When some people feel overwhelmed or stressed, they may try yoga, mindfulness, or even a massage, but for others, a quick dusting of the shelves, wiping down the kitchen, or even organizing a closet is just as beneficial to their mental health. Like using a mindfulness app. For some people, the simple sight of a clean and organized home can actually help them relax and de-stress after a busy day.
Cleaning can also become a compulsion
As with most things, moderation is the key. It’s important that your enthusiasm for cleaning doesn’t become an obsession, and that your fascination with organization doesn’t turn into a crutch you rely on. Cleanliness and calmness can be relaxing and can calm our anxiety. But you can be sure that things have gone too far when countermarks or an out-of-place decoration have the opposite effect. It’s also important to consider the amount of time you spend cleaning and whether it’s having a detrimental effect on your relationships or your career. While your enthusiasm for cleaning can be the perfect distraction, something to occupy your mind when you’re facing challenges in your life, you can’t let it take over, and it shouldn’t be used to cover up problems that may require professional help. address. It’s positive to be in control of your environment, and living in a clean space has many health benefits, but if you feel compelled to control everything in your home, there’s a chance you could start to lose control of other aspects of your life.
Ways cleaning can improve one’s mental health
Cleansing helps release endorphins
You can approach cleaning as a meditative task or throw yourself into it, all elbow grease and mop dancing. Any form of exercise will lead to the release of endorphins. These endorphins further interact with receptors in your brain, changing your perception of pain and producing positive feelings in your body. Regular exercise has been shown to reduce stress, reduce anxiety and stave off depression. There’s also the sense of satisfaction you get from turning your messy home into a living space.
The good-smelling room helps in Lowering anxiety
The link between olfactory sensations and mental health is long-standing, and aromatherapy has been shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. Because your olfactory response is directly linked to the limbic system (the emotional center of our brain), smells that you associate with past experiences can trigger your memories. But more than that, certain scents can have a beneficial effect on your mind and body. A musty-smelling room probably won’t do anything for your mental health, but many cleaning products are citrus-scented, which can have an energizing effect and give you a much-needed boost.
Space sharing with others helps in building good relationships with them
If you share your living space with others, there is always the possibility that you are not on the same page when it comes to order and cleanliness. Dirty dishes in the sink and hair in the bathtub can cause resentment and be a source of bad feelings that are likely to affect your mental well-being. Try to agree to share responsibility for household chores. Cooperation and compromise can be good for mental well-being—as can living in a clean, uncluttered home without arguments about who buried the remote control under a pile of dirty clothes.
Cleaning helps in better sleeping
The National Sleep Foundation conducted a study that found that people who make their beds every morning are 19% more likely to get a good night’s sleep. 75% percent said they sleep better when their sheets are freshly laundered and their pillows are fluffy because they feel more comfortable. It’s also true that if your mental well-being has been boosted by a general improvement in your home environment, this will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the quality of your sleep.
Keeps us physically fit
Last but not least cleaning our space requires physical labor and hence it helps us to get our body moving and helps in maintaining our physical health at the same time the tips of our fingers are being stimulated by the physical labor we are doing that stimulates the dendrites of the neurons that are attached at the tip of our fingers this, on the other, hand stimulates the body and helps in maintaining the physical and mental well being.
Conclusion
If decluttering and decluttering help relieve your stress, reduce anxiety, and lift your spirits, then by all means grab your cleaning tools and get started. Clutter or clutter at home can be distracting. Just make sure your cleaning habits aren’t crutches. You don’t want to rely solely on housekeeping to bring order and predictability to your life. There are times when things don’t go as planned and you won’t be able to clean up. So, you need to have other tools in your arsenal to de-stress and relax.
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