The power of home
What does home mean to you and how does it make you feel? After the past year we’ve had, the sense of sanctuary has never been more important.
This month we discuss the different facets of what the power of home could mean to us - physically, mentally and spiritually.
In the literal sense of how inviting it is. Whether there is clutter where there could be space? How can you bring more flow to a dedicated work space? Or tranquillity to create a corner to retreat in?
But we also explore our inner home and what that looks like? How we can look at our head, heart and body as rooms in our inner home that sometimes needs some cleansing to bring harmony within.
Here are some thoughts on the possibility of a fresh approach.
Our inner home
Think of your inner home as having three rooms. The doing room, the feeling room and the thinking room. It is only when each room is well cared for, will there be harmony and balance throughout the home. This is when we experience a feeling of alignment, wholeness yet spaciousness.
Let’s explore the different rooms that make up our inner home a little more:
Our head is the ‘thinking room’. It is what gives us the ability to identify objects, patterns, master language and communication, and make sense of the world. It is also the room to create quiet, spaciousness and trust.
The ‘feeling room’ is where the heart is. In it lives 40,000 neurons that are like the neurons in the brain which means that the heart has its own nervous system. It’s connected to what we value in life and how we feel. Our heart communicates with our head both through electrical signals and chemicals. This is why, a healthy heart through connecting with your needs, is necessary to be receptive, open-hearted and authentic.
Our ‘doing room’ sits in our gut and body. The space of instinct and autonomy. Here we have another 100 million nerve cells. Our gut helps to regulate hormones, metabolism and blood pressure. It processes information as we sleep. Our gut plays a big role in our emotions which is why we can sometimes notice pain, knots or tingling in our body when we feel challenged or anxious. In fact, nearly 95% of our body’s serotonin, the ‘mood stabiliser’ is found in the gut. This is the room to feel grounded and alive.
We tend to lean more in one or two of these ‘rooms’ which leads to over or under balance. So, becoming more self-aware, more present and mindful will help bring harmony through our inner home.
Our outer home, our physical home
We often hear about office design philosophy of big tech companies like Google’s campus and Apple’s spaceship. Their aim is to make office space not only aesthetically pleasing but also inspiring, fit to the type of work for productivity and even how employees flow through the space.
With this challenging past year and everyone creating home offices, we looked at what architects and wellness experts say about designing their home workspace.
Here are our 5 favourite tips…
Create boundaries
One of the most common things we hear is that all the lines are blurring between professional and personal spaces, often with professional taking over space and time. Find a way of creating different spaces which signal different activities. Or, if you don’t have much space, even punctuating an activity with something else like a swim or a walk, signals for example the end of work. And when you return you could perhaps use another part of the room for watching Netflix or reading a book.
Be a plant mom
Bring as much nature indoors as possible. Nature is a signal for most people to relax and feel calm. Not only can plants spruce up the visual beauty of a space, studies have proven that house plants improve concentration and productivity, boost moods, creativity and reduce stress. They also do the opposite of what we do when we breathe which is to release oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide so improves air quality.
Declutter to de-stress
Clutter and messiness can cause distress because cognitive research unsurprisingly shows that disorganised and busy environments compromises attention, focus and concentration. So the mere act of tidying up, putting things where they belong makes it easier to find what you are looking for, gives a stronger sense of control and thus improves the state of mind. When people go through a process of decluttering they often also feel a sense of liberation and freedom.
When we are open to noticing and being present to our inner and outer home, we can create that sense of warmth and space to feel supported.
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References:
How to Balance Your Mind, Body, and Soul During a Crisis, Psychology Today
7 Tips for Mind-Body Balance, Chopra Center
Four design rules for your home office to achieve a ‘state of flow’, Inverse.com
Why Indoor Plants Make You Feel Better, NBC News
Nasa research that plants clean air and water for indoor environments