People are more aware than ever of their own wellness. While practices like mindfulness and meditation aren’t replacements for clinical supports, they can complement and help build towards a better-balanced lifestyle.
Finding space for mindfulness can be a challenge. Truly, any space around your home or community can help facilitate the calm and relaxing we need to better handle our stress and live with a better emotional state.
When we look for a quiet space to decompress, we might consider a basement or storage room. These are typically the least occupied spaces in a home. But clutter can possibly leave you more frazzled. A cluttered space leads to a cluttered mind!
It’s true what they say: out of sight, out of mind. The space you choose should be free of clutter. Clutter can invade your mind, making mindfulness and meditation nearly impossible. If you choose a basement or storage space and you can’t move the clutter out, try different creative storage solutions to keep the clutter away.
The stereotype of a Zen space tends to look a lot like a massage studio. While a lot of physical objects don’t do much to help relieve stress, the banzai tree is one stereotype rooted in wellness science.
Bringing calm isn’t exclusive to banzai trees – any plant life in your space can bring that same calm. Caring for plants often helps people clear their minds and find Zen, but there are other health benefits to having plants. They purify the air, add life to the space, and can help you focus and decompress.
The best lighting for a Zen space is natural light. Artificial light, especially blue light from mobile devices, can affect our emotional state, making mindfulness and Zen difficult. You’re best finding a space with large windows to let in as much natural light as possible.
If the space you choose doesn’t have windows, then soft lighting is what typically works best. Soft light helps to reduce strain on the eyes, leading to better bodily relaxation.
Concepts around the Danish hygge lifestyle has a lot in common with mindfulness. Relaxing, letting stress melt away, and finding calm tend to be universal ideas. Combining hygge aesthetics with Zen concepts can help make for the perfect escape in your home.
Pillows and blankets bring a lot of comfort to a space. They remind us of what’s usually our most relaxing space: our beds. Warm comfort and coziness help with stress relief and calming your mind.
As a generalization, your Zen space should smell pleasant. Candles and diffusers are the usual go-to for comforting and stress relieving scents. A lot of people find great value in using essential oils.
If you don’t like candles or diffusers, there are other ways to make your space smell great. Plants, especially flowering plants, can be a great help. You can also find other natural methods, even filling a mason jar with your favourite natural scents for a homemade diffuser.
Did you know there’s a walking meditation practice called Kinhin? This involves walking in a clockwise circle, taking a step after a breath. While walking like a monk might be valuable to some, any sort of walking can bring different health benefits.
Studies show how walking in nature and being close to large bodies of water can help with stress relief and clearer thinking. Our communities are always built with paths, green spaces, and even water features like nautilus ponds – not to mention the trails along our river!
We want to hear about your Zen space! What do you find most valuable in your space for quiet and calm? Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and let’s keep this conversation going!