Let it go.

It’s one of the most cliche statements you hear in a yoga class. I’d ban it from my own classes if it weren’t so damn true. Yes, we hold on to so many things we don’t need in our bodies–stress, tensions, anxiety, sadness, harmful patterns–the body remembers it all. And everything functions so much better when you take a deep, mindful breath, identify the “extra,” and consciously soften your grip on it. 

So, yes. Elsa was right (along with about a bajillion yoga teachers).

But like so many other things we learn on our yoga mats, those three little words can have a huge impact in other areas of our lives, too.

It was in my search to have more energy to do the things that were important to me that I stumbled upon the concept of minimalism. W

Yoga, Minimalism, Momming: These are a Few of My Favorite Things

I love my work, and I wanted to spend more time exploring it. I love my family and I want to be present with them and have the freedom to go on adventures together. And, of course, I don’t like picking up toys, sorting through endless piles of laundry, and spending hours each day loading and unloading the dishwasher. 

My tendency to let these things simply slide and try to ignore the piles didn’t work for me either. The clutter stresses me out and I always felt like I was wasting time rummaging through things I never used to find the essentials–you know, keys, sunglasses, the coffee cup that will contain cold coffee if I don’t find it pronto. Being late because I couldn’t find two shoes that match stressed me out. 

So it dawned on me: If I want to feel less stress in my body, I need a less stressful home. And that means packing up a lot of things in my home I was keeping “just in case” and making a conscious decision to LET IT GO.

Embracing a simpler lifestyle has been one of the best things I’ve done for myself. It’s self-care in the most practical sense of the word. There are so many ways that yoga philosophy supports this way of living. 

I still have a LOOOOONG way to go in my own home, but I know if simplifying and minimizing clutter in my home could make such a difference for me, it can for you, too!

In this post, I’m going to make my case for why I think all students of yoga might want to consider minimalism–especially busy yoga moms!

5 Reasons to Simplify Your Life + What Minimalism Has to Do with Yoga

1- Simplicity equals less stress. 

Did you know that visual clutter gives people an immediate stress response? It’s true. In a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2010 found that women in particular experienced higher levels of stress if they perceived their home as cluttered or needing work. (Just check out this article from The New York Times, which also cites a study that links clutter to procrastination..)

So many people I know practice yoga as a way to minimize their stress levels, minimalism is a way to stack the deck in your favor so you can have a more calm and peaceful life.

2- Aparigraha.

Let go of attachments to physical things. Obviously, physical items are just the beginning of the things we are attached to, and I’m sure the yama aparigraha applies to much more than your attachments to having a closet full of fancy shoes or toys for your kids.

BUT, for me, purging the items I no longer use have been a really profound exercise in exploring some of my most superficial attachments and practicing letting them go.

3- Saucha.

Cleanliness. It sounds so nice and peaceful doesn’t it?

I’ve heard saucha interpreted as cleanliness and purity. While ridding your space of excess clutter does not mean it will be clean, per se, it does make the act of cleaning surfaces in your house much easier. I hate cleaning, but even I tend to do it more often if I don’t have to pick up a million knick knacks. 

4- Ahimsa.

I think about the ahimsa, or non-harming, often–it comes up in so many different ways in my life.

See also 5 Most Controversial Topics in Yoga

We hear about this concept as something that means we should adhere to a plant-based diet. But a more simplified, minimalist way of life also helps us to reduce our carbon footprint, purchase fewer things that will end up in a landfill, and use less of the earth’s natural resources. And if living this way really does cause less stress in your life, too, you’re doing less harm to yourself and your family.

(And you save money buying less, too! Everybody wins!)

5- Give yourself more time and energy.

The biggest gift that simplifying my home has given me is the gift of time. Think of it this way, when you have less items hanging around your house, you spend less time moving things from one place to another. It seems like such a small thing, but the amount of time (and more importantly energy!) it takes to keep up with a huge inventory of items really adds up. The effect is burn out and exhausted parents who work all day at work and come home to work more managing and maintaining all of the stuff they’ve collected at home. And that’s not good for anyone.

Bonus: Teach your children the value of relationships and experience over things. Give them more space to be creative,, play outside, and use their imaginations to come up with games and other things to do on their own.