Open the Windows: My SPRING Model for a Clear and Steady Mind

Masterclass handout notes by Dr Shiam Chuttoo. Declutter the load. Refresh the heart. Make room for what really matters.

Please read the Word of Caution below before you try any technique in this piece.

Why I wrote this

Every spring my house gets a good clean. Cupboards open, old papers go, the windows let the light back in. One morning, sitting in my car with my notebook on my knee, I asked myself a simple question: when did I last open the windows of my mind?

Modern life pours a constant stream into us. Information from the phone. Responsibilities at home. Expectations from work, family and community. Nobody comes to empty the bins of the mind for us. We have to do it ourselves, and we have to do it on purpose.

My years in nursing, social work and teaching taught me something I still carry. Good care, for a patient or for yourself, follows the same pattern: notice, assess, plan, act, review. This piece takes that pattern and turns it into my SPRING Model, a clear-out you can do in an afternoon and repeat every season.

The SPRING Model

© Dr Shiam Chuttoo 2026. My own six-step model for opening the windows of the mind.

Step	The question it asks
Stop and Notice	What is cluttering my mind right now?
Pause the Body	What does my body need to settle?
Release the Clutter	What can I put down, hand over or throw away?
Integrity and Rights	Am I treating myself and others with dignity and fairness?
Nurture What Matters	What deserves the space I have just made?
Grow with a Plan	What will I do, when, and how will I check it?

Give yourself a decimal score before you start and again at the end. Ten out of ten is outstanding. Most of us begin somewhere around a five. The aim is movement, one honest point at a time.

S: Stop and Notice

You cannot clean a room with the lights off. Sit for five minutes with a blank page and write down everything taking up space in your head.

Information: news, messages, notifications, other people’s opinions.
Responsibilities: bills, appointments, promises made.
Expectations: what others want from you, and what you demand of yourself.
Anything new or unusual: a change that has unsettled you, even a good one.

P: Pause the Body

The mind and the body share one house. When the body settles, the mind follows. Horses for courses: the right tool depends on the person and the day.

Focused breathing: in for four, hold for two, out for six. Repeat five times.
Mindfulness: notice five things you see, four you hear, three you can touch.
Relaxation: tense and release each muscle group from feet to shoulders.
Yoga: ten minutes of gentle stretching, done slowly.
Open walk: fresh air, no phone, no destination.
The gym: for those who clear their head through effort.

If you feel dizzy, breathless or in pain, stop at once.

R: Release the Clutter

From my years on the wards I carry the NHS hygiene message Catch it, Bin it, Kill it, first used to stop germs travelling. I adapt it for the thoughts that spread worry through the day.

Catch it: notice the thought the moment it arrives.
Bin it: ask whether it is true, useful or yours to carry. If not, let it go.
Kill it: replace it with a kinder, truer sentence.

I: Integrity and Rights

A clean mind is also a fair mind. The principles that protect people in health and social care work just as well as a guide for how we treat ourselves.

Capacity: assume a person can make their own decisions unless shown otherwise. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is built on this.
Duty of candour: be open and honest when things go wrong.
Least restrictive: choose the option that limits freedom the least.
Care that meets needs: from the 1990 community care reforms to the Care Act 2014, wellbeing and the person’s own wishes sit at the centre.
Dignity: nurture it in others and protect it in yourself.

N: Nurture What Matters

With the space clear, fill it with care. Name four things that deserve your time this season. Look for the hidden gems you stopped noticing under the clutter. Say yes to something new. Life is meant to have a little bounce in it, like a child on an inflatable castle.

G: Grow with a Plan

Good intentions fade by Tuesday. A plan keeps the room clean. Ask yourself four questions. What will a clear mind let me do? Which of my values does this plan protect? Which SPRING steps will I repeat, and how often? When will I score myself again? Be ready to get your hands dirty. Opening the windows is honest work.

A Word of Caution

You cannot shake hands with a hungry man. A person in pain, in crisis or without food, rest, safety or money will not be helped by a breathing exercise alone. Meet the need first. As we say at home: jaan hai to jahaan hai.

Give a man a hammer and everything he sees is a nail. A tool used without understanding becomes the answer to every problem. Learn why a technique works before you lean on it, and know when to put it down.

Your responsibility. This piece is for education and personal reflection. It is not medical, psychological or legal advice, and it does not replace care from a qualified professional. Anyone who uses these ideas does so by their own choice and is responsible for their own actions.

Talk to your GP first if you have a heart, lung, joint or blood pressure condition, are pregnant, or are recovering from illness or injury.
Stop at once if anything causes pain, dizziness, chest tightness or distress.
Seek support from your GP, nurse or therapist if low mood, worry or stress stays with you.
In the UK: NHS 111 for urgent advice, Samaritans free on 116 123 at any hour, or 999 in an emergency.

SPRING and Maslow

In 1943 Abraham Maslow proposed that people meet basic needs before higher ones can take their full attention. Here is how SPRING sits alongside his five levels.

Maslow’s level	Where SPRING meets it
5 Self-actualisation	G: Grow with a Plan
4 Esteem	R: Release the Clutter
3 Love and belonging	N: Nurture What Matters
2 Safety	I: Integrity and Rights
1 Physiological	P: Pause the Body

S, Stop and Notice, sits underneath every level as the assessment. A fair critique: a 1976 review by Wahba and Bridwell found weak evidence for a fixed order of needs, culture shapes which needs come first, and the famous pyramid was drawn by others after Maslow. Use the levels as a guide for what to look at first, rather than a ladder everyone must climb in order.

Words to Sit With

People are disturbed not by things, but by the views they take of things.
Epictetus

Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
William Morris, 1880

Lift yourself by your own self. The self is its own friend, and the self is its own enemy.
Bhagavad Gita 6.5

Clutter does not ask permission to move in. You must give it notice to leave.
Dr Shiam Chuttoo

Your Open Windows Questions

What is cluttering my mind?
Which body tool will I use this week?
What am I binning, and why?
Where do I need more fairness or dignity?
What deserves my space?
What is my plan, and when will I review it?

We clean our homes every spring without a second thought. Give your mind the same respect. Throw the windows open, sort the cupboards, keep the treasures, and let the light back in.

© Dr Shiam Chuttoo 2026. The SPRING Model is the original work of Dr Shiam Chuttoo. Credit: SPRING Model, created by Dr Shiam Chuttoo. You may share or use this model only with my permission, or with clear credit to me as its author. Contact: shiamduth@outlook.com. Work record: Ref DSC-2026-SPRING-01, created 15 October 2026. All rights reserved.