Dying To Be Me, definitely make it a priority. It’s a must-read for humans. In the podcast she references an interview with Michaelangelo on his carvings of angels. Someone asked him how he was able to carve these beautiful angels out clunky pieces of marble. He said “No, the angels were there all along. I just chipped away at what was NOT the angel and set it free.” That just stopped me in my tracks as a seriously powerful teaching. What a beautiful sentiment, and a simple way to look at our creations and the creation of ourselves. That means that our task here is only to chip away at what is NOT us, to reveal what was there all along. There is no need to struggle. There is no need even to build. There is only a letting go. We come into the world pure and unrestrained, with a clear purpose and idea of who we are. That idea gets added to by all that society tells us we must be. We become an accumulation of thoughts and ideas that aren’t based on our true essence. We get so bogged down in the details, that we think being who we are must be difficult. We focus on all that is wrong about us, and that only makes it harder. Instead, we need only to remember what is right about us, what is truly ours, and then let go of everything else. We don’t need to apologize to the other people we may have thought we were disappointing, because in truth it’s not even possible to disappoint them — that isn’t even our business. Their feelings are theirs. Our job is simply to open to who we are, and their reaction to that is their work. See if you can tune into that this month and discover what you may be carrying around that is ripe for shedding. We’ll do some energy work in the meditation this month to help flush that out.
It’s worth noting that while this can be a positive and liberating experience, letting go of parts of ourselves (even the parts that aren’t us but we have become attached to believing are) can be a painful process. We have to allow space and grieving for the death of those parts of ourselves to occur. In a society that is running around as much as ours, we tend towards not allowing grief at all. We want to push towards the next exciting thing, cover up our feelings and stuff it all down. We are taught to be happy all the time and that doesn’t allow for the reality of the full continuum of who we are as humans. I was stopped directly in this lesson myself this past month. I am so used to being “on,” to being a mom, to being a partner, to the idea of producing in order to be of value. But the honest truth is that you can’t give from an empty well. Sometimes you have to rest, let it all fall apart, grieve and cry, even if you have no idea why. Crying is a form of detoxing your liver, so it’s a two-in-one bonus anyway, and you’ll feel better afterwards. Our world is evolving so quickly now, and we are all going through an identity crisis of sorts. We have to give ourselves time to flush it all out and see what is left. To let go of all the ways we have been that are not us, so we can see clearly who we are, and fully claim it.
Some tools for cleansing and clearing:
Freshen Your Space — Dusting and vacuuming, cleaning out the excesses of your basement, attic, closet, cleaning your car, these are all ways to honor the seasons and to care for yourself. It is said that the spaces we inhabit such as our home and our car is an expression of our bodies. The state of these places can let us know how well we’re taking care of ourselves, and if it’s not great, now is an opportunity to assess that and make changes. If it’s hard to get excited about cleaning, let yourself play first. Go outside in nature and bask in the glory of spring. Let nature wash over you and cleanse you energetically. Let yourself have fun, laugh, listen to music, dance, be with friends, and then come home and clean from that happy place as a form of self love. And if you need to, let yourself cry while you’re at it. Sometimes throwing all that stuff out is a form of that same sense of grief I mentioned before. It’s things we’re gotten accustomed to, even if it’s things we don’t want.
Self Care — I think it was Dr. Lauren Hazzouri that said self care is not adding something, it’s letting something go. What can you let go of this month to allow for the things you know nourish you? Taking a salt bath, making it to yoga, meeting a friend. It’s ok to slow down and let things go to take care of yourself. And we're usually happier in the process.
Dry Brushing — It’s a great time to do some dry brushing. Get a body brush, or my personal favorite, loofa gloves, and brush your body gently upwards from your feet towards your heart, then from your hands towards your heart, and the tops of your shoulders down towards your heart. Do this before you bathe to get your circulation going and enliven your cells with a wake up.
Do A Cleanse — It’s a great time to clean out your digestion for a fresh start. I’ve use the Purium program in the past and found it works really well. There’s a 10-day program you can find on Amazon. It’s an easy process to follow without a lot of fuss. If you haven’t done a cleanse before, go easy and know it is a process. I personally feel like it is a form of spiritual practice. It requires a lot of letting go, and cravings for sure, but it really shows you were your tendencies are. Plan it when you know you don’t have a big event coming up. If that sounds like too much, start with some intermittent fasting (not eating until noon) and/or simple juicing to get you going. My go-to green drink is from the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It’s delicious and feels so restorative.
2-3 stalks of Kale
2 stalks of celery
2 green apples
1 cucumber
1 inch piece of ginger (more if you like it spicy)
1/2 lemon
Be well this month and enjoy the feel of bare feet in the grass. Go easy on yourself as we transition seasons and let go of all that isn’t ours. I’m so excited to meet the new you on the other side.
All my love, Heidi
#doublemagenta #intuitive #energyhealing #meditation #anitamoorjani #drlauren #dyingtobeme #purium #fatsickandnearlydead #goop #heidihancock
I'm so happy to partner with Dina LeRoux for her eco-conscious and minimalist lifestyle blog, A Greener Life. I'll be bringing monthly meditations focused on the current season and energetic theme presenting in the collective. Check out her site www.agreener.life to learn more about her offerings.