It is quite possible that some of you actually dread going home. I’m not talking because you know you have to clean the kitchen from last nights DIY-GF-DF-organic-sprouted pizza-making bonanza, no not that. But you may just feel dread by opening the door and visiting ground hog day routines of ‘oh, is it holiday time yet?’. It could very well be that the reason you feel so blah at the end of the day when you should be happy, is that your home is making you a little bit depressed.
The consequences of living in a space that you do not love and does not nurture you are more complicated than you think. These are some reasons you might be glugging wine instead of pursuing your meditation and yoga goals.
1. Is Your Home Too Dark?
Natural light is very important to our bodies even when we are indoors. Ever feel caged-in or suffocated? You might need to open those curtains. The first step is to assess whether you can remove or change your window dressings. Is there a lighter more translucent sheer curtain option? Always! Can you raise your curtains higher than the window itself or extend them past the ends (so that the curtains rest off the face of the window and don’t block light)? You better believe it! This is probably the easiest DIY to do at Bunnings or Spotlight. Thinking about brand new curtains or blinds? I recommend Blinds Online for their huge range and brilliant pricing.
If you have just too much area and not enough filtered light, explore sunlights or ambient lamps. Sunlights come in many forms and are not as expensive as you think and are easily fitted.
2. Is Your Home Too Cluttered?
There is a very good reason the minimalist movement made an impact all those years ago and is still making headlines today. The essential idea behind minimalism or having an uncluttered home is because it un-clutters an already overwhelmed mind. When your brain has a lot of objects to look at, your eyes constantly scan and move with the walls and objects around you. Having been so busy away from home, coming back to a home full of mess, disorganisation and unfinished jobs, can disrupt your family time, your ability to wind down and eventually, your ability to have a refreshingly-full deep sleep.
When everything has a place and is not piled up or behind something else, objects are easier to find and things are seldom lost. The, “OMG where are my keys”, doesn’t happen. Questions like, Where is my favourite drink bottle?…Where are my running shoes?…Where are my rubber-footed toeless rainbow yoga socks?… Just won’t cause you 20 minutes of frantic running around anymore. How could this change your mood if you donated some old clothes, sold the hand-me-down gold pineapples, and un-cluttered the shelf of all the heartbreakingly bad Christmas gifts?
…I have witnessed profound changes in the very fabric of their lives. Not only is the clutter banished, and a less-stressed and richer life achieved, but there is also a ripple effect that I don’t think anyone foresees.
Peter Walsh, 2009. (Book) Enough Already!: Clearing Mental Clutter to Become the Best You.
3. Does Your Home Welcome You Back?
A terribly arrogant executive once told me a very valid story. He was a very angry man and he realised he took his work home with him and within 10 minutes of arriving home, he was yelling at his kids and wife. Although he didn’t realise that maybe he should see a psychologist for for his aggressive nature, he did come to the conclusion that if he created a ‘ritual’ of winding down from work, he could be happier when he returned home. As he took to the steps from his Mercedes to his mansion (yes he pointed this out), he counted down from 10 and simultaneously debriefed from work and re-established himself as a doting husband and happy father. He sequenced each stage of letting go from work with key actions.
- Closing the car door (leaving work behind)
- Walking the steps to his front door (closing out work related things from his mind)
- Turning his work phone off (not allowing work to bother him)
- Opening the front door and and placing the phone and car keys down on a bench (time to be me)
- Hanging his jacket up and kicking off his shoes (this is my time to relax)
- Glancing at a happy picture of him and his beautiful family on holiday (daddy’s home)
Did it work? It sure did. He created a new ‘welcome home’ ritual with a place for everything and with things to remind him of…himself, his true self. A family man, a romantic husband, and a scruffy-horsey called Star to his children.
Now you may or may not have the same issues. But you may dread going home or even just opening up the door for no particular reason at all except, you HATE your home! It’s all blah, in colours your don’t love and it’s just…not…you. It’s dark, it’s cold, and there are too many ‘once-on-trend’ gold pineapples that makes your look like you’re going into business as a children’s pineapple party planner. But can it be fixed? Easily, cheaply, quickly?
4. How To Create A ‘Welcome Home’ Ritual Like A True Concierge
You know when you stay at a hotel and you open the door there is a consortium of things to announce your arrival such as the concierge booklet, le menu, a pencil and pad of paper, clean towels and soaps, pillow mints, good smells, chocolates/flowers? Oh, don’t forget the actual ‘Welcome To Our Hotel’ from the gorgeous smiling receptionist. You can certainly bring that home (not the receptionist…well, hey, let’s not judge). This is exactly what could be missing from your home. There is no-one to welcome you home. You home does not even welcome you home. It says, ‘You haven’t done the washing, you are tired and bored, and the cat shat in the corner again.”
How can we turn this around? By reminding you of YOU again. You spend all day being of service to other people in someone else’s place and you’ve been waiting all day to come home and be…you. So what do you want in your welcome home ritual? A bar cart so you can shed those blues about Janet and her frickin employee productivity spreadsheets? Maybe a dart board, with Janet as the target so you can always have the last laugh at the end of the day? A bag packed with your gym gear or just a space to shed the day for a minute or two.
Your ‘Welcome Home’ Ritual May NEED
- A place to put your coat/bag/keys/phone/wallet/shoes
- Something to remind you of your last holiday/best holiday/favourite place/person or favourite art
- A ritual like lighting a candle or switching on the doterra
- Choosing from a selection of tea/chocolate/fruit/whisky
- Hearing some awesome sounds like your favourite home-time JAM (Click here for my PLAYLIST! Tell me what I should add!)
The key is to change your mental state. If you’ve been concentrating hard at work, play something stupidly funny and just bust a move as you kick off your shoes. (note: after you close the door of course). If you have been physically active, burn some peppermint oil and choose from a bowl of bath bombs. If you need to relax, have a place for your yoga mat
Need More Than Inspiration?
Check out my online package deals for interior decoration and ask me for a ‘Welcome Kit’.