No matter who you are, where you live or what you do, there’s a good chance that you experience stress fairly regularly. Stress is an inevitable part of life for everyone from busy high-powered executives to busy stay at home hums. And in small enough doses, stress can even be good for us. It can prevent us from lapsing into apathy and shake us out of our comfort zone. It can sharpen our instincts, help us to focus and push us to accomplish things that we might never have thought ourselves capable of. Over time, however, stress can become chronic. And when that happens it can have a seriously detrimental effect on our mental and physical health. In some cases, it can even significantly lower our life expectancy.
If there’s one place where we shouldn’t experience stress, it’s the home. Your home should be your refuge. Your own little fortress where you can live by your own sense of ethics and style to feel completely relaxed and at peace with yourself. So if you start to feel stress encroaching on your living space, here are some ways to give it the boot!
Find a safe spot to practice mindfulness meditation
Do you ever feel like life is moving at such a breakneck pace that it’s passing you by? You need to take a few minutes to centre yourself and get out of your own head (and get your head out of some screens for a few minutes). Mindfulness meditation is a great way to do that. Find a safe and comfortable spot where you can spend some time focusing only on your breathing. It’s a great way to relax the body and de-clutter the mind. Speaking of which…
Clear away clutter
It’s virtually impossible to have a tidy and ordered mind in a cluttered home. Clutter is visually distracting and elevates our stress levels even when we’re in our favourite parts of the home. Unless you tidy it away, it can take a serious toll on your mental health.
Give every room the gift of music
Music can be an extremely potent weapon in the battle against stress, whether you’re practicing your deep breathing with some classical or bopping around the home to the pop hits of your youth. DAB radios are an excellent investment to give you great sound and portability at an excellent price.
Aroma round the home
Aromatherapy is a great way of helping to relieve stress and helping you to feel more relaxed and at peace in your home. But avoid those harsh chemical plug-in deodorisers. Instead, place a diffuser filled with essential oils in each room. Think concentration-sharpening mint for home offices, fresh citrus for the kitchen, warm sandalwood for the living room and soothing jasmine or lavender for the bedroom.
Find peace with plants
Finally, houseplants help to oxyenate your living space and lend your home a sense of calm and serenity that comes from exposure to the natural world. Not to mention further beautifying your home and lending it a dash of colour. So make sure that every room in the home contains at least one or two.
