Personal Spring Cleaning

I’ve been particularly motivated to do some spring cleaning this year because my toddler finds new, undesirable ways to interact with clutter on a daily basis. The less I have the less I have to childproof. With how hectic motherhood is it’s hard to find the time! Similarly, it’s hard to find the time for self-care, meditation, and introspection; i.e., personal spring cleaning. I recently wrote an article for Inner Fire about how important it is to take out the trash. Here’s an excerpt:

Intuitively, we know what in our lives is just trash that’s taking up space: It’s the stuff we hold onto just in case we come up with a use for it later in life; it’s the mementos we never look at; it’s the ingrained habits that no longer serve us. It’s just trash, nothing more. Today, I challenge you to let go of one of the old pieces of trash taking up space in your life, abruptly and without ceremony. Take it to the curb and do not look back.

Read the full article over at Inner Fire>>

6 Age-Old Cleansing Techniques Every Yogi Should Know

The most horrifying moment of my yogihood so far was when I read the materials list for my first yoga teacher training, and found out I had to buy an enema kit. I didn’t know where to get one, so I went to a hole-in-the-wall local health food store run by an old hippie. When I arrived, he was chatting with one of his regular customers, so I mulled around waiting for her to leave and pretended to look at herbs. Eventually the store owner paused his conversation and asked, “Can I help you find anything?”

“Uh…,” I hesitated, and then continued quietly, “I’m doing a yoga teacher training, and I need an enema kit.”

“What?” he asked, not quite catching that last bit.

“I need an enema kit,” I said as confidently as possible. “Do you sell them?”

Both he and his customer burst out laughing, and then quickly bit their tongues in response to my mortified expression. He told me kindly that he didn’t carry them and had no idea where I could buy one. Some hippie!

Not all kriyas (yogic cleansing techniques) are as extreme as enemas. To read more about accessible takes on age-old cleansing techniques, read this article I wrote for Inner Fire: 6 Age-Old Cleansing Techniques Every Yogi Should Know.