Cleansing of mind, body and soul

For many people, cleaning the entire house is an endlessly hard chore they dread doing every week. But it doesn't have to be this way. Cleaning has many benefits for your physical and mental health that can help you live a happier, organized, and fulfilling life.

Incorporating a cleaning regime into your daily life may seem like just another thing to add to your “to-do” list, but if you fully invest in it, and find fun ways to include it in your schedule, you may find that you enjoy cleaning your home more than you expect!

Cleaning is satisfying, acts as a mindful distraction to relieve stress or anxiety, helps you reduce your exposure to disease and bacteria, and promotes a cleaner, healthier lifestyle.

Maintaining a regular brushing routine once or twice a week reduces the amount you need to do in one "session," making it more manageable and less difficult to approach.

But when you put off cleaning, you will likely end up with a large amount that needs to be done all at once, and you may find it more difficult to keep things like clothes and bedding in sanitary condition.

"But cleaning is boring and I'm busy!"

There are many ways you can make cleaning more interesting and help it fit into your lifestyle.

First, decide what you enjoy.

If you love music, listening to a song with a strong tempo is a great way to keep your momentum and distract your mind—it can help keep you from getting bored. Alternatively, you can try listening to an audiobook, or perhaps the radio, to engage your mind.

If you are spiritual or religious, or if you engage in meditative practices, you may want to incorporate cleaning into these to cleanse your home and body of negative energies.

You may also want to meditate or pray before cleaning, light incense while you work, and use crystals like selenite or tourmaline to help purify your space. Ritual cleaning is part of many religious practices around the world, including Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism, as well as pagan and spiritual practices.

If you don't like any of these and you prefer a more hands-on approach, you can choose to turn on or clean the TV at the same time as you do your "handwork" or just clean while going about your usual household routine!

Next, identify your lifestyle limitations and requirements.

If you are a creative type of person, you may find that you are prone to creating a lot of chaos. While this is not common among creative individuals, you may find that your home or apartment becomes cluttered giving you less space for your usual activities, and that you feel stressed trying to work amidst the clutter.

If you have a more logical or strategy-based mindset, you will likely have less mess — but working long hours can make it difficult to stick to a thorough cleaning routine. So instead of doing a big weekend cleaning, why not just do one or two small cleaning jobs each day before work?

This gets chores out of the way, allowing you to enjoy your "down time." Plus, after a week of cleaning up a little bit every day, you'll avoid having to do it on the weekend!

How to organize a cleaning schedule and stay on top of it

If you want to clean your house, but the thought of doing so is too difficult, the best way to approach the job is to simply make a list of things to clean. This will help you decide what to do, how and when to do it.

The trick is not to make the cleaning sessions too long, and to stick to only two or three tasks per session. If you have a very long cleaning session, you will likely tire yourself out or get stressed, which will make you stop doing it next time.

Instead, try to schedule 2-3 longer cleaning sessions per week, doing some jobs (such as washing, cleaning the kitchen, etc.) every day or every other day.

"But I'm not excited to do that!"

If you struggle to motivate yourself—especially if you have attention deficit disorder (ADD) or depression—you may choose to ask yourself to clean your house with a notepad, your phone calendar, or one of the many apps on the market. Alternatively, if you have a reliable support network, you can ask them to alert you when you find it difficult to maintain a self-care routine.

Another good way to give yourself some motivation is to give yourself a reward every time you clean.

Maybe you can grab a bar of chocolate when you've finished cleaning for a week? Or maybe you're really naughty and have a glass or two of wine when you're done with every cleaning job on your list?

Whatever you find motivates you, embrace it and use it to your advantage!

Clean house, clean body

There are many ways that cleaning your house can help keep your body in great shape!

First, cleaning is a great way to incorporate physical exercise into your daily life—especially for those (like the elderly) who may not be able to do more difficult endeavors.

Moving furniture, mopping, wiping, making the bed, and many of the usual cleaning activities are effective ways to burn calories, as up to 100 calories are burned in just half an hour! Moving equipment and heavy furniture will also help keep your muscles strong, lean, and defined.

Cleaning can help you eat healthy, too! Studies have found that people eat more food, and more unhealthy foods, when they are under stress, and that living in a dirty and untidy home increases cortisol levels - and thus, stress.

In addition, a 2013 study found that people who worked in an orderly, organized setting were more likely to choose an apple over an apple.