Have you ever felt like you needed a fresh start? For one reason or another, we will all need to make our lives new again at some point—or, more realistically, at many points throughout our lifetime. In fact, I would argue that we may need this practice more often than we realize.
Establishing practices that revitalize and renew your experience can be vital to living with ease. Below are a list of ways to refresh your life. They range in extremity as well as cost, but even the most mundane of these exercises will help you wipe away what no longer serves and open you up to new experiences.
How to Refresh Your Life
Out With the Old
- Go through your drawers, closet, corners, and even your junk drawer. One space at a time, empty everything out and then place everything back in an organized way. Donate or discard anything that no longer serves you, that is no longer in use, or that is no longer needed. No matter how many times you do this you are guaranteed to find many things to let go of, and you will immediately feel lighter.
- Dust, sweep, mop, polish, and vacuum it all. Clear away the literal cobwebs to create new mental clarity.
- Cleanse your phone, computer, files, and social media. Delete any contacts you don’t need (no you don’t need that one guy’s phone number anymore, really). Clean up your desktop, organize your photos and files, preferably on an external hard drive. You don’t need to delete everything forever, but get it out of your regularly visited electronic space.
- Smudge. There are a variety of herbs used to energetically cleanse a physical space, sage being the most common. The ceremony of smudging (or anointing a space with the smoke of burning herbs) is more than just a smoke blessing; it is a ritual that aids in mentally letting go of associations and attachments.
- Write and make art, just for yourself. Creative outlets are a great way to purge emotion. Start a journal (or continue one), draw and paint just for fun, make a collage. You’ll be amazed at how liberating an afternoon of getting messy and sinking into a project will feel.
- Practice yoga. Yoga helps us let go of stored emotion and memory. Both physically in your tissues and mentally in your issues.
- Meditate. Sit with an open mind and allow your thoughts to arise and pass while maintaining focus on a single point (most often your breath). Practicing meditation (even mini ones!) regularly helps your mind become an open space where former loops of thinking can cease.
In With the New
- Redecorate. You don’t need to buy all new furniture (but if you can and want to, that’s a major refresh!). You can make a space feel brand new just by moving things around, changing out artwork, plants, or linens. Trade decor between rooms and create a new energy in your home. Use crystals and sacred pieces to attract the new energy you want in your space.
- Get bold in your hair, makeup, and clothing choices. That one shirt that you never wear but refuse to donate? Take it out for a spin. Try something a little daring with your aesthetic—a new hair color, perhaps? Go out in something a little outside of your comfort zone. You may end up loving your new look and find a whole new sense of style.
- Make new friends. Expanding your social circle can rock your world in a great way. Put yourself out there and see what happens. Treasure and value your solid relationships of the past AND see what new friendships have to offer.
- Try something brand new. Whether it’s rock climbing, sky diving, a new style of yoga, or even just a new teacher, be open to brand new experiences. You might need to go out of your way to try them out—and that’s OK. You won’t love everything, but you will find new passions and learn from it all.
- Take the long way home. Explore a new route, take a long walk in the woods, get lost on purpose, go on a yoga retreat. Not all who wander are lost—many of them just know that a relaxed journey (however long) can change your entire perspective.
- Meditate. Just keep meditating. It will revitalize you in ways you have never imagined.
Photo by Ali Kaukas
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Elizabeth Crisci is a yoga teacher and artist in Fairfield County, Connecticut. She is the creator of Love by E, handmade gemstone mala and jewelry. She teaches in workshops, special events, and trainings in the Northeast in addition to a range of regular, weekly classes. She teaches smart and accessible yoga designed to make you feel good. She loves every minute of her work. You can find her writing and her teaching schedule on her website.