It’s been said that happiness starts in the home. If you find yourself feeling unhappy, overwhelmed or less than your best, a detox of your home and some new holistic home rituals may be just what you need.
Start with these holistic home detox tips:
Check Your Self (before you wreck yo self)
Why do you want to detox your home? In what ways would a more organized home enhance your daily life? Are there toxic habits or negative energies in your home? You need to know the answers before you can make headway.
Also, start with acceptance. Before you can make sweeping and lasting changes to your life, you need to understand where it is you’re coming from. Accept your current circumstances, limitations, strengths and weaknesses…for now anyways. If you don’t start out from a place of acceptance, then all the work you put in to creating a simpler, slower, less toxic life will be overshadowed by feelings of inadequacy, guilt and comparison.
Minimize + Organize
Speaking of sweeping changes…start by doing a preliminary sweep of your entire home.
Collect. Take out everything and put it in a pile. For example, empty the entire drawer, closet, etc., and pile it all on a counter or a table. Take everything out, down to the last paper clip.
Choose. Pick out only the few things you love and use and that are important to you. Just sort through the pile, picking out the really essential stuff. Be very selective. Put the important stuff you pick out into a separate, smaller pile.
Eliminate. Toss the rest out. You know you’ll never need those manuals again. Don’t be sentimental with this step. Either throw everything into a big trash bag, or find a new home for some of the items if you think someone might have a use for them — donate them to charity or give them to a friend who would love them.
Organize. Put back the essential things, neatly in a way that makes sense for your new organized life.
Clear the Negative
After clearing some clutter, consider clearing the energy from your home. You’re craving a fresh start so why not open those windows let the fresh Fall air in! If you’re a little more adventurous, try a smoke ritual or use a smudge stick. A smudge stick is a bundle of dried herbs, often bound with string and usually rather small. The herbs are burned as part of a ceremony or ritual, clearing bad juju. Or at the very least burn one of your favorite candles or aromatherapy diffuser.
Reclaim Your Living Room for Living
And your bedroom for sleeping! When did our televisions become the focal point of every single room in our homes? I just moved into a 900 sq ft home and we almost put televisions in every room, until I was like wait – no – this is completely unnecessary! So we are sans TV in our bedroom for the first time in many years! It’s been liberating. I’ve been reading more, getting better sleep and it’s well…more romantic in there.
Along with our bedrooms, creating a space within our ‘living rooms’ that are actually for living, instead of becoming zombies to the tube. Are you able to minimize the TV area so it’s not such a focal point? Maybe even arrange your chairs to face each other, rather than the television? Try bringing in a selection of books and/or your music collection to encourage other activities rather than automatically reaching for the remote.
Make Your Bed “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”
Every single day.
First, making your bed is a step that’s quick and easy, yet makes a big difference. Everything looks neater. It’s easier to find your shoes. Your bedroom is a more peaceful environment. For most people, outer order contributes to inner calm.
Second, sticking to any resolution – no matter what it is – brings satisfaction. You’ve decided to make some change, and you’ve stuck to it. Making my bed is one of the first things I do in the morning, I start the day feeling efficient and productive.
Live with Purpose
Deal with clutter as it comes through the door, have a donation box ready at all times, organize your space in a way that works for you and the way you want your life to flow.
Do these things on the spot so that you can spend your valuable time doing activities that inspire you or that are just plain more fun than cleaning all the time.
We spend so much time within these walls, purposely make it a space worth living in!
Your space, your oasis, your home – is intertwined with your own physical, mental and spiritual well being. Autumn is a time of letting go, the time of year that is ideal for taking some time to create a space that reflects you. A sanctuary that is not just house but is truly a home.
