Personal Space and Wellbeing

“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” - William Morris, a 19th-century British textile designer.

Our living space is integral to our overall sense of wellbeing. In much the same way our work space is important in terms of mental clarity. If you are struggling with stress and disordered thinking at home or at work you may benefit from consulting a life coach rather than an interior designer. Taking responsibility for your wellbeing on all levels is a necessary job, that only you can do, as Jason Shiers from www.wideworldcoaching.com says “Your attitude toward your life is the one thing that is completely under your control”

image:pixabay.com/en/home-office-notebook-home-couch-569153

Working through your everyday choices and habits, thinking about things from what you eat to where you live can help to look at your patterns of thinking and how they add to your life or where you could use a little work.

Creating a practical and beautiful home can provoke a deep emotional response. Though creating a home that works you can begin to live the life you want to lead – purposefully and mindfully. You can create a bedroom that soothes or a kitchen that inspires creativity, and a living room that encourages connection with others and relaxation.

Ways to improve your living space:

• Create space and get organized- be mindful of how clutter makes you feel and pare back your possessions – live minimally and purposefully.
•  Get inspired - put beautiful and meaningful art in your hall way so that you are greeted with beauty when you return home from the office or the supermarket
• Be boundaried - if you work from home this is super important. It is crucial for peace of mind that you create mental and emotional boundaries between personal life and business – so no working in the bedroom and if you don’t have an office create a work space in the living room.

Ways to improve your office space:

Your work environment can inspire or inhibit creativity and productivity.

• Showcase your brand -use your office space to showcase your brand for both visitors and staff.
• Relaxation -Create space for breaks that lift the mood and encourage connection, for those that spend long hours at the office it’s important to be able to experience relaxation and creativity throughout the working day. 
• Create an organized and beautiful space-if you are working in the helping industry you can make your offices soothing as part of the healing process.

Our society has grown far beyond that small communities of the past, which were populated by people who knew each other well. Today we share our space much of the time with strangers, this can be challenging. However, by understanding our spaces and becoming aware of the everyday decisions we make we can make more conscious choices that create the lives we would love whilst creating room for the difference others. The psychological relationships we have with our spaces and possessions is complex.

Our possessions have an extensive and surprising impact on our identities and lives,  though perhaps that is changing somewhat as we exist more and more online, collections of books, of music, even photographs now exist in a digital cloud. 

We used to explore and express our identities through props and possessions only, now we do that via online platforms too. Our‘self’ extends beyond our skin, to our preferences, to what we own, and what we don’t. Our environment is both the creation and the creator of who and how we are.