Cleanfulness: order and clean your house to clear your mind

Few daily activities have such a bad social image as housework. Unpaid, invisible, repetitive, not very aspirational… they are usually left last on the list of priorities and that leads to cleaning marathons on weekends or obvious disorder: piles of clothes, messy objects and chaos in the home that it further distances people from these tasks.

He cleanliness It is a discipline close to mindfulness and mindful eating that allows us to reconcile ourselves with domestic chores, such as cleaning and ordering, but also with those that involve planning menus, doing laundry, ironing, caring for plants or the garden, etc.

The method is to focus on the present and practice mindfulness when doing household chores.

Although the name is new, the concept is not at all and all religious traditions praise discipline and respect in small day-to-day actions as a way to strengthen the spirit.

From the Christian “pray et labora” to the meditation while washing the dishes by the Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, the repetition of tasks and the attitude of care and excellence in everything we do, As inconsequential as it may seem, it is something positively valued and promoted.

And within the framework of our home it becomes even more important. We know the powerful influence that the environment has on our physical, emotional and mental well-being and The benefits of keeping our house clean, uncluttered and in harmony can be felt at all levels.

benefits of practicing cleanliness

External disorder stresses and prevents you from enjoying calm at home. The absence of healthy food in the pantry and in the fridge keeps you from eating healthy and quality food. The pile of dirty or wrinkled clothes does not recharge your batteries in the morning.

On the contrary, what defends the cleanliness the thing is By taking care of your home, you can achieve a better quality of life.

An orderly and well-ventilated space will bring you more peace and clarity and will provide you with more pleasant moments than chaos.

If we remove obsolete social prejudices about the home, the reality is that housework is just one more part of daily habits and a healthy lifestyle.

We can approach cleaning in the same way as dental hygiene, physical exercise or studying subjects that we like.

This is the perspective defended by Keisuke Matsumoto, Buddhist monk of Komyoji temple and author of Cleaning Manual of a Buddhist Monk (Duomo Editions). It reminds us that we live in an interdependent world and are connected to our environment, that simple everyday tasks help us find inner serenity, and that they are a form of meditation in motion.

With so much external and mental noise, spending time cleaning allows you to slow down, concentrate on a task and even relax.

10 steps to practice cleanliness at home

Although the theory is simple, surely we will not quickly go from despising or postponing the care of the home to valuing and prioritizing it. However, if we broaden our gaze, we assume it as one more healthy habit and allow ourselves to feel that meditative cleanliness, the cleanliness it will become the best therapy against stress because it clears the house and resets the mind at the same time. We give you 10 tips to achieve that change:

Establish realistic daily or weekly routines adapted to our rhythm of life. It is about planning cleaning on the agenda just as we plan the gym, hairdresser or social life. This way we will avoid procrastinating and avoid cleaning at all costs,Divide the work. If several people live at home, it is better to talk about this topic positively and divide the work according to abilities, availability and interest.Try to put the five senses. It is essential that we apply ourselves to what we do. Mindfulness is very democratic, any task deserves our conscious presence, be it laundry, finishing a report, baking a cake, or reciting poetry.Play music. If we put music to accompany us while we clean, we brighten the moment.Give up self-demand. We do not look for perfection, nor leave everything “as the jets of gold”, but we try to implement the continuous habit that our house and our life deserve that care. Little by little you will see the results.Clean without mess. Since we take the broom and the rag, let’s do it right and use natural products that do not add toxins to the air we breathe. Vinegar, baking soda, natural soap and essential oils will be your great allies.Move with joy. Lying on the couch doesn’t burn calories, but sweeping, mopping, dusting tall cabinets, putting clothes in drawers, and fluffing cushions does. Do not underestimate the domestic sportmake it easy Technology is helping us more and more at home. Whether it’s a pedal mop, a robot scrubbing floors or electric brooms, let’s choose instruments that help usreward yourself. No tea or infusion will taste better than after a day of cleanliness contemplating a job well done and enjoying that sense of pride and well-beingBe patient. Just like every seed requires time to sprout, we cannot change in a short time what takes months or years of disorder at home. Consistency will do it.