In a time where ‘well-being routine’ is a bit of a buzz-phrase, it can feel like everyone around us has a mindfulness app, detox regime or incense collection. Whilst, of course, all these things are great, they don’t fit into everyone’s lifestyle and can cause overwhelm for those who set out to achieve a fancy well-being routine, to no avail.
We’re here to remind you that a well-being routine doesn’t have to be complicated and mindfulness can be practised in our everyday lives. To get you started, we’re listing four mindful chores to add to your well-being routine. Chances are, you’re already doing these things anyway, but understanding how you can utilise them to maximise mindfulness will help you see them in a whole new light.
Mindful chores to add to your well-being routine
Cooking
Some love it, some hate it, but we all have to do it because we gotta’ eat! Cooking is one of the most perfect daily tasks to practise mindfulness because it requires us to use all five of our senses. It also requires us to focus on what we’re doing in that moment, especially when it comes to using knives and timing things in the oven. All in all, it’s a great time to focus on the task at hand and little else.
When you’re mindfully cooking, it’s important to remove distractions, so leave your phone in another room and resist popping on a podcast or YouTube video, whilst you cook. Instead, practise mindfulness by focusing your attention on how the ingredients feel in your hand, how the knife sounds as it hits the chopping board, how that simmering stew smells, how the curry tastes as you dip a spoon into the pot and along the way, notice the colours you’re creating.
If your mind starts to wander to how hungry you are, or what you’re going to have for dessert, notice this and patiently bring it back to what your senses are experiencing. If you need some help, Headspace has a free mindful cooking meditation to help get you on the right track.
Laundry
When it comes to exploring mindful chores to add to your well-being routine, doing laundry, at first glance, doesn’t feel like the most obvious. However, the post-wash routine of folding, hanging and putting away clothing can be an incredibly meditative experience.
Let’s start with the scent. The smell of freshly washed laundry is hard to beat – but have you really stopped to appreciate it? Grab an item of freshly washed clothing and hold it to your nose, notice the scent of your detergent and how the fabric feels against your face.
Next, focus on how you’re hanging your washing out to dry. If it’s going onto a clotheshorse or washing line, take time to line the clothes up neatly, hang matching socks together and reject the temptation to rush through this task to get it over with.
When it’s time to put the washing away, don’t just stuff the clothes into drawers and wardrobes mindlessly. Enjoy the art of creating clean folds and place items neatly in your drawers. Make sure that each item is hung properly on every hanger and place them carefully in the wardrobe, so as to not cause creases.
Whilst doing these laundry rituals, focus only on what you’re doing at that moment and when your mind inevitably starts to wander, just bring it back to the task at hand, without judgement.
Cleaning
A well-being routine doesn’t have to be all calming meditation and journaling. Believe it or not, scrubbing, sweeping and wiping can all be a part of the routine too, when you do it mindfully. The best way to clean mindfully is to limit distractions and focus only on the act of cleaning. It also helps to equip yourself with the cleaning products that are going to help create a mindful experience overall.
hygëia sprays are so much more than cleaning sprays. They’re designed to be a transformative part of a well-being routine and seamlessly fit into a lifestyle which has focus on well-being. Each spray’s unique aromatic scent carries aromatherapeutic properties, which can help boost your energy levels and provide a treat for your senses – so cleaning becomes an experience to enjoy, rather than a chore.
You’ll also be able to relax into your cleaning, knowing that hygëia sprays only contain natural ingredients, like plants and essential oils. This means that you won’t be filling your home with nasty chemicals, so you can practising deep, mindful breathing, without worrying about nasty toxins.
Organising and decluttering
Clutter, mess and a home full of lots of stuff, creates an atmosphere of chaos. How can you expect to feel cool, calm and collected when you can’t remember where anything is and every surface, drawer and cupboard is in disarray? The process of organising and decluttering isn’t always a mindful chore in itself, because it requires a lot of decisions, thinking and movement, but the result helps create the perfect setting for future mindfulness practices.
Instead of experiencing that stress knot in yout stomach, whenever you enter a disorganised room, you’ll feel a calm awareness of the tranquility of the space around you. Organising and decluttering will allow you feel new-found gratitude for your surroundings and the space will feel lighter. The result is that you’ll find more inspiration to practice traditional mindful activities, such as meditation, or yoga, if you so choose.
Hopefully, you now feel more equipped to find mindfulness in your everyday life and can indentify a few mindful chores to add to your well-being routine. The key thing to remember is that, If we slow down a little and resist the urge to rush through our days, we can turn even our most hated chores into a mindful experience.
