Making Housework Your Meditation

Making housework your meditation is the act of maintaining awareness of the present moment without your mind jumping from one thing to the next. This can be difficult as your concentration can be pulled in different directions in the course of five minutes. Thoughts of the past or the future keep popping into your mind. Practicing mindfulness asks you to notice each time this happens and to gently call yourself back into the present.

Learning to become mindful can reduce stress, boost the immune system, increase empathy and improve memory and attention, among other benefits.

HOUSEWORK AND MEDITATION

Mindful Meditation While Doing Your chores

If you haven’t been able to find the time to practice mindfulness, use the tasks you already perform as a type of informal meditation. Rather than rushing your chores to get them out of the way, take your time and only concentrate on the task at hand, one at a time.

Chores That Can Help You to Practice Appreciating the Present Moment

* Wiping down the bench top or stove

You regularly wipe down your kitchen. Set your intention to create a clean, clear space. Bring your attention to the present. Watch the way the light falls across the bench top. See the transformation from a dirty bench top to a clean and clear one. Watch how your stove transforms from dirty to sparkling clean.

Stand back and look at how amazing your kitchen looks and how you feel.

* While Making Your Bed

A small positive way to start the day is to enjoy the process of making your bed as soon as you get up in the morning. You will be more likely to fit in a workout, enjoy your coffee and feel good knowing that whatever else happens during the day, you have spent a few moments staying present in the moment.

Don’t rush making your bed. Enjoy the colours and the textures of your sheets and doona. What sounds can you hear around you? Enjoy the simple pleasure of doing the job well.

MINDFULNESS MAKING YOUR BED

3. Washing the dishes

In the book The Miracle of Mindfulness, spiritual leader and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh writes, “If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not ‘washing the dishes to wash the dishes.’ … While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands.” Try washing the dishes to wash the dishes – then maybe you will be inspired to drink your tea to drink your tea.

* Sweeping, Mopping and Dusting

Enjoy the silence of sweeping over noisy vacuuming. Sweeping, mopping and dusting are tasks that take longer to do, so you can enjoy longer periods of calm awareness. Choose cleaning products that are economic and have a smell that you love. For example, Lavender or Lemon.

* Loving Your Plants

Feeling upset? Go into the backyard and hand water your garden.

Plants love your attention. Mindfulness with plants can also be done indoors. Water and tend to them with love.

* Hanging Out Your Clothes to Dry

Notice the breeze gently ruffling your clothes. Smell the freshness of your laundry detergent on your cloths. Listen to the sound the pegs make as you clip your clothes onto the line.

* Folding the Laundry

Find somewhere comfortable to fold your laundry. Feel the satisfaction of turning the tangled clothes into a neat pile. This is a great chore for a meditative activity. Inhale in the scent of fresh linen. Feel the texture of fabrics in your hands.

Mindful Cleaning Steps

* Relax any tension in your body before you beginning

* When you lose concentration, simply notice the thoughts arising and return you attention to your task

* Pay attention to the feeling of warm, soapy water, the texture of your bench top, the sounds coming in from outside, the smells around you.

* Play your favourite tunes while cleaning

* Relax and enjoy every moment

* When you have completed your tasks, sit down and relax. Notice the feeling of content and forgetting the world around you, your to-do-list and anything that was bothering you. Feel proud of what you have achieved.

Bringing A Little Sparkle Into Your Life and Your Home to Create Balance and Harmony

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