By Adreanna

Sundays are made for cleaning, organizing, and restocking so that’s exactly what I’m planning to do today. I woke up this morning in a disaster area. My desk is littered with the packing from my new cellphone that came in the mail yesterday. There are the empty fast food wrappers from this morning’s journey to Jack in the Box, half-empty coffee mugs, notebook papers strewn everywhere, the bed is unmade, and this is just in my home office. I glanced in my closet this morning and my goodness. The bag I packed for my New Orleans trip still hasn’t been unpacked, I can barely see the countertop on my vanity because of all the makeup and hair units smothering the surface and I don’t even want to get started talking about my bathroom. No wonder I’m having trouble permitting myself to take the day off. My external world is a mess so, of course, my internal world can’t relax. It’s time to practice some self-care in the form of clearing my space.

I’m a once-a-week cleaner at best. I prefer to prioritize my actions throughout the week and dedicate a specific day to focus all of my attention on cleaning. This, in my opinion, keeps me productive and helps me keep the procrastination demon at bay. I’ve tried all sorts of methods of keeping up with the house during the week and all they seem to do is drain me of creativity and make me too exhausted to want to do anything else. So I leave it all to Sunday.

Cleaning and organizing is the ultimate form of self-care for me. It’s a multi-functional activity that lets me optimize my time for maximum results. I get a good workout, I deep condition my hair, whip my workspace and closet into shape, and really engage with everything in the house, heightening my awareness of the abundance I truly have which promotes deep gratitude for all the blessings I’ve received.

As I work through my cleaning routine, I practice affirmations while listening to chakra healing music, leading me into a state of meditation and self-reflection. This clean time is also my passive problem-solving session. After a good session, I usually walk away with clarity on at least one issue. It’s about getting reconnected with all the things in my space and bringing me back into conscious awareness of who I am, what I have, what I’ve accomplished, and my reasons why. All of this in just one session!

In addition to tackling the cleaning chores, I also get to do one of my fave things — resetting my wall and digital calendars for the next few weeks. Today’s gonna be super busy and a bit tiring, but I’m actually looking forward to it because my cleaning Sunday is my way of taking care of myself.

On Monday mornings I wake up to a distraction-free home that promotes focus. Simply because I’ve rid myself of menial tasks that I would be able to use as procrastination -aids when I don’t want to sit down and get work done. Any writer will tell you that sometimes the task can seem so daunting that you’d rather wash the concrete with a toothbrush than sit and stare blankly at your computer screen searching for words that will create at best a passable blog post.

After I finish taking care of everything externally, I cap the day off with a full-body overhaul. I reward myself for all of my efforts by taking a long bath and conducting body maintenance. The massager I bought for Christmas is on the charger all day while I whisk through the house, so after everything is said and done, I can finish the night off with a full body rubdown, and afterwards, I sleep like a baby.

There’s something about a Sunday reset that makes you feel accomplished and optimistic. Once you tackle the messes in your home and external environment it seems more realistic to be able to tackle the ones that cloud your head. Something I heard a lot when I first started my spiritual practice was if you don’t declutter there won’t be space for inspiration and messages to come through. I’ve found this to be profoundly true in my life. At times when I need wisdom from my higher self and I can’t seem to get the connection to go through I will jump up on a Sunday morning and start rearranging things and all of a sudden the voice comes through loud and clear.

My Sunday cleaning sessions are one of the best things I can do for myself each week because it allows me time to focus on the present. I finish each session with a sense of accomplishment, appreciation, and renewed energy. Does cleaning and organizing add to your self care regime? I’d love to hear about it below!

Until next time!