How can you use the natural energy of the spring season to get your body, mind and spirit into shape? Well here are five tips and tricks from your Fairy Godmother to use this Spring time energy to its full advantage.

1.    Clean up your space

Spring Clean! Rid yourself of the things that are “weighing you down”. Your energy gets trapped and invested in the stuff that is lying around your life. When you clean out those piles of stuff – it may be your wardrobe, your office desk, your car, a shelf in your garage – there is an immediate sense of release, relief and a marked shift in your energy.
The key rule for the Spring Clean is

When in Doubt, Throw it away!

2.    Cut out the Deadwood

In spring we prune our gardens and similarly pruning is required in our own lives.  Ask yourself –
Which people in your life are “deadwood”?
What negative influences can you shear away?
Which relationships are diseased, non-productive or unwanted?

Then stop engaging in those toxic activities or relationships. Life is too short to engage with people who don’t add value. Fewer, healthy relationships with friends and acquaintances improve the quality of your life.

3.    Climb into your body

After the “warm-me-up eating urges” of winter, Spring is the time to climb back into your body.  Be gentle with getting back into your body, don’t try to work off all that winter excess in one week.  Do a gentle food detox, and begin exercising.

Treat yourself to a “Spring Ceremony”

Run a bath. Throw in some Epsom Salts (which help to detox). Light candles and relax.  Close your eyes and become aware of your body.  Check your body for any feelings of stress or tension and imagine it dissolving into the water.

The second part of the ceremony is to honour your body for the incredible vehicle it is.

As you soap and wash each area of your body express your gratitude.   Thank your ears for the richness of sound that they bring to the world, thank your knees for their support, thank your toes for their ability to curl in delight – whatever you are grateful for with each body part, say it out loud as you wash – you will be surprised at the incredible energy that this ceremony creates.

4.    Massage your Mind

Your mind is the most powerful piece of technology that you own. When did you last take it in for a service?

Learn how to meditate.  Meditation is an incredible tool for going beyond the conditioned, “thinking” mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness.  Getting into a regular meditation practice of as little as ten minutes per day will generate incredible benefits such as greater focus, creativity or self-awareness.  I highly recommend Transcendental Meditation as an easy technique to learn and use.

Learning new things increases the brain’s plasticity – why not sign up for a course in something new – like sculpting, playing a musical instrument or learning a new language.

5.    Connect to Spirit

Connecting to Spirit means different things to different people but whatever it may mean to you, begin a daily practice of getting in touch with your soul. It may be a 3km run, writing, playing with your kids or watching the sun rise.

Whatever it is that lights your Soul up – begin it this spring!

While Mother Nature begins to paint her canvas with delicate blossoms, warmer days and a tinge of crisp freshness and new beginnings, you may find that your enegy magically begins to lift as you enter into a new cycle.

Our energy is naturally in rhythm with the waxing and waning of the seasons and now after the cozy-up, hibernating feeling of winter, the beginning of Spring brings with it excitement and energy, a time for reflection and a sense of new life, a FRESH START.

How can you use the natural rythym and energy of spring to enhance your life?

How can you use the natural energy of the Spring season to get your body, mind and spirit back into shape?

Here are 5 tips and tricks from the Fairy Godmother to use this Spring-time energy to its full advantage   (click on each of them for all the info)

Tip 1:   Clean up your Space

Tip 2:  Cut out the “Deadwood”

Tip 3:  Climb into your Body

Tip 4:  Massage your Mind

Tip 5: Connect to Spirit

Yes – you are invited to the Book Launch of  The Fairy Godmother’s Guide to Getting What you Want

Date: Wednesday 19 August

Time: 19h00 – until Coaches turn into pumpkins

Venue:  Zenatude, Rivonia Crossing Shopping Centre, Cnr Achter and Witkoppen Roads, Sunninghill, Johannesburg

Anyone may attend

Please RSVP to magicmaker@fairygodmotherinc.com

See the event details on Facebook

After the “warm-me-up eating urges” of winter, Spring is the best time to “climb back into your body”.  This is like reminding yourself of what and who you are, detoxing your body and mind, becoming aware of your body and its everyday workings. However, be gentle with getting back into your body.  Just as blossoms gently bloom on the trees now is not the time to work off all that winter excess in one week!

In the 00’s we are so caught up in the rat-race, technology, information-overload era that most of the time we are completely disconnected from our bodies.  We stop listening to our bodies and stop hearing the cries for help that manifest as stress, illness or little aches and pains.   We live in a time that is becoming so cerebral that most people are walking around with disembodied minds -  where the mind is so in control that the needs of the body are completely disregarded.

Why not treat yourself to a “Spring Ceremony” for your body that will help you reconnect with your body and its needs?

Run a warm bath and throw in some Epsom Salts (which help to detox and also cleanse the energy fields around the body), light some candles, put on some soothing music and relax in the bath, close your eyes and just become aware of your body.  Check your body for any feelings of stress or tension and see that tension dissolve like bath salts into the water.  While quieting your mind, move each part of your body and imagine yourself fitting back into your own skin. Become a part of your body again.

Give honour to your body for the incredible vehicle it is that houses your mind and spirit and allows you to exist in this world.   Most of the time, we concentrate on the media-created flaws of our bodies, instead of rejoicing in the beauty and splendour of the miracle that our bodies represent.

During your bath, as you enjoy relaxing, tell each area of your body why you are grateful for it.   And remind yourself of the amazing organs and powerhouses we have within our compact system we know as the body.

Thank your ears for the richness of sound that they bring to the world, thank your legs for their support as you move around the world, thank your heart for it’s consistent beat that keeps you alive, thank your toes for their ability to curl in delight – whatever you are grateful for with each body part, say it out loud – it creates an incredible energy within.

Tip 4 – Massage your Mind

It is that time of year when Mother Nature begins to paint her canvas with delicate blossoms, warmer days and a tinge of crisp freshness and new beginnings.  Our energy is naturally in rhythm with the waxing and waning of the seasons and now after the cozy-up, hibernating feeling of winter, the beginning of Spring brings with it excitement and energy, a time for reflection and a sense of new life, a FRESH START.

So how can you use the natural energy of the Spring season to get your body, mind and spirit back into shape?

Here are five tips and tricks from the Fairy Godmother to use this Spring-time energy to its full advantage.

1.    Clean Up Your Space

By this I mean all space that you are in and that you take up – clean up space within yourself spiritually, mentally, emotionally and clean up space that you use on a physical day to day basis, at home, work, in the car and in the traffic.

It may seem fairly obvious to “Spring Clean” by cleaning and tidying up space – but apart from getting out your feather duster and clearing out your wardrobe – there are a few less obvious parts of your life that may need a spring clean too.

The concept of Spring cleaning is to get rid of the things in your life that are “weighing you down”, the dead-clutter from winter (or the past) that needs to be swept away to make space for the new feeling that Spring brings.

You will be amazed at how much of your energy is invested in the stuff that is “lying” around in your life and when you get to clean out all those things, there’s a sense of release, relief and a notable shift in your energy.

So make a commitment to yourself to clean out the places in your life that are clogged up with things – it may be your wardrobe, your office desk, your car, a shelf in your garage, your e mail inbox.

The key rule for a Spring Clean is: “When in Doubt, Throw it away”

The things that you think you should keep for a “I might need this at sometime” moment are things that actually need to be thrown away.  Be ruthless, clutter just complicates life.  If you haven’t used it in the last 4 months, throw it away.

Don’t be fearful of throwing office work and papers etc away, because in reality, we can source, research and find anything again with the Internet, the Google era is upon us and is very useful indeed.

2.    Cut out the “Deadwood”

A few years ago I bought a pretty Bonsai and an instruction manual on how to create this tree into a magnificent natural art – the trick with Bonsai is time and care taken to continually prune the little tree and shape it into a beautiful Bonsai.
Taking the time to nurture my Bonsai has taught me many things about patience, care and art it has also given me something to share with you about Spring cleaning your life!

When you prune a Bonsai you remove any non-productive and unwanted portions of the plant in order to maintain the health of the miniature tree and increase the yield of its flowers and fruit.

We can relate on some level to how pruning is required in our own lives sometimes, instead of branches and leaves, we sometimes need to cut away negative influences that affect us in our lives. As tough as it is to be brutally honest, these negative influences often come in the form of people who are around us all the time. Some friends or neighbours or the grocery store clerk who are negative can make others around them feel low and unhappy.

By “pruning” and clearing out some of these people in our lives, we are merely looking after ourselves and reducing feelings of anxiety, stress and negativity. To some, it may sound a little callous to just “remove” people from your life, however, the reality is that life is too short to engage with people who don’t add value to your life and you will be greatly surprised at how fewer, healthy relationships with friends, acquaintances will improve the quality of your life.

Just like the Bonsai when you reduce the foliage that the little tree has, you are also reducing the strain on its roots. In other words, the less leaves there are, the less work the roots have to do to keep them alive.

3.    Climb into Your Body

After the “warm-me-up eating urges” of winter, Spring is the best time to “climb back into your body”.  This is like reminding yourself of what and who you are, detoxing your body and mind, becoming aware of your body and its everyday workings. However, be gentle with getting back into your body.  Just as blossoms gently bloom on the trees now is not the time to work off all that winter excess in one week!

In the 00’s we are so caught up in the rat-race, technology, information-overload era that most of the time we are completely disconnected from our bodies.  We stop listening to our bodies and stop hearing the cries for help that manifest as stress, illness or little aches and pains.   We live in a time that is becoming so cerebral that most people are walking around with disembodied minds -  where the mind is so in control that the needs of the body are completely disregarded.

Why not treat yourself to a “Spring Ceremony” for your body that will help you reconnect with your body and its needs?

Run a warm bath and throw in some Epsom Salts (which help to detox and also cleanse the energy fields around the body), light some candles, put on some soothing music and relax in the bath, close your eyes and just become aware of your body.  Check your body for any feelings of stress or tension and see that tension dissolve like bath salts into the water.  While quieting your mind, move each part of your body and imagine yourself fitting back into your own skin. Become a part of your body again.

Give honour to your body for the incredible vehicle it is that houses your mind and spirit and allows you to exist in this world.  Most of the time, we concentrate on the media-created flaws of our bodies, instead of rejoicing in the beauty and splendour of the miracle that our bodies represent.

During your bath, as you enjoy relaxing and keeping a still mind, tell each area of your body why you are grateful for it.   And remind yourself of the amazing organs and powerhouses we have within our compact system we know as the body.

Thank your ears for the richness of sound that they bring to the world, thank your legs for their support as you move around the world, thank your heart for it’s consistent beat that keeps you alive, thank your toes for their ability to curl in delight – whatever you are grateful for with each body part, say it out loud – it creates an incredible energy within.

4.    Massage your Mind

Your mind is the most powerful piece of technology that you own and when last did you take it in for a service?   Spring is a great time for massaging the mind and increasing it’s worth, which can be done in a number of different ways.

My first recommendation is to learn how to meditate.   Meditation is an incredible tool for going beyond the conditioned, “thinking” mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness.   Getting into a regular meditation practice of as little as ten minutes per day will generate incredible benefits such as greater focus, creativity or self-awareness, or just simply a more relaxed and peaceful frame of mind.

As the days get longer and you feel more energy returning, why not sign up for a course in something new and creative to try – like sculpting, playing a musical instrument or learning a new language.

Learning new things, particularly a language or skill, increases the brain’s plasticity and there is growing evidence in Neuroscience that the brain is structurally altered when learning occurs, this is something I concentrate on and explain in further detail during workshops and talks.

5.    Connect to Spirit

There is a quote that completely delights my Fairy Godmother soul and that is:

“You are not a human being in search of a spiritual experience. You are a spiritual being immersed in a human experience.” - Teilhard de Chardin

Connecting to Spirit means different things to different people but whatever it may mean to you, begin a daily practice of getting in touch with your soul. It may be a 3km run, swimming, or other activity, maybe making yourself a great cup of tea and sitting in your garden, or watching the sun rise.

In my morning routine I include meditation and yoga as means of connecting to Spirit.  I also go out into nature as often as possible to just allow myself to gaze at the magnificence of this world, phase out noise and bother of everyday stresses and to get in tune with my soul.

Whatever it is that lights your Soul up – begin to do it this spring!