Spring Cleaning—A 6 Step Limpieza For Your Home
Happy Spring everyone!
I hope that this note finds you doing well, feeling healthy and enjoying the sunshine. I am stoked to be back in BK after a few months away. Springtime is really one of my favorite seasons and although my allergies are kicking in lol, you can STILL catch me going on my lil nature walks, admiring the buds blossoming and leaves emerging after a long, cold winter.
We too are emerging and blossoming after a few months in hibernation mode. Even though it’s still a bit cold here in BK, I can feel the movement and awakening occurring in our community. And with that, I want to dedicate this blog to Spring cleaning and clearing—and the many facets of what that can look like for us.
This month, I’m sharing some cleansing rituals and tools for everything from the home to our physical and spiritual bodies.
OK so let’s talk Spring cleaning—honestly, when I think about it, it brings up all the feeeelings, eye rolls and procrastinating type of feelings lol! I immediately think back to being a kid waking up to the sounds of Marc Anthony or Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam blasting from my parents speakers, letting my brother and I know to GTF UP and get ready to clean. We would act like we were still asleep despite the music and wafting scent of Fabuloso coming into our room hahaha. Spring cleaning felt rough as a kid, and chores were traash to my 10 year old self. Now, as an adult, I can't front, I still have some of that eye rolling procrastination in me when it comes to a deep clean.
I am mid way through this year’s spring cleaning as I write this—I am in the process of moving out of the apartment that I've lived in for 9 years and moving into a new space. ALL of this has required hella spring cleaning and energetic cleansing. 9 years worth of energy? Chillleeeee, HELLA cleaning and cleansing lmao.
So, fully embracing that headspace, I can share with you some of the things that have helped me to beat the procrastination that can sometimes plague my to-do list. My spring cleaning tips come straight from the doñas in my life and I am forever grateful to them for these tools. They’ve taught me simple, intentional ways to clean my home and space from dust to energetic caca. My mom always talked about our home as a sacred space to unwind and feel at ease. She felt that maintaining the cleanliness and orderliness of our home allowed for us to leave our school & work stresses at the door.
This is probably one of the most latino things about me, but I notice that when I'm feeling off or heavy energetically, I tend to clean! Organizing a messy bookshelf of random stuff helps me to put order into my mental space as soon as the visual mess around me is tended to. Our emotions emit off of us and not only can they affect the folks around us, but they also settle in our homes and space we are occupying. Spring cleaning is a great way to clear away clutter and emotional dust, allowing movement and newness to enter into the space that's been made tidy.
Here are the official BXB Spring cleaning tips:
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Set the TONE of your cleaning day. Setting the tone for your task ahead can really help to energize you and get you in the mood for intentional work. Studies show that playing music can help us to feel motivated and uplifted - we love that shit. Sound can also shake things up vibrationally, playing music while you move things around in your space or while you clean, can actually get dense energies to move up and out.
I laugh as I write this because, even to this day, when I hear Marc Anthony, I can immediately smell fabuloso in the air lol. I know now that my parents were definitely setting the tone for their day by playing the music that they love and feel energized by. I can’t front, NOW those tunes get me in the cleaning or cooking mood—I love it. If you're a salsa loving person like me, check out my Limpieza playlist on Spotify.
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Sacred smokes like burning incense, sage, palo santo, resins or smoke blends will help to carry your intentions of clearing away old energies. Scent can really put us at ease and can help to soothe any tensions you may be experiencing about starting the process. My go to sacred smokes are Sage dipped in Dragon’s Blood, Sage and Cinnamon Bundles and Rosemary. These smudge sticks all help to clear away dense energies that can settle in the homespace, they smell amazing and last for quite awhile, allowing me to clear energy more regularly at home.
I love to start my cleaning ritual by setting my tone for it, then opening a window or 2, lighting some sage and beginning to create my plan for tackling my space. If smoke isn't your thing, consider getting an energetic spray for a lighter scent. I often use sprays from Mama Vida’s Apothecary, The Almighty Pineapple. She offers a variety of spiritual sprays and waters.
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Dissect your space—look at it and make a plan. Once you dissect your space, it feels like a lot less of a burden and more like bite sized pieces you can tackle with ease. For example, think of the spaces that you use most often, consider starting there. I started with my bathroom: from taking stock of what was under the sink to scrubbing the bathtub tiles and tossing old hair and makeup products that I don't use *does this spark joy? lol*
Now that your vibe is high and the energy is building, grab a notebook or start a note file in your phone and look at your whole space. Determine where you can put your energy first and write it down. My dear Virgo homies have taught me many things, but one major take away has been make a plan!
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Time to organize. Organizing helps us keep our energy consistent. When everything has a place, there’s less opportunity for disarray and energetic chaos to occur in the future.
As a human living through the pandemic, ya girl online shopped OD. When I was going through, organizing my closet…let’s just say there was a lot to sort through. I wasn't quite sure how to start and decided to check out a few profiles of professional organizers on IG for some inspiration. Check out @Organizeforlove on IG, she has SO many tips and tricks to optimize cleaning and organizing.
One thing I did that helped me was to make 3 boxes and label them: Keep, Donate, Sell. Here are some donation sites in NYC: ScrapNYC, Soles4Souls (shoes), Dress for Success, Trinity Human Services Corporation, Housing Works, and Bowery Mission just to name a few. In terms of other household things that are not clothing, furniture and electronics, Goodwill is always a great resource and can even schedule pick ups for larger donations. For food, there are SO many community fridges in all 5 boroughs where you can consider donating <3
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This is a short and simple one, but I highly recommend it. Consider cleaning window sills & changing out curtains or cleaning your blinds. It can really boost the energy and lightness in your space.
- And lastly, using spiritual tools like Florida water, flower essences, herbal baths and essential oils mixed into your cleaning supplies is a great way to not only clean your space physically but also spiritually. This year I cleaned both the apartment that I'm moving out of AND the one I'm moving into with our Eliminacion Baño. I added some contents of the baño to my cleaning mixture that goes into a spray bottle. I added a shot of the baño, vinegar, a dash of Florida water, a bit of warm water and..you guessed it..fabuloso lol. That shit can clean anything and everything AND it smells good. I also add some of the baño to the mixture I add to Swiffer Wet jet. I basically add the baño to any and everything, I also add flower essences to further vibrationally shift the energy in the space.
After you’ve started the physical process of cleansing, you can begin a ritual to spiritually cleanse your space and create your own baño for tying up loose ends.
I hope this Spring brings you all so much brightness, growth and love. I am back in BK and am hosting in person events again! It feels good to be home. Please scroll down to see where I’ll be popping up in NYC this month!
In my truest love language, an offering to you filled with gratitude for this dope community. An offering in the form a new Springtime playlist meditation <3 BLOOMING check it out on our Spotify.
Xx
Lynsey
