How to be happier? Sometimes, it takes very little. For example, it might be enough to tidy up your home. Don’t believe it? Read on.
Home is the second skin that separates us from the outside world. Each room in the house can represent a specific part of our body and psyche. That’s why, if you’re looking for a way to be happier, you should first look around.
Thanks to Ikea, we met Professor Daniel Lumera, a naturalist biologist, author, and expert in well-being sciences and meditation practice. He explained that if you encounter challenges in a certain area of your life, trying to identify the corresponding space in your home and rearranging it can yield surprising results. ‘Give it a try and see the difference—it might just surprise you.’
Why (Re)Organizing Your Home Can Help Us Live Better
‘The home is probably the place where we give the most space to who we really are: a physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual space through which we separate ourselves from the outside, defining our identity simultaneously.
Making changes to your home thus has a profound impact on the psyche, transforming emotions, situations, thoughts, and behaviors. In psychology, the home is defined as an ‘environmental factor’ of mental health, capable of influencing well-being to the extent of modifying the structure and functionality of the brain,’ explained Lumera.
‘The bedroom represents hospitality, refuge, refreshment, rest; the choice of flooring is crucial because it represents roots and support. The desk is duty, the floor is play.
Think about children, who play on the floor. Probably, the floor on which they played as children will make them feel a certain way even when they grow up, based on the childhood they had,’ further explained Lumera.
It is essential, of course, to find our own order, one that represents us and where we feel the best version of ourselves.
There is no universal order valid for everyone; on the contrary, each home must reflect the personality of its inhabitants.
The Life at Home Report – IKEA’s annual research investigating people’s lives at home – revealed that 40% of those who positively judge their homes also experienced an improvement in their mental well-being.
Not only that: organizing spaces also allows us to strengthen relationships related to cohabitation and helps us express who we are in our homes.
How to (Re)Organize Your Home to Be Happier
Our relationship with our home is bilateral: just as the choice of furniture, objects, and decorations, and the organization of the home influence our mental order, our inner balance, the quality of our relationships, and the values we believe in also influence the construction of the physical environment.
To achieve our well-being, it is essential to transform our home into a place of awareness and health. Professor Lumera continues, highlighting how we gain a heightened awareness of the importance of finding our mental order, given that we live in a time of information overload, overwhelming thoughts, commitments, and possessions.
And it is precisely to maximize the benefits of organization at home that he recommends these small and easy steps:
1. Pay attention to what you bring into your mind and your home, whether they are objects, thoughts, behaviors, or information. Before ’emptying’ the mind or one’s dwelling, it is necessary to stop the flow of incoming elements, choosing what generates serenity and well-being, allowing you to lead a quality and sustainable life.
2. Let go of what is no longer needed with kindness, for example, by donating excess items to loved ones or charitable organizations operating in the area. Doing this, by reducing household clutter, allows for better focus and information processing and increased productivity.
3. Create silent spaces, even small ones, that can be regenerative for the mind, improving the quality of rest and sleep and stimulating creativity, intuition, and peace of mind.
Three simple actions capable of having a positive impact on the home and one’s inner space, with a consequent psychophysical health that allows us to live in a more serene and harmonious way.
**How to Attract Positive Energy into Your Home**
**10 Practical Tips For Switching Out Your Wardrobe**
