Feel Good Rituals to Practice After the Cleaning is Done
Raise your hand if you’re a “what’s next” type of person. I know I am. As I’m completing a project, instead of reveling in my own success to savor the moment, I tend to chase the future. After the floors are mopped and the weeds in the yard have been pulled…I’m looking around for what I could be doing more of.
Let’s face it: there’s always something we can do more of. If you’re like me, you’re really great at handling the basics and then some. But you may desire to keep going. And going. And going.
At this point, we reach total burnout. The very journey we set out on in search of a feel-good experience, just keeps getting put off. The carrot on the end of the stick becomes forever out of reach because of our own stubbornness to keep going. Instead of pulling ourselves back into the present, we’re always living in a state of searching for our ideal future self.
We’re creatures of habit. So much so that we layer these habits into our subconscious.
If you’ve ever done a fast, you might know what I’m talking about. 3 hours left until you can eat again…you find yourself mindlessly wandering into the kitchen standing in front of the fridge, door and mouth gaping wide open, and then you suddenly realize you’re not eating right now, intentionally.
Or if you’ve become a social media junkie and decided to take a break and delete all the apps from your phone. All of a sudden, you find yourself going into your phone and to the very spot that little-blue-square-with-an-F-on-it was and realize that you deleted Facebook!
Research studies show that it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days for a person to form a new habit and an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic.
Whether cleaning is a pleasurable experience for you or if you’d rather kick rocks than clean a toilet, you CAN transform your mindset surrounding the act of cleaning through feel-good rituals. These are rituals (or routines) that can be practiced during or after the cleaning experience to help train your mind that self care is PART OF the whole experience. Following up with positive reinforcement with these feel-good rituals creates a feedback loop in your brain that associates these good experiences with house cleaning.
Here are some feel good rituals that you can practice “just because” or after the cleaning is done as a marker of your success and to give you that delayed dopamine hit.
Light a Flame
🕯️ Light a candle to signify, “I just cleaned the house…don’t touch a thing” to the rest of the household.
🌬️ Top off the household with these aromatic incense cones
🔥 Burn ethically sourced palo santos
✨ Cleanse your space with these sage sticks
Have a Spa Night
🛀 Take a bath…did someone say all natural detox bath bomb? Yes plz. ALSO, this magnesium bath soak for post workout recovery is awesome. On another day you can steep in this bath tea soak.
💦 Once you’re out of the bath, treat yourself to skin hydration with Everyday Oil by Minna.
⚡️ Give yourself a facial…I recently got this at home hydro facial kit and love, love, love it! My pores have never felt cleaner.
🌞 I’ve actually developed this as a nightly ritual, but this LED red light therapy mask is supposed to help with overall skin wellness.
Allow Yourself to Receive
🥡 Order take out
💆🏼♀️ Have a partner or friend give you a massage or give these to each other if you both cleaned! My fiancé and I recently took a couples massage class and legit learned how to give each other bodywork. We got this massage table and it folds up nicely and can easily be tucked away.
🍹 Make your favorite beverage, whether that be this ready made boba tea (with a vegan/dairy free option!) or this instant raspberry sweet tea with probiotics (keto/vegan).
Move Your Body
🎶 Turn up the music and have a dance party. ALSO, if you’re looking for a bluetooth speaker that’s easy on the eyes, Marshall does not disappoint.
🧘 Do yoga or have a stretch sesh. Class Pass is a great option if you’re looking to try a new class in town for a discounted price.
Get Cozy
🔥 Have an outdoor fire pit? Light it up! This propane fire pit is a fave.
☕️ Make a cup of tea. I’m currently digging this blend.
📚 Pull out a good book and read it in your favorite chair.
Do some or all of these things! When you self care it up on your cleaning nights, it creates a special energy at home and for yourself.
