Seven Spring Cleaning Rituals
The spring solstice this weekend opened the door to a season of renewal and rebirth. Spring cleaning is always a topic of conversation at this time of year and for good reason. As we do the work of our inner healing, it’s important that our external surroundings support our well-being and help us express all that we would like to in the world. Without being conscious of it, many people feel the energy change of the season and want to make room for it. I hope these seven spring cleaning rituals give you a fun starting point to make room for all that you want to bring in.
1. Reconnect with your Space
Take a quiet moment and walk through your space. Notice where it feels out of balance or has heavy energy. Are there rooms or areas of your home that you avoid, dislike or to which you just feel disconnected. Are there areas you love? Ask yourself how you’d like this space to feel.
When you give yourself a chance to slow down and feel the energy in a room, it will tell you a lot about what’s going on and what needs to shift. This could be as simple as, “I need to change my furniture layout,” or “This corner is stagnant and too dark.” A good next step after you’ve tuned in to your home is to cleanse the space, so read on to find out how.
2. Cleanse your Space
There are different levels and methods of cleansing for homes, land, and property, and you’ll learn these methods working with me, but you can learn my go-to method here.
If you have specific questions or circumstances, please comment below or reach out to me privately via email. Remember it’s sacred work and not something to enter into unconsciously or without respect. Don’t try to rush it.
3. Refresh your Altars
If you’re doing shamanic work, you probably have an altar or two up in your home. If it’s related to session work, then check-in with it and see if it needs to be refreshed. Does anything need to be added or changed? Is it just needing some attention? For personal or family altars, see if it needs some fresh energy. This could be as simple as adding new candles and a sprinkling of confetti to taking the whole thing down and rebuilding it, perhaps with your partner or family participating if appropriate. Make sure that the salt or other boundary around it is nice and solid.
You can also create a different type of altar for Spring. If the intent to honor the season and its energy, then perhaps you have fresh flowers in a vase with some other beautiful items that hold the vibration of this season. Many of us do this without being conscious of it, so you can add a deeper intent and see where it leads you.
Remember intent is everything and these altars are living and working at the Mythic. If you have questions or want to share anything about your work with altars, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
4. Plant Power
Oh, how I love plants. My dear friend gave me a “Crazy Plant Lady” pin for the holidays, so that should tell you all you need to know! In shamanism, we work regularly with all kinds of allies including plants. If you have plants, check-in with them at this change of season and see what they need whether it’s planting, repotting, misting, watering, or pruning. When we take care of plants, they take care of us. This principle of reciprocity is so important.
Springtime also means we can start looking for beautiful flowering plants whether to plant, hang, or to put into vases. Working with dirt and connecting directly with Pachamama in this way is incredibly grounding and rewarding. If you cut them in the wild, don’t forget to ask permission first and offer your thanks if they give you some to take home.
In addition to aesthetics, certain plants clean the air really well so bringing these types of plants into your indoor space can do wonders for spring cleaning. Keep in mind that many indoor plants are toxic to pets if ingested so keep those plants out of their reach.
Four Air-Cleaning Plants
The ZZ Plant (Zamioculcas Zamifolia) removes xylene, toluene, and benzene. Keep away from your pets.
Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema) removes benzene and formaldehyde. Keep away from your pets.
Philodendron has several varieties and is a climber that removes formaldehyde, toluene, trichloroethylene and xylene. Keep away from your pets.
Dracaena varieties like Janet Craig Dracaena and Warneckii Dracaena remove benzene, formaldehyde, xylene and toluene. Keep away from your pets.
4. Food as Spring Medicine
I am so excited to shift into cooking with the foods and herbs of springtime. It’s a wonderful way to align with the energy of the season! As we move from root vegetables and heavier winter foods, we welcome light and more delicate herbs like mint and chive, and well as fresh green produce including spring peas, arugula, artichokes, asparagus, fava beans, and spring onions. Cooking seasonally aligns us with the earth’s natural rhythms and eating seasonally supports our metabolic health, which brings us into better balance.
It’s fun at this time of year to explore local sources of seasonal food. My local herb apothecary brings in wild foraged Nettle every spring and we love getting creative with that marvelous plant. I use it dried in herbal infusions but cooking with it is fabulous too. I love supporting local farmers and businesses and getting incredible food in return. If you want to try a new cookbook with brilliant seasonal recipes, I recommend Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden.
5. Play with Color
The hues of winter are necessarily dark and cozy with shorter days and colder temperatures in many places encouraging inner reflection. Spring ushers in new green shoots of life, colorful blossoms, and animals of all kinds bring new life to the world. We can help our energy align with spring renewal through the use of color. In fact, color, energy, and matter are interdependent and every color has its own energy, frequency, and wavelength.
Many traditions have different approaches to color from modern color theory to shamanism and Feng Shui. In Feng Shui for example, each of the five elements corresponds to colors, energy, shapes, and material items. If you want to focus on growth and stability, you might bring in the wood element through color like greens teals, and blues. I could spend a long time talking about all of that because I love it! But, the main thing is to explore how color can help you change your energy and usher in some spring vibrations for your space.
Nature gives us a built-in palette: a variety of greens, whites, pinks, and yellows are a good starting point. Throw pillows, flowers, paint color, and artwork like this painting by Julia Kamenskikh can really uplift your spirits and help energize you for the season.
6. Clear out that Closet and Make Room
Closets often have stagnant energy. During this past year of stay at home, many of us stopped wearing most of our normal wardrobe because well, there was no need. This means clothes, shoes and other stored items have been in there for a long time collecting dust and need a good refresh. You can feel the energy of that space and where it needs to change.
New hangers, storage boxes, switching seasonal clothing around, dusting, and giving items away that have served their purpose are all part of clearing out the closet. Making space feels good. And while not all practices of Mari Kondo appeal to people, we choose what resonates with us. I love how it intersects with working with energy. I enjoy asking myself if something brings me joy when I wear it or look at it, sitting with how I feel. I also love the practice of offering gratitude to anything I have and choose to part with - what about you?
7. Take Care of Clutter and Old Energy
Clutter. Even the word itself holds the energy of what it means. Clutter traps energy and you can feel how heavy it is when you’re in a space that has a lot of it. Energy needs to move and flow for many health reasons. There are even countless studies that discuss the relationship between clutter and depression, fatigue, and increased cortisol levels. This can cause anxiety, stress, and weight gain.
So, spring is a good time to evaluate your spaces. You can go room to room and see if you notice where the energy drops or gets heavier. Notice if you feel anxious, stressed, or tired in those areas. Then start dismantling the clutter. Don’t be surprised if there are emotions that come forward. It’s been a tough year for everyone and it may be that our spaces hold pockets of that experience. Take it all and add it to your sandpainting because remember, it’s better to release all that and keep it moving rather than hold onto it.
I’d love to hear about all your spring cleaning rituals in the comments below. If you’d like to talk more about these rituals or could use some session work, I’d love to work with you!