Clearing the Air

A few weeks ago, I was experiencing a slight pressure in my head and a general heaviness that I barely noticed. Otherwise, I was feeling quite well but still was wondering why I was feeling a bit foggy and a slightly off balance energetically. Then, on Friday that week, after it rained, I noticed how much better I was feeling. What I realized looking back on that week was that smoke from the Canadian wildfires had been present all week; but most of the time, the skies looked fairly clear and there was no noticeable scent to accompany the layers of smoke in the atmosphere so it wasn’t something that I consciously thought about as impacting me.

Reflecting on this experience brought me to thoughts about how important the unseen element of air is in our lives, literally and symbolically. There may be times in our lives that we feel foggy or a heaviness for which we may not immediately be able to identify the source. Or there we may experience a lack of clarity or even overwhelm. One way to identify what’s going on is to remain present with what we are thinking and feeling as well as how and where we spend our time. Yet, even when we are unclear about the source of these feelings, there are actions that we can take to clear the air.

One of these actions is to literally bring fresh air into our spaces. Open some windows (when the outside air is clear), use fans, make sure the air within the house is circulating. What else can you do in your home to bring in and circulate fresh air into all of your spaces? You can also add freshness to the spaces by using essential oil diffusers or sprays. Try using some citrus-based oils, like lemon or wild orange. Open doors within the home to circulate the air through all of the rooms.

One of my favorite ways to clear out heavy energy and brighten up a space is to clear some clutter.  Clearing our spaces of things that we don’t use or need reduces distraction and releases the unspoken messages and energy that those things are adding to our spaces. Before beginning any clutter clearing task, no matter how small, I first think about setting an intention for the clutter clearing so I know what energy I would like to replace the clutter with. For example, one intention could be to clutter clear in order to experience more clarity and lightness.

I find that clearing non-physical items, like computer files and emails, brings a great deal of mental clarity very quickly for me. It’s things like these that hold space in our minds and our emotions. Do we need documents that we created five or ten years ago? Is our computer full of digital photos that we never look at and don’t even remember are there? Another area to clear to bring more clarity is our calendar and to do lists. Intentionally deciding how we spend our time each day supports the vision that we have for our life and supports intentions of what we desire to experience in our life. Why spend time on tasks and events that do not support the overall vision we hold for our life? With every choice we make, we can ask if this brings us closer to or farther away from our ideal life.

Even spending short bits of time releasing clutter, like five or ten minutes per day, can help to keep the energy free-flowing and clear. The element of air connects us to Spirit, supports life, and gives us opportunities to see ourselves and the world from new, fresh perspectives. It brings a sense of freedom and expansiveness that we have the opportunity to invite into our lives and connect with on a moment-by-moment basis.