Cleaning as a Holistic Exercise
Posted on 13/11/2015
Keeping Your Home Clean for Daily Exercise on Mind and Body
Yes, home cleaning can sometimes be incredibly tedious. It is always there to do, there will always be gathered dust and dirt, and nothing will forever get you rid of them or the need for cleaning, unless you gain enough money to start hiring the daily services of a professional cleaner. But have you ever thought that you may be looking at it the wrong way?
House cleaning can actually be a holistic exercise. It can work both on your body and mind and it will do wonders both for your physical and mental health. It can be a procedure instead of a chore, an exercise and not a responsibility. The within and the without, and the home along with them can benefit if you use that routine in a more specialized manner.
Just consider how much time and effort you spend on oven cleaning while thinking about how much you would prefer to be doing something else. Sporty people might wonder why they are doing this instead of having a healthy spell at the gym. Well… is cleaning not a type of physical exercise? Actually, research shows that house cleaning burns calories, so for each minute of doing it you could very well be taking off your afternoon snack and more. By definition, exercise contains the idea of doing something to better something. And doing this, you are practicing, say, carpet cleaning to stay in shape. Yes, it might not give you the magical abs you have always wanted, but it will still keep you away from the state of a couch potato by which you are known in the neighbourhood.
And at the same time, instead of thinking how much of a chore this cleaning is and how much you wish you could be doing something else, you can keep the mind working at a direction that benefits you. Do you need to make holiday plans? Do you have to create a project for work? Are you an artist seeking ideas? A scientist waiting for an epiphany? It is interesting to note that all of these can be achieved while actually doing chores like home cleaning. In fact, they might just be likelier to be achieved as your mind is focused.
That is right, doing something as a routine frees your mind. When cleaning becomes an automatic process, a reflex of the body which it can do on its own, your mind gets the freedom to wander off and focus its attention on literally everything else. Arguments you need dealing with? Fights to settle? Holiday plans and schedules for family trips or duties? Or do you just need a peace of mind? You can literally turn thinking off and rest your mind while you subconsciously do the routine cleaning!
Most people consider holism as a treatment for the body and soul and think that the inactive body and mind are better healed. But if you do this right, if you make the house cleaning into a holistic exercise instead, your body and mind will be fortified and will not need any healing or treatment. Also, in a way, this will treat the way you view your responsibilities. Mopping, vacuum cleaning, oven cleaning, window washing, floor scrubbing, they are all incredibly dull activities that you have no desire to do because of the boredom they inflict upon you. But once you turn them into regular exercise routines that let your mind stray off and become focused and meditative on something else, you will not feel the time pass and you will barely feel the effort spent doing them.
It may sound suspect, but don’t shun the idea of keeping the home clean for the sake of a daily exercise for both the mind and body. This is a completely viable scenario and everybody gains from it. Consider it – what do you really have to lose?
