How practicing mindfulness can help Santa Barbara homeowners

Practicing mindfulness in everything, including clearing out the clutter we’ve accumulated in our home, can help bring awareness of personal issues.
“When we operate on autopilot in our lives, we cease to be aware of what is happening right now,” writes Erin Dolan, on the blog Unclutterer. “A significant amount of clutter in our homes could be eliminated simply by being more mindful in the present.”

Where should homeowners start?

Begin with the big picture. “Where are you going? Why are you on this planet? Why do you live and breathe? . . . Create your space to support that,” advised professional organizer Star Hansen, during an appearance on OWN TV. “What do you want to fill your life with? The other stuff falls away.”
When you touch an object, ask, “Does it lift me up, or bring me down?” It’s a lot like the company we keep: You want to surround yourself with people who make you feel good, rather than people who complain or enable bad habits, so surround yourself with belongings that you need and love. Check out this room-by-room guide for using mindfulness to streamline your home.

The Kitchen
Practice honesty. For example, holidays only come once a year, so move anything seasonal out of the kitchen into deeper storage. Those items can be brought out when the time is right, rather than lurking around all year long.

The Living Room
Practice releasing emotion. Living rooms tend to accumulate sentimental clutter. Ask yourself if you really, truly love an object or the person who gave it to you. If you don’t, give it away.

The Bedrooms
Practice daily. Bedrooms can easily get overwhelming because we tend to clean public areas of the home more often. Either eliminate the clutter by getting rid of it or invest in more storage.

The Closets
Practice discipline. Make this your mantra, “One In, Two Out.” Anything that comes into your home needs to be balanced by two objects leaving.

The Bathrooms
Practice acceptance. Clean your cabinets and decide what to let go of and what to save.

Once you begin mindfulness decluttering, you’ll find it’s a form of moving meditation. Mindfulness teaches us to be in the present moment—not the past and not the future—so, as you clean, move steadily from one small area to another, giving each your complete attention. You might even choose a mantra, like, “As I declutter, I free myself to live in the present.”
Mindfulness might even lead you to realize you need a new space or need to let your current space go. So, if you decide you need to list your home or search for a new one in Montecito, Hope Ranch or any of Santa Barbara’s upscale communities, please call me at 805.886.9378 or email me at Cristal@montecito-estate.com. I practice mindfulness in all my real estate transactions, so you can relax and know I’m giving you and your home my full attention throughout the process!