Creating Calm at Home With Michael James Wong
Five tips to achieving complete calm right at home.
Meditation and everyday wellness expert Michael James Wong reveals his five tips to creating a calming environment at home
Many of us are right now staying home for the foreseeable future and so it’s not only important, but essential to create the space to feel at ease. Our homes aren't just the place we rest and recharge, during this time, they also act as our office, gym, nursery, school... the list goes on, therefore it’s important to ensure that you’re proactively creating calm and carving out some areas of the home that are dedicated to peace and quiet.
No Tech Areas
During lockdown we're spending more time online than usual, but for our own mind and mental health it’s essential to have some allocated ‘No-Tech’ areas within the home. This will not only help create some boundaries but it'll also allow for some dedicated space away from the overt stimulus of internet and TV.
Find A Quiet Corner
Create or find an area in the house that is your ‘quiet corner’, a place where you can regularly sit and spend time doing things that you enjoy. It doesn’t need to be fancy or grand, it can simply be a nice chair or cushion on the floor, maybe even facing the sun, where you can sit down and read, meditate, have a tea, paint, work on a puzzle or take a nap. By establishing your space, this helps to signify to the body and brain that it’s time to be at ease and take a moment to just breathe.
No Work in the Bedroom
Don’t bring your day job into your sanctuary. For most of us, the bedroom is a sacred space, one that embodies our opportunity to rest and recharge. Leave your office and work somewhere else in the house and ensure that when you step into the bedroom you have the space to feel at home.
Add Colour, Add Life
Allow yourself to be inspired to add colour and plant life into your home. The addition of plants and vibrant colours can elevate the mood and create a sense of joy in our sensibilities. If you already have a lot of greenery in the house, try to move them around and make an indoor green area, then spend some time taking in the sights and smells.
Stand Up, Sit Down
Spend significant time in your day standing up in order to keep the body active and moving, build a taller desk, have conversations on the phone or zoom meetings in the upright position and walk up and down stairs just for the sake of it. Not only will this keep the body moving, it’ll also allow you to appreciate sitting down later in the day. Small changes like this can keep the body healthy and create the opportunity for the mind to feel a sense of joy in the simple things, like taking a moment sitting in your favourite armchair.
Follow Michael, founder of Just Breathe
