Spring Cleaning: Shift Your Life and Grow

brush and dustpan with roses and flowers: Cleaning

Whether spring cleaning is a part of your regular routine or not, sometimes it just makes sense to take the time for a little clearing. Clearing is about shifting the energy of your home and your mind as much as it is about cleaning. It helps you (and your family) make the transition from winter’s dark, cold stillness into the new growth and beginnings of Spring.

Herbs for Cleaning

My favorite way to get a clearing started is to do a little old-fashioned cleaning. It helps a lot to move my energy and to make my space feel renewed. You can mix up a simple cleanser, such as an herbed vinegar spray like Four Thieves Vinegar, or add a few drops of essential oils to your warm, soapy water, to contribute some basic plant energies to your work. I like lavender, lemongrass, and pennyroyal going into both spring and fall. They’re all antiseptic, refreshing, and insecticide with the added bonus of being deterrent to rodents and other pests. If you have pets or very small children, you can use the pennyroyal sparingly or substitute spearmint or cornmint instead.

If you have time, you can go so far as washing the walls, moving furniture and cleaning behind and under it, flipping mattresses and laundering curtains. If you’re not up to that level of investment, you can stick to the basics–vacuum, dust, and straighten. The key is to take action toward cleaning your space in some form. Even an act as small as choosing a couple of things you’re no longer using or no longer need to donate can make a great start to your clearing project.

Clear After You Clean

Once you’ve done some sort of cleaning, you can use a clearing ritual to banish whatever may be lingering from the last season. At its simplest, that can be a smudging of your space with Sage, Rosemary, Lavender, or your favorite Smudging herb. Bell-ringing works wonderfully, too, with the added bonus that it won’t aggravate any allergies that may be kicking up in your respiratory system and won’t upset your pets. I’ve often blended up a small bottle of essential oils specifically for growth (birch, rose geranium, and cedarwood are a few of my favorites), which I then use for the next week or two in my essential oil burner or nebulizer.

Whatever you choose for your clearing tool, be sure to set your intention clearly and hold it while you work. Take a few moments to clear your mind and be still. Think of how you want the space to feel when you’re done: Uplifting, fresh, renewed, light, happy, energized.

Try to use as many of your senses as possible in your visualization. Once you’ve got your intentions clear and set, get to work. As you work, pause every now and then to return to that original visualization to reinforce the intention you’ve set.

Work from a clear starting point, like your front or back door, and move through your home in a clockwise direction. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, work in a counter-clockwise direction. This mimics the direction of Earth’s rotation, emphasizing a natural rhythm within your space. I like to take extra time at each exterior door to ask for blessings to enter and for all who enter into my home to be blessed and cleared, leaving their troubles outside when they cross the threshold.

Give Thanks: Gratitude Practice Brings Transformation

When you’ve finished your ritual, give thanks and enjoy your space. I’ve often seen life begin to shift after I’ve done a clearing. Notice what changes, how others respond differently…or even how you respond differently to whatever pops up in your life. Whatever changes you see, I hope they bring new growth and happiness to your life!

This article was first published on Candacehunter.com.

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