Feb
8
Written by:
Gina Macauley
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Namaste.
Over the past couple of years I've come to see that my house is a little cluttered with stuff. Stuff from a lifetime of buying and gift receiving. It may be an age thing, "the older I get..." and as my friends get older (those who give me gifts) they seem to be thinking the same. For my most recent birthday, my gifts were very practical and usable – not clutter, which I very much appreciated.
Hubby and I both have our own vices in terms of what we ‘collect’ or accumulate. Mine is books. What can I say... these pictures tell 1000 words (LOL at myself).
L to R General books, Yoga Books, more Yoga books.
For Christmas this year Santa brought me a kobo eReader and I really love it. And although it doesn’t quite satisfy my desire for that tactile feel and smell of a ‘real’ book, it certainly satisfies my compulsive book buying with the books being half the price of a physical book, sometimes even cheaper AND sometimes free. (I downloaded all the Jane Austen novels for free. Now I have two or three copies of each novel except for P&P which I think I have 5 copies of!). But some books are so good that I just need to have both mediums.
If it's good, I do like to have the physical copy!
Look at it as a step forward towards de-cluttering!
My husband’s vice is bikes. I recently counted and photographed all the bikes in our house and there were 11. I think this obsession is bordering on ridiculous!
L to R: 3 in the "bike room", 4 in our patio, 3 in the shed, and one (not pictured) at the mechanics
Often the place where we store the most clutter is in our mind. We seem to have so much going on at once, so many things we need to be attending to, when in reality, maybe we could let go of some of it.
Yoga and meditation can really help with this. Taking some time to simply focus only on your current posture and how that feels or on the flow of your breath as you sit for a few minutes in meditation can really help to let go of some of the other stuff, freeing your mind up for the things that you really need to think about.
When all you can see is the clutter, take stock, downsize, bring your awareness just to the breath and let go of that which doesn’t matter. Which is a lovely segue to one of my favourite quotes:
“Things that matter most should never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” – Goethe.
Are you noticing the clutter? What stuff can you let go of?
With Love.
2 comment(s) so far...
Re: Stuff
Hmm...I do think that the more physical clutter I have around me the more mind clutter seems to invade my day. My task for the summer holidays was to go through cupboard by cupboard and do a little de-cluttering. I am currently about a third through and found that re-arranging some rooms was great motivation for going through and sorting out some stuff. The house is feeling a little lighter. And I am amazed that I seem to be focusing better on tasks since clearing some stuff. I am also getting back into the swing of regular home practice which is making a big difference too. Oh and my 12yo said to me yesterday that "I need more storage space - all my cupboards are full and I can't putting anything anywhere". I said that maybe he needed to have a look at his stuff and could it be possible that he has too much stuff and not a storage issue. Tricky for him as he loves collecting things and is sentimental to boot, two things that make it very hard to make a decision to off load some stuff.
Thanks for your words of wisdom - off to tackle another cupboard
By Jane on
Thursday, 9 February 2012
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Re: Stuff
Thanks for your great comment Jane. I thought you told me that you hadn't been practicing much Yoga over the holidays? Your comment above tells me that you have been practicing the very essence of Yoga. It is a beautiful insight into the workings of your mind, and how the physical, emotional and mental (or body, breath, mind) are intrinsically linked and that when we become aware of that, we are truely practicing Yoga. Yoga is Union.
With Love.
By Gina Macauley on
Thursday, 9 February 2012
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