A space to heal
Creating a sacred space that is calming, rejuvenating and restorative is essential in our fast-paced and stressful world. During COVID our homes were forced to become multi-functional spaces where we both lived and worked. How do we reclaim our homes and bring back a semblance of calm?
When we need to relax and rejuvenate in our homes, wall colour can have a huge effect on our overall well-being. Healing hues are those that represent shades of nature such as blue, aqua, teal, light green and white while pinks are known to be soothing and reduce anxiety.
Self-care begins with creating a personal space within your home. Try incorporating healing sounds in a room with a speaker or prayer bowls or turn your home into your very own wellness retreat by adding ‘panchabhutas’ or five elements are important contributors for the creation of a healing space — earth, water, fire, air and space.
The creation of a quiet space at home, where you might introduce a daily meditation practice, is the first step towards recreating the simplicity and stress-free environment of a wellness centre.
Try to design open spaces that seamlessly blend both your exterior and interior spaces to create the ultimate soothing ambience. Open spaces with good natural ventilation, are in-tune with the climate with plenty of landscaping can do wonders for one’s healing process. Keeping the decor minimal, using natural materials and textures and reducing visual clutter will further help you to relax.
Chaos can never bring in peace of mind. Similarly, a home that is messy can disrupt the healing process. Clutter impacts us subconsciously in several ways, and so, it is important to keep one’s home organised and clutter-free.
Finally, the addition of scents to your home is the perfect way to complete your healing home sanctuary. Vanilla and lavender have soothing properties that help relax your mind almost immediately, and herby notes like eucalyptus, frankincense, rosemary also help alleviate stress and anxiety and improve your mood.
The best way to pick a home fragrance is to have two to three scents for different moods, and just switch them as you need to. For instance, for a calm yoga or meditation session, pick scents with notes of vetiver, chamomile, lavender or thyme. These also work best for your bedroom. Amber, tuberose or cedarwood are great for the study, while coconut, sandalwood or citrus notes of lemon, bergamot work well for the living room. Spices like cinnamon, cardamom, pepper with woody notes work well to create a soothing atmosphere in a space.