Zen is the practice of incorporating peace and meditation into your daily life. If you are attempting to reach a more zen state in your home then you should try out some of these great ideas to help create a more relaxing environment.
- Use LED Candles
There is just something soothing about the flickering of a candle flame that can elevate the atmosphere and make it more relaxing. Instead of using strong smelling candles or worrying about an open flame around pets and small children, you should try using LED flickering candles.
This battery powered pillar candles actually resemble the real thing thanks to a mechanism inside that keeps the fake flame in motion while a soft LED light creates the warming glow.
You don’t even have to worry about getting up to extinguish the flame, most LED candles work with a remote that you can use to turn them on or off without leaving your comfortable position. This also makes having candles in lanterns or up higher an easier option since you can turn them on and off without having to reach up and disturb anything.
- Add a Home Gym
While creating a home gym can sound like an expensive and daunting task, what most individuals don’t realize is that unlike a gym membership where you have to go all in, at home you can create your workout space in your own time.
All you really need to start up your home gym is an exercise mat. This will allow you to have a focused exercise space for stretching, meditating and yoga. You can add in a small tv that will allow you to play exercise DVDs.
As time and budget allow you can start adding in more equipment that is focused on your fitness goals and exercising needs. Try to keep a simple layout so that you have plenty of room.
Clean and concise space will also boost your home zen so make sure that you have well-placed items and try to keep smaller items tucked away in a closet or covered storage bin. A home gym can also double as a meditation or quiet room that you can use to help alleviate stress.
- Keep Surfaces Clean
Getting rid of clutter is one of the quickest ways to make your home more zen. Depending on how much stuff you have, this can be a large task to take on. First, you will want to focus on your main flat surfaces like tables, counters, and vanities.
Invest in some containers to help you organize your cabinets and drawers so that you can get all the items and clutter off of your surfaces and neatly stowed away until you need to use them.
You can keep a few things out for decoration such as a glass cotton swab jar in the bathroom or a book on your coffee table. These statement and functional decorations should be kept to a modest level so that you are seeing mostly clean and clear surfaces.
- Install a Rain Shower Head
Upgrading your showerhead may not seem like a way to help you achieve the zen environment that you are reaching for. However, after the first-morning shower under a spa-like rain shower head, you will begin to understand the heightened relaxed state a good shower head can have on jumpstarting your day.
Unlike normal shower heads that spew water out at an angle towards you, a rain shower head reduces the output so that a gentle shower of water is cascading directly down onto you. Since the shower head is at a 90-degree angle facing down, you are able to fully immerse yourself under the shower head.
Installing a rain shower head is a task that most DIY home improvers can tackle without needing to hire a professional. Just make sure that you have some of the basic tools at home to help you with loosening and retightening the shower heads as you swap them out.
- Create Unplugged Areas
Electronics run our lives, from the TV to your cell phone that is seldom out of your hands. To promote a more zen-like home, you should create unplugged areas that are free from electronic items.
Your bedroom should be included in the unplugged area. Keep the TV out in the entertainment and living room areas and reserve your bedroom for sleeping. Having a TV near the bed can keep you from sleeping and will disrupt the full peace that you can gain from sleeping.
You should also have a place, away from your bed to place your cell phone. Bringing your cell phone to bed creates the opportunity for additional and unnecessary screen time when you are trying to relax and sleep. If you need something to help calm your mind before bed reach for a book or magazine to read instead of scrolling through Facebook.
- Add in Some Greenery
Having plants around your home will help breathe new life into your living spaces while also reducing toxins in the air. Simple potted houseplants that don’t take up too much room are a great addition around the home.
If maintaining and watering plants stresses you out, then you can opt to have succulents and more low maintenance plants like Aloe Vera and Peace Lilies that only need watering once every week or so. Bamboo is also easy to care for plant that can go almost two weeks without water.
You can also pair certain plants in your bathroom that thrive with less light and more humid conditions. Orchids are a perfect pairing for bathrooms due to their low light needs and simplistic beauty that fits well on a bathroom vanity.
Incorporating some or all of these ideas and principles into your home will help you achieve a more calming and zen-like environment. Having a clean, clear and open home will allow your mind to relax more and find less stress in the day to day dealings of life.