Clutter is anything you don’t like, don’t use, or don’t need. In feng shui philosophy, free-flowing energy creates health, wealth, love, and overall abundance for the people who take it in.
Clutter stops that energy flow and creates stagnation, exhaustion, and exasperation. Having stagnant energy in your home is like rolling a boulder up a hill and having it roll back on you each time you stop to rest: Everything requires lots of force, and nothing is fun.
Here are nine ways your life will open up dramatically once you address those blocked streams of energy by clearing your clutter:
1. You’ll be more vibrant and magnetic.
Once you create lots of order and harmony in your home, you’ll be more present and radiant. Feng Shui and all of Traditional Chinese Medicine talk about circulation of life force energy as the key to vibrant health and abundance.
Like acupuncture, which removes blockages and imbalances from the body to create more dynamism and wellness, clearing clutter removes blocks and imbalances from your space. When you move through spaces that are lit up with fresh energy, inspiration strikes and the most magnetic parts of your personality can come to life.
2. More time appears.
When you aren’t feeling overwhelmed from the mess in your home office, you’ll have more time to get quality work done. Not having to spend an hour finding an outfit to wear or tracking down your missing keys saves incredible amounts of time, too. I’ve seen people (me included) save about an hour a day on average, every single day, after a big clutter-clearing.
3. (Positive) risks become possible.
Clutter often reflects life's unfinished business. When you clear away the clutter, you're allowing yourself to take bigger, more creative risks because you're no longer steeped in the problems of the past.
4. Personal issues are addressed.
When you dig through mess, you’re likely to excavate a lot of deep emotional residue that’s buried in your clutter. Everything from bad memories to broken dreams can get uncovered in a deep clean, and each one you confront creates more room for the truly new.
5. You lose a bad habit or start a better one.
Charles Duhigg describes how taking a vacation is an amazing time to break a bad habit in his book The Power of Habit. Vacations are free of the environmental behavioral cues that trigger our habitual behaviors. Rather than taking a vacation, though, you can change your space by simply removing all the junk that triggers your habits.
On a simple level, when you clear away sugar from your pantry and fridge, you create a space free of the temptations that set off a sugar binge. In a more complex way, you’re removing triggers to negative emotions when you remove stuff that isn’t wholly positive from your space.
6. Sleep becomes deeper.
When you clear out the stagnant clutter around you — especially when you address the storage under your bed — it can become easier to fall asleep. Since humans are energetic beings, the more energy that freely circulates around us, the easier it is for us to rejuvenate with deep, restful sleep.
7. Problems get solved.
When you're equipped with the fresh perspective that’s opened up with a clear space, it’s far easier to focus and solve problems ingeniously.
8. Money flows more freely.
Twice a year, I run a huge decluttering immersion group online. One of the instant benefits that many group members experience is finding money — sometimes lots of it, often in unexpected places. One friend found over $400 in loose change in his house during a major decluttering!
9. You can trust your intuition much more.
Sure, your intuition still works when there are piles of dishes in the sink. But when it comes to making big decisions and using intuition, cleaning your space creates a palpable sense of clarity and certainty. When I have a clutter-free home, my decisions are often much different and much more right.
Recently, I wavered in a staggering way on signing a contract that seemed amazing on paper but didn’t feel right. After revamping my closets and my office, donating piles of things I didn’t need any longer, it all became definitive.
Three months of talking to friends and lawyers and seeking major expert advice was very helpful, but I couldn’t make a clear and empowered decision until I had more clear space around me.
There’s no downside to clearing your space. Everything will improve everywhere you look. You'll feel fantastic, emotionally lighter, dynamic, and energized. Love, money, and health will expand easier. Life will be more creative.
So tackle that small space today — whether it be a drawer, a purse, or a shelf. With each victory, you’ll build motivation and magic in the air around you.
By Dana Claudat | Mind Body Green
Clutter stops that energy flow and creates stagnation, exhaustion, and exasperation. Having stagnant energy in your home is like rolling a boulder up a hill and having it roll back on you each time you stop to rest: Everything requires lots of force, and nothing is fun.
Here are nine ways your life will open up dramatically once you address those blocked streams of energy by clearing your clutter:
" Clutter often reflects life's unfinished business. "
1. You’ll be more vibrant and magnetic.
Once you create lots of order and harmony in your home, you’ll be more present and radiant. Feng Shui and all of Traditional Chinese Medicine talk about circulation of life force energy as the key to vibrant health and abundance.
Like acupuncture, which removes blockages and imbalances from the body to create more dynamism and wellness, clearing clutter removes blocks and imbalances from your space. When you move through spaces that are lit up with fresh energy, inspiration strikes and the most magnetic parts of your personality can come to life.
2. More time appears.
When you aren’t feeling overwhelmed from the mess in your home office, you’ll have more time to get quality work done. Not having to spend an hour finding an outfit to wear or tracking down your missing keys saves incredible amounts of time, too. I’ve seen people (me included) save about an hour a day on average, every single day, after a big clutter-clearing.
3. (Positive) risks become possible.
Clutter often reflects life's unfinished business. When you clear away the clutter, you're allowing yourself to take bigger, more creative risks because you're no longer steeped in the problems of the past.
4. Personal issues are addressed.
When you dig through mess, you’re likely to excavate a lot of deep emotional residue that’s buried in your clutter. Everything from bad memories to broken dreams can get uncovered in a deep clean, and each one you confront creates more room for the truly new.
5. You lose a bad habit or start a better one.
Charles Duhigg describes how taking a vacation is an amazing time to break a bad habit in his book The Power of Habit. Vacations are free of the environmental behavioral cues that trigger our habitual behaviors. Rather than taking a vacation, though, you can change your space by simply removing all the junk that triggers your habits.
On a simple level, when you clear away sugar from your pantry and fridge, you create a space free of the temptations that set off a sugar binge. In a more complex way, you’re removing triggers to negative emotions when you remove stuff that isn’t wholly positive from your space.
6. Sleep becomes deeper.
When you clear out the stagnant clutter around you — especially when you address the storage under your bed — it can become easier to fall asleep. Since humans are energetic beings, the more energy that freely circulates around us, the easier it is for us to rejuvenate with deep, restful sleep.
7. Problems get solved.
When you're equipped with the fresh perspective that’s opened up with a clear space, it’s far easier to focus and solve problems ingeniously.
8. Money flows more freely.
Twice a year, I run a huge decluttering immersion group online. One of the instant benefits that many group members experience is finding money — sometimes lots of it, often in unexpected places. One friend found over $400 in loose change in his house during a major decluttering!
9. You can trust your intuition much more.
Sure, your intuition still works when there are piles of dishes in the sink. But when it comes to making big decisions and using intuition, cleaning your space creates a palpable sense of clarity and certainty. When I have a clutter-free home, my decisions are often much different and much more right.
Recently, I wavered in a staggering way on signing a contract that seemed amazing on paper but didn’t feel right. After revamping my closets and my office, donating piles of things I didn’t need any longer, it all became definitive.
Three months of talking to friends and lawyers and seeking major expert advice was very helpful, but I couldn’t make a clear and empowered decision until I had more clear space around me.
" Cleaning your space creates a palpable sense of clarity and certainty. "
There’s no downside to clearing your space. Everything will improve everywhere you look. You'll feel fantastic, emotionally lighter, dynamic, and energized. Love, money, and health will expand easier. Life will be more creative.
So tackle that small space today — whether it be a drawer, a purse, or a shelf. With each victory, you’ll build motivation and magic in the air around you.
By Dana Claudat | Mind Body Green
