Have you ever come across (or are you) someone who is highly indecisive? Someone who has issues choosing, right from their favourite clothes to picking a career of their choice? Experienced your chain of thoughts derailing? Lack of words to express your emotions or ideas? The feeling of constantly delving in chaos? Knots at the back of your mind that somehow just refuse to get detangled.
If your answer to two or more questions were in the affirmative, then let me tell you; you’re sailing in the same boat as many. No, this isn’t a diagnosis; just a preventive measure to avoid the need for one.
So, what exactly is the term to describe what many are going through? Spiritual Clutter. That’s right. This might sound like an alien term but on the contrary, it is a condition that almost everybody experiences and recognises differently. Call it stress or clogged mind, but these are all contributors to your spiritual clutter.
Spiritual clutter is nothing but clutter, just like all the materialistic dump around us, albeit in a different dimension—in your mind.
As human beings, we tend to get influenced easily. The number of instances we would have fallen prey to the manipulative commercials and bought a completely unwanted product is one too many to count. These spur of the moment buying decisions and a lot more such materialistic additions end up making our house cluttered.
Similarly, in our everyday lives, we go through a variety of emotions, process a myriad of thoughts, both wanted and unwanted. Often we are riddled with situations that throw us off-guard into a pit of overthinking or bring upon stress. And no matter how simple or complex, these get deep-rooted in the seats of our mind, and often come up in situations that you least expect. Popping up uninvited as occasional recalls. This overburdens you gradually adding to your stress, decapacitating and thus affecting your efficiency. And this, in simple words is how our mind is cluttered.
Spiritual clutter is in fact, the inability to nurture and support life’s purposes which hampers an individual’s consistent and conscious behaviour and decision-making. It limits the ability to fully develop and equip oneself with the values and actions that are in tandem with one’s innermost desires and goals which help drive life forward.
So, how do we tackle this? Can it be cleared to restore one’s abilities and sanity? Of course, it can.
Going back to my example of a cluttered home, a few years ago, the internet erupted with a new concept called minimalism. Though the movement started in the late 1950s it wasn’t until recently that it gained momentum. Becoming prominent in Japan, the minimalists encouraged people to take up a 30-day minimalism challenge where they were asked to dispose of unwanted, unused, extra items from their homes.
What began as a way to combat the lack of living space in their country soon became a viral trend with more people stepping forward to adopt the minimal life. The outcome had many unexpected angles to it as well. People agreed that the extra space felt like a breath of fresh air, they accepted the impact of cleaner surroundings on their mind where they felt more at peace and relieved.
If decluttering your home can make you feel better, imagine the effect of detox or an actual decluttering of just your MIND. The best tool to aid you in this is Yoga.
Yoga is often considered to be a practise that has ample benefits just for the body. The wonders that Yoga can work on the mind are better experienced than explained.
- Yoga is the union of body, mind, and soul and plays a pivotal role in decluttering your mind.
- The regular practice of Yoga brings focus and concentration into your life.
- This helps in picking the right thoughts, choices, and ideas that matter to you as scattered thoughts are a major outcome of the cluttered mind.
- Yoga is a great stress-buster and has a detoxifying effect on your system. You learn to let go of the things that hold lesser importance and this is a breakthrough in having a healthy mind.
While you slowly advance in your asana game, it builds your strength both physically and mentally. It boosts your stamina, builds your confidence and resistance, this convinces your mind that you’re ready to take your challenges head-on.
Last but not least, Yoga instils a sense of serenity that emanates from within. This is the result of your chakras (energy centres) that get activated with consistent practise. Activated chakras are responsible for the deeper understanding of your body. Heightened awareness and a sense of understanding of how your thoughts and actions are interconnected begin shaping the way you analyse and react to situations going forward.
With the country celebrating its Independence and recalling the historic struggle, it is fit to address the fact of needing to free ourselves from the clutches of factors that jeopardise our mental health. A clutter-free mind is the root of power. It is impossible to stay clutter-free all the time but is essential to cleanse now and then.
So, it’s time everyone made a conscious decision of putting the self forward, indulge in some self-care and cut off from all the things that put us in limbo. Disconnect from the materialistic world and connect with the deeper spirit, body, and mind. Celebrate freedom from the internal mayhem!
Until next time, Happy Decluttering!
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