10 Daily Actions for Internal Spring Cleaning
Written by: Chelsea Austin
Infuse your daily rituals, cleansing with a sense of purpose
Spring is here and it’s one of the most beautiful times of the year. Not just for the blossoming foliage, but for the energy that comes along with it. Spring is an excellent time to clean out the old and spruce up your space. It’s also a great time to plant the seeds of new habits. Our physical being is of utmost importance allowing the channels to strengthen in connecting to our mental, emotional and spiritual bodies. It would behoove us all to take the time to do a little physical cleansing every now and again, so what better time than the present?!
The following suggestions do not cost much in either time or money, but they will pay dividends in your physical well-being in the long run. My suggestion is to pick one that resonates with you and start there. You can add in others as you see fit, perhaps leaning into habit stacking to see how these seemingly small changes can create a big impact.
Here are my top 10 tips for honing in on your physical body, infusing a spirit of internal spring cleaning:
Tongue scrape when you wake up and before you go to bed. Add this to your routine of brushing your teeth to habit stack and to create a windfall of health benefits. This little step is critical in removing toxin buildup from your body, not to mention helping you manage halitosis (bad breath). You’ll most likely notice a white film coating your tongue in the mornings which is exactly what you want to remove and simply brushing your tongue won’t do the trick. HOW: acquire a stainless-steel tongue scraper (they’re only about $5). Right after brushing your teeth, run the looped end of your scraper under hot water, then scrape your tongue from back to front several times, and rinse off the plaque-like build up under hot water. I repeat this step a few times until my tongue looks bright and pink. I like the U-shaped version that comes with a travel case (like this one) If you are a visual learner or need further guidance, there are tons of how-to videos on you tube that will show you exactly how to do this.
2. Start your day with hot water and lemon juice (1 hot cuppa water with half a fresh lemon squeezed right into it). Let this be the first thing introduced to your system after brushing your teeth and scraping your tongue. This will help alkalize the body and wake up your skeletal, circulatory and digestive system gently before adding any other substance (like coffee, tea or food!) This daily regimen will aid your body in getting rid of toxins faster and help prevent them from building up in the first place.
3. Drink room temperature or warm water throughout the day and avoid cold liquids. Ambient temperature beverages are encouraging to the system where as ice cold drinks can have an adverse effect. Drinking cold water can increase the production and consistency of mucus while you’re ill, trigger migraines and slow digestion. If room temp water doesn’t sound appealing, warm it up and add lemon or ginger and turmeric to it and make it a mellow tea to help strengthen your immune system or give yourself an Anti-inflammatory boost.
4. Spend 5-10 minutes stretching. Keep your connection to your body strong and feel into each part of the body while you stretch. Think of this like a daily internal body scan. You can pop on some mellow music or do this in silence, focusing on your breath and turn it into a moving meditation, which counts as a daily double in my book! If your mornings are too packed, then try this at your lunch time, during your shower or at bedtime. My point here is this: it doesn’t matter what time of day you do this, just make it happen.
5. Walk a minimum of 30 minutes per day (outside when possible!) This may not seem like a lot, yet the health benefits are immense. You don’t just have to take my word for it, Here’s a Better Health article blurb: “Just 30 minutes every day can increase cardiovascular fitness, strengthen bones, reduce excess body fat, and boost muscle power endurance. It can also reduce your risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers.”
6. Incorporate a prebiotic, probiotic, and/or digestive enzymes on the daily. The impact these little babies can have is absolutely incredible. Our gut microbiome is one of the most powerful systems in the physical body. Seeing as most of our food consumption nowadays involves some level of processing, our gut microbiome needs a little help. There is a lot of science to support the gut-mind connection and many people may not know that the gut is actually the area of the body where most serotonin and dopamine are produced and stored. It’s advised to take them daily, and if you start to pay attention to how you feel after meals (or observe your bowel movements) you will generally experience significant relief in how your gut feels and improved digestion, stool formation and coloration.
7. Pay attention to your breathing and take a few moments each day to breathe deeply. I recommend a technique called Box Breathing which is particularly effective in moments of panic or anxiety, when you need to refocus your mind, and can help you get to sleep if you’re having difficulty calming the mind at night. The name Box Breathing indicates you complete 4 steps of the breath cycle consciously and for specific times; like the 4 sides of a 2-D box, the time intervals are equal. I recommend starting with a count of 4. It works like this: Deep breath in through the nose for 4 counts, hold at the top for 4 counts, slow and controlled exhalation through the nose for 4 counts and then hold at the bottom on empty for 4 counts. As your lungs adjust to this process or if you have greater lung capacity, you can increase these intervals to 5, 6 or even 7 counts each; just make sure each step is getting equal time.
8. Go through the pantry with that spring cleaning attitude and clean it out!! Donate unopened cans/boxes to a food drive or local shelter and encourage a healthier and fresher diet on the daily. When grocery shopping, stay away from the allure of the aisles and spend most of your time along the edges of the store: bakery, deli, meat counter and my personal favorite, the produce section. The main take-away here is this: more fruits and veggies, less processed junk!! I’ll get deeper into food on another post, for now just do your best increasing your intake of fresher foods.
9. Document/track your water consumption. The more water the better. Flush the system! We all know the recommended minimum amount is 8 cups per day. You may be right on target or even slightly above this which is great. It’s still encouraged to mentally check in and be aware of how much water you are actually consuming each day. I’ll also recommend here that any non-water beverages should be countered with an additional cup of water. Our bodies are made of mostly water and we dilute the ability for our systems to properly function when we bog down our bodies with sugary drinks, caffeine and/or alcoholic beverages.
10. Spend some time in the sunshine! The recommended amount is at least 10 minutes a day. If you cannot physically be outside in the sun, then at least make sure your eyes are seeing the sunlight through a window or you are exposed to natural light somehow. Take your lunch outside or walk in the sun for your afternoon break to get a mental reboot before tackling your afternoon tasks. The main reasons we need sunlight: natural vitamin D absorption for immune health and an increase in serotonin production for mood boosting benefits. If you’re a perfectionist like me the aim is 10-30 min of midday sun to maximize the combo of UVA and UVB rays for optimum Vitamin D integration. This will play an important role in your health by majorly increasing the effectiveness of your immune system which will keep you healthier and the serotonin boost will keep you happier. Two huge reasons to work this tip into your day-to-day!
If you’re already doing any of these suggestions, great job! Keep at it and try a new one!! If you’re just hearing these tips for the first time or haven’t been able to try them out for yourself yet then this is an invitation for you: start with the one that jumps out to you the most. Incorporating even one of these into your daily routine will help your body’s functionality exponentially. It’s easiest to start with one and be fully committed to doing it every single day than trying all 10 at once, burning out then giving up on them all together after a few days (I am a classic over-achiever and have been guilty of this more times than I can count). Trust me when I say take your time and deliberately work with these tools, incorporate them gradually and you’ll be glad you did!
