Decluttering

I am pasting an article  written on clutter management by one of my friends R Sridhar who is a  National Editor - supplements of The Times of India, and Editor of www.mumbaimirror.com. He moderates a global healing group called CONNECT-TICKET and conduct WORKSHOPS on the subject 'The art and science of Personal Energy Management'. This article forms a part of  his book which he is currently writing. He could be contacted at personalenergy@gmail.com

How clutter affects you

If you want anything in life, you will first need to learn how to discard. Well, the game is called clutter management.  Clutter - to put it simply - is the habit of hoarding, of taking on too many things without organising it in any way. It is the biggest energy block and has the potential to ruin your energy makeup. Usually we invite clutter in the following ways:

·     We buy more and discard less thinking "what if we need this in the future?" As a result, our house is a mess; there is no room to manoeuvre, no empty space anywhere - every little space is occupied by largely useless stuff. 

• We absorb all our thoughts and refuse to discard them. These thoughts get stored within our system (in our solar plexus chakra near the navel) and over the years, they harden and cause ailments of the abdominal area, and pain in the joints. Stored emotions are one of the most common reasons for arthritis.

Most people have no idea how much their clutter affects them. Its only after you sort through, organise, or clear out your possessions do you realize how much better you feel without it. A classic example is when you give away old newspapers to the raddiwala and the sense of 'freedom' that you suddenly feel on disposing them. The rule is you need to constantly clear your space - not just your physical space but also your mental, emotional and spiritual space. Clutter can occur in all these four spaces.

Here are some effects to watch for:

* Do you feel tired and lethargic?

Clutter traps energy and makes you feel tired and lethargic. Clearing it frees up this stagnant energy in your system and increases your vitality.

* Do you dwell in the past?

When all your available space is filled with clutter, there is no room for anything new to come into your life. Your thoughts tend to dwell in the past, and you feel bogged down with problems that have dogged you for some time. Clearing your clutter allows you to begin to deal with your problems and move forward. You have to release the past to create a better tomorrow.

* Clutter and excess weight

People who are mentally programmed to hoard, are often overweight. Body fat and clutter are forms of self-protection. By building layers of fat or clutter, they hope to cushion themselves against emotions they have difficulty handling. It gives them the illusion of being able to control things.

* Having clutter can confuse you

With clutter, it is impossible to have clarity about what you are doing in your life. When you clear it, you get fewer colds, you can think more clearly, and decision-making becomes easier.

* It affects the way people treat you

People treat you the way you treat yourself. So if you value yourself and look after yourself, people will treat you well. If you allow the junk to mount up around you, you may attract people who mistreat you in some way because subconsciously you will feel that it is what you deserve.

* Having clutter can make you feel ashamed

Perhaps you have reached the stage where your home is so cluttered and such a mess that you are ashamed to invite people over and positively panic if anyone turns up unannounced. 

So, take a decision to discard not just physically, but mentally, emotionally and spiritually as well.  The more your discard, the more you will get because energy cannot exist in a vacuum.

How to discard?

Physical: Set a benchmark. Anything that's not been used for 6 months to a year can be safely given away. The best way to motivate yourself is to find out the real estate cost of having that clutter at home. Suppose you stay in an area that costs Rs 10000 per square foot and the amount of clutter in your house takes up 100 sq feet (include all the unused utensils, bags, clothes, toys, trunks, etc). The cost of your clutter is a staggering Rs 10 lakhs! Now did that shake you up?

Mental and emotional clutter: Everyday at night before retiring, mentally affirm "I retain the thoughts that are useful for me and let go of the rest." Another visualisation technique is to visualise pigeons flying off from your navel. Another technique is to take a note book, and repeatedly write down "I have let go." Repetition helps the subconscious to implement it as a program.

Spiritual clutter: I guess the more aware you become about spirituality, the more decluttered you are. Best way to do this is to read, wonder, observe, practice, experience and remain detached. The art lies in practising detached attachment.