Category: Self Care

50 Ways to Clear Space for Joy and Abundance

As I write this blog post this morning I have already prepared breakfast and lunch, taken my son to school, fed the pets and walked them, instant messaged with a client, read and responded to some emails, taken a phone call, and created some social media posts. I’ve probably done more but that’s all I can remember right now.

I’m exhausted before noon and I’m sure you often feel the same.

Life is constantly moving. Energy is everywhere. 

Information, ideas, people and even objects (smartphones) relentlessly demand your attention. You, being a smart, sensitive seeker feel this every day and sometimes the world can just be overwhelming.

It’s not your fault. Really it’s not the fault of technology or advances in culture either, at least not intentionally. These things that are designed to make our lives easier often end up ruling us and keeping us from the thriving, joyful and abundant life we desire.

Even your own mind betrays you because it is constantly on the lookout for danger and obstacles in order to keep you safe. Hardly fertile ground for peaceful loving thoughts. And so you find yourself amidst this chaos, building momentum into a state of stress trying to deal with it all.

But what if you just let it go? What if you released all the elements (things, ideas, people, commitments) that keep you from experiencing joy and abundance? By doing so you literally clear space for new and better opportunities to appear.

Time to clear space.

Clearing space in your life is all about breaking up stuck energy or slowing down and changing the direction of energy that has negative momentum. You can clear space in your mind, body, soul, and your environment.

It’s easier than you might think and even the smallest act of clearing space can have a big impact on your success. The following tips are practical, easy and effective for helping you feel more at ease and peaceful in your life. These higher vibrations of peace, love and joy are the fertile ground you need to manifest everything you desire.

50 Ways to Clear Space for Joy and Abundance

  1. have a good cry
  2. clean out one drawer or closet
  3. delete old emails
  4. unsubscribe from shopping emails
  5. make a decision
  6. say no to projects that don’t excite you
  7. meditate
  8. take a walk
  9. listen to a brain entrainment audio
  10. make your bed
  11. take a social media break
  12. turn off tv/computers after 9pm
  13. clean out the refrigerator
  14. turn off notifications on your phone
  15. take a nap
  16. start a Kanban board for your to-do list
  17. stop and just be – breathe, listen, and flow
  18. spray your home with an essential oil mist
  19. clean your dishes after every meal
  20. use paper plates for a week
  21. finish a project you’ve started
  22. make that phone call
  23. let go of a draining relationship
  24. forgive another
  25. forgive yourself
  26. hold a yard sale
  27. make something
  28. say “I release (obstacle) from my life now”
  29. say “I invoke (dream) into my life now”
  30. take 3 deep, cleansing breaths
  31. drink hot water with lemon upon waking
  32. do a juice cleanse
  33. rearrange your furniture
  34. close accounts you no longer use
  35. accept everything as perfect
  36. write down your worries and put them in a box
  37. wash your car
  38. practice silence
  39. take a bath
  40. face the sun or the ocean and open your arms
  41. think about something that makes you feel good
  42. throw away expired foods and medicine
  43. practice yoga
  44. clear blocks in your schedule for future clients, dates or fun
  45. sweep
  46. color in an adult coloring book
  47. clear energy with crystals or sage
  48. sweat
  49. perform a letting go ritual
  50. return something you’ve borrowed

Which of these ideas will you try? How do you clear space in your life? Share in the comments below.

Shop These Relevant Resources



The Write Star Private Coaching (Mentorship)

(NOTE: This post on reasons to throw away your scale was originally posted on My Juice Cleanse a while ago. It’s such a relevant topic I wanted you to have access to it here.)

During a recent move I decided to leave my scale behind. My only thought at the time was that I didn’t have enough space to take it with me. It’s been a few months now since I’ve had a scale and I’ve discovered an interesting result.

I don’t know how much I weigh and I’m perfectly happy with that. In fact, it’s liberating.

Without a scale, I get to determine for myself how I look, how I feel and what mood I share with the world. I feel great and other people are noticing. I’ve received “skinny” compliments. Have I lost weight? Not sure, but I think I have. Does it matter anyway?

I want to ask you a question. If you are currently trying to lose weight, what is your goal? Most people will answer one of two things: 1. To become healthier 2. To feel better about themselves.

Your bathroom scale does not help you with either of these things.

Secrets about your Scale

Let me reveal to you some secrets about your scale. At the end of this post you may very well want to join me and throw away your scale.

The scale does not provide an accurate measure of health. It can’t tell you your blood pressure or cholesterol level. It doesn’t measure how much muscle or fat you have. Your scale doesn’t measure bone density, flexibility, or endurance. People can be healthy or unhealthy at any weight. Visit a trusted health professional to determine your own health.

You weigh more in the afternoon than you do in the morning. Your weight fluctuates throughout the day. This is normal. It does not represent fat loss or fat gain. It is simply represents our levels of water retention, foods eaten or physical exertion. The body is a living organism. It reacts and responds to its environment to keep you alive.

You’ll be disappointed if you weigh yourself and see that you’ve gained two pounds since the day before.The only way to get an accurate account of your weight is to measure it every single day, always at the same time. I did that for a few months and I certainly didn’t feel better about myself. Instead I became obsessed about numbers and food intake and micro managing my daily habits to see what effect they had on my weight. Talk about complicated!

The scale is a false motivator. When you set out to lose weight you most likely have a number in mind of how much weight you want to lose, right? Maybe that’s 20 pounds. You’ve got it in your head that you won’t stop, won’t be satisfied and happy until you’ve reached your number goal. This isn’t motivation. This is a trick the mind plays on you. It will keep you playing this game forever because weight is never stagnant, it always fluctuates.

Happiness can’t be measured on a bathroom scale.  Happiness is not a number. Yet we let the number on the scale determine how happy we will be for the day. Have you ever had your day ruined because you didn’t lose the weight you wanted to lose? Did you punish yourself by skipping meals in order to reach that number you wanted? Or do you avoid the scale altogether because you fear what that number will be?

Having a scale is not liberating

It’s controlling you. It’s determining your happiness for you. Having a scale complicates your life. But how do you just let go of this dysfunctional relationship?

I understand it may be hard to let go of the idea of measuring success with a scale. But if your real goal is to be happier and healthier, a scale can’t measure that. You have to let it go. Throw it out, donate it or put it so out of the way that you won’t be tempted to find it.

So throw away your scale, and get busy living!

 

Overcome Emotional Eating

Today’s post is personal and I hope it will help you if you desire to overcome emotional eating. I’ve had a good opportunity over the last month to really take a look at my eating habits. The first thing that I’ve noticed is the tendency to judge myself for my actions. Drinking this juice was a right action, eating that pizza was a wrong action. The mind wants to fit everything into a neat little compartment and it rationalizes that if I just follow the rules and eat everything in the good category, life will be swell. If not, then I’m just a bad person and my life will be hard and lonely.

But here’s the problem. I KNOW I should be eating all the good stuff, but I WANT to eat the bad stuff. Sound familiar? What’s coming into play here are the emotions and they trump the rational mind every time (What the mind doesn’t realize is that it’s actually fueling the emotions by judging the good and bad actions). When I’m dealing with an emotion that doesn’t feel good, I’m going to reach for the cookies. This is emotional eating and we all do it on some level, whether we’re aware of it or not.

Emotional eating, when not attended to leads to weight gain, depression, mental confusion, isolation, stress, and shame. In many cases these are the issues that lead us to eat in the first place. Reaching for high calorie, high fat, salty, or sweet foods fills the void and makes us feel better temporarily, but it doesn’t solve the original issue. Instead, we slip even further into the cycle of negative emotions and it’s a cycle that can seem difficult to break.

The first step in braking the cycle of emotional eating is to recognize when it’s happening. Let’s will look at some of the triggers that cause emotional eating and identify some tips to break the cycle and create new habits that will lead to healthy eating and positive problem solving.

Recognize Your Patterns

Are you physically hungry or emotionally hungry? Both hungers can be strong and both can make you reach for food. The difference is that emotional eating comes on very suddenly and it doesn’t come from your stomach, it’s in your head. Emotional hunger craves comfort foods and the discomfort convinces you that you absolutely NEED a particular food, like pizza or ice cream. The next time you’re about to eat something check with yourself to determine if you might be eating from an emotional place. Here are some common patterns of emotional eating:

1.) You don’t even realize you’re eating. Do you ever find yourself eating food just because it’s there? Are you confused how that bagel even ended up in your hand?. Here’s what often gets me. I’ll be walking through the house, on my way to do something when I suddenly take a detour and end up in the kitchen with the refrigerator door open. How did I get here? Or maybe you see an ad on television for food and suddenly get in your car to go buy that food. This is unconscious eating. There may be an unspecific gnawing feeling inside like you need something, you just don’t know what it is. Then the idea of food pops into your brain and you go straight for it.

2.)  It’s hard for you to process difficult feelings. Having an argument with someone or being rejected or facing a looming deadline can cause stress and anxiety. It doesn’t feel good to be in this space so we look for ways to soothe it.  You may begin to view food as your only available pleasure in times like these. While eating can silence these feelings, it is only temporary.

3.) You use food as a reward. When you were younger did your parents reward good behavior with treats? If you were feeling sad did they feed you a special meal to make you feel better? These can become habits that we carry over into adulthood. When we want to feel that same sense of pride or connection to a nostalgic moment, we may try to reproduce that feeling by eating those foods that made us feel good. Do you reward yourself with food?

4.) You’re too tired. Sometimes when I am too tired I get a little grumpy and bratty. I don’t want to eat healthy food, I want to eat something that is quick and easy (processed food). It can be hard when you are tired to discern whether or not you are actually physically hungry or just being emotional. And even if you are physically hungry, you may choose the unhealthy food when you are tired. If this happens to you often, then your emotions are driving the bus.

Tips to Help You Overcome Emotional Eating

It may take some time for you to become aware of your emotional eating habits. They have probably been with you a very long time. Here are some tips for becoming mindful of your eating and learning to eat for nutrition versus emotions.

1.) Keep a food journal. For two whole weeks, write down everything that you eat and next to that write down the reason you ate the food. Were you hungry, bored, sad, nervous? Be honest and don’t judge the behavior, merely take notes. After two weeks you can get a clearer picture of when and why you reach for food.

2.) Exercise. Do 20-30 minutes of exercise each day. It doesn’t matter if you walk, do yoga, or go to the gym. A regular exercise routine can improve your energy and your mood and reduce your cravings so you will be less likely to eat for emotional reasons.

3.) Drink lots of water. You need to drink at least half your body weight in ounces of water per day (150 lbs = 75 ounces water). This may seem like a lot, but if you are hydrated you will have clearer thinking and reduced cravings.

4.) Take a 5 minute break. Every time you are about to eat something that is not a scheduled meal, stop. Walk away from the activity you were doing and ask yourself why you feel the need to eat. Then take a break. Go outside or do something completely the opposite of the activity you were doing for five minutes.

5.) Give yourself permission to feel. Allow those emotional feelings to come up rather than pushing them down with food. Identify your feelings and where they come from. They are valid and need to be heard. Have a cry, write your feelings down in a journal or call a friend who has agreed to be your emotional support. Give yourself a time limit for these feelings and thank them for showing you where the pain is hiding.

6.) Keep a regular schedule. Plan to wake, eat, and sleep at the same time every day. Your body will adapt to a regular schedule and you less likely be over tired and emotional.

Whatever you do, don’t beat yourself up for any of your feelings or behaviors. Do you have any tips for overcoming emotional eating? Share your thoughts in the comments below.