How to Clear Clutter to Clear Your Mind

Our living space is vital to our physical, mental and spiritual health. Our homes are not only retreats for our bodies but are also, in the profoundest sense, home for our souls. By clearing clutter in the space we live in, we transform our home into a harmonious environment for spiritual renewal.

If you are at home now or the next time you are home, take a moment, find a comfortable seat and visually scan your living space.
Then, let your eyes gently close and move your awareness to rest inside your body. Become aware of all the thoughts, all the sensations, all that is happening. Become aware.

How do you feel? 

It is not uncommon to feel restless, anxious, stressed, impatient or fatigue when living in a crowded space. When clutter fills our dwelling, our minds are also filled. Excessive external stimuli can overload our thinking process.

Here’s how you can transform your dwelling into a space that supports your physical, mental and spiritual health:

1.) Start with your most commonly used room – this can be the kitchen, the master bedroom, any room you use the most.

2.) Without tidying up, take a picture of the space. We’ll use this later.

3.) Now, get together some friends, play some music and put out some snacks. Make this fun!

4.) Get three large bags – one for items to sell, donate and throw out. Label each bag.

5.) Then get boxes – the number will depend on how much stuff you have. These boxes are for items you are keeping. Label the first three – one for frequently used items (everyday, or at least every week), one for rarely used (once a month or more) and one for items that do not belong in the room you are working on. Set the extras aside.

6.) Now, start placing every item in the room in those bags and boxes. Everything! As the boxes fill up, simply use one of the extra boxes that you put aside, but remember to label it!

7.) Next, place your sale, donation and garbage bags by the door.

8.) Now, let’s start with your frequently used items. Put the other boxes to the side for now. Start categorizing these items by type. Then put them in order from most often used and necessary items down to least. Now, referring back to the picture if necessary, think about where you use each categorized items the most (starting with the most often used) to decide where those items will go.

Tips: Closed shelving is always ideal. For frequently used items, use shelving that is easily reachable (waist to chest height). Once all these places are filled, next use low shelving and for the items you use the least, use high shelving. 

9.) Label (post it notes work fine) where each categorized group of items will go in the room.

10.) If you find you don’t have space for any group of items, place those items back into the box to come back to later.

11.) Next, as long as you didn’t run out of room to put your items, repeat steps 8-10 with your rarely used items.

12.) Now put everything back into their new designated spots!

13.) Repeat all steps for each room, progressing from the most used space to the least and remember to use the stuff from the box you filled with stuff that doesn’t belong in the room you just did, categorizing them into the new boxes for the room.

14.) Left over stuff? Carry them over to the next room to be de-cluttered. And if there still seems to be no space? If it’s sentimental, take a moment to treasure, reflect and take a picture if you need to, then let it go. Then decide to place it in the sell, donate or garbage bag.

When you’re done, take another moment to reflect in your new cleared space and observe how this has had an effect on the quality of your mind.

Deep Love,

[Video] Props for Svasana

A short video detailing what simple props you need for Svasana.

Wolf Willow Yoga Retreat

A drive out from the city’s lights lead me amidst 250 acres of open land, where I found myself lying my mat down along the wood floor of the upper level of a barn. Below were empty stables. For the only horses, were ones left to roam wild, freely expressing their authenticity in the open fields that surrounded us during our practice. Perhaps the horses didn’t notice or mind, that their open field of home was now filled with pitched tents — for yogis, to sleep beneath the dark blue sky at night.

Occasionally, we would see a tent or two that night, as we celebrated The New Moon in Leo. The New Moon of expressive Leo helps us find our authentic self by allowing for the release of anything that held us back from moving forward in the past.

The rain would begin to drizzle as we entered the night. Through the pitch black night, we would hike closely after one another, following the light shone from our flashlights. We hiked down to the river. I watched as it’s waters flowed over and in regardless of many heavy rocks. The river kept moving forward no matter what stood along it’s path. And was a reminder of the many heavy circumstances that stand along our own paths. Just how a river wouldn’t be a river if it kept from moving forward due to the heavy rocks that lied in it’s path. In the same way, we are not who we really are when we keep from moving forward due to the heavy circumstances that stand along our own paths. We are not our true authentic selves — the one of limitless possibilities, but are our limited self.

This ceremony of the New Moon in Leo was a symbolic release of all the things that held us back in our past that kept us from moving forward, so we could then freely be an expression of our own authentic selves.

And while heavy circumstances may still continue to stand along our paths, this ceremony would serve as a reminder that we can move forward, over and in regardless of all the many heavy circumstances.

And so, one by one, we each stepped into the river’s flowing waters and everything that it symbolized, before making our way back to surround a blazing bonfire, where we would put into all the things of our past that kept us from moving forward and being our authentic selves, to burn and release into the night…

The next morning, I would once again settle in front of a burning fire — a symbol of transformation — as yogis lied their mats side by side in a room overlooking the same river. Before saying goodbye, I would say the words needed to guide them all through one last practice.

And before setting out to leave these grounds, I got to have a glimpse of the horses that roamed wild, freely expressing their authenticity. A glimpse of what was to come in our own lives. For we too now would no longer allow ourselves to get locked up in our own stables of heavy circumstances. No longer left behind a gate of limitations that would hold us back from freely expressing our own authentic selves. We too could now roam wild once again, expressing our own authenticity.

What heavy circumstances stand along your path? In what ways has it held you from moving forward? In what ways can you change your perception about it, so that you can continue to move forward over the hardness of it all? What would your life be like, if you were no longer held back?

Deep Love,

My True North – Wanderlust Whistler 2015

“I want to see the world!!” These were the words my daughter eagerly expressed, as she widened her curious eyes at me. The corner of her lips raised causing her cheeks to wrinkle from a smile that could not be restrained through all the excitement. She turned her eyes to the oval window behind me, and as she watched the airplane descend to ground, I could hear the sound of leather rubbing beneath her bottom caused by anticipation so great, she could barely stay still in her seat.

It was apparent. She was consumed by wanderlust…

With myself as a yogi at heart and my daughter being an aspiring singer/songwriter, Wanderlust was perfect for the two of us — an all-out celebration of mindfulness, the perfect blend of yoga and music together. Yogis unpacked out of buses, cars and SUVs with their mat slung off their shoulders, and placed their baggage aside. We followed signs leading us to destinations that carried names of “The Quiet Place,” “The Uncommons,” and “The Sanctuary,” absorbing the inspiring reminders that “love is the answer” and “sky above me, earth below me, fire within me” placed amongst a floating sea of people, along the way.

I let my mat roll out…ready to experience Wanderlust. The classes felt so raw, real and inspiring. Each class and each teacher touched me in some way. I didn’t hold any specific intention of what I was looking to get out of Wanderlust, but I left uncovering a desire burning deep within that had been scared to come out from beneath a blanketed covering of protection.

It was a desire to be true to myself. Hidden inside, my true self lied deep within. She had hid herself for so long now, that I had forgotten all about her. Covering herself in a blanket of identifications that society, family and friends have — protectively — placed over her. She accepted it. For she too had her own fears. She accepted it to remain safe. At some point, somehow, it felt safer for her to accept these coverings of identifications — of incapability, of weakness, of unworthiness.

But during this celebration of mindfulness, I celebrated  my mindfulness and allowed it to expand. Past the identifications and through the layer of protection that blanketed over me, I finally heard myself, my true self — the one that stayed hidden for so long out of fear, but lovingly kept the true radiance of my being protected and safe. And I heard how much she finally wanted to see past the fear that kept her hidden, again. And I saw how her eyes lit up with curiosity and how her smile shined out from within her heart at the idea of experiencing, again. And I felt how she shook with anticipation at the thought to finally be free, again. My true self wanted to, once again, see the world! And just like my daughter, I too had become consumed by wanderlust…
 

She came out from the coverings of identifications that held her in safety. For she remembered her abilities, her strength, and her worthiness. The layer of protection that society, family and friends lovingly covered her with served it’s purpose. For only through this could she experience who she was not, so that she could realize who she was…
 

And in that very moment, she was finally set free…

With mats slung, we picked our baggage back up. The ones we carried with us in our hands, on our shoulders and within our hearts, but left to the side just for a couple days of mindful living. We hopped back onto the bus, took our seats and listened as the driver intercommed over the question, “Ready to go home, everyone?” to only hear a non-hesitant agreed reply, “Nooo…!” We shared a laugh and began our way back on the road.

And with me now, no longer hidden, I now carried that girl that I once was, — always have been and sadly just forgotten — my true self…my very best self from Wanderlust to continue on this road of life.

I found my true north.

In which ways, has society, family and friends identified you? In what ways did they love you enough to want to protect you and what were they protecting you from? What was it that they were scared of? In which ways have you allowed yourself to accept these identifications? In what ways did you love yourself enough to want to protect yourself and what were you protecting yourself from? What was it that you were scared of?

Deep Love,

Transcendence and Healing

I had somehow got lost. I explored the lands of yoga, hoping to find my way. The travel was steeper than I had imagined, but I had to keep my head up to the horizon and keep on moving against the ascending climb. As my awareness grew more expansive entering new territory, seeing new sights and discovering many things that all lied within the landscapes of myself, I began to look back with despaired regret.

Although, I encountered so many beautiful things — similar to on my travel back to my ancestory land of Cambodia, when I had the honour to step through the wondrous and exquisitely divine temples of Angkor Wat. I also encountered the ugly. During that same visit, I cried nearly everyday. The sight of a young boy — the same age as my 5 year old daughter at the time — lying in the middle of a gas station, in filthy clothes, with nothing… not even his mother. My blood began to boil. How could anyone let this happen? As I travelled more and more, I saw that it was everywhere. People were so poor. How could others be so selfish? Not to let them have a meal, clothing, a roof to sleep?! The very basic of our needs!! I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs!!! The pain became so much…

But then, I took a still moment and looked deep within my own self. What have I done to be so selfish? What actions have I done to harm others? What am I doing to contribute to all this suffering? As much as I didn’t want to, I saw these things within myself.

To change the world, one has to only see that the change begins within their own selves.

I came to the realization that I had to somehow move past my mistakes, for dwelling on them would only cause more suffering to continue. I needed to learn from them to transcend them into something greater. From the book “Healing Relationships” by Lama Choedak Rinpoche, this is the prayer for change — my map along this journey, that helps me find my way.

Deep Love,

What Is The Mind?

Shut the gates to the external world and walk, step into the internal chambers of your mind. The mind. What is the mind? Take the time to explore the mind. Wander about its being. Search deep within it’s very walls and you will find only two things: the past and the future.

The mind is simply a storage house of your whole past. Each and every moment of your past is placed on the shelves of the mind. It simply carries; keeps; holds onto all the memories of your past.

If all the mind is, is a storage house of your whole past, then what you could do with the mind is explore it’s chambers. And like taking a book off a library shelf to read, you can take a memory of the past off the shelf of mind and look through it. Selecting the most desirable and pleasing of memories and skimming past the un-desirable and painful of memories. Put it back and go back again and again. Again and again into these memories.

But, the action of pulling the same memories off the shelf to be looked at again and again can get boresome. For nothing can be done about the past, it is already done. So another activity, something more challenging, is sought out. The mind thinks, “The past is already done, nothing can be done about it, but something can be done about the future!” You leave the most beautiful of memories and take down the ugly, un-wanted memories and tear the pages apart and re-write them. This is called daydreaming. All the future is, is your past re-arranged and better written.

This is the mind. The mind swings you back and forth between the past and future, like a pendulum.

And all the while you’re going back and forth doing this, you are missing. You are missing the present. All the ancient ones — the mystics, the gurus, the yogis, all knew the sacredness that lies in the present. The present. The only existence there is. The only truth. All that there is, you will go on missing if you don’t become more aware.

With awareness, you can choose to take hold of the weight of the pendulum into your own hands and choose to walk into and look at the past at will, take some teachings from it’s stories and return into the present to implement the wisdom of it’s existence, so not to repeat the same mistakes in the future.

Meditation simply means a moment when you step out of the mind and into the present. Into here. Into now. The only existence, the only truth. All that is, is only here, right now, in this moment. No where else. The answers have been and always will be sitting right here in the centre of the palms of your very hands. All you have to do is open up and look. It is here for your taking.

As you go about your day, take a moment to step out of the mind and come into all that is. Don’t think about that flower. Look at this flower and absorb the vibrant colours in with the eyes and smell the sweet fragrant it let’s off. Don’t think about the food you are about to eat. Taste the succulent flavours and feel the texture of the food you are eating. Don’t think about the words I am about to say. Listen to the words I am saying. Because if you don’t, you miss. And tomorrow will never come, for today was tomorrow just yesterday. And yesterday was tomorrow the day before. All the past was part of the future at one point, and where were you?

Don’t let another day pass by, for tomorrow is here today…

Deep Love,

I Am Valued.

“The best things in life are unseen. That’s why we close our eyes when we kiss, laugh and dream.” – Anonymous

Dream — one way to define this is as an involuntary vision occurring to a person when awake. That’s exactly what happened. A vision…and for the first time, in a long time, I once again felt awake.

I don’t know exactly when it was that I fell asleep, but I did. I closed my internal eyes to the harshness of the world, shut down and began to live life unconsciously. Being told one too many times that what I wanted was not good enough. Heart-wrenching rejection, resulting in the belief that I am unworthy overcame my life and I no longer felt I had the right to even feel.

After coming out of — as always — one of Tanis’ beautifully powerful yoga nidra practices and settling into sitting meditation, she gently guided us to bring to mind our sankalpa — a seed of transformation that is planted into the subconscious mind in the form of a short, simple and precise sentence. The one I am working with — that was given to me by Tanis — is, “I am valued.” I stated my sankalpa three times as she asked us to bring to mind what we want for ourselves, for our lives.

What do I want in my life? I was always told that what I wanted wasn’t good enough. How am I supposed to know what I want? I knew…but I had forgotten how to feel it within my heart. I wanted to feel it. What I truly wanted had gotten lost in the chaos of sensory stimulation overloaded in the pedestal of material gains. My automatic reaction had succumb to believe I had to think bigger. Fortune? Fame? What do I want? The material images slowly stripped themselves down and spontaneously…

A vision came to the dark space behind my eyes. A dream — so vivid. There I stood on top of the sphere of earth in an open golden-green field. Against my skin, I could feel a brush of fresh wind sweeping by and the warmth from the bright sun’s reaching rays. I stood there in the midst of people, animals and plant life forms in pure contentment with the sense of community. An array of limiting beliefs released themselves from the space of sky and dissipated like water evaporates into steam, revealing all the light from the sun’s body. And it was then that I knew who I truly was. I was awakened. Returned to my true essence.

It is when we can conjure up the courage to transform the storage house of our old belief systems that is no longer serving us and surrender ourselves to die, that we can then be reborn into who we are meant to be – stripped from the coverings of limiting beliefs.

That is yoga nidra. For as many times the world whirlwinds me once again, yoga nidra will gently guide me back to remember who I really am.

Deep Love,