Spring Cleaning and Good Feng Shui

One of my Mother's rituals that I inherited/adopted is to do a good spring cleaning around the house. She would clean out the winter cob webs and get ready to open the windows and let the fresh air flood our house. Little did my Mom know that she was practicing one of the simple basics of good feng shui. Clear out the clutter to enable the good energy to flow in.



My newly adopted cat, Jax, recently made the need for a good spring cleaning around our house abundantly clear to me when he showed up on our steps with a HUGE cobweb draped about his head. He had been exploring the depths of our 85 year old basement and came up with this beauty. First came the laughter and then I was horrified to think that there was such a cobweb lurking in our house. Can you believe it? Yuck. Time for a good cleaning!!!



Feng shui is the art or practice of harmonizing the flow of energy. This energy flow is ever present externally, as in your home, or internally, as in your mind or emotions. Good feng shui eliminates the clutter to allow the energy to move about freely, not getting "hung up" or trapped by clutter.

My external environment is a huge influence on my internal environment. For me, messy surroundings equals a confusing mental state. If I clear out the clutter, I instantly feel better.

My favorite book on feng shui is "feng shui your life" by Jayme Barrett. It is a WONDERFUL resource on feng shui and I highly recommend it. Great reading, good photos and illustrations, and one of the best features is its easy to follow ideas for implementing feng shui principals immediately.







Jayme's first step in creating good feng shui is to the clear out the clutter. Her motto is "healthy energy is moving energy." How can the energy move if it is being obstructed by junk mail, magazines, dead plants, broken objects and things that don't work anymore? Get rid of it! Don't let accumulated stuff drain the energy out of your space and your mind. Purge!



Jayme has four great clutter-clearing questions:

Do I love it?

Do I use it?

Do I need it?

Does it evoke a positive feeling and make me smile?

These are all great benchmark questions to assist in you determining if something is energy giving and should stay or if it's energy robbing and should go. In past years I have eliminated many things while spring cleaning because they remind me of something unpleasant. Why would I weigh myself down either physically or emotionally?

When I clean out my spaces I am preparing the way for something new and energetic to enter my life. After this long winter - I am joyful and ready. Let the cleaning begin.

I think I will start with cleaning my billowy, white sheers that I use in the summer. I just love the fluttering dance that they do when the wind blows its fresh, new breath into my home.