SPA LIVING: The HomE + Wellbeing Connection
Home is Where the Health Is
Home is a sacred place. It keeps us sheltered and protected. Our home houses those we love. Home is where we celebrate, laugh and cry. Where we hope, dream and plan. It’s also where we retreat from the world after a bad day, or when we need a break.
When I work with my clients, I always invite them to assess how satisfied they are with the major dimensions of their life. And to assess that with ideally how satisfied they want to be in that dimension. Home environment is one of those dimensions because it plays a critical role in our wellbeing and lifestyle.
This month I invite you to explore the role that your home environment plays in your wellbeing:
How Your Home Environment Supports Your Wellbeing
Home: Physical Wellbeing
Physically, your home contributes a lot to your wellbeing. But it’s not limited to your physically wellbeing. In fact, I’d argue your home contributes more to your emotional, mental, and even spiritual wellbeing, just as much if not more than your physical wellbeing.
For instance, studies show that lighting can ward off depression and anxiety. Even the colors we paint with can affect our mood, as well as affecting the quality of your sleep. And the furnishings in the environment also affect your wellbeing. A comfortable bed that invites sleep or comfortable seating that invites relaxation or coming together and linger in conversation at the dinner table.
And of course, is the kitchen conducive to cooking meals that meet your goals. Those could be meals for entertaining or celebrations, or just meals your family enjoys, coming together for a family mood. Or meals that support your health and fitness goals.
Home: Emotional Wellbeing
Recently, I got started on spring cleaning a little early in preparation for this blog. I needed a fresh start and cleaning was my outlet for that. One of the things I loved about the book Throw Out Fifty Things by Gail Blanke (see below), is that she goes beyond the household items that weigh us down in life. Often the mental clutter is our biggest culprit. Old, outdated thoughts that no longer serve us, need to be thrown out just like the junk that it is.
Inspired by her book, I used to go on major purges in my home. When I did, I would put theses index cards in the room I was cleaning. And I would write down the old thoughts that needed to go too.
I hadn’t done that in a while, and during my most recent cleaning spree, I was inspired to do something similar, but with a new twist. This time, I brought one of my trusty journals to each room. And while cleaning, I would jot down words that would come to me.
I wanted to capture how I want to feel in that room if I was living my ideal life How does that room contribute to my overall wellbeing and ideal lifestyle?
AN ExaMple
For instance, my living room is sort of my haven. I have a corner of the sectional couch, up against a corner window, and I have my favorite spa blanket (read my recent post on Hygge). This is the spot where I like to journal when its too cold to sit outside. And Sunday mornings i like to listen to my French Jazz playlist, and dream, and journal and read. So words that came to mind were relaxation, self-love, dreams, desire, life. This is the room where my life happens, where my future begins in the present moment with my dreaming and journaling. I feel good in this space and positive. I feel connected to my authentic self.
So looking around does the room reflect my authentic self? Clutter has no place in this life, so how to contain the clutter. And i want to be reading more than I am watching reruns on TV or Netflix. Are my actions living up to that? And if not what do i need to correct, so they do align?
Home: Mental Wellbeing
I’m a visual person. I usually remember things based on where on the page (margin, top, bottom, etc.) a note. It helps me to remember to take my vitamins when I see my vitamins. So, I am all about the visual reminders. The problem with this, is that it can get cluttered sometimes if I am not staying on top of it. But it does happen sometimes, and I notice how the clutter affects my stress and mental state.
Studies show that clutter causes stress. It creates visual “noise” that can cause us to feel sad, or worried, feel guilty for not keeping the home cleaner, or just feeling helpless because it’s all too overwhelming. And as we know chronic stress leads to ¾ of all doctor visits. So, staying on top of the clutter helps create an environment that is more relaxing.
Spas are naturally a calming and relaxing environment. But you will notice they are also clutter free environments. Everything has a place – the towels are visible but rolled neatly and kept handy for guests to use. There’s baskets and bins to place your used towels and spa robes in. So, the messy stuff is contained and is picked up regularly.
Clutter-free spaces also helps us to be more productive and focused. Ultimately this saves us time, which I know so many of my clients like you are strapped for. That saved time can also be reinvested into your self-care – I’m just saying. But seriously, a clutter free zone, especially in a home or work office, and in a kitchen means you spend less time looking for something. This keeps you focused and on-task and less likely to get distracted and onto something else.
Home: Spiritual WellBeing
Have you ever walked into an environment and felt the energy of the room? Or maybe the vibe of a place – the hustle and bustle of a busy restaurant. I used to notice this at work, back when I physically went into an office. Sometimes you would walk into a conference room for your meeting and then energy of the last meeting was still hanging in the air. You could literally feel the stress or tension or disagreement.
Our environments hold energy and just as we do. Again, it’s one of the reasons why I love the spa – just look at the energy of a spa, its healing, nurturing and relaxing. You feel it, and you notice how it feels different than the energy of other places.
And our home really takes on our energy, especially now days as we have been spending so much time at home these last two years. So, if you are in a funk for a while, it’s possible that there is some lingering feeling lingering in the room or home that keeps you feeling this way.
New Energy
So, for me, one of the fastest and best ways to change the energy of a room or my home is to clean it. It’s why I mentioned a fresh start, a new outlook, sometimes that can get jumpstarted by new energy from cleaning.
And I think it’s why spring cleaning is so powerful. After keeping those closed all winter against the cold, it feels stale doesn’t it. In spring we get to open the windows and let sunshine it.
The sunlight, the fresh air, it’s all energy. And so is cleaning. You are literally flooding your home with fresh new energy! And that allows you to make a fresh new start mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually or across all of them.
Here’s 5 tips for a home environment that supports your wellbeing
1. Declutter/ Adequate Storage
Start with one small area. Clear a counter, de-clutter a shelf, or organize a drawer. This will give you a sense of success to help you proceed—and give you a place to look at when the chaos elsewhere is discouraging. Keep that area free from clutter from now on—and build on it by tackling one additional area at a time. I am big on storage bins that one can put the things they use often but want to be able to quickly put away. I have one for the books I am reading, and my journal, etc. I also love to keep a laundry basket that gets everything that doesn’t belong in that room, and then I quickly go around and deliver it to the correct room.
2. ADD MORE Green
Another features you will see at spas, is plants. Plants gives us an opportunity to connect with nature by bring some of it inside. And of course greenery in home helps to clean the air, and reduce stress. One of the big trends in well building designs is biophillic design. Biophillia is the human instinct to connect with nature and other living beings. You’ll see entire walls covered in greenery, but you can simply add more plants in the home.
3. Mental Clutter
What thoughts no longer serve you? Limited thinking only holds your back. Can you replace thoughts that don’t serve you with new thoughts? One of the things I work with my clients on in their quest for more Me Time, is the notion that they are the only ones who can get something done at home. I have them make a list of all the things they’ve always thought they’ve had to be the ones to do. Then I have my clients throw them all out. Literally. Then together we work on who can help do these things, and that we let help in, we relinquish the how. How something is done by someone else, like our spouse, is not as important as that they are helping us with something.
4. Rituals
How can you turn cleaning into a ritual? Is there a special cleaning like a badass playlist you can make? Or maybe all your favorite dance songs so you can dance like no one is watching while you clean. I do four seasons deep cleans each year tied to the seasons. And then my monthly cleaning occurs on ~21st/22nd of each month to stay in alignment with that. And then of course I have my weekly and daily routines.
5. Sage
Take a page out of the best spas and burn some sage (or use a sage spray) to seal in the fresh new energy and set an intention for your fresh start. This is part of my cleaning ritual, the final step, after cleaning the whole room, is to usher in new energy into the space.
Summary
Our home environment is so integral to our overall wellbeing. It affects us, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually or energetically. Being mindful this means we can make choices to align our home environment with the lifestyle we are looking to create. This spring use your spring cleaning as a chance to usher in a fresh new start to your goals in life.
Love to Spa Resources:
- March 30 Day Declutter Challenge
- Love to Spa Self- Assessment
- Upcoming Post on Spa inspired Home Décor Tips
- Upcoming guided meditation for Spring
- Project: Me Time
Love to Spa Picks:
The following contain affiliate links which may earn Love to Spa a small commission on your purchase at no extra cost to you.
Supernatural Cleaning Products
These are my favorite cleaning products. They are all natural, something I love!! And they smell SOO Good!!!
SAGE
I use sage for smudging. Basically, i think my first sage bundle was given to me when I was out at Mii Amo in Sedona, Arizona. And since then, I have used it routinely to cap off my cleaning, and set me intentions.
Sage Spray
I used this in my office at my old job to clear the energy. Obviously, I was stressed and burnout, and I used to try to clear that energy from the space. Since I couldn’t burn sage at the office, (omg could you imagine?!?!?!), I used this spray.
Throw Out Fifty Things
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