6 Spring Cleaning Tips for Self-Care

It’s time to get organized, clean up the junk, and create some zen. Spring is finally upon us, and today I am sharing with you my top 6 spring cleaning musts for self-care!

1. Spring clean your inbox!

We are kicking it off with the #1 game changer my inbox has seen all year. If you’re like me, you follow a LOT of brands and stores to keep track of fun promos and offers. And if you’re also like me, it drives you nuts to have to delete them all from your inbox daily. My spring-cleaning hack is to send these emails to a folder automatically in your inbox where you can periodically check in on your favorite brands when you feel like it! Say goodbye to the days where you spend a solid 5-10 minutes deleting promos and special offers. Here’s how to do it:

• Create a new folder in your email inbox and call it “shopping” or “promos.”

• Then, go into your settings in your gmail, click on “filters and blocked addresses.”
   

• Finally, add the store in there you’d like to still get email from, but you’d like to not have pop up in your inbox daily. (Total transparency moment: I do this for my favorite brands like Anthropologie, West Elm, and Madewell. I pop in there only when I am buying something and want a discount code. The key here is that I am not tempted to buy something just because of a promotion, and instead, only seek it out when I want to shop!)

2. Become BFFs with Salvation Army.

Go through clothes, knick knacks, kitchen items, home goods, you name it! If you feel any lack-luster vibes from anything in your home, maybe it’s time to make it someone else’s treasure. My favorite spot to bring gently used items to is Salvation Army. I make a trip every season and will for sure be making one this spring. You can find a local drop off here.

3. Get on that shared google calendar life.

Let me just tell you how much this has benefited my relationship! My husband and I can each add events in our shared calendar and it just makes life a whole lot easier! Less back and forth with friends when we want to plan things. Whether you are in a relationship or single, or have key people in your life you find you are constantly asking whether or not they are free at specific time, then this spring cleaning self-care hack is for you. Simply look in the calendar to see when everyone is free and boom! Event planned.

4. Detox your home!

A few years back I learned just how toxic some home-cleaning chemicals can be.** From floor cleaners to multisurface cleaners, those plastic spray bottles contain some not-so-friendly ingredients. Below are two of my favorite home cleaner recipes:

ALL-PURPOSE CLEANING RECIPE  In a glass spray bottle, fill it with equal parts water and hydrogen peroxide. Add around 20 drops of your favorite essential oil (for home cleaners I love orange and lemongrass scents!). Shake it up before use and you are good to go!

FLOOR CLEANER RECIPE  In a big old bucket, I mix hot water with about 2-3 cups of vinegar. Yep, vinegar! Sure it is a bit pungent, but again you can add an essential oil if you like. The smell goes away as soon as it dries, and you can be rest assured knowing the air around you isn’t filled with harmful toxic chemicals.

*Not convinced yet? Spend a few minutes on Environmental Working Group to inform yourself on just how harmful our home products can be and what to replace them with instead!

5. Detox your makeup bag!

Honey love child if you have not cleaned out your makeup bag yet, please let this be one of the top self-care cleaning things you do to take care of yourself this spring. It pains my heart to tell you just how gnarly our makeup products can be. From parabens to allergens to endocrine disruptors, our makeup is T-O-X-I-C. And while we are on the topic, please give your entire beauty regime a little clean up. From your deodorant to your body wash to your concealer, educate yourself on the products to avoid.  Also, just because you buy it from an organic store, or it says “all-natural” doesn’t mean it is clean or safe for you and your body. There is a ton of information out there on this, and you can kind of go nuts reading about it, but I’ll leave you with this: start small. Choose one area to start cleaning out first. I started with revamping my makeup products years ago and then gradually went on to switching over my home cleaning items to eventually eating as organic and clean as possible (especially with meat and dairy products as they are loaded with hormones!). My favorite place to check out ingredients is through the Think Dirty App! You can quickly scan in the barcode as you are out shopping to see how clean or dirty the product is! It makes the hunt for a trade-off product so much easier!

6. Clean out your underwear drawer. Yea I said it..(Cue that Rihanna!).

When was the last time you went through your bras and undies? Or revisited your nightgowns and pajamas? After realizing I had been sleeping in an array of old t-shirts and sweats, literally back from my college days, I decided to treat myself to some new PJs and oh did it feel fantastic. A woman at one of my workshops shared that she had not worn her fancy bras or underwear in years because she had this mindset of saving them for a special occasion. She realized that it was time to bust them out now. Go through your nightly things and see what needs to go, what can come out and play, and what you want to add to the mix. I promise this one will be fun!

There you have it! My top 6 spring cleaning musts for self-care! Hop on over to Instagram and tell me what spring cleaning hack you’ll be taking on this year.

**I want to give a big shout out to Oregon Soap Shoppe for their powerful home cleaning demonstration where I learned about the recipes shared in today’s post!

5 Tips for Creating an Energizing Daily Routine

For years, I had a daily routine that completely zapped my energy.

For starters, I was waking up at 5am. 
With all my great intentions to start the day off on a positive note, I was really just going through the motions.

Roll out of bed.
Put workout clothes on.
Drive to gym.
Exercise. 
Shower.
Eat breakfast on the go.
Work.
Work.
And more work.
Drive home.
Make dinner.
Work.
Sleep.

Nowhere in that routine was real, authentic time for myself.

Even my attempt to start the day off with some exercise did not feel like loving, nourishing time for myself because hello, 5am! I was tired.

Weeknights I had zero energy to talk with my friends or even stay awake long enough to get through a movie with my husband. By Friday, while most of my friends were kicking off the weekend with happy hour, I was grateful for a night in where I could get to bed early and actually sleep in the following day.

I get it. I know you’re tired love.

I remember the feeling of complete energy depletion, but I also know that it doesn’t have to be this way. There are some very helpful things you can do (some right now, and some over time) that will greatly improve your overall quality of life and energy levels.

Here are my top tips to help you get started:

1.  Know your options. For starters, we have to recognize what we have control over. It can feel like we are stuck in the routine we presently have and that there are no other options. However, if you really take an honest look at your day, you will likely see how you are making choices throughout the day that are ultimately leading to your feelings of energy depletion. Are you saying yes to everything asked of you? Are you choosing to do more work than required? We have to get honest with ourselves and evaluate the options that are presented to us throughout the day and how our choices effect us. Doing so will help you see how you can start saying no and setting some personal boundaries to create more time for you.

2. Radically accept. It’s a term I learned years ago when I read Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach. The idea behind it is that you choose to radically accept what is outside of your control. When it comes to your current daily routine, there may be circumstances that really are outside of your control right now. It could be caring for others, or possibly the realization that your career may not provide you with the freedom you really crave for your life. Whatever your things are, imagine yourself embracing them just as they are, without trying to change or fix them. And while you are at, give yourself some compassion for doing so.

3. Say your mantras honey. I sometimes forget how incredibly helpful mantras are. Mantras help us get in the right headspace. When we are tired and feeling drained, our self-talk becomes more critical than ever in giving us a boost. Some of my favorites are: I create all the love and positivity I need. I take care of my mind, body, and heart. My body deserves rest.

4. Restart how you start. How are you starting your day? Is it anything like my former daily routine? If so, join me in restarting how you start your day. If we start our day in a rush, that energy is likely going to carry on with us throughout the day. Create a short, simple routine that helps you pause and slow things down a bit so that you can check in with yourself and create some intentions for how you want to be throughout your day. Identify 1-3 things you wish you were doing first thing in the morning and then figure out a way to work them in. It can be as simple as stating a few things you are grateful for, or writing out a few intention words to help ground you for the day.

5. Infuse love. This one is my absolute favorite. Many times we are left feeling low about our daily routine because we realize we simply aren’t doing anything for ourselves. This is where I want you to make yourself a priority. What do you love to do? What do you want to do? Spend a few moments after reading this to really give yourself permission to write out the things you wish you could do during the day. Maybe it would just light you up to be able to go home after work and completely unwind. What do you need to say no to in order to make this happen? Or maybe you want to have the energy to read a book at night? Again, what do you have to stop doing to make the space for this? The idea is to give yourself permission to get all your wants down on paper, and then get really honest with yourself about how you can make it happen.

In the words of one of my favorite online mentors Marie Forleo, “everything is figureoutable!” Trust yourself. You’ve got this. One of the things I always try to remember is that life is so short. We only get one shot at all this, so why go through the motions of life tired, drained, or unhappy? We deserve to live our best days. You deserve to live your best days. If something doesn’t feel right, remember you are a woman who figures things out. You can change it.

3 Ways to Simply Your Life

Over the last few weeks I have made it a priority to clean up my life. 
 
What I mean by that, is literally simplifying everything from my wardrobe to what I cook for dinner to how I problem-solve. I have tried my hardest to approach life from a simplifying mindset as much as possible.
 
Why? Because, clutter.
 
We have so much going on in our lives. We have so many options and choices (a wonderful, blessed thing for sure) but it sometimes can lead to overwhelm.
 
Case in point, I recently went with my husband to finalize cabinets for our kitchen. The designer said we would need to choose a color for our cabinets. I thought, easy, white cabinets! Oh, but not so easy! There are hundreds of whites to choose from, I find out. [Cue the overwhelm.] So, moving forward I am sticking to my simplicity plan. Pick my favorite 3, and then go with the one I like best.

No second guessing. No doubting. Just choose, and stick to it.
 
Another effort to simplify recently was with my wardrobe. After donating clothes I have not worn in the last year, I now walk into my wardrobe feeling refreshed and excited for what to wear. The items remaining in my closet are things I love and look forward to wearing. Bonus: I finally threw away the jeans that had been collecting dust as I waited to fit back into them. The most hilarious part is that I DO fit into them now, but I do not like the jeans! I’ve realized they are outdated (low rise, anyone??) and they remind me of the constant dread I put myself through to wear them again someday. I felt an emotional release the moment they hit the donation pile! The jeans do not serve me at all in my life.  In fact, they never have. Jeans, no matter which ones, are not a reflection of my self worth, nor are they a reflection of yours.

Keeping any clothing around that is a stand in for your self-worth is really a reflection of the self-love needing to be seen. Throw them jeans away if they are not positively serving you.
 
Simplifying might not be for everyone, but after chatting with one of my favorite lady clients, I felt inspired by her goal to simplify and it has since spiraled into a fun personal project. I thought about my own life and how I can let things go that really do not serve me or bring me joy. It has been an incredible practice that I plan to continue this year.
 
Will you join me in making this your year to simplify? It frees up all kinds of physical, emotional, and mental clutter. Remember to keep it easy, peasy girl. And tell me about it! I want to know how you will make things simpler around you.  

My Top 10 Activities to Combine with Rest

Dance and laughter. Laughter and dance.

There were 6 of us. The party was technically over. And yet, the most incredible dance party ensued. 

All the woes, all the worries, all the life stuff, gone in those few moments. It is amazing how laughter and dance work together to mend what needs mending within us.

What I'm learning is that my body needs breaks. It needs to rest and recharge. But it also needs moments to let go and unravel by having fun. The combination of down-time and activities that energize create the perfect recipe for feeling renewed and refreshed. 

This week, I challenge you to find your winning combo.  What activities bring out your spirited self and help you let go of what weighs heavily on you? Give yourself a break, even if you would rather not.

Combine rest with something you know will bring out the laughs. And just because, here are some ideas that might help you get started.

1. Check out a comedy show- either in person, or online, like this incredibly hilarious comedian Sebastian Maniscalco.
2. Drop in to free salsa night.
3. Get together with a friend who doesn't take herself too seriously.
4. If you have a toddler in your life, spend some time with him or her today. 
5. Play with a cat or puppy.
6. Watch a movie from the 80s or 90s. Some of my favorites: Drop Dead Fred, Groundhog Day, Curly Sue.
7. Ask an older relative to share stories from her past with you.
8. Go through childhood photos.
9. Watch videos of babies laughing. This one is my all-time favorite.
10. Turn on some your favorite old-school jams while making dinner tonight. Bonus points for turning up the volume, and extra bonus points if you sing loudly and unapologetically. [Cue that sexy 90's R&B.]

My Favorite Journaling Exercise to Push Past Fear

A few weeks back, I started a collection of thoughts called the SheSeries. My intention behind it is to inspire and lift, push and encourage, and nudge you to go after the life you envision.
 
Fear can hold us back if we let it. Doubts of how to make what we want work, whether we are good enough, or the idea that we might fall can and will zap the light out of any dream.
 
The SheSeries is my reminder to you, and to myself, to get out there and not let fear get in the way. We have one chance at all this. That very thought lights the fire in me to jump, to fly, and to go after what I want. It is my hope that my words might do the same for you.
 
So my challenge to you today is stop what you are doing after reading this post.

Grab a coffee if you do not already have one. (Fuel!)
 
Take 5 minutes and write your answers to the following questions. Go on and grab a pretty pen and notebook.

Let your thoughts free-flow and just write. Then, go back to what you were doing prior and let it sink in as you do your day.
 
Some added food for thought: If you decided to live your life less out of fear, and more from a place of self-love, worthiness, and faith in yourself that you’ve got this, what would your SheSeries look like?