Optimise your living space for personal wellness

The places where we spend the most time ought to be the ones which accommodate and enforce our happiness, comfort and allow us to truly be ourselves. Home should be a sanctuary that provides spaces for all the necessary parts of our personality and life. In order to ensure this, the following advice outlines areas within the home that can be created to optimise our living space.

Create spaces within your living space

My Space

You may assume that all the places in the house that you utilise are your own spaces, however a separate zone that is just yours, to wind down, to relax, meditate and undo all the stresses of the day (or to prepare yourself for them), is far more effective. An actual area dedicated to this particular part of you and your day will naturally mentally prepare you for what you are attempting to achieve by going there. If the wind-down zone is allocated for that and only that, then this is what this area will become; the place where you decompress and recharge your inner self. The space should be focussed on you and your needs and so add touches like a favourite cushion, blanket, chair, and your favourite scented candles or room diffusers that add to your relaxation and peace. This needn’t be an entire room of the house as many of us don’t just have a spare room lying around for us to renovate into a separate happy living space! It can be an area within another room, just as long as the boundaries are set in place and it is common knowledge that the space has a specific purpose that must not be compromised.

Head Space

As well as having a place to breathe and unwind we also need a place to think. Thinking requires no interruptions and a tranquil, distraction-free zone in which to do so. Again, this need not be an entire room but a quiet part of the house where you can allocate a section to your mind. This must be separate to your other spaces as it needs to subconsciously feel like the place where you have the ability to think clearly. Here is the place where you will conjure up ideas and nurture them, this is where you’ll start a concept and watch it grow into a real life working plan. Here you will need to find comfort but not too much so you feel like laying down and chilling out, you want to be on form and on your best game. So a comfortable but upright chair or place to sit with a straight back is best. A table to jot down notes, and to rest your favourite coffee cup. Select room diffusers or scented candles that energise and encourage brain power, such as citrus and mint, to help inspire the atmosphere of the space.

Do Space

You’ve got a place to think, a place to unwind, now this is your place to “do”. This is where the magic happens. You have your ideas and what you’re aiming for but where are you going to put these ideas into action? This is effectively a workspace, so if you’re a brain surgeon or a builder this may not apply, but if you’re a pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, or perhaps a musician or architect, this is your living space to create. It will need to be an airy, light space, again not necessarily an entire room, but if possible this would be the one to dedicate a spare room to – perhaps an outside added space such as a work shed or converted garage for example. Here you have to keep things organised, no clutter as this is detrimental to the flow. You need the supplies which relate to your occupation, some attractive personal pieces that inspire you, plants, and comfortable furniture, and whatever works to encourage you to be productive.

Self-love Space

This is not, contrary to how it might initially sound, the same thing as your unwinding space. Self-love is when you’re taking time out completely to do the things which make you feel good, better, de-stressed, happy, peaceful, nurtured. This is where you keep your favourite books or kindle, your sudoku or crosswords, your foot massager, maybe even some of your cosmetic pampering tools, and they are not all in the same space. You need to dedicate small spaces in each area of your home (not the three listed above) where you keep all the necessary things for self-love. In the bathroom you need everything for your daily hygiene routine and those which are also not daily. In the bedroom you need a place for that which helps you to sleep, your eye mask, your ear plugs, your scented candles, your favourite book or meditation music; all set up so that when they’re relevant, they are to hand. This isn’t a trivial topic, taking care of the self in a nurturing way is something so many of us put as a low priority however it ought to be paramount to our very existence. When we take care of all the parts of us that when cared for make us feel whole and happy, then we can live better, more productive and peaceful lives. Instead of focussing on the struggle that we battle against in order to succeed, this is the way we focus on nurturing that very being in order to make it strong enough to win the fight. Successful people, and I don’t just mean in business or putting a monetary value to life, but more those who are living a full, happy, nourishing and peaceful existence, those who are at one with themselves and their surroundings, all do so with minimal stress and anxiety. We are capable of creating this within our own lives and making the best of everything we have. It is all there, let’s just get into the habit of making it happen by design.