Spring Cleaning - 4 Ways To Clean More Than Just Your House

Can you feel it? Spring is in the air! After what seemed like a never-ending winter, spring has finally sprung, trees are blooming, and everything is all atwitter.

To be one hundred percent honest, I'm not a huge fan of spring, but that has more to do with the fact that I'm highly allergic to pollen than with the warming weather. I still think spring is a great time for new beginnings, though, because as the world comes back to life, shouldn't you do so as well (so to speak)?

There's a reason why it's called spring cleaning, and I firmly believe that spring cleaning isn't just for your house, but for your body, too. Here are some spring cleaning tips for your mind, body, and home:

1. Clean House

How can you be healthy, happy, and productive in a house that’s full of dust and stuff you don’t use anymore? Take this opportunity of the changing of the seasons to clean out everything you don’t use anymore. Donate old clothes, kitchen appliances, movies, books, etc. to those less fortunate, and make some extra space in your home.

Then throw open the windows and get cleaning! Get under the sofa, the bed, the corners of the kitchen and clean up all the built up dust from the winter. If you suffer from allergies, getting all the old dirt and dust out of your house could help them immensely.

While cleaning is no one’s favorite activity, you’ll feel so much better and ready for a clean start with a clean house.

Pro tip: While you’re cleaning out, put your clothes on hangers and hang them the wrong way around in your wardrobe. When you wear something, hang it back up the right way around. At the end of the year you can see what you have worn and what you haven’t. It makes figuring out which old clothes to bring to the donation bin so much easier!

2. Clean Gut

Detoxing is really popular in the health world right now, but I’ll let you in on a little tip… if you have a liver, your body is detoxing itself just fine. That’s what a liver’s for, after all.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t give the inner workings of your body a helping hand. It’s true that you are what you eat, and that you get out what you put in. So try to put good things into your body and give your gut the spring cleaning it needs.

Winter is all about comfort food, but spring is all about fresh food. Bring some dark, leafy greens into your diet, such as kale, spinach, and arugula. They’ll shoot your system full of healthy nutrients and fiber, so that your digestive tract moves along smoothly. Also, take full advantage of all the wonderful spring fruits! Strawberry season is coming soon, after all.

While you’re busy pumping your body full of all the awesome produce that spring has to offer, why not add one meatless day a week into your routine? You may find some new recipes that you really love, new foods you like, and you’ll be helping out our planet at the same time. Everyone wins!

3. Clean Mind

Shake off the cold, grey skies of winter and welcome in the spring sunshine with a fresh outlook on life. During the winter, I get much more introverted, quiet, and sometimes sadder, too. When the spring sun finally comes around, I can feel my whole attitude about things changing.

It’s not just the weather that can have an effect on your mind, though. If you’ve never tried it before, this might be the perfect time to try meditation.

Meditation isn’t so much about trying not to think about anything, but more about observing your thoughts as they go by without interacting with them. All you need is a quiet space and a comfortable pillow to sit on. Come to a comfortable seat, close your eyes, and just breathe. Watch your thoughts go by, and eventually you’ll come to a space where you don’t need to think at all.

Even just 10 minutes a day can help focus your mind, brighten your outlook, and help relieve all the stress that it’s so easy to get bogged down with.

4. Clean Body

Spring is an excellent time to practice some self-care and take time for yourself. And what better way to take care of yourself than to take care of your skin, the body’s largest organ?

The skincare routine you have during the winter might not be the same you have in the spring and summer, and we highly encourage you to go out in the sun and soak up some of that much needed vitamin D. If your winter skincare routine doesn’t seem to be working with your springtime skin, shake it up and try something new.

Acid face masks and exfoliants can do wonders for sloughing off the dry skin from winter and leave your skin fresh and glowing. A light moisturizer and spot treatment will help clear up your skin and keep it soft.

To sum it all up…

While all four of these spring cleanings do wonders on their own, when they all come together they can do wonders. Having a clean living space, a healthy body, a relaxed mind, and a radiant body can help you feel better from the inside out. And really, what better way is there to step into a new season?