Personal Care July 5, 2018
A house in shambles is a mind muddled.
With the ubiquitous mantra that yoga and meditation are key to living a happy, healthy life, it’s quite possible to remain hyper-focused on our bodies—and that’s not always a good thing.
While this is a great step towards wellness and self-love it’s important to remain conscious of the objects we surround ourselves with, because they play a key role in our ability to remain a positive force in the world. Consumerism leads to an intimate relationship with stuff and a desire to always want more, but this often manifests into external clutter—and ultimately a messy mind.
In reality, decluttering is key to self-love. We cannot love ourselves if we come home to a house in disarray (no matter how much yoga we do).
Here are ENTITY’s top reasons for why decluttering is the key to self-love.
According to a study by the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute, the brain’s ability to process information is inhibited when it is competing with other stimuli. In other words, whenever your brain scans an area it has to process everything—and with a million different things vying for your attention, focusing on a specific task can be difficult.
By decluttering your life you can effectively focus on the important tasks in front of you without getting distracted.
Have you ever kicked off your shoes, crawled into bed and cozied up to your pillow with a basket full of laundry next to you? What about a messy closet? I’m guessing it wasn’t easy to fall asleep. You could throw a towel over the basket or close the closet door, but that’s not a long-term solution.
In contrast, if you’ve ever wondered why you can fall asleep so easily in a hotel it’s because the room is completely zen. In fact, research published by Oxford University Press has shown a strong correlation between a clean room and sleep quality.
The goal is to make your room as orderly as possible so your brain doesn’t have to process a bunch of objects before going to bed.
This may seem obvious, but we often hold on to items because they remind us of a particular time in our life that we don’t want to forget. We think the object represents the past and is the only way we can remember it.
Although there are items you should keep because of their deep sentimental value, you probably don’t need that old movie ticket you’ve had since high school. Decluttering is a recognition that objects are not your past, and letting go means you can move on while still keeping the memory.
It’s not always easy to find time for ourselves, and when we do we probably don’t want to spend it cleaning.
That’s why it’s important to start small. Organize the most important rooms first and work your way through the house. Even 15 minutes of decluttering can be beneficial to your health.
By decluttering your house, your mind will feel free and you can focus on the important things in life (like yourself).
