Clutter

Close your eyes. In your mind's eye, take a moment and envision five pairs of shoes you own. See the colors, shapes, where they are currently. Think about where you got them from. Think about how much they cost and the story behind acquiring them.

You may be thinking... shoes? But here's the point: if you can close your eyes and imagine five pairs of shoes (mighty, I can see a whole lot more than five, even in my mind) that means that in addition to taking up space in your closet, the shoes are also taking up space in your consciousness. (To link this up with a Niyama, check out Katherine's post on Saucha, or purity)

Chris cleaned the heck out of the house today. He removed every single piece of furniture from the living room and spent hours cleaning it. Things I couldn't have imagined were dirty... well, that's not even for polite company. It was scary where all those dust bunnies and caked on griminess hid. I sweep/vacuum usually on a weekly basis. There's no stuff strewn about the floors. Dirt, however, gets in there. It just does.

Same with our minds. The more stuff we acquire on a physical basis, the more space it takes up in our mind. The shoe experiment can be repeated on coats, bags, silverware, coffee mugs. All of this stuff is just lying in our minds, gathering dust. What can be more productive in your mental space than physical objects?

Of course, this is a holiday post. I'm trying to give presents that are either needed or useful with the hope that I will receive the same. Stocking stuffers have been known to make me angry at the giver (I'm working on it). Give a gift to yourself, too, by cleaning out what you can. By making space. In the end, there will be more space in your mind and breath. And, this time of year, couldn't we all breathe a little easier?

Sequence

  1. Warm up for 10-15 minutes
  2. Samasthiti (Equal standing)
  3. Take your right leg and bend it, bringing the right calf to cross above the left knee (while balancing on left foot)
  4. Hands to heart center, "sit" hips lower and back, opening the right hip
  5. Open out and back to Virabhadrasana III (Warrior III)
  6. Exhale to step back to high lunge
  7. Take right hand to inside of left foot, left hand to hair for low lunge twist
  8. Spin open to Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II)
  9. Reverse warrior, taking hand to back leg
  10. Trikonasana (Triangle Pose)
  11. Bending front knee slightly to take left hand to floor, step back into Vasisthasana (Side Plank)
  12. Plank
  13. Vinyasa
  14. Repeat steps 2-13 on other leg
  15. Cool down
  16. Savasana 

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