#509 | Do THIS for Your Next Spring Cleaning (Thank Us Later)

Change your space before it changes you. In today’s episode, we take spring cleaning beyond clutter, closets, and open windows, and into the places your nervous system has been quietly living. From stale routines to screen fatigue, environmental design, emotional buildup, and the way your home can shape your mental health, this episode is a sharp reminder that change does not only happen inside your mind. Sometimes, it starts with the air you breathe, the space you keep, and the patterns you stop dragging into the next season. If your brain has been asking for a reset, maybe start by opening a window before blaming your entire personality.

Episode Reference:
#466 | Instead of New Year's Resolutions, Do THIS - https://apple.co/4aWMjLF

Here's a related episode that builds on today’s conversation:
#491 | How to Create Space for Your Feelings - https://apple.co/43oj8hv

Learn more about:
🤝 Out of the Mud (OOTM) - "How to Stop Taking Everything So Personally" - https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/IykObX8eR7ixJaQ-qqZogw#/registration

Evolve Group Coaching - https://evolveventurestech.com/evolve-group-coaching/

📽️ Insightful films. Meaningful growth. Join our Evolve Movie Club - https://forms.gle/bBZUbFEeD2ijypCT7

🌱 The #YouDoYou Therapy Program gives you support when and how you need it. No pressure. Just real help. Start your free 7-day trial today - https://buy.stripe.com/fZe8Avdfx8bW9gcfZc

_________________

Connect with Emilia, Bianca & the EVOLVE VENTURES Community:

Website: http://www.evolveventurestech.com
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/evolveventures/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/EvolveVenturesTech  (Public Page)
Evolve Ventures Society (Private Facebook Group) - https://www.facebook.com/groups/457130589193794
Emilia’s IG - https://www.instagram.com/evolvewithemilia/
Bianca’s IG - https://www.instagram.com/evolvewithbianca/

Connect with Emilia & Bianca from Evolve Ventures for FREE:
https://calendly.com/emiliasmith/free-evp-communityconnect?month=2025-07

Show notes:
(2:44) Environmental design as nervous system support
(6:08) Why your home needs fresh air
(8:27) The mental health version of spring cleaning
(12:12) Nature, screens, and brain recovery
(16:03) The hidden buildup inside your environment
(20:29) A seasonal reset for your whole life
(23:02) Why calendars can throw off your rhythm
(26:27) Creating space for your feelings
(27:55) Outro

***Leave them a 5-star review if you felt their energy, became inspired, or felt as though the value was added to your life in your EVOLUTION.

(Stay tuned for this coming Thursday’s episode!)

Transcript

Bianca Thomas

(0:00) As the seasons change, your house and your car are not the only things that you need to clean.

Emilia Smith

(0:09) So this episode is all about those who maybe dread change, and this is about changing with the seasons in a way that benefits you.

Bianca Thomas

(0:19) Most of us are looking for hope, answers to the madness, certainty that we'll be okay, and someone safe to help guide us through the most challenging parts of our lives. (0:31) In a world that's changing and evolving every single day, where chaos, uncertainty, and cycles we never chose wreak havoc on our lives, it's easy to feel lost, hopeless, and scared of what the future will hold.

Emilia Smith

(0:47) Evolve Ventures is here to provide that hope, direction, and data-driven strategies to growth-minded human beings just like you every Monday and Thursdays, where each new episode is filled with vulnerable stories, interesting lessons, and simple tools you can use that will help you evolve into the person you were always meant to be.

Bianca Thomas

(1:08) My name's Emilia. (1:09) And I'm Bianca.

Emilia Smith

(1:10) And as the co-founders of Evolve Ventures, we are so grateful to be a part of your evolution. (1:16) Let's get into it. (1:17) Hey everybody, it's Bianca.(1:19) Welcome back, Evolvers. (1:21) This is Emilia. (1:21) For episode number 509, 509, holy crap.(1:27) Do this for your next spring cleaning. (1:30) Thank us later. (1:31) I am excited to share a little bit about what we have been doing for spring cleaning.(1:37) And this episode, as we mentioned at the very beginning, is so that those people who are struggling with change, change happens if you live in an area with seasonal change, it's happening and how we feel about change and whether we're dreading that or what it means to us, it can look like so many different things. (1:54) But what I found to be extremely helpful for navigating those seasons of change is quite literally learning how to change with them and doing so in a way that helps you feel really good about yourself, the environment that you're in as it changes and as you are the advocate of change. (2:13) So today, by the end of this episode, it is my hope, my aspiration, my intention for Bianca and I to share a little bit about what we do so that you can contemplate maybe some of those routines that are like really clogging up the system of change for you.(2:28) And maybe it's time to dust off those cobwebs and contemplate what might be a little bit better for you to consider as we change seasons. (2:38) So Bianca, I personally, I'll just I'll share straight up. (2:44) I was always someone that looked forward to change.(2:48) So I'm going to put that out there. (2:50) I look forward to change, not for change's sake, but ultimately because of the routines added like a little bit of novelty when it came to my life. (2:58) So we're now we live on the you know, the Northeast.(3:03) And so we get all four seasons of change. (3:05) So people often joke about two and a half seasons, practically. (3:11) But people often joke at the fact that like individuals who live in the Northeast, they they they are better at change than most people because they're forced into it by Mother Nature.(3:22) So the winters are brutal. (3:24) The springs are chirpy and rainy and muddy. (3:28) The falls are a lot of people's favorite season.(3:31) And then there's obviously the summer where it's happy go lucky. (3:34) But right now we're in a season where we're starting to transition out of winter and into spring, which at the time of recording. (3:42) Yeah, at the time of recording.(3:44) And one of my favorite because of the fact that I get to integrate all these little nuances of of environmental design into my life that I hadn't been able to in the last four months or so. (3:58) And when we look at environmental design, environmental influence, and we look at how that influences us and change, like you said at the very beginning, Bianca, our home, our car, their environments that host us, that become the nest of our nervous system. (4:15) And so I like to think about changing the season and spring cleaning like an extension of what I refer to as nervous system manicuring, meaning the nervous system extends out into the home.(4:27) So how we decorate it, what we choose, the different furniture, all that stuff, the rugs, the linens, the this, the that, curtains, all of that is in some way, shape or form to try to help us make us feel a little bit more comfortable. (4:40) And when it comes to our environments of change, we need to make sure that we're being mindful of how how over time they accumulate so much gunk. (4:53) And if we're not in a practice and in a routine of taking advantage of the seasons of of changing up our environments, then we are actually inhaling so much gross stuff.(5:07) Do you remember, Bianca, we did a podcast back when Evolve Ventures was the Why Power podcast. (5:14) We did a podcast about, and I brought it in, you might remember this just by the sheer disgust, about how many skin cells we shed every single day in our environments. (5:28) Do you remember that episode?(5:31) Kind of. (5:32) It's a faint memory. (5:33) It was a long time ago.(5:35) OK, well, what I essentially said in that episode, and I can't for the life of me recall what that was, but essentially I was sharing some of the stats around how much we shed skin on the day to day in our environment. (5:47) So think about your home, your car, the places that you frequent often. (5:52) And when we talk about spring cleaning and we talk about the benefits that you want, which is a nice, fresh home, you want a nice, clean and fresh car, like you want all these environments to support your growth.(6:03) There needs to be some degree of a routine and a practice on getting rid of the gunkies. (6:08) So one of the ways in which we can do that and one of the ways in which I do that that I want to encourage everyone to kind of explore is this routine that's called in German and Scandinavian roots, where essentially when it's not warm enough, but it's still kind of cold, you open up all the windows and all the doors to let fresh air in for about five to ten minutes. (6:35) And essentially what you're doing is what's called burping the home, because the home ends up having all this stale air in it.(6:43) And we're just breathing all the CO2 into our air. (6:48) And if we're not at least recycling fresh air into our homes and burping out the gross buildup of just our being in our home, we're not bringing in essential elements from clean, fresh air outdoors into our home. (7:04) And so that's one small little thing that you can do as you go into your spring cleaning.(7:09) Open up the windows, open up the doors, obviously be mindful of your animals and for babies and any kids if you have around. (7:16) But put those screens on, open up the windows, open up the doors for five to ten minutes and burp your home because all that nasty stale air that is getting recycled into your lungs, which is not necessarily supporting your best interest and what you have. (7:34) And in addition to that, it's getting rid of a lot of those dead skin cells that are just accumulating in the home, which is so gross.(7:43) But when we think about change, change is also making sure that you're introducing positive influences. (7:49) And this isn't just about the people that you surround yourself with. (7:52) It's also about all of the elements that are around us that we often take for granted and we're not introducing them into the most common thing.(8:00) So if we're in cars all the time, we're commuting, drive for an extended period of time with your windows down because all of the dust, maybe the dog fur that you have in there, all that stuff, even though you might be vacuuming it every now and then, fresh air does an incredible job of blowing out all that nasties. (8:19) So do you kind of remember that episode when we spoke about it? (8:23) Oh, it was so funny to see your face.(8:25) Oh, it was so funny to see your face.

Bianca Thomas

(8:27) Okay. (8:27) That's nasty. (8:28) Okay, what's the mental health equivalent of that?(8:31) So how do you like burp your brain aside from getting good sleep?

Emilia Smith

(8:37) Well, what's fascinating is that fresh air directly connects to improved mental health. (8:42) So there are studies that show that the more time that you spend outside, obviously outside improves your mental health, but there's a specific lens on the science about fresh air. (8:53) If you spend time outside, like you are likely getting fresh air and you're likely getting some degree of sunlight, but you are benefiting, your mental health is benefiting by actually inhaling nutrient dense, not nutrients dense, but like cleaner air.(9:10) And if your brain is inhaling cleaner air, you are having a healthier brain. (9:16) Your brain is getting burped by you breathing in that air. (9:19) And so it's a weird concept, but it's so important.(9:23) We don't realize like our brain is actually performing less when we're in, like we as human beings, as species have never spent more time indoors than we have now. (9:32) And what is that doing just from an air standpoint? (9:35) We don't think of these things, but we are literally inhaling more CO2 than we ever have.(9:41) And it's recycled air. (9:42) So it's not just CO2 for CO2 sake, but it's also CO2 with all of the nasties that's in our breathing and dust mite riddled and skin decaying, floating around and microbial elements into our nasal cavity, which is impacting our brains. (10:00) So to burp our brains, we need to burp our home and the environments that we live in and frequent every single day.(10:07) Okay.

Bianca Thomas

(10:08) Number one, now I'm itchy. (10:10) So thanks. (10:12) Now I'm like squirmy and itchy.(10:14) Number two, you want to hear something funny? (10:16) So I was, I was on a call with a client yesterday and he's, he's wrapping up his PhD program at WPI, which is super exciting. (10:26) And he's going to be defending his dissertation soon.(10:30) And he's moving to, he's moving back to California with, um, with his partner and they're going to start their life over there. (10:37) And he's I've been staring at a screen nonstop for like five months straight. (10:47) He's like, my fiance was like yelling at me to make sure that like, during this week that I have off or I've submitted everything that I'm off the computer, so on and so forth.(10:58) I'm like, yeah, you got to listen to the boss. (11:00) And we were talking about what his intentions are for when he's finished with the program and how he's going to make sure that he's decompressing and being intelligent and making sure that he's doing a, a more optimal transition from solely focusing on school to, you know, proactively making sure that he's taking intentional RNR to then going into a job hunt into a job search. (11:32) And I made this joke about he needs to go do like sunbathing, which I don't like, I'm not someone who actually like speaks about going outside like that.(11:45) But I made the joke of like, if I were you, here's what I would do. (11:49) I would just go outside in nature for like a week and just hug a tree and just hold, I'm just latching on like squirrel to a tree for like a week and just like decompressing the screen, the, your brain from all the screen time that you've had. (12:07) Obviously that was a stupid joke.

Emilia Smith

(12:10) No, I love that. (12:11) I think that that's so important.

Bianca Thomas

(12:12) It's, it is so unbelievably important. (12:15) And I know you know more about the research than I do, but like research continues to show that time out in nature is so rejuvenating and healing for our brain and it helps reset some of the dopaminergic systems that we have since we are consistently scrolling, scrolling, scrolling on screens all day.

Emilia Smith

(12:39) Yeah, exactly. (12:40) Um, there's a, um, oh, what's the freaking word? (12:47) Tree hugger?(12:48) No, no. (12:50) I think it's, it's like phyto, phytocides, phyto, yeah, phytoncides. (12:56) Don't quote, quote me on how to spell that, but it's essentially.(13:00) What is it called? (13:01) It's, it's, they're phytochemicals that are, um, that are created and in the process of when plants are essentially, um, going through photosynthesis and essentially the, the phyton, phytoncides that they produce actually directly reduce anxiety and why that matters. (13:27) And I think to the con, to not only the joke that you had, but also the fresh air component, natural environments have higher increased levels obviously of oxygen, oxygen because plants produce that.(13:40) Um, hence why I have over a hundred plants in my home because I just have it in a, like I'm mindful of, of how important the air that we breathe is for our brain health. (13:52) But like that increase in oxygen levels obviously decreases the cortisol that we have in our, our neurochemistry that produces in our endocrine system and everything. (14:03) So like it's, it's literally from the air that we breathe and, and it's amazing how when we do get high quality oxygen rich phyto, phytoncides dense air, phytoncides, we, we essentially have an improved ability for our brains to kind of reset for our bodies to reset and for our nervous systems to calm down.(14:27) So I'm right there with you. (14:29) I, I'm, I be out there hugging trees. (14:31) Any chance I get like a squirrel, I'm going to become a squirrel for a week.(14:35) Just, yeah. (14:37) That's also a hilarious visual of like you just like trying to rap. (14:40) Cause you and I both have like little, we're like five, three T-Rex arms.(14:44) Yeah. (14:44) We have tiny little arms. (14:45) So it's like one tree.(14:46) We can barely get her. (14:47) It's just hilarious. (14:48) Okay.(14:49) So I love that. (14:50) And also I think that, uh, to that end spring cleaning on the topic of screens, I think that because so many people, whether you're doing a dissertation, you're in a PhD program, whatever, like we, again, we spend more time now indoors than we ever have with that. (15:08) We are breathing and inhaling that cyclical process of all of that, which we are, uh, uh, shedding per day, which, um, it does break down to approximately 30 to 40,000 skin cells are shed every minute, every minute, every minute.(15:30) So that our daily loss is about 500 million to 1 billion cells. (15:34) And that's just in our home. (15:37) So I'm not over here preaching to the choir about hygiene and cleaning, but why that matters is because that's being recycled in the air molecules that you're literally breathing.(15:47) So if you're going to burp, you know why, you know, you might not even know because you're now nose blind. (15:54) And I think that all these little things, you know, just might help you. (15:56) I'm just trying to say, you know, and to that effect, if you have, like, let's say you have a home where you have air filtration systems, like these little tiny things clean, like take the filters out and go clean them to that end, because you're shedding 500 million to a billion cells of your skin every single day.(16:18) Now multiply that by the amount of people that you have in the house plus animals. (16:22) Okay. (16:22) That means all of your linens, not just the ones that you sleep in, but the couch, the blankets that you have, the pillow covers, the shams, the rugs, like all those need to be literally aired out.(16:33) So picture the old, the old person shaking out the rugs, like slapping it in the quote unquote old days. (16:39) I just have this vision coming out. (16:40) Like there's some science to that real, real good, good stuff when it comes to transition of springtime and why that matters again, because your brain needs to be inhaling the best of the best in order to have high performing levels.(16:54) And just in general to have great mental health. (16:56) These are the things that we don't think about. (16:58) So air out the rug, shake out the rug, shake out the linens, clean and turn over the linens.(17:04) And to that end, while we're at the linens, might I just say one thing that might also help just, this is, who is it? (17:12) Marie Kondo. (17:14) The person who's famous for like organization and environmental.(17:17) Yeah. (17:18) Okay. (17:19) How about we go through all those clothes that you have, the shoes, the stuff, the this, the that, and why don't we go ahead and before we go and put away the winter stuff, get rid of the stuff that you didn't wear this season.(17:34) Go ahead and recycle that to someone that would love that. (17:38) And then box that stuff up, wait for it to come for the next season. (17:43) And before you go and box it up, clean that stuff.(17:47) Because again, we have these routines as human beings. (17:50) We might just have a closet where we keep everything in, but like even just freeing up the space and rearranging that can have a tremendous effect on your brain because essentially your brain is being introduced to not only novel stimulus, but also it has this kind of like refresh rejuvenation feeling that your brain ends up actually really enjoying. (18:11) So a couple of things that you can do, open up the windows, open up the doors for five to 10 minutes, car, home, et cetera.(18:19) Literally shake out your linens, get those outside dust. (18:24) All those little things that should be quote unquote obvious are becoming less and less obvious. (18:30) And people are not like teaching this unless you're literally going for a Marie Kondo kind of let's go clean our apartment and figure it out.(18:37) Like these little tiny things do add up. (18:39) And essentially I want everyone thinking about what are the nutrients that your brain is ingesting? (18:45) So when I say nutrients, yes, I do mean what you're eating, but also like the air that you're breathing, the water that you're drinking, what is the quality of that?(18:54) And oftentimes we're not thinking about air. (18:55) So I think it, as we transition into the spring, I think that it's a perfect segue to be able to encourage all of our revolvers to luften their homes, to apply the practice of luften of their cars. (19:08) And for all of us to a little bit consider how when the seasons change, you don't have to dread it.(19:14) You can actually just apply these routines. (19:17) And like that, you literally have some great implementation strategies that help give your brain a better chance for the next whatever season you have. (19:27) So I think it's cool.(19:28) I think it's cool. (19:29) I think it's necessary. (19:30) And ultimately I think we all can do better on this personally.

Bianca Thomas

(19:34) I think an additional thing in tandem with that, and I want to just for clarity sake, I don't do this the way that I'm going to explain it. (19:44) And the reason I don't do it the way that I'm going to explain it is because I work with coaches five days a week. (19:50) So I'm literally remodeling my system like daily.(19:55) So for people who are not getting like any sort of peak performance coaching or not working with a therapist who is going to be able to help you to do this, this is also a good tool that you can utilize. (20:13) So after each season, have an hour or take a day or however long you decide and look at what the last season, look at what the last 90 days actually looked like for you. (20:29) What are the behaviors that you engaged in?(20:31) What are the things that you did? (20:33) What are the emotions that you found yourself feeling? (20:37) And what are the, like, were there any goals that you had set for the quarter?(20:43) And did you end up accomplishing them? (20:45) And then what you can do is you can look at what the next season ahead is. (20:50) What are the behaviors you want to engage in?(20:53) Who are the people you want to spend time with? (20:55) What are the things that you want to do? (20:56) What are the experiences you want to have?(20:59) What are the thoughts that you want to start working toward and the feelings you want to start working toward? (21:04) And then have a mental and like a holistic life spring cleaning in tandem with that so that the next season ahead. (21:14) So not only now is your house loofed in and burped your house, but you can also do this process with your life as a whole.(21:25) The majority of us are just living, trying to get through the day to day, and we're not being as conscious or intentional as we could be about the life that we want to have. (21:39) Yes, it takes more effort. (21:41) Yes, it's a pain in the butt.(21:43) And the hard work that you do up front allows you to have better results and more ease and comfort and just the things that you want later on. (21:56) So take an hour, be intentional and watch how like this next season is going to be significantly amplified.

Emilia Smith

(22:07) I love that. (22:08) I love that you added that because my focus was primarily on the physical environment. (22:14) And I think that what you shared is so important because the fact we mentioned this in an episode, I want to say like 20 episodes ago about how so much of our daily rhythms are synced up to the Gregorian calendar, which is a linear focus, which is it starts, you know, January 1st, day one, and then there's Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4.(22:40) And it's just very much not in harmony and in the beat of the rhythm of natural like actual moon calendars and syncing with nature. (22:51) And so a lot of people feel thrown off because they'll, for example, they'll start focusing in on their life reflection on the first day of the Gregorian year, which is usually, you know, January 1st, whatever year, but winter's already started. (23:09) So there's this like off feeling that people feel and communicate to us where it can be really disorienting if you're focused on your personal systems and routines and clean outs on the Gregorian calendar and letting that lead you, there's going to be a natural cycle that your body, your bio rhythms are already synced up to that feels slightly off.(23:31) So syncing with the natural cycles, a moon calendar, the nature-based calendar is so much more effective for your brain. (23:40) So I love the fact that you introduced that. (23:42) On a personal level, because being reflective in the seasons of change, when you're changing with nature, not just because of some arbitrary date on your Gregorian calendar, Q2, you know, I think what I've found with individuals is that they just have a more in tune and in sync rhythm with the natural world around them.(24:02) And I think when we can operate more in alignment with that, I know that more people feel less of that stress and pressure because they're just operating naturally as opposed to like, oh, it is Q2, let me reflect on my stuff, right? (24:18) So I'm glad that you mentioned that. (24:20) Good, good, good.(24:21) Okay. (24:21) Anything else to add to this? (24:22) Because I feel like we have done some solid justice on burping our homes, burping our brains, and ultimately reflecting on our life.(24:32) And hugging a tree. (24:33) Of course, being a squirrel hugging a tree.

Bianca Thomas

(24:36) Exactly. (24:37) That episode that you're referring to came out in January. (24:40) So six months ago, by the time this comes out.(24:44) It was the goal setting episode that we did, the New Year's goal setting episode that we did. (24:51) So that came out in January for anyone who's interested. (24:53) So it was way more than 20 episodes ago.

Emilia Smith

(24:56) Way more, way more. (24:57) You got the episode where I talked about the skin cell shedding, the gross one, the Why Power podcast one.

Bianca Thomas

(25:02) No, and honestly, I think I'm all set because now I'm itchy. (25:06) And now I'm like, getting, I'm not gonna say the term I was gonna say, I was gonna say OCD, but that's not accurate. (25:15) We don't want to throw words out that mean nothing.

Emilia Smith

(25:18) Okay.

Bianca Thomas

(25:20) So burp your house, burp your brain, go hug a tree. (25:25) That's the final takeaway for today. (25:32) If you liked this episode, if this episode resonated with you and you want something more, go check out episode 491, How to Create Space for Your Feelings.(25:47) It goes perfectly in tandem with this. (25:51) We're going to make some space for our feelings because we feel our feelings. (25:55) We don't avoid them.

Emilia Smith

(25:58) Also, fun fact, I now realize that we can get fan mail via voicemail. (26:08) So if you click the link in the show notes that says fan mail and then follow the steps, you can literally send us a quick audio that will come directly to us, not an AI bot that will come to us. (26:20) So if you want to leave us a commentary, what you liked, what you hated about this specific episode, we would love to hear that directly from our listeners.(26:28) We literally want to make more episodes that resonate and that are helpful for you. (26:34) So if there's even an episode suggestion that you have, go ahead and send that in the fan mail. (26:39) Again, go to the show notes, click, send us fan mail and follow the steps to leave us a voicemail and that will come to us.(26:46) We would love to hear from you. (26:48) Okay. (26:48) To that end, as Bianca mentioned, How to Create Space for Your Feelings, episode 491.(26:54) If you're watching on YouTube, it will be in the screen around us. (26:58) So please go ahead and click on that one. (27:01) And as always, thank you for your interest in the science of holistic mental health.(27:06) We love being with you along this journey. (27:08) Keep evolving, everybody. (27:13) We know firsthand how important it is to have a safe space with people who support and celebrate your evolution.(27:20) That's why we created our free live virtual event called Out of the Mud that we host the last Wednesday of every single month, 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, so that while you venture into new territories of your growth, you can get in a room with others who are too. (27:37) Extraordinary topics with evolved people. (27:39) That's what this event is all about.(27:42) What's great too is that you don't even need to have your camera or mic on. (27:46) You can just listen in. (27:47) Click the link in the show notes to register for the next topic to kickstart your growth.

Bianca Thomas

(27:52) Be on the lookout for our IG lives that we host every Friday at 12 30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. (27:59) This is a place where you can connect with us live and in a fun, lighthearted way. (28:04) We are also in the process of rolling out group coaching and online courses, and these are sure to help you evolve into a greater version of yourself.

Emilia Smith

(28:14) If this episode resonated with you or you heard something you know will help you evolve, please share it with someone you love and care about, team members across the world, or someone who you believe deeply could benefit from joining this discussion.

Bianca Thomas

(28:28) This content is intended for information purposes only. (28:31) It is not a substitute for professional counseling or psychotherapy, medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment, and does not constitute medical or other professional advice. (28:43) Names and identifiable personal details mentioned in respective podcast episodes and stories may have been changed to protect personal privacy and identity.