Cleaning: I think of this act as a fundamental part of the foundation for living well. Living a healthy and well lifestyle starts with the basics and cleaning, is one of them.
Whether you clean your home yourself or have assistance with this task, I encourage you to consciously look at your cleaning routine and habits and evaluate how they serve your family and your space. Sound crazy?! Keep reading!
Our homes are the largest platforms for which we launch our life from. They are where we rise in the morning and retreat to at the end of the day. Where we go to feel warm, protected and safe. We rest, bathe, love, feed, teach, learn and grow within the walls of our home, and it’s important that we treat the space with the love and intention we want for our lives, and the people in them.
How we choose to take care of ourselves, our coveted possessions, and the spaces that house them, can ultimately reflect our self-worth. Each one of us deserves to experience the best life has to offer and most times, these experiences happen in the context of our homes. So cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming the stairs and doing the dishes are all acts of self-love that support us in a much bigger way.
Our homes prepare us for life and the outside world and cleaning is a beautiful practice that supports this preparation. As the daily chores pile up and the laundry overflows causing you to feel exhausted and avoidant, think of a few of the below tips for switching this perspective and allowing the act of cleaning to become an input instead of an output.
A few tips I use to clean consciously and with love:
The products: the first thing I did was examine my cleaning product choices and the ingredients in each of them. Were these chemicals something I wanted in our home? With the choice to live a more natural and clean life, the strong smelling, toxic cleaners had to go. I opted for natural, non-toxic cleaners or home-made versions I can whip up myself. Knowing that I have made a more responsible choice for my family and the planet, provides me so much peace.
The ritual: in order to clean consciously, I had to slow down. And in order to slow down, I needed to know that I didn’t have to tackle the whole house at one time. I consciously had to tell myself that this was not a race, I didn’t hate it, and I didn’t need to do it at warp speed just to get it over with. So I created a ritual around my cleaning practice and now, I look forward to it. I light candles, turn on some music, and really allow myself to be present even if I am just washing the dishes. This has allowed me to slow it down and really get intentional about maintaining this foundation in which I live my life from.
The calendar: for me to be able to spread out the household chores and complete ‘the ritual, (see above)’, I need to separate the work load so I don’t have to do everything at once. It can be tempting to let the chores go throughout the week and then handle it all on the weekend however, I found that when we did that, we lost a lot of our free time for fun and connection because we spent the whole weekend catching up with the cleaning. This left us feeling exhausted and empty before the new week had even begun. I have since created a chore calendar that allows me to only have to complete a few tasks a day. By breaking it up this way, I can focus mindfully on the chores for only that day and allow myself more time to complete them. Having more time to complete them, then let’s me relax and enjoy the practice with love instead of rushing through it.
The efficiency effect: not only do I want our home to be clean and organized on the surface, I also want the inside spaces to be that way as well. The closets, drawers, cupboards and fridge are all areas that deserve attention too. These areas house the smaller items within our homes and require efficiency and order to maintain minimal effort. When our home is running efficiently and effectively, I feel so much more peaceful and at ease. I want very minimal effort or stress when finding or using things within the home, and keeping it clean, organized and in order, allows for this. In each room, I started with the items that we absolutely needed, and then added in a few things we loved. By keeping it minimal, there is space for each item to have a home and I feel such a sense of pride and accomplishment at the end of the day when everything has been returned to its proper place.
The energy: the quality of energy within my space and our home is crucial to my well-being. I want our home to evoke emotion, connection and love. I want guests to feel welcome, our living-room filled with laughter; I want to feel at home. At peace. Creating and maintaining a space that feeds life into my soul, is so incredibly important for me to live well. Lighting, ambiance, essential oils, smudging, fresh air, and gratitude are all ways I like to cleanse the energy and invite fresh breath into the space.
I feel so fulfilled when I am taking care of my space and curating it with love; it makes such a difference to the items within the space and the people who enter it. It also creates a beautiful and disciplined practice around slowing down that I can take with me into the fast-paced, outside world. Our physical environments, and the spaces we inhabit, have a significant impact on how we feel and how we live our life. And how we care for those spaces, is equally important.
Live well,
Cher
