Do you know that a simple cleaning up can help you with your overwhelm??
“Sounds too good to be true” – you might say.
But believe me, when I say, it does work wonders.
HEAR ME OUT
After 2+ years of very stressful lockdown, we all thought we might get some time to relax, and get back to our normal lives again…
But then, comes the war in Europe affecting the whole world because of tensions between people and countries standing on different sides in the conflict, and also causing a lot of problems including world food shortage, and continuous price increases.
To top those things off, hearing all about the negative news happening in our world… mass shootings, monkeypox spreading, climate crisis, etc…
ALL of which can be very stressful and overwhelming – you just want them all away.
WHAT YOU’RE FAILING TO NOTICE…
What most of us fail to notice is that we tend to cope “without” doing anything. But it ain’t true – that we’re not doing anything.
We are…
CLEANING.
STRESS CLEANING, TO BE EXACT
For some reason, when we’re stressed, we notice all the mess and start cleaning them up, and the entire process of cleaning the messes up plus seeing them actually cleaned up – is therapeutic.
Be it cleaning off your kitchen, your bathrooms, your closets, or just simply organizing things – they do count in making us feel better.
Even if you start small such as focusing on your work desk, or go big and remodel your entire garden – they all matter.
And all that is no coincidence.
THAT IS HOW OUR BRAINS WORK
Our brains, so to speak, love to be in control! And when we clean and sort things out, we are in control.
The actual physical action of doing the cleaning eats up the stress hormones.
OUR STRESS HORMONES
These hormones, mainly adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol, are released in stress as a way for you to use your core stress management tools fight or flight.
Remember – these are the tools you got 200,000 years ago that are still your body’s first choice weapon against stress.
To get the hormones out of our system, we need to be physically active – which we also achieve by cleaning.
So this simple cleaning act – in our own close environment – when we are stressed serves as our response to the basic biological stress system and replaces the fight or flight.
IT DOES NOT END WITH CLEANING
The cool fact is that this mechanism does not only work for cleaning your home.
It is a long-known fact that doing the dishes is a very powerful de-stress activity and works as mindfulness, and the best part is – it’s something you can use in your everyday life.
HOW THESE THINGS REDUCE STRESS
When you start to get disorganized, shaky or feel dizzy from overwhelming – go to the kitchen and clean up – do the dishes, and think of each thing you clean or put away – “this is my favorite cup, look how it shines when I clean it”.
That will help your brain to rest a moment from what stressed you out, to begin with, and you will come up with better solutions.
Aside from that, getting rid of the excess stuff has the ability to put our minds in a calmer state, just as how a cleaner surrounding can make us feel at ease and relaxed.
OTHER THINGS YOU CAN DO
Science is fantastic because it has also shown that stitching and other textile work is a good method for mindfulness.
And I can certainly say that myself. I have been doing textile work for as long as I can remember.
I learned to crochet and stitch at an early age.
I sewed all my clothes during my teens.
I learned to weave in 9th grade in high school – and I was hooked.
Later in my 20-ties, I learned to weave professionally. I have 1 and a half of your education in hand weaving.
It always puts me in such a calm state sitting behind the loom and seeing the cloth, the rug, and the blanket grow in front of my eyes
CALM PROTECTS US
When we get in that calmer state and feel we have some control over our own life and situation it is so much easier to cope with all those dangers out there. We can look closer at the dangers without being afraid of them, we can think better of solutions.
We can see if there is anything we need to do – or if it just is a question of accepting.
MY FAIR SHARE
It was not until a couple of years ago that I realized that I had been working with meditation and mindfulness all my life – with my textile work. It has always been there, even just mending a rift or sewing on a new button when one fell off has felt good for me.
I have found it hard to do meditation, sit with my eyes closed, and so on. I can use what I call a mini-meditation to calm down in the moment of a stressful situation, or to relax when sitting on the train, and so on – but not as a time to just sit for longer.
And now I have realized that my textile work has worked just the same – that has been my lifelong meditation and mindfulness and it has helped me immensely in periods of great stress. Like in that time I mentioned earlier when I lost 2 dear people within one week just as I was starting my medical career. I was very productive during that time – and now I know why and can see how much it has helped.
MORE IDEAS
When you do get back in the calm mode you can maybe think of things or actions that could calm your mind a bit.
There is this saying: “Nobody can do everything but everybody can do something”
Thoughts:
Garage sale for things you cleaned out now – send the money to Ukraine???
Buy ecological food
Don’t buy things with too much packaging material
Grow your own vegetables if possible
Walk or bike instead of taking the car
Eat less meat, especially red meat
This list can be endless when you figure out what you want
Remember – any step in the right direction is a step in the right direction – so keep taking steps – even if they are small
And this will be so good for your feeling of stress and overwhelm – or anxiety or depression.
THERE’S ANOTHER WAY
Maybe you don’t feel like cleaning or moving as you just feel like staying in one corner to reflect, or even read.
Feel free to access my e-book guide on things you can explore more to easily destress at any moment.
To your stress-less life,
.
