Harmony at Home

You will be much healthier if you provide yourself with a true refuge in your home. You will be happier when you return to it. Moreover, those you invite in will remark on how cozy It is. You need to seek a home that speaks, “harmony.”

• Designate one area—just a chair if you live in tight quarters—for “transit.” This is a home for items for which you are awaiting help from others, or which you plan to take with you on your next excursion. In all other parts of your home, having everything arranged nicely will enable you to avoid wasting time searching for items. Even more to your benefit, it will give you serenity. Much safer than benzodiazepines!
• The set of neutral colors with blue and green from sky and oceans highlights is the scheme I prefer for my own home. I have accents of rust and gold, as well as some purples. Those latter are the colors of Autumn leaves turned, and they are in my photographs of Nature.
• Try to live with only one background stimulus at a time—TV or music. It’s best to choose music that reverts to a body rhythm such as respiration or your heart rate. If you choose to read while you enjoy your meals, it’s best to turn the music off entirely. Multitasking is hard on your body, interferes with the depth of your sleep later that day, and can lead to mental health symptoms.
• If you have a smart phone, ideally keep it on only from the time you are ready for your new day (being dressed and having had breakfast) until just before dinner. This is about a twelve-hour period for most people. Those who contact you can always leave a message via text or voice-mail during your daily respite. This is especially important if you do not have a weekly 24-hour sabbath from electronics.
• It is also best, especially if you are prone to depression, to sleep in a completely darkened room. This permits your pineal gland to manufacture, at its highest diurnal level, the hormone melatonin. The result? Deeper sleep.

© Copyright Deborahmichelle Sanders 2018. All rights reserved.