Super-Quick Space Clearing Routine

Photo by Shannon Holman (cc)

Picture this: you’re a counselor of some sort, and you have clients who come into your office for an hour, get emotional all over your nice couch, and then leave. You see a few clients in a row, and after a few hours the air in the room gets… loud. You’re more tense, more stressed, and less able to do your best work. Maybe your clients seem to respond to it too, getting more uneasy as they come into your space.

Maybe you work from home, and you spend most of your time writing or doing other work, and talking to clients on the phone. You work at the table, pay your bills, plot your world domination, and then get up and make dinner and try to relax. But your work-life balance is… getting out of balance.

Things are getting stale.

That icky buildup

Energy—chi, flow, whatever you want to call it—builds up and gets stale over time, just like dust, old floor wax, or even dry skin. Every so often we need to strip the energy of a space down and clean it out, to keep things feeling fresh and more comfortable.

The surfaces and corners of your room gather this stuck energy. So do bookcases, spaces with clutter, areas with a lot of electrical cords or electronic equipment, and cupboards. If there is a part of your home or office you tend to avoid, it is probably because of this stuck energy. And because you spend less time there, the energy gets even more stagnant! So it is a self-perpetuating situation. In larger homes we tend to spend most of our time in a few rooms that are most comfortable, and the other spaces feel stale by comparison.

The next time you have a party, notice where your guests hang out. Are they all in the kitchen? By your big bay windows? Piled two-deep on your couch? They will find the part of your home with the best energy, and cluster there. The other areas of your home have more “sticky” energy. Here’s how to un-stick it, in three steps.

Just three steps?

Yes, only three; this is the super-quick-version. You can do this for your whole house, or just one room. Here you are:

1. Clap.

Starting at one point of your space, make a slow lap around your house or room, clapping your hands as you go (if you feel silly, wait until you’re the only person at home). Don’t skimp on the sound– the point here is to shock and move the stuck energy with the sound of your hands. Clap up high, down low, behind furniture, in corners, and in crevices like bookshelves. If you like music, or don’t like clapping, you can use a set of claves also.

As you work, you will begin to hear the sound change. At first your clapping will sound like dull thuds, but as you near the end the room will sound clearer and the sound will reverberate more– listen for a twang sound as you clap. Make one complete lap around your house or room. I generally start at the front door of my home, and work around. You can go clockwise or counterclockwise, whichever you prefer.

2. Vacuum.

Now vacuum your open areas. Since this is the super-quick version, don’t worry too much about picking up clutter and getting under the furniture. A quick round with the vacuum cleaner is a surprisingly effective pick-me-up for a stale space.

3. Wash your hands.

Roll up your sleeves and wash your hands really well, all the way up to the elbows. Pretend you’re on E.R. This gets all the stale bits off you, and helps you “reset” afterward.

::

When you’re done, you can do other things like light candles or incense if you want. But these two steps alone will help change the feel of your space, and get you moving again if you’re feeling stuck or unproductive in a space. It can also help harmonize a home environment if there have been arguments or family stress.

If you are a counselor, acupuncturist, or bodyworker, you may want to quickly vacuum after a particularly intense client session to freshen the energy of your space, and “neutralize” it for the next client.

Some ground rules

Manipulating energy is a very intimate process in some ways, so here are some things to keep in mind:

• Only clear a space that belongs to you. If it’s at work, only do your own cube or office. If you share a living space, only work on your private areas. Ask before working on common areas.

• Get permission before clearing a family member’s room, even in your own home. People are sensitive to how their personal spaces feel, and an unexpected change can cause more harm than good.

• Fresh, flowing energy can be uncomfortable for people who are used to things feeling a certain way. If things were really sluggish and sticky, you may need a little time to settle down and get back into a groove afterward. You will find it easier to work later, but a dramatic change in the energy of your environment will give you a “buzz” at first.

I’ll post a more elaborate version of this later, but sometimes faster is better. You can clean up your space and get your groove back in just ten minutes with this abbreviated routine.