Heaven scent interior spaces
Switch up the atmosphere in your home and reap the clean energy benefits, writes Anabela Rea. Get your clean on Cut back
Autumn is an ideal time to create a clean and inviting home environment. While the design and furnishings are the aesthetic part of your domain, the scent, the light, and that certain ‘‘je ne sais quoi’’ are what creates atmosphere and really contributes to the soul of your home.
Beyond needs of utility, our homes should be places of safety, relaxation and happiness. So if beyond explanation, you feel down in the dumps or very tired every time you step in the door, it might be worth giving your place an energetic makeover.
Karen Reid, psychic medium and healer, recommended watching out for feelings like goosebumps as a means to indicate that it’s time to create some good vibrations in your house.
‘‘It’s exactly that feeling, but bad,’’ she said. ‘‘Your hair might stick up on end, you might shiver or feel cool breezes. Your tummy might feel unsettled. You won’t be sleeping very well.’’
‘‘Children are generally a lot more sensitive than their parents,’’ says energy healer Suzanne Evans.
‘‘The parents will have tried everything to get them to sleep, but the kids don’t want to go into their room. They say things like, ‘It doesn’t feel good Mummy.’’’
So if this is the case, what to do? Try these steps to transform the mood at your place.
Let the breeze in
The first step in your home transformation is to open all the windows and let in that fresh autumn air.
Let nature do what it does best freshening and reviving. Leave all your windows and curtains open whilst you complete the following process. You might think that you’re OK living in a certain level of comfortable mess but it’s been proven that an orderly environment lifts the spirits. So if you feel stuck in a rut, get to work.
If your house is already tidy but still doesn’t feel good, look at the larger surfaces. An easy task to forget to do is the wiping and dusting of walls, doors, windows, and mirrors.
Take to walls with sugar soap and clean all the mirrors and windows in your home with newspaper and glass cleaner. Phew, that’s better already.
Prepare your nest
Make use of the breeze once more by washing your sheets with a little lavender essential oil and hanging them out on the line to dry.
Alternatively, use the dryer to ensure the sweet smell of fresh laundry permeates your abode. Lovely.
Bring the fun
Our homes are places of rest and utility, but how often do you have fun there?
Put on music that makes you feel joyful, then it’s karaoke-dance off time while you complete the rest of your cleaning tasks.
Indulge yourself. Listen to something so bad it’s good. Sing to your pets. Sing to the neighbours. It’s time to literally lighten the mood, twofold. Take a laundry basket and walk through your home, clearing into it any bits of clutter or things that are out of place from where they belong.
Honestly, look at your surfaces. Do you need a nightstand covered in books? Or could they go on the shelf?
Finally, wipe each newly decluttered surface to remove dust.
Dust the air
Lastly, you can use a technique that healing professionals call smudging, which is a way to ‘‘dust the air’’ in your home.
Smudging is done using a ‘‘smudge stick’’ which is a little parcel of dried herbs, usually white sage. They’re usually found for sale where you would normally buy incense and leave a delicious, woody aroma throughout your home.
Reid advised you begin the smudging process at your front door.
‘‘Start burning your white sage at the front door and go clockwise around the frame of your door. Then go left to right around your house. Wave the sage stick through the air quite fast. It’s the same [action] as dusting.’’
‘‘What your thought pattern is, is important. ‘Clean, clear, clean, clear.’
‘‘Make sure you get into places like dark corners, cupboards, get under things, the hot water cupboard. And the shower. After this, open all the windows, cupboards and drawers to let all the negative energy escape.’’
Reid recommends regular energy dusting to keep the mood in your home at a feel-good level.
‘‘Energy accumulates over time,’’ she said.
‘‘Once a month, it’s a good idea to clear energy from your house, and then seasonally. It’s all about intention. If you go into a house with a good intention to bless it, or clean it, or clear it, you will get the result.’’
Or if you don’t like the smell of incense, Dion Freeman of Healing Aotearoa recommended simply burning coffee as a great alternative to smudging.
Speaking of which, once you’re done, pour yourself a cup and enjoy your rejuvenated space. You’ve earned it.