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Amid spring cleaning season, it can be easy to dismiss housework as drudgery, so dreaded or anxiety-inducing that it’s best delegated to others if at all possible.<\/p>\n
But experts from Zen<\/a> monks to psychologists say there are mental health benefits to be found in such manual chores as sweeping, mopping and clearing away clutter. These tasks can encourage mindfulness or permit the mind to wander, all while producing a concrete sense of achievement in accomplishing the basic tasks of daily life.<\/p>\n As one famous Zen saying goes: <\/p>\n \u201cBefore enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.\u201d<\/p>\n What the monks know <\/p>\n Zen apprentices, or \u201cunsui\u201d monks, spend much of their time cleaning and tidying.<\/p>\n \u201cWe sweep dust to remove worldly desires. We scrub dirt to free ourselves of attachments,” Shoukei Matsumoto, a Buddhist monk living in Kyoto<\/a>, Japan<\/a>, wrote in his book \u201cA Monk\u2019s Guide to a Clean House and a Clean Mind.\u201d \u201cThe time we spend carefully cleaning out every nook and cranny of the temple grounds is extremely fulfilling.\u201d<\/p>\n Holly Schiff, a clinical psychologist based in Greenwich<\/a>, Connecticut<\/a>, confirms that the process of cleaning can be calming and almost meditative.<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely think there is a link between mental health and the act of cleaning,” she said.<\/p>\n \u201cRepetitive, physical activities like cleaning can be regulating for the nervous system because they\u2019re predictable, structured and give a clear sense of completion,\u201d she says. That gives people a feeling of control and grounding.<\/p>\n Plus, you can immediately see the result of what you’ve done, “which can be satisfying in a way that many cognitive or emotional tasks aren\u2019t,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n For those who dread cleaning and find it daunting, it can help to focus on the process rather than on a to-do list.<\/p>\n Some tips for a more mindful approach to cleaning:<\/p>\n Slow down and change your focus <\/p>\n \u201cFor people who tend to see cleaning as drudgery, I think the shift is less about forcing yourself to enjoy it and more about changing how you engage with it,\u201d says Schiff. <\/p>\n Don’t try to rush through it. Pay attention to the physical movement or its rhythm, or to things like the temperature of the water.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you slow it down and focus on the sensory aspects of it, it can start to function more like a mindfulness exercise,” Schiff says.<\/p>\n Let your mind rest <\/p>\n For some, cleaning can provide an opportunity to free your mind. <\/p>\n \u201cBy gently tending to your habitat, you allow your mind to naturally settle into a peaceful, unforced clarity,\u201d says Matsumoto.<\/p>\n Expand your perspective <\/p>\n Matsumoto says cleaning is a way of caring for yourself and the world.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our practice, we don\u2019t see cleaning as a chore to control the environment. Instead, we view it as \u2018Habitat Care,\u2019\u201d he explains. \u201cJust as our bodies maintain a dynamic equilibrium to stay healthy, cleaning is an extension of that biological process into the space we inhabit. When we clean, we are not just fixing a room; we are tending to our expanded self. It is a way of caring for the relationship between us and the world.”<\/p>\n Let go of perfection <\/p>\n Rather than needing a perfect result, says Matsumoto, try to embrace incompletion without being anxious.<\/p>\n \u201cPeace is found not in the final \u2018tidy state,\u2019” he says, “but in the humble, ongoing act of emptying the space and our minds.\u201d<\/p>\n There’s no such thing as perfection.<\/p>\n \u201cIn nature, everything is constantly changing \u2014 leaves fall the moment you finish sweeping,” he says. <\/p>\n Narrow the scope of the task <\/p>\n Sometimes, the feeling of being overwhelmed isn’t about the task itself, but what it represents. That could be time pressure, self-judgment or other anxieties, for instance, says Schiff.<\/p>\n “Break the task down into very small, defined actions to reduce that barrier,\u201d she suggests. \u201cJust choose one surface, one task or one room for starters.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the overwhelm comes from anticipating the entire task rather than just engaging with that first step,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Cleaning as sharing the love <\/p>\n \u201cIn a clean space, even if the person who cleaned it is not there, we can feel their consideration and awareness,\u201d says Matsumoto. \u201cThis awareness creates a sense of peace and safety, similar to why sacred spaces like temples feel different from the busy streets.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,46,522,523],"class_list":["post-452718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}