470 thoughts on “Cleaning my House: A Lesson in Trust and Honouring”

1. I’m glad I read this blog. Since I’ve become full time in my work, getting certain chores done were being done on certain days so the weekend could be enjoyed too. But now it feels I’m going against the grain of everything. It kind of feel like that chore, instead of that impulse to do it.

   I agree we grow up with so many beliefs, that certain things had to be done on certain days. Why do we clean on a dedicated day? Why not another day? I’ve made the bed with fresh sheets on another day than a Friday and it felt amazing, because I wasn’t governed by a dedicated day.

   It is far from perfect but I love living my life more from that impulse than the pulse of life and belief systems….

2. I used to have a set day for cleaning but now it is something that happens more on an as-need basis. But getting to this point has meant letting go of expectations and demands on myself or others which has been a process. I have had to sit with some discomforts and let go of a control of how and when the cleaning happens. To be free of this feels amazing and I love how it opens up so much more space for all the things in our day to unfold naturally.

   1. I agree Henrietta having set days for somethings and not others is from an expectation that has been passed on from generation to generation. And totally with you, when we are free from these expectations, we have more space and not caught up in that time warp…

3. Placing expectations on ourselves is like a a huge pressure we choose to put on ourselves instead of allowing a flow to be. I am more and more aware of how much I do this to myself in subtle ways, placing an expectations on myself to do something by a certain time etc, and then realising how much this stops me from really enjoying the moment as I am more in a driven state and a slave to time constraints. This is certainly not fun, and yet I know there is a different way to be and live! And so it is a process of gradually catching this and then changing the way I do things just like Johanna has presented in this blog too.

4. Johanna, thank you for this simple blog that presents how we can fall into a habit of doing something as a rigid tick box, rather than feeling how and when to do things to best support our body.

5. The difference between doing anything governed by time or in the space we can allow for ourselves, is absolutely huge. The more I realise this and put it into practise the more blown away I am by how we restrict ourselves in time (pitting ourselves against a clock) and how spacious life can be when we give ourselves space and choose to be present in every moment.

6. This blog shares how Joanna let go of ought to, listened to her body, and surrendered to the flow, ‘I have felt a deeper level of appreciation in my ability to Trust… trust my body, trust my feelings, trust myself and the rest (including cleaning my house!), will fall into place.’

7. The words “with love”, that I often use at the end of my emails, has just taken on a whole new meaning.

   1. Yes, Mary. I love it when I stop to consider what ‘with love’ actually means and then really embrace and mean it when I write it. The same can be said for any words we express. Do we really get behind them and mean them? And for me this means living the quality that they are.

8. Johanna, I love what you have written, clearly showing and reflecting for me the deepening of our very foundation of our whole being within. Just taking the time to stop and change the way we are doing an action like cleaning, immediately beings a deeper level of love within my whole being. Thank you!

9. It’s can be so rigid to stick to how we’ve always done things, it can block the flow of love in our lives where we can respond to how we truly feel and what the body needs moment to moment. I really enjoyed reading this because the housework went from something to be done, to an expression of the joy of who you are, with love and consideration for yourself.

10. Thank you Johanna, what ever the work we do Love can pour through us and deliver the most amazing feelings about how complete we can feel in being Soul-fully-Connected in the simplest task. Then that feeling can expand or deepen the loving awareness we have in doing said tasks. So the things we do well deepen and we evolve to a new foundation of Love and create a new reflection that is felt by us and those who can feel the energy we are in doing these simple things in and this then allows us to expand and explore other areas of life that we can then also deepen into, but first it is those things we have a sold foundation in that we can deepen.

11. When we clean and are connected to our body, the end result is very different to when the job is done in arush just to get it done. I loveeeeee the way my flat feels after i’ve spent a few hours dusting, hovering, re-arranging cupboards etc. when done in presence, when not done it because I won’t have any other time on the weekend so “it has to be done now” or because there are people coming over and the house has to look amazing. When no rules, no pressures or demands are placed on my shoulders, they’re free to do the heavy lifting & the hard work with ease.

12. When we go into a task with drive, it feels like we leave a piece of ourselves behind while trying to convince ourselves somehow that part will be taken care of when we arrive at the point of completion, and we like to think we have everything under control. But that is so not true.

13. I love this; “Slow down – you have to do it, so you might as well enjoy it!” This could be said for so many things.

14. I love this blog. I recall as a little girl my room was immaculate. I used to clean my room every weekend. No-one needed to do this for me. It was my space and me and me alone was responsible for this. This shifted as I got older and busier. Other things in life took priority and still do. This is something that am still very much looking at.

15. I think most of us can get into box ticking when it comes to doing jobs around the house, even if we do them gently. “I have felt a deeper level of appreciation in my ability to Trust… trust my body, trust my feelings, trust myself and the rest (including cleaning my house!), will fall into place”. This trust is something we are taught to doubt as kids. It feels awesome to reclaim this trust and appreciation of our body.

16. If we approach our routine chores with a sense of drudgery that’s exactly how they are going to feel..in fact even the word ‘chore’ seems a bit heavy to me. I will not do the cleaning if I see it as a chore – I would rather leave it till I feel impulsed to do it, and often when I continue to do things with a sense of enjoyment cleaning just naturally takes it’s turn.

17. I notice when I make my purpose in life greater than just about myself everything I do have more magic to it.

    1. This is true, it is beautiful how this happens.

    2. Great point Joshua – making it about a bigger picture, a larger purpose, takes away the focus on the ‘me-factor’ and how we might want things to be, and hence allows us to connect to a deeper meaning for all that we do in life.

18. I had a little giggle when I read that you decided to “strut my stuff around the supermarket while I did my grocery shopping”. I am sure that the shoppers around you got to feel your glorious ‘stuff’ as you strutted and those who followed would have walked in your gorgeous foot-steps. What a wonderfully healing moment in time for all, whether they realised it or not.

19. Regardless of what we are doing, if we do it as ourselves we can enjoy it.

20. I agree with enjoying yourself . . no matter what it is your doing because it is you doing it. . It feels unreal sometimes when I do this only because it shows me you do not need anything. It also feels just how important you are feeling a whole lot more that there is to be done. This is when you keep enjoying what is that next thing and make sure you are completing it in full.

21. When there is a joy to a purpose the task is effortless and leaves us feeling an ease within the body that supports our natural flow.

22. The moment that we honour ourselves the whole body rejoices.

23. I can relate to trying to get through chores or tasks in order to have “free time” and yet all the time I was probably rushing through things and not really bringing my full presence to the moment at hand. Unfortunately there is no true settlement in the next moment if we were not present in the previous one.

24. Tidying a house in joy creates a completely different space to tidying a house in control. Both may leave the house looking clean, but only one will leave it feeling energetically clear because no drive was brought into the equation (e.g. needing to ‘get it done’) and therefore nothing was imposed on the space.

25. I love that tou have fallen in love with cleaning! So incredible and so not how most of us feel about cleaning!! Inspiring oui!

26. I also used to rush when I cleaned the house as I wanted to have time for other things, I have realised that cleaning in a driven and rushed way doesn’t really support myself or the home in any way, as I get to walk back through this imprint constantly. I now take my time and have had to let go of any pictures about the house needing to look a certain way.

    1. Bringing tenderness to every aspect of cleaning, and enjoying this, ‘This sentence made me think: Enjoy It?… Why not?! What if I just did the dusting and wiping now? What if I cleaned tenderly and allowed myself to feel my tenderness while I was cleaning? The tenderness that I know I have in my touch.’

27. There is a way to do routine chores that do not make them a chore but something that is wonderful to do because they support the foundation upon which we walk.

    1. Yes, even enjoying the chores as Joanna said, ‘I thought I was going to do my whole house cleaning routine but at a more honouring pace, when a little sentence popped into my head…
       “Slow down – you have to do it, so you might as well enjoy it!”’

28. I just love finding this blog again to read, it has really supported me to have a different relationship with cleaning my home, I really value it and often feel how amazing the house feels when I have the level of care and quality. It becomes so enjoyable – this really is a miracle!!!

29. We have been renovating our house and our new bedroom was recently completed. It took me almost all day to clean the room inside out and it felt so lovely to clean without drive. Waking up this morning I was appreciating how the room feels and our view into the trees and mountains is clear and fresh as the windows were sparkling.

30. Great timing for me to read this blog. Today we are going to have a big clean and tidy in and around our house. There is a lot to do but your blog is reminding me to clean with joy and not go into drive and the mental attitude of ‘I have to get it all done’. I am looking forward to this big de-clutter and reorganising.

31. We are made to cherish every single thing we do – for if there is something that becomes a chore it doesn’t just stay there but flows into every other part of our day. There is no task that’s separate from the truth.

32. I am finding the more I let go and allow my body to impulse all that needs to be done, mountains of space opens up for me to do whatever is there to do. No stress, drive or push needed!

33. By spreading your cleaning over 3 days you gave yourself the space you needed to enjoy the jobs that needed doing. I wonder how they would feel if they were spread over 7. Something for me to try.

34. Love it! It is great when we revise what we do and why do we do it and re-imprint things. As I have found and as you have found it opens up a whole new space for us to actually En-Joy what we do .. even the house chores ✨

    1. I love it too Vicky. In the past, I used to clean in an energy of push and drive, and end up feeling exhausted and grumpy. Now, I re-imprint the way I clean with gentleness, love, and appreciation and the difference is huge. I can feel our space gets re-imprinted with love when I have been cleaning with love and it feels very nurturing and supportive. I now know when it is time for us to move we are handing over a house that has been re-imprinted with love.

35. If our moving now is just to preempt moving further down the road, the quality of our movements suffers. If our move is to lay out a quality that will support our movements further down the road, the story is a totally different one.

36. Clean what is needed at each moment rather than piling at the end of the week allows us to feel that its not a chore but how we move in every – day life!

37. “My house cleaning chores no longer felt like chores but lovely little moments where I was able to spread my loveliness around our home.” A beautiful way to change our attitudes to cleaning – our choice – drudge or enjoy these necessary tasks.

38. How often do we get into rigid patterns of doing things regardless of how our body is feeling? For me quite a lot and in the process exhausting myself and doing what I felt I had to do rather begrudgingly. Now I realise that is not a very loving way to do anything and the energy that comes with it affects not only me but what I am doing. Life is so much more simpler when I feel into what needs to be done and to honour how I am feeling at the time, and when I do everything flows so easily and when completed I can feel a loveliness within in me and all around me.

    1. The simplicity is refreshing Ingrid, I have to agree.

39. I used to work in an energy of wanting to get things done but then I realised I would never get everything done because there is always more and it is not about getting it done but the quality (love / presence) we do things in. This changes everything and means there is a vital, joyful and ever expanding constant.

    1. Constant because it comes from the same loving energy and ever expanding because our connection to that limitless source is ever expanding.

    2. Beautiful Nicola, I love what you’ve shared here and it makes so much sense. I agree, with everything we do when we move with the quality of love and presence, we experience joy in all that we do and this can be applied to all areas of our life. Amazingly simple!

40. Today whilst doing something I let myself slow down and enjoy doing it and it felt wonderful to honour myself in that way.

    1. There is an absolute joy in cleaning anything when we don’t come in with an agenda.

    2. Yes, I did this too yesterday Elizabeth focusing on my presence and quality rather than what I was doing. It felt lovely to begin with but I observed how quickly I went back into an old behaviour of doing rather than being because I didn’t want to feel what I was doing.

41. ‘Slow down, you have to do it so you might as well enjoy it.’ I love this. Having been someone who often tries to power through to finish tasks I now enjoy slowing down and feeling my body as I move and do them, that gives a completely different take on many ‘chores’.

42. Its great when we bust those old beliefs around house-work, where we ‘need’ to do the housework, to get it out of the ways so we can enjoy the week-end, makes housework a chore….whereas when we let go of time control, there is always the space to do some cleaning and tidying which is more enjoyable when we just flow with it.

43. There are so many sneaky ideas in life that we think are just the way they are, and we do not question them. What you share for me really highlights how essential it is to develop a relationship of care and trust with our own bodies, so we respond from them and not from what we so called ‘have’ to do.

44. It’s an incredible moment of surrender when we allow ourselves to trust our movements and enjoy the space this offers.

45. An awesome reminder that we can “Slow down – you have to do it, so you might as well enjoy it!” in relation to doing my chores, because I was cleaning my floor this morning and I could feel how I started to rush, I just wanted to get it done so I can start on something else. I find when I rush, I harden my body and it is super difficult to enjoy anything when I am in this state. But it is also easy to snap out of it by doing what you’ve so beautifully shared Johanna.

    1. I can also very much enjoy doing things fast without it being a rush and also enjoy the completion – so as with everything it comes back to energy and not speed.

46. Enjoy?!!?? Enjoy doing the chores??? But then they wouldn’t be chores.

    Definition of chore – “a tedious but necessary task.”

    But what you are presenting flips all of that for in fact if we are with ourselves and bring our all to whatever the task is then, absolutely, we can enjoy it. The more I do this then the more I find myself enjoying some of the most simple and seemingly mundane actions. And as soon as I check out or go into drive, then they become chores again.

    1. Brilliant Otto, this is exactly my experience. Once I go into drive or check out while I do anything, be it work, house-work, cooking etc. it wipes out the joy in what I do. It is awesome to understand this and even better to apply more joy into everything that I do. I am starting to practice this more and more. But when I slip back into drive, it is easier to snap myself out of it and be more present because of what I am aware of now and by being more observant of myself and things around me.

       1. That’s the thing; the more we connect to that joy, the more the opposite stands out. WIP = Work In Progress.

47. The more I ‘trust’ my body and what I am feeling the more everything starts to fall into place and the less exhausting life is. It simply means I need to honour my body and attend to whatever is presented before me and not put it off until a later date.

48. When I am in drive my body pays the price and often I will only listen when my body puts a stop to me through illness. There is nothing worth doing in drive.

    1. I can relate Leonne, when I am in drive, I am more likely to react to people around me and to my environment. It is a force that hurts our body and it travels further than we realise because the energy behind it can permeate through everything.

49. Just goes to show when we actually take the time to listen to our body it knows exactly what is the true thing to do in any given moment.

50. It is lovely to reread this sharing and to have actually changed how I am with my cleaning of the house, I do it all the time now instead of once a week, this has had such a positive impact on the whole house and I am enjoying the feeling of my home being more loved and cared for.

51. We learn so much from our everyday, everything that we do can be a lesson – no need for a guru.

52. If we’re locked into a belief about how we think things have to be done it stops us from sensing or connecting with what is really needed in that moment…

    1. Yes we lose touch with what is next truly and only operate from our function and heads.

53. When we trust and listen to our body things flow much better than when we listen to our mind alone that is just ticking boxes but ignoring the body. Doing things solely from the mind is like we let someone do all that is on a list but not checking if they are capable of doing it and if they need sleep etc.

54. ‘You might as well enjoy it’ I love this little piece of nugget! It makes such sense to actually allow ourselves to enjoy the daily tasks in our days rather than rushing through them.

55. It makes such a difference when I clean my house from my body rather than what my head is telling me, there is a flow and a deeper quality in how I clean that leaves a loving imprint that feeds me back.

56. There is no greater joy then being in the flow with life. Moving to the impulse of the universe, listening to the breath of our body and all it has to say. Cleaning in this was is total joy for me and it’s a great offering to all who walk the path after we have cleaned this way.

57. I so love how practical and real your sharing feels. This is so inspiring as I can so recognise how I would have an image of how things should be done and at times how detailed they are and I often set myself up to feel defeated by it. Thank you, Johanna.

58. Any picture or expectation is a perfect set-up for failure. It gets us focussing on something in the future we want to reach, lessens our awareness and mostly puts a strain on the body.

59. The really cool thing is that when there is that level of care and self-honouring when we clean the imprint we leave behind in our house feel amazing, so it’s a win win situation – you’re cared for and the house is cared for and it’s like that care just keeps multiplying.

60. This blog reminded me of how sometimes when I go to the gym and work out I find myself just wanting to be finished with the work out so I can feel good about exercising instead of enjoying each movement and staying present with my body in gentle movements that feel so nurturing. When this has happened, I instantly know that I have lost that connection with my body and fallen into an old pattern of focusing on end results instead of in-joying the moment.

61. Cleaning with joy not in a push or a drive… who would have thought it possible but the loving practicalness of this approach is undeniable.

62. The house is the body in repose. Its overall quality is our overall quality. So the quality of care we put in it matters greatly.

63. Just imagine finding that place within us where by we did not tend to our chores, our work, so much in fact in a driven way, but rather in a way that celebrated… This is without doubt, the way of the livingness that is possible for all of humanity

64. Thank you Johanna, I haven’t read this in some time. What a great line “My house cleaning chores no longer felt like chores but lovely little moments where I was able to spread my loveliness around our home.” And I also appreciated this line “These beliefs and ideals were in-truth stopping me from trusting and honouring myself and my body completely as the gorgeous and tender woman that I am.” I can relate to the idea of getting chores out of the way and being rigid in when they are done even though the body might be asking us to rest, but we push through to complete a task. By flowing with what you felt it opened a space to be free of those beliefs and express you more in full as you cleaned.

65. Beautiful blog Johanna. There are many parts of life I want to ‘get out of the way’ but when I choose this I am robbing myself of the ability to enjoy being me and this will always be inefficient.

66. There is more support and nurturing in one towel or tshirt folded with love than a million tasks ticked off in duty or obligation. We may not see it but the results of lovingly moving and doing what needs to be done revitalise our life. Thank you for this clearing reading Johanna.

67. The more I have stopped to honour my body the more I have realised how we can get so caught up in the way all jobs around the house need to be done rather than feeling into what is needed at every given moment and then it no longer feels like a job but a way of living.

68. Cleaning can be one of these jobs we just want to get done quickly so we can do more important things… Yet we miss out on enjoying ourselves in this way of cleaning, and why not enjoy each moment of the day because we are bringing ourselves to it?

69. This is so funny in that I choose blogs to read randomly by month and in the same week I have come up your blog Johanna. Clearly the message to honour what my body wants to do next is being shown in bright lights to me! Note to self – Let go of the pictures and listen to your body!

70. When we enjoy whatever task we are undertaking it is no longer a chore but part of the rhythm of life.

71. Very inspired to bring this depth of honour to my cleaning, if you have to do it, you might as well enjoy it!

72. I find it very helpful to find out why I sometimes do the chores with drive and other times harmoniously. What happened in the hours or even the day before as that seems to have a big influence.

73. Cleaning and putting things in order while in conscious presence has a totally different feel to just cleaning because the chores have to be done.

74. Rhythms can be a huge support in life but when they cross the line into dogged routine, they are not so supportive.

    1. This is so true Nikki, and what a balancing act this can be until of course one finds the flow inside… And then everything starts to support everything else… And this is of course a great rhythm in itself.

    2. Thank you cjames2012 for your comment about finding the flow inside, it’s so different to the rigidity of beliefs and the “dogged routines” Nikki commented on.

    3. It then becomes chore like and we push through leaving the quality behind.

75. A routine that follows the lead of the body is much more enjoyable,a lot easier and more flowing whereas the mind takes its cues from a list of chores that have to be done, in a particular way and in a certain limited time, no matter what. The latter way of working is very draining whereas the one that is being informed by our body is very light and always joyful.

76. Beautiful Johanna – your words here remind me that each action that we take, every move that we make is significant and of equal weight. The moment we see one as less we miss the opportunity we have been given to live with power and deliver God’s grace. If every moment offers us this, wow how many gifts do we refuse every day? And what would our world be like if we just started to open them up?

77. I don’t plan or have a set day that I am going to clean. Of course I do the dishes after meals and clean up the kitchen daily, but things like hoovering or clearing the bathroom, when the moment is there, that is when I do them.

78. In the past I would work all week and then on a Saturday I would clean all my house and the washing to do and the shopping, no wonder I was exhausted… so I changed my routine and started to do more during the week rather than leave it all do on the week-end. This felt much more loving…

79. It really is amazing how bringing our presence to whatever it is that we are doing changes everything. Not only for ourselves but equally so for everyone, and with the loving imprints we leave in the space through which we are moving. We can only but magnify love when we are with ourselves.

80. “Slow down – you have to do it, so you might as well enjoy it!” This is a saying that I find tremendously supportive to keep me present whenever I begin to feel stressed in whatever I am doing.

81. What a perfect read to start my day. I have been feeling the pull to go into ‘get it done’ mode all morning. I haven’t done so and not intending to but instead having moments of appreciation of what awareness I now have to move in a way that supports.

82. This is a very helpful blog for me right now as I embark of doing more housework. I often wonder where I will get the time so I love how you describe how little moments present themselves and this is the approach I am now going to take so thank you.

83. Thank you for the reminder that we can apply care to any and every part of life. That and the world doesn’t end when we follow our feelings!

84. Doing things so that they are out of the way never works as it causes great stress on the body and is in no way supportive.

85. Our mind-created schedules operate at the expense of the body. It’s big step to let go of control and surrender to trust – that the body knows exactly what to do, and when.

86. This blog is a great reminder to listen to the wisdom of the body.

87. Cleaning with love is never about ticking boxes , but about the pure joy of ceremony and order.

88. That’s what I call a great name for cleaning the house Johanna, to spread our loveliness around our home. Beautiful and true.

89. Always Love first – Love that Johanna!

90. A clean house feels really beautiful, and it is lovely to be able to enjoy it, I have found if I push my body in order to clean, I’m not really able to enjoy the end result, because my body is feeling the push rather then the gentleness I cleaned in, which I then appreciate.

91. Bringing a quality of consistency to our every movement means we can experience joy in whatever we are doing, whether that be the so called chores in life or those movements we consider are more ‘fun’ or worthwhile. One true movement that we can bring our all to.

92. It can be a very different experience when we do chores or ‘life’ in general from our bodies and not our heads. I also like to shake it up a bit and not stick to any rules and the body does have its natural rhythm with this.

93. ‘My house cleaning chores no longer felt like chores but lovely little moments where I was able to spread my loveliness around our home.’ . . . just by paying attention to different areas of a room the area would come alive and sparkle . This used to amaze me when I first noticed this when I was young . Nowadays I would see this as my energy being reflected back to me. The point is if we are not feeling lovely but instead feeling pressured or rushed for time or wanting to get the housework over and done with, what are we actually spreading around our homes then?

94. I have found lately doing a little of something everyday puts far less strain on the body, and rather than tackling the whole of the house in one go, I have found it easier to do one room at a time spreading it across the week, and if my body feels to do a little more that’s fine. The problem with pushing the body through jobs, is that the body has to recover and if we continue pushing through our body eventually brings us to a stop where we have to look at what and how we do things.

    1. This is a great point Sally. The push and drive then crash and relax way of doing things is not fun or supportive. If we choose consistency we are able to support ourselves consistently.

95. I love how these little moments appeared and allowed you to feel and spread your tenderness as you cleaned, ‘My house cleaning chores no longer felt like chores but lovely little moments where I was able to spread my loveliness around our home.’

96. Thank you for sharing Johanna – a few simple lines resonated me “These beliefs and ideals were in-truth stopping me from trusting and honouring myself and my body completely as the gorgeous and tender woman that I am.” This is beautiful reminder to bring me back and / or create space for that tenderness before there is that hurt running the beliefs and ideals. Also … “I have felt a deeper level of appreciation in my ability to Trust… trust my body, trust my feelings, trust myself and the rest (including cleaning my house!), will fall into place.” That trust will be built solidly when the tenderness in the body is acknowledged and felt.

97. Yes Johanna, it is the letting go of our patterns of control and allowing the flow that we find the hardest to do, but the joy is so worth the leap!

98. Thank you Johanna, this is a great lesson in trusting and honouring ourselves, and not going against our body’s natural rhythm and flow. When we stay with our natural rhythm things are simple and easy to do, it is when we start to go against that rhythm things turn into chores, and we lose the enjoyment of doing them, and complete them half-heartedly.

99. How great that you started to honour your body more, and as you did moments appeared to help you complete your tasks in a natural flow, and with enjoyment and presence.

100. I know this trick very well; set myself up by holding to a plan that keeps me in a momentum far from my stillness. It has been, and still is a consistent observation of myself and how this set up plays out in many areas. Now I observe, see it for the trick it is, and start moving with connection. From there truer movements are made, times expands and connection to my stillness is felt.

101. In completion, there is born the opportunity to start again that which you had just finished, only this time more expansive, deeper, wider…

     1. Love your comment Adam, we get this opportunity every moment to deepen our connection to the quality we bring to all we do. In this sense everything completes in that moment, yet there is no being done and dusted.

102. When I get rid of the pictures in my head about how things should be, life becomes simpler and how I feel takes priority over how much I get done. This is a 180 degree turnaround in terms of how I used to live, where my to-do list was king. Developing a trust in myself and my body has been key, and underpinning that was my acknowledgement of the fact that I matter.

103. I am paying more attention to the intention behind my actions. It makes a huge difference when I am doing something with an intention that is about honouring myself first and that has no push or drive in it.

104. What a great way to see cleaning the house – “my house cleaning chores no longer felt like chores but lovely little moments where I was able to spread my loveliness around our home.” If we were to apply this way of seeing all the things that we do throughout the day we would experience a lot more joy in everything that we do.

105. So perfect to read this on this Saturday morning because it was exactly went through my mind last night. I have a busy weekend planned so I used last night to grocery shop and do some of the food prep to ‘get it out of the way’ and ‘free up some time for the weekend’.

     And while those things are true, my body was also asking for some rest as it was tired and I had pushed it a bit during the week. But I overrode it, to ‘get the jobs out of the way’.

     It’s a big one for me, learning to trust my body and that space will be there for the things that need to be done so your blog is inspiring for me to read today, thank you.

106. Thank you for sharing that our level of care is very important, how we eat, sleep and communicate is all very important.

107. There are a lot of things that need to be done and it’s up to us wherever we enjoy them or not. I’m realising that it’s the things I turn to for false ‘enjoyment’ that actually make it much harder to simply be joyfull. For example I will eat a sweet ‘treat’ and then feel racy and distracted as a consequence. When I take good care of myself it is easy to connect to my steadiness and joy.

108. So important to break down these ideals, I am playing with what you have described here and are going to be very supported by the enjoying of the task!

109. Listening to the body and deeply appreciating each moment brings us into the flow and things just open up as they are meant to – it is so great exposing the pictures we have that we allow to control our every moment.

110. Getting caught up in chores is such an easy way to get ourselves racy and loose our rhythm. What you have shared here Johanna is a wonderful relationship you have clearly developed with yourself and in the relationship you are now aware of when you are going into that drive to ‘get things done’, very beautiful.

111. There is a rhythm of life that is so powerful and so beautiful, and this pulse is beating through us all… When we feel it, it is undeniable and so strong… the enigma is how it can be so ignored by so many.

112. oh what fun it can be exploring how we can live, without the beliefs we have had for oh so long, and learning to live, and re order the things we do based on whats needed!

113. If you really think about it, life is just a movement. And here is something ironic. Let us say we associate fun with playing golf, which is in short, just a specific movement designed to strike a little ball. Incidentally, it is a movement not dissimilar in part to swinging a sledge hammer. But here is the interesting thing. The latter is considered work, and a burden, and something we hate doing, whilst the former is something many purport to love. But if it is just a movement, and the movement is the same, then why the difference in attitude? If you really ponder on this, there is a revelation offered that assists one to understand the meaning of true joy.

     1. This is so true Adam and I had never thought about all life as movement. This just confirms that I can have as much fun doing the dishes, as going for a walk, or taking myself shopping. Its a matter of attitude, not the act itself.

114. A beautiful honouring of the communication from your body Johanna – taking true care and self nurturing to a deeper level.

115. Our ability to determine routines that work for us is an ‘essential’ for human life, isn’t it Johanna… What I also find the greatest learning, is that things needing to be done can indeed ‘get done’ – and that maintaining our commitment, along with honouring our bodies and their flow, actually supports the space to open up for what we need to do. And if called for as you’ve shared here, a re-assessment of how things may roll…

     1. Good point Victoria. Things will always get done but it’s the energetic imprint left behind that really counts and this is what we are constantly coming back to.

116. I can relate to having a ‘rule book’ approach to many things I do. I am opening up to suggestions to try doing things a different way. In the past I have been very resistant to change, but these days I’m finding I am learning much more by being open.

117. The quality I feel in the home is entirely different when I remain connected to my body and allow the space to enjoy the process, but when I rush around to get the cleaning done I am continually walking around in that busy energy I have created in the house, that ends up feeling quite draining on the body.

     1. Anna I know what you mean, when we rush around what we leave behind is that busyness energy, but when we remain connected we leave that stillness behind, so different both energies are. In the stillness there feels more expansion and space.

118. When I approach cleaning feeling like I have to do it, then my body feels tight, hard, tense and awful. But when I approach cleaning with joy it feels entirely different. I feel more energised, I get more done and the space feels amazing.

119. Trust my body, that is huge Johanna, reading this today has clarified my drive to another degree; it’s like I feel I have to push myself because otherwise it just won’t happen but this is just not true, it will happen but maybe not in the way I expect it and if I take my body into the equation, it opens up a space for it to happen in a very different way, one where I might actually enjoy it, not that this is radical! It shouldn’t be I know but in fact it is, so thank you for this very valuable sharing this morning.

120. ‘Slow down – you have to do it, so you might as well enjoy it!” Bingo! In the past I too would rush through my my housework, but these days, I follow my impulses when to do clean out the cupboards or to do the hovering and it always feels perfect timing and effortless.

121. Yes, the nervous energy, drive and emotional forays all stem from pictures that we are holding of how the world is ‘supposed’ to be, and how we are supposed to be, so anything that does not live up to our pictures we can then allow to destroy us – understanding that this is a deliberate choice we are making, investing in pictures, is difficult sometimes to navigate but to truly understand is to be able to dissolve the pictures and step into living truly free.

122. Today we did some DIY at home that has been waiting for a couple of years to be sorted. Small things like hanging a mirror, so pictures and putting a small cupboard up on the wall above where it had been living on a sideboard since we moved in. It is absolutely extraordinary the amount of space that has been created by doing these few simple things. I don’t mean physical space necessarily, its more a feeling of spaciousness that comes with the harmony and flow we can now feel within our home. It’s really highlighted to me how destructive it is to live in delay, and this lesson is something I can now take with me into all areas of my life.

123. It is amazing how space opens up to take care of what ever is there to be attended to, when the push, must do, etc. are dropped. I love this combination of the magical science of allowing.

124. Isn’t it beautiful to become aware of how many images do we play ball to in so many areas of our life and the extent to which they have a grip on us?

125. Most of us could divide life into “must dos” and “wants”, and the supposed trick to life is to create a balance between the two. But that is actually an illusion. The key is to realise that the quality of being should not change between the two. Then life becomes one continuous flow, and perversley what you find is that “time out” taken doing what you want actually exhausts and disconnects you way more than doing what needs to be done. And the more true you are to yourself and to the world, the more you find that you actually get energised by what you previously considered to be work, which is what actually leads to the revelation that taking time out actually does not reinvigorate you like you might like to think. This is not to say one should not take time off, or not go on a holiday, or not take time out, as long as when you are doing those things you do not take time out from your quality of being. And that is the fundamental mistake most make when taking a holiday – it is used as an escape from life, rather than just another activity that can be used to deepen one’s connection to life.

126. the drive and push to get things done according to a schedule is how most of us have learnt to complete tasks and meet deadlines however I am learning that this drive and nervous energy is running a false harming energy, harming not only me but harming of everyone around me and the quality of everything I have done – learning to live from our true quality first takes some practice, but there is nothing to be gained by living without it.

127. Learning that there is a rhythm and flow that is on offer to us each and every day – and we can complete our day in knowing all that was needed to be done was done – not in drive, nervous tension, anxiousness or hardness, but rather in connection with ourselves and the purpose of what is needed in each moment. – this would change our relaitonship completely with work and daily repsonsibilities. . .Seems simple so we need to delve further to uncover why we go to such pains to live the other self-destructive way.

128. One of the reasons why cleaning can seem so burdensome, is because of the amount of ‘stuff’, material possessions ,we amass to excess. Many of us live in homes that feel weighty and heavy because of our consumer junkie habit of buying and stuffing cupboards full of things we don’t need or do not serve us. Paring everything down to the minimum creates a spaciousness that simplifies life and makes our homes a joy to live in and easy to maintain.

129. I loved this sharing Johanna it is a good reminder that we move in moments and if we make all our movements a dance of joy then all our moments will be made of joy.

     1. I love that Kathleen, it’s so simple and full of joy.

130. One of the reasons I delay and dislike hoovering is because the hoover I have is heavy and cumbersome. Much more self-loving is to replace it with one that is light and small. We don’t have to subject ourselves to misery when simple solutions can be found.

131. How we are within affects all that we do. ‘Going through the motions’ or seeing tasks as drudges to be completed quickly is a reflection of how we are in life. Finding a way to bring love and enjoyment to everyday activities, makes life easier for us: our homes love the care and attention we give it and we get to live in a space that is beautifully cared for.

132. This article shares something super sweet, honouring and respectful, and I reckon the world would be a very different place if we applied this approach to everything we do. Thank you.

133. It’s such a great point and awareness Johanna about something you do every week. Rather than rushing through to get things done so you could do something enjoyable, what I got from this is that you made the cleaning enjoyable. And why wouldn’t we be tender and loving in our cleaning just as we may be having a shower or doing something else?

134. Saturday use to be my big day of cleaning and I would push myself through it all so I could have Sunday as my free time day. But when Sunday came around I was exhausted from the day before so it was really not doing me any favours. I now love cleaning through my week and breaking it up into manageable little pockets of play and its a time for me to explore how I move when I clean. I also have much more space on the weekend too.

135. Thank you Johanna , cleaning is as important as listening to your body.

136. What a gorgeous blog Johanna. Thank you for sharing. Chores is a word which we often associate with something burdensome and that we have to do. I love your approach of enjoying them and seeing cleaning as spreading your loveliness around your home. I’m going to try it with my own loveliness 🙂

137. A great learning Johanna. What pressure we put on ourselves sometimes, many of these are old ways of being and ideals and beliefs we may have had for lifetimes!

138. This is a great lesson in moving to an impulse and not from our minds. It’s the difference between control and connection.

     1. So true Kim, after reading this blog I can feel the importance of holding our connection throughout our day.

139. I’m becoming more aware of when I go into a rigidity or hardness in the way I’m doing things and to remember to make it about the quality of connection that I bring to a task first and foremost and the quality that is therefore also left behind!

140. Reading this is a great reminder that the temptation to checkout and separate from ourselves presents in a million forms, and unless we become super honest, whenever we stop one way, another is introduced that we readily follow. Thanks to the simple tools presented by Universal Medicine life becomes a steady unfolding of awareness and the mastery of staying connected and unaffected by the pressures and spin of a world that wants you to be anything but that.

141. This is something I am still learning how to do, but it makes a world of difference to live from that simple connection and impulse rather than the drive and nervous energy/ stress to force the body to get through the day. I have learned the hard way that this is deeply harming on the body and something we do not really get away with. Far better to lose the investment and live in the presence and true quality of each moment, and needs to be done will be done.

     1. Yes, because the quality of the last moment informs the next: drive and tension begets more drive and tension; tenderness and respect inspires more tenderness and respect.

142. This is inspiring to look at cleaning chores in a different way, with a more loving flow and presence. I use to get caught up in the same way, like a military operation, but now I go with the feel of my body. I will clean one area and then do something for myself and then another and it could be done in a day or over a few days. I also get help when I seem to have to much other things on, I no longer put the pressure on myself.

143. In the quotes at the top of this blog, there is this burdensome quality to them – a quality I know very well because I have lived with these thoughts for so long, and so I know that they do not serve us as people, they do not support us, they in fact only serve to pull us down and to deny the actual love that we have for ourselves and the space we live in.

144. This is lovely Johanna. I too can get fixated with doing things in a certain way and being quite rigid with myself. I am finding that mixing things up a bit and letting go of my tight grip on the reigns is much more fun and things start to flow in a different way. Finishing things in one go is no longer a drive I have.

145. “My house cleaning chores no longer felt like chores but lovely little moments where I was able to spread my loveliness around our home” – this feels truly lovely. I recently came to realise how I ‘think’ and plan,try and be organized and efficient and, how that actually stops the flow of what could be available, and I was shortchanging myself with that approach, and what you share here is a different way of movement all together, and I love how that feels to me.

146. Self awareness is such a key in connecting to the wisdom of the body Johanna! Letting the body lead opens up the space to complete what needed. I love how this happens and how the mind responds!

147. What a beautiful blog to re-vist Johanna –there is a lovely feeling of everything flowing so effortlessly and harmoniously when in alignment with your body as you describe. Developing that deeper level of trust with yourself is so awesome!
     “I have felt a deeper level of appreciation in my ability to Trust… trust my body, trust my feelings, trust myself and the rest (including cleaning my house!), will fall into place”.

148. Indeed we are allowed to enjoy everything that we do, and there is no rule or anything like that that says that we are not allowed to enjoy working, so we have to admit that this thought is something of our own making. If this is so them we can also choose to bring enjoyment in work, and playfully see where it will bring us.

149. ‘Enjoy it’ these are words we rarely think about when we have things that must be done, and yet, these exact words were in my head recently as I went down to the operating theatre for a surgical procedure. Those two words enabled me to reconnect within and feel my body, relax and surrender to what was about to happen. It made a huge difference to my anxiousness and the operation went smoothly.

150. From what you have shared it is clear to see how any ideals and beliefs that we hold onto, only keep us from being fully present with ourselves, and as such appreciating the joy that comes from being in connection to our essence with whatever we do. As such, and as you have shown, every moment can be enjoyed with the presence of our glorious being, as we can feel that there is no other place we would truly rather to be.

151. I love the feeling of doing housework after work, it’s the feeling of taking that commitment from your day at work, into your home life and into what truly supports you to go forward into the next day. The rhythm of life is amazing.

152. In a nutshell we have a choice in how we clean (or do anything) we can clean from our head or we can clean from our heart.

153. I’m sure we have all fallen victim to succumbing to ticking boxes in a task orientated fashion and yet in doing so we deny ourselves the opportunity to truly connect and enjoy what we are doing when we do it…. so I just love the concept and how supportive it is to no longer do chores, but embrace instead little moments to spread your loveliness around the home.

154. Being very organised and competent myself, I am good at getting things done. So, doing ‘what is needed’ – but according to what? Is the question I am increasingly becoming aware of lately. Am I connected to the deepest truth I feel inside me, or is it already a pre-conceived image? Being good at ‘doing things’ I feel I have often deceived myself that I am enjoying them.

155. Cleaning the home is a beautiful blessing for it, and all whom reside inside it.

156. Trusting how we feel in our bodies despite what we think is good or is the right way is a super lesson with ourselves. It is a deep honoring and understanding of ourselves, rather than being bound by shoulds. It is an opening of trust with ourselves and also with others.

157. It doesn’t always happen to to me when I clean, but when it does I love it when the chores through being gentle and with myself become enjoyable, and when these things do align the results are clearly seen and felt.

158. This is such a beautiful example of how honouring our body supports us and that when we do this everything else falls into place. Moments are always presented to us to choose to love and cherish ourselves. It is entirely our choice as to whether we do this or not.

159. A space that has been lovingly cleaned and cleared of clutter feels amazing. This is some thing I have always noticed but now I have a greater understanding of how healing it really is particularly when it is not rushed and conscious presence is brought to the task. This has showed me that we all know energetically that to clear, clean and order a space that we occupy no matter what it is, changes the energy in that space.

160. We can so easily put the focus on what we do and how much we do rather than on ourselves and how we feel when we are doing it. The quality gets lost when we lose ourselves and just do by rote. A great reminder to be present and allow ourselves to enjoy all of our activities even those we may have considered chores.

161. It is a chore to live anything less than the love that we are and how we move will determine whether we express this love or inhibit it. A simple act such as cleaning our house can contain all we need in that moment to evolve. Therefore it is our movements that determine whether we are choosing to be in evolution or not.

     1. Very true Liane, it’s our moment to moment movements that determine whether we choose to evolve or not, and every moment has an offering.

162. Johanna, I love how the time appears when we surrender to our bodies rhythm.

163. Understanding that it is the little things that count… It is the attention to detail that can be really important and when this is understood somehow it seems that the bigger picture takes care of itself… This is very useful understanding as sometimes, if life tends to be a little overwhelming, if we start with the little things then the tide of overwhelm can subside and we can return to clarity and focus.

164. This is inspiring, it is just a choice to make the chore into a joufull celebration of our love. Thank you.

165. I loved what you discovered about doing the cleaning on Friday so you could have the weekend free. I can relate to that and for me it comes with the mentality of going hard to get something done so I can reward myself with time off. This is how most of us work, running around in stress and busyness at work, justifying working in this way, as we can rest when we get home. But this turns home into recuperation/recovery time rather than time to enjoy and connect with family/friends.

166. I remember when I started to find exactly the same thing, that even though I was doing things gently (which does feel amazing) if I wasn’t doing them in their natural timing they didn’t feel right and my body ended up not feeling. Then I have to override my body just to get the job done and tick it off my list. Over and over I find that what seems like the perfect time in my head is not the perfect time for my body. When I trust that, I always find the perfect time does appear when I least expect it.

     1. That is true – I get many surprises listening to my body.

     2. I must admit all too often I still see cleaning my home as a tick box exercise, so your comment Fiona is a great opportunity for me to consider doing it another way and in connection with me.

167. When we move in trust and connection we feel all has is in Divine timing.

168. When we see life as a task we must do and tick off, wow we are already lost because we embark without the care, the pleasure and joy we are designed to naturally know. So of course things will become hard, difficult and something we would rather put off – no wonder we push through to get to something we would rather do. I’m feeling what you present Johanna applies to all of life. With connection, there is fun, joy and warmth like the sun in my heart; but without connection it doesn’t matter what it is, it just becomes another item on a list.

169. Thank you Johanna. This blog came to visit me today and I knew that there was a direct message for me in here. I find that doing chores makes me feel like a ‘good’ person. Ticking everything off the list regardless of the energy I have used to ‘make it happen’ how lovely to be reminded that we can choose to enjoy ourselves while we clean and appreciate the fact that we are just as lovely whether we ‘get the job done’ or not.

170. I am following the impulses from my body and as I do, the body provides even more and is a confirmation of my daily choices in deepening my self-care and choosing to live a simple life through The Way of The Livingness presented by Serge Benhyon and Universal Medicine.

171. I have felt a deeper level of appreciation in my ability to Trust… trust my body, trust my feelings, trust myself and the rest (including cleaning my house!), will fall into place. Trust is such an important quality to develop and deepen especially trusting our feelings. And with regards to house cleaning, I love tidy and organised spaces, and always clean up after meals, as it does not feel good to leave a mess for someone else. And what is great, I just get an impulse that today I need to clean out my cupboards, and so I do as I honour what I am feeling which makes it such a pleasure to do in that moment.

172. That rule book is a dangerous thing! It binds us, it delineates something that is trying to be spherical and it does not allow for what we feel. And I’m not talking about slipping into indulgence or comfort… but simply responding to how we are feeling and knowing that there is always the space to get things done.

173. The shift from getting things done to making loving choices guided by our bodies is huge as are the consequences for ourselves and others. When we slow down and reconnect with ourselves and feel how we are moving in life we realise just how draining and abusive we have actually been with ourselves and this is what we were emanating to the world. When we connect and make loving choices life flows and we reflect love to humanity.

174. I could really feel how the rigidity I hold myself in around tasks means that the activity or chore is not nurturing for me at all, yet as you show in your blog it actually can be. We just need to listen to ourselves, be open to how and when we feel to do things, and allow the full expression of our love to be present in all that we do. Thankyou Johanna.

175. I was just discussing my love of order, simplicity and attention to detail, so it’s no wonder I enjoy cleaning and placing things in their right place even at the right angle. I have always called this
     re-imprinting and bringing a bit of Love to an item or room, this was even before Universal Medicine as I always felt everything has a purpose in the overall scheme of things, and I could clearly feel the balance and Harmony once finished.

176. Yes we may be fulfilling our objectives but where is the joy? And how are we as we do whatever we do? I am forever clocking that my movements could be done with more care and a deeper level of love and when I allow myself to drop to that deeper level the joy is there.

177. Yesterday was one such day for me Johanna, I didn’t have an agenda at all but just went from one task to another, some were not even on my radar to do, like tidying the garden shed or cleaning out the gully trap but as things presented I responded. The one connection I was very aware of throughout was how easily my body was responding, and the joy of simply moving with a flow that was felt and very honouring.

178. Great to re-read your blog Johanna. i used to be so task oriented – believing I needed to get things done – and bashing myself if I didn’t complete my to-do list. ” I have felt a deeper level of appreciation in my ability to Trust… trust my body, trust my feelings, trust myself and the rest (including cleaning my house!), will fall into place.” beautiful. Learning to feel into what my body is telling me – and honouring it, so that enables things to get done at a gentler and more enjoyable pace.

179. It is easy to get on a roll when doing the chores as it feels so great to have everything clean and clear, but if it is at the expense of my body that is not enjoyable. My body always lets me know, and listening is the key.

180. Awesome Johanna! This is so great. I’ve read many examples of people experimenting with this approach and it inspires me everytime. So what stops me from choosing it for myself I wonder?
     I’m so chore driven and I often don’t enjoy what I’m doing, but that little sentence that came to you makes complete and utter sense. If you know you have to do it, why not make it fun! Something for me to ponder on today and every day!!

181. This is a particularly appropriate blog for me to read today. I love how you show Johanna that we live in a way that we think is full or order, but is actually chaos. For we listen to lists and rules, and arbitrary harsh ideals of what we think we must achieve. When in reality there is actually a complete design, a perfect arrangement of things that align. All we need to do is simply listen to our own internal guide instead of petulantly hitting over-ride.

182. ‘Slow down – you have to do it, so you might as well enjoy it!’ this is great as we often find it easy to focus on ticking off the list without the depth of quality we could be applying to everything.

183. This blog is absolute gold Johanna. I have been very sick for the last 4 days and today I have started to be able to get up and move around. There is a part of me that wants to make up for lost time and launch myself into cleaning as I have much to catch up on and yet my body will not allow me to do this. Letting go of outcomes is key. I know that it will support me far more to appreciate myself and what I bring to cleaning as I begin to put my surrounds back in order.

     1. ‘my body will not allow me to do’, a confirmation if ever Leonne of how much you honour your body and what it is communicating. I am feeling just how much our bodies work with us and provides us with so much guidance when we follow those silent but very clear impulses and communications from our body.

184. Good call – how many of us have felt these things, had those beliefs and images and how many of us felt actually pressured by it?? Well, I guess more then we actually would like to see.. We can also state that many people experience that these pressures are ij more then this cleaning area in life , but maybe more of even all. I have had a lot of ideals,images and beliefs about daily things in life and still I have – finding out that those are actually not true, every single day.. But I had not come to feeling the constant real difference between feelings and ideals,beliefs and images without Serge Benhayon. I would have sensed some feelings I had but they felt most of the time mixed up with those pressures I had towards myself (images,ideals, beliefs etc.etc.). It was simple: since I felt the connection to my body my breath and my heart (feeling a warmth in my chest area) I began to feel all those falls illustrations I had about life and me in it.. This was the moment were I started to expose all the lies that I was living. A beautiful thing. As I begun to feel free,myself and real, and still.. And I know many are doing too since they met Serge Benhayon (through Universal Medicine). So my absolute thanks to Everything that Serge brings to earth.

185. Johanna lovely to read how much more flexible you are now with your chores and not doing them in one go at the expense of your body, but listening to how your body feels and what your body feels capable of doing, when we override our body it isn’t long before we realise that we pushed too hard.

186. When we slow down and spread our chores out, or ask for help from the rest of the family our body is not overloaded on one particular day, and I have found that by asking the rest of the family there is more appreciation and a willingness by everyone to keep the house tidy through the the week.

187. I love reading this blog again. I recently realised I go into a push and drive when I am cleaning so reading this is so supportive for me, “Slow down – you have to do it, so you might as well enjoy it!” When I finish cleaning I notice I wasn’t feeling myself, I get grumpy easily and feel tired. So, what I have been learning to do is to check how my body feels, does it feel hard while I am moving around cleaning, what are my thoughts and am I really enjoying and appreciating what I am doing? These simple check in points really supports me to not feel tired or feel disconnected after cleaning. I didn’t realise the energy I chose to clean in was harming my body as well as affecting the energy of my house. It is awesome to be aware of this and allow myself to choose a more loving and gentle way to clean, like you’ve shared, ‘I was able to spread my loveliness around our home’. Amazing and to appreciate what we bring when we clean from a loving energy.

188. I love the practical example of how you can bring trust into your life. It is well worth building that relationship as I am sure it changes how exhausted we feel as we learn not to push against our bodies natural resources

189. A beautiful example of choosing to be with you in whatever you are doing so that it does not matter if you are cleaning the house, brushing your teeth, preparing a meal or going for a walk – even doing the ironing!

190. There are so many times during the day that I can find myself in my head thinking of the next 20 things I need to do, or even thinking about next week or month. But then when I stop with the incessant thoughts and feel my body again, I come back to focus and purpose in what is needed in that moment.

191. I feel driven and controlling when I am running with rules and beliefs of what needs doing. I find when it comes to the weekend it’s like there is a rule book, that who knows who made it anyway, and its expected that all these things should get done. It shows how affected we are when we allow anything from the outside to influence us and our natural impulses. I will remember this blog while cleaning the house tomorrow.

192. Thank you Johanna. I have noticed the same pattern of drive present when I go to the gym to exercise. If I push myself to complete a pre set workout program my body winds up feeling very sore and shut down. When I honour what my body truly needs it feels light and expansive.

193. I like this. It’s a great analogy for the whole of life and will bring joy to the most mundane of tasks.

194. Thank you Johanna for showing us that we don’t need to put that level of pressure on ourselves in any area of our lives. To take the time to listen to our bodies and respect the answer is to get the job done without forcing the issue and causing harm and fatigue. Your experience of feeling into your body and doing just what feels right in that moment joyfully, results in that lovely energy within ourselves and our home that we can all feel.

     1. So true Roslyn. This blog shows that the exhaustion we accumulate by pushing ourselves unnecessarily is completely avoidable if we truly appreciate what we bring to what we do and let go of our attachment to outcomes.

195. The house we live in can at times turn in to a real mess. It seems that no mater how much I tidy and clean there is a gang of children and dogs coming up behind me spreading mess everywhere. At times I can get very frustrated about it because I do not understand why they do it when it will just be them who has to clear it up. But the best part is that I am learning how to bring cleaning in to life so that it is a part of the everyday, not something that defines my worth as a good parent or woman, I just clean as I go. I feels great and has become a marker for my level of awareness, because when the house gets messy again, I know that I am not choosing to be aware of it and so I need to stop and address what is going on.

     1. Awesome Shami. The state of our home is always an indicator of the way that energy is playing out for us. Making cleaning a part of our everyday is a beautiful commitment that allows us to address things before they get out of hand.

196. This is beautiful Johanna, what you share is to me that we can trust on our bodies as it knows exactly how to do things in a rhythm that respects the body and will not allow for any abuse. This is so lovely to read and brings relaxation to my whole body as I have that tendency too to stick to some pre planned activities while at that particular moment it may feel absolutely not appropriate to do for my body.

197. “Slow down – you have to do it, so you might as well enjoy it!” A great reminder Johanna to honour ourselves no matter what we are doing and not too rush anything we do or we miss the opportunity altogether.

198. This is great to read, as I too have been a task master to get the cleaning done and all in one go, leaving myself tired and exhausted after every long days at work. I have now allow myself to get some support to with the cleaning, a lot more honouring.

199. The level of care and attention in every detail is so worthwhile – it makes a massive difference how we approach things, something I am learning in many aspects of life

200. What a great way to reimprint cleaning – I know I tend to be very outcome based with this – rather than gentle and allowing things to unfold without time pressures as my focus. It’s really important that I focus on how I clean, not what I clean, and how worth that fresh open support I am!

201. Our circumstances are always changing so its important to constantly feel what feels right and make changes in accordance to the impulse of the body

202. Johanna I did not realize until I have read your blog on cleaning how I too have changed the way I clean my home. I have taken out the drive and I should do it a certain way in a certain time frame. My style is more how I feel to clean, what and when in respect to me. Everything does feel better, especially myself.

203. “I could see and feel the care and tenderness I had left behind in each room from my loving touch.” This shows so beautifully how the care we bring to ourselves will be then with everything we do and thus leaves it’s trail of care wherever we go.

204. So awesome to read your blog again Johanna. I have always struggled to keep my house clean consistently, I tend to have spurts of cleaning and tidying up, and then I stop because I was making it a chore instead of enjoying it. I realise when I clean I still go into drive and even resentment which stems from my childhood. Realising this has helped me immensely to shift the way I move and to be aware of my thoughts and check in with how my body feels while cleaning. So thank you for reminding me to be loving, gentle and feel the joy in cleaning instead of overwhelm. The key is to stay connected to myself with everything that I do, to not compartmentalize one thing as being more important than another but make every movement an expression of joy.

205. Thank you Johanna, for a very timely blog, I am intending to do some cleaning today, although I am not as driven as I once was, I still loose myself in the task, so today I will be much more aware to feel me and the gentleness I bring to every movement and enjoy being me.

206. Johanna, I must admit to going about the house cleaning in a pretty routine ‘it has to be done’ kind of way but you blog has given me a different outlook on how I could be going about this task in a much gentler way. It’s very easy to see these types of mundane tasks as things to be ‘gotten out of the way’ rather than as opportunities to build an appreciation of ourselves and our environment. I know there are many factors that create the home environment, but I can feel the difference in my own home that cleaning can have so thank you for a reminder to make this task one of an expression of love.

207. Since reading this blog, my approach to cleaning the house has changed. These days I just follow my impulse. I see something needs cleaning and instead of heaving a deep sigh at the thought of it as yet another chore that will now weigh down on me, I just get on and do it then and there. This way things don’t build up into a gargantuan spring clean deal and the house just shows me where, what and when next. It’s been great to break the consciousness of believing cleaning the house has to be an all-encompassing thing, with every room, every surface, nook and cranny requiring attention in the same hit. Following my impulse means I can truly enjoy the process of bringing something back to its sparkly original whilst not dishonouring my body by expecting it to go through a full house-cleaning workout.

     1. What a great way to approach cleaning. I have started to do the same and found it works so well. As soon as I see or feel something needs attention and I do it without hesitation and things gets done in no time.

     2. “It’s been great to break the consciousness of believing cleaning the house has to be an all-encompassing thing, with every room, every surface, nook and cranny requiring attention in the same hit.” Yes, this is a massive breakthrough. I too used to think housecleaning had to be done in one go to the littlest detail and even though I had always liked cleaning I so often ended up feeling overwhelmed as I had this picture in my head how I had to go about it. And this applies to so many thing in life, we have a picture we want to fulfil instead of living by the natural rhythms and flow of our bodies.

208. Its true …! I actually enjoy cleaning at home now, what was once a chore that would be put of as often as possible , is now something that I know helps me reconnect to my inner self … what a turnaround.

209. How exquisite Johanna to spread our loveliness around our homes as we clean for everyone to feel as they enter.

210. Johanna thank you for living this and writing about it. It is absolutely beautiful to feel that we can enjoy everything if it is true for us do it in that moment. When I am not enjoying something it is clear that I am pushing myself or simply not appreciating what I can bring to it.

     1. Wise words Leonne Sharkey. When we are aware that every movement is a chosen quality, no activity can be enjoyed or not enjoyed for it’s own sake. It is a choice! This is incredibly empowering.

211. Johanna your words ‘What if I used the lovely gift of ‘self talk’, appreciating myself as I clean with how I am cleaning, and how lovely I am re-arranging the things on the tabletops?’ This is such a great way of staying present whilst cleaning, and being able to enjoy it at the same time.

212. Great blog Johanna – how often we fall into sorting our lives into compartments when in truth we bring our fullness to all we are and live. Time to make the choice to make it simple and claim the steadiness and holding we are all able to bring and make this our commitment to life.

213. ‘I began to question the way of thinking that I had adopted and the beliefs I had around chores and cleaning my house… who would have thought that we could have so many ideals and beliefs about cleaning?’ Johanna I love the way you have spread out your chores to a more manageable time frame rather than trying to do them all on one day.

214. I could sense the integrity and care you applied in cleaning your house Johanna, it didn’t sound like a chore and I would imagine it was a beautiful space you created for yourself

215. ‘My house cleaning chores no longer felt like chores but lovely little moments where I was able to spread my loveliness around our home.’ Thank you Johanna this is such a beautiful reminder to appreciate myself in all I do and let go of the energy of needing to get something done.

216. Thank you Johanna, I really loved reading your blog to day as I am considering doing some cleaning, I am inspired by your words, to enjoy and trust my body as I go about my cleaning “Slow down – you have to do it, so you might as well enjoy it!” I have felt a deeper level of appreciation in my ability to Trust… trust my body, trust my feelings, trust myself and the rest (including cleaning my house!), will fall into place.”

217. When we focus on ticking a box or completion to get an ‘end result’ it is a great indication that we are missing the simple pleasure of enjoying us in what we do. There is nothing it seems we cannot apply this insight to. Thank you Johanna.

     1. Yes Joseph great reminder to enjoy the simple pleasure of being with ourselves whatever we are doing.

218. This is an absolute perfect blog for me to read this morning, I can relate to so much of what you say. Today is my usual clean the flat day and I can feel the ‘need’ to get it done and dusted out of the way, yet your blog has reminded me of the importance of actually enjoying it, being with me and appreciating the task. Thank you Johanna I will approach this a whole lot differently now.

219. I find that it’s sometimes easy to fall back into ticking of a list (not only in relation to cleaning but any activity at work, other projects etc.), but that there are always consequences when I over-ride my body to do this (i.e. such as waking up tired the next day, feeling resentful, getting cranky or impatient with others etc.). The key has, and always is, to listen to my body and allow this to be the guide to completing tasks, and not to be led by my head!

220. “Slow down, you have to do it so you might as well enjoy it!” I love this Johanna. How many tedious jobs have I rushed to get through in order to do something else! So completely checking out from the present….. Choosing to stay with myself regardless of whatever I need to do now has added impetus from re-reading your blog. Thankyou.

221. Thank you Johanna, for a great blog, I just realise now how the word chore feels to me, it feels like something I have to get done, something to cross off my list. Like you, I have started to clean here and there as the moment presents itself, instead of working through a major clean, leaving me tired and exhausted. I love these words ” I have felt a deeper level of appreciation in my ability to Trust… trust my body, trust my feelings, trust myself and the rest (including cleaning my house!), will fall into place.”

222. Great blog Johanna, what an awesome way to clean, work and do our chores, with awareness, love and care. I too often clean or garden with a mission to get it done and forget to check in with my body how it feels and how hard I was using my body. Your blog is a great reminder for me to be gentle and loving in every way I move.

223. I love the simplicity and wisdom shared in this blog Johanna, when we bring joy to anything we do the quality of our movements are beautiful and makes any chore more enjoyable.

224. I find that when my thoughts come in that I have to get things done, then I can feel an anxiousness creep in. As soon as I reconnect back to myself, my stillness, the anxiousness goes and I know everything will flow, I have no set structure, but I am able to get through my task in a more loving and gentle way without feel stressed. I get more done when I am connected to my stillness and in that flow.

225. Christmas is coming and I am on holiday. There are many cleaning chores I have left till now because of having such a busy work schedule. Doing the whole house feels too big and so I have not made a start. Reading your blog this morning Johanna has encouraged me to focus on doing one small task at a time. Of course I don’t have to do it all in one go. Why do I put myself under such pressure? Inspired by your blog, this is an old habit and one I can focus on replacing.

     1. I am the same Debra. I have a massive task ahead to clean. What I am realising is that this is reflecting to me how I put this off due to my lack of self-worth and not prioritising to focus on this area of my life. It also reflects to me the disregard I have for myself and my space, so by healing and working on my lack of self-worth, I know I will then make time to create an environment that reflects who I am and where I am at. This blog is a great reminder to take it a step at a time and not get overwhelmed but do it lovingly and gently.

226. Moving house and cleaning – big lesson this week and how the body does not like to be pushed into that stress of getting everything done all in one go and at the same time, leaving things in boxes and ‘putting it off for later’ is equally unsupportive! What this last week has shown me is that it is far more supportive to accept that we can’t do everything all in one go, order takes time and is a constant cycle and flow. Living life and in a home as ‘clean’ or ‘dirty feels very jerky and rigid and stressful as we go from one state to the other. The body knows this flow and is accepting of it and when I choose to let go of that push to get everything done I can join in on the acceptance which feels so much lighter than the tension of getting it all done to achieve the picture of ‘clean and tidy’.

227. I had an extremely busy week last week, I could feel how if I didn’t observe myself I would go into stress mode to try and achieve goals that I had set up for myself, about my house work and keeping it in a state that I felt supportive. Instead I stayed aware of my usual tendencies, stayed with my body remembering that my movement was the only way to prevent the stress mode from entering. I kept a close on myself, if I noticed a goal being set I’d check whether it was realistic or necessary. I manage to get through the week with no stress mode, set a new maker for how I function in terms of my week and break my own illusion that I need to do all these thing as fast as I can just to get them done.

     1. Brilliant kimweston2, this is the key to reducing stress from what you’ve shared. By bringing awareness to how we move and our thoughts, helps us connect to our body. When we are connected to our body and by feeling our every move, being consciously present, the quality of what we do is incredible. Stress cannot enter when we are connected to our body and by gently and lovingly carrying out our tasks.

     2. Gorgeous kimwesteon2. I love those times when I connect to my body as my guide and especially if I can feel a tendency to become anxious or stressed. I don’t always stay with my body however I am so much more aware of the tool that it is to support me.

228. “Slow down – you have to do it, so you might as well enjoy it!” – I love it. I have experienced trying to get things done as quickly as possible especially when I don’t really like what I am supposed to do, and it actually adds even more stress and I am likely to overlook some details and have to revisit it again later.

     1. I love this part you highlighted Fumiyo. I agree, I notice I make a lot more mistakes when I am under stress and trying to do things fast but the quality is not present. It feels awful to function this way and we seem to leave quality and integrity behind when we are driven to just get the job done love-lessly.

229. Such a simple expression… starting to enjoy something that has always been a chore or a drudge, and yet so much is revealed in this and this alone can be an inspiration for so many people.

230. I was recently given some great advice, which was to do one thing at a time, and this made me realise how often I was rushing one thing to get on to the next, when I did concentrate on doing one thing, it created space for the next.

231. Just gorgeous to re-read this blog today Johanna, adding a ‘loving touch’ to my day!

232. Love this! I’m inspired to experiment with what I normally hold out as a gargantuan task to do the whole house in one morning and instead break it into tender moments where I can ‘spread my loveliness around’ rather than putting my body into an ‘outcome-based drivenness’. I notice that I tend to follow my impulse anyway, cleaning certain areas of the house when I feel it’s needed. When I do it this way, it’s always a gentler experience, one where I feel I’ve really nurtured the space and where my body feels just as energised when I’ve finished as when I started. So maybe my body’s trying to tell me something…

     1. So true Cathy and where does the belief come from that we need to have it all done at one time? Just so we can take a big sigh and say ‘That’s done for another week!’

233. Johanna, what you have shared is making me ponder on my Friday nights routine and where they are coming from. I tend to have list to do on Friday night so I am “free” in the weekend. I am going to do this differently this week and totally be with me , feeling my body as I go. I love the way opportunities opened up for you during the day to allow you to complete what was needed- magical moments!

234. Johanna you make some great points, when we don’t enjoy something we are doing, we are cleaning in resentment or frustration and we leave that imprint all round the house. I have found when I break the chores down they fall into my natural rhythm and it’s no big deal, and by doing small bits throughout the week, I’m not left with the whole thing to do on any one day. It feels so much more self loving, for me and the house.

235. It feels weird to say it, because I always used to try and avoid it, but I enjoy cleaning. The feeling I get coming into a place I know is clean is always a support. What I like about the blog, is this difference between ‘getting the job done’ to actually enjoying the process as well. That is my next step.

     1. Same here simonwilliams8, I too enjoy cleaning as I find it a super support when my house is clean and organised with things in their place…. because otherwise, it can be a distraction for me, in that no matter what I am doing, in the back of my mind I know I still have to attend to the unclean space or room, etc.

     2. Yes SImonwilliams8, ditto. I’m not there yet with enjoying the process. I have a preset idea in my head that cleaning is a chore and so therefore not something to be enjoyed. I might experiment with that today.

236. What a gorgeous blog Johanna. I feel inspired to do a spot of cleaning now!

237. Trying to get everything done in the set time we have placed onto it sometimes can feel like a huge pressure. That ‘I have to get everything done right now!’ mentality feels horrible. But coming back to the body I am learning that it knows how to prioritise and I find that when I focus on my body and the quality of what I am doing there are less mistakes or delays, I feel sharper and more focused and tasks get done quicker which opens up the space for other tasks to be completed. Whereas trying to multitask and cram all my chores into a tight gap just doesn’t work. I loved how you took to your dusting by focusing on enjoying it Johanna, something I am going to play with today at work! Thank you.

     1. I like your comment Leigh reading it I could feel how we fill the space with stress and function and leave no room for flow, trust and enjoyment.

        1. Exactly Kim and when our space is full of stress it’s like nothing gets done, even if we push ourselves into overdrive. Yes we can get a lot done but in those instances I have always felt like nothing has been done and the to-do list is even bigger than before!

        2. That is my experience to Leigh, once we allow that energy in it finds many things that ‘need’ doing and pushes us in to overdrive.

238. I really enjoyed reading this blog as it was a reminder for me to feel from my body what needs to be done in any moment. This has been a difficult concept for me as in the past I was always thinking about what I needed to do, with total disregard for my body. Just trusting in myself that I will feel when the right moment is to do things has been a big step. Once we connect to our bodies and trust in what we feel can we then let go of our beliefs and expectations around tasks that need to be done.

239. I Love this Johanna – all of it, the taking the drive out, the trusting that when making it about quality, the spaces will open up to make all that is needed possible with the much deeper care.
     It really is true when you say: “who would have thought that we could have so many ideals and beliefs about cleaning?” I can really relate to this statement. Just some of the beliefs are the way we view cleaning. Cleaning is seen as function, something undesirable and not enjoyable, something as a career that is at the ‘bottom of the ladder’ – when in fact it has the potential to be something with so much power, totally freeing spaces of past imprints and impositions, and allowing the spaciousness that is possible for a loving flow of the people who utilize the space, and even those who just pass by, and beyond that, lightening the load on our planet having to carry all the imprints of anger, arguments and much much more. We can use cleaning as another self branding identity, like in the town I live, being a ‘green’, or ‘eco- friendly’ cleaner and not using many chemicals – but do we stop much to consider the quality we are in, the care of the way we clean, our presence and the actual heavenly potential of this committed, loving, space liberating task.
     Thank you Johanna for the chance to take another look at all this – I can feel another level of joy in this super supportive and powerful big picture part of life.

240. I had a day off today and I mowed the lawn and did my washing in the tender and caring way you have described Johanna, it feels awesome

241. “Slow down – you have to do it, so you might as well enjoy it!” I have to admit over the last few years I have increasingly resented cleaning my home. It just seemed to be an endless and thankless activity that as soon as it was done, needed doing again. Of course with this mindset there was the inevitable barrier of procrastination that was thwarting me from even starting the process with the quality it deserved – the old I’ll do it tomorrow game plan. But when that tomorrow came and I did start cleaning, I would rush the whole process with a speedy gonzales tick box mentality just to try and get it over with. I am well aware my actual ticks could have been done with alittle bit more attention to quality and the boxes definitely could of done with an extra dose of love and care. A beautiful blog Johanna that has inspired me to polish up how I clean. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

242. By applying so much pressure upon ourselves into getting jobs done in the pursuit of trying to find time to do other things or simply rest and be still. I remember well getting a little heavy with the seriousness of spreading myself so thinly into getting everything done to only find more jobs presented themselves and get in the way of completing said first job. Putting so much pressure upon myself. It is truly a time to celebrate when chores seem no longer like a chore but a gentle flow to a part of our day and as you share Johanna to trust and honour what our bodies tell us so clearly – appreciation soon follows.

243. If you have to do it, you might as well enjoy it.
     Words of reason if I haven’t heard them before.

     It does take a deep trust in yourself to know that what needs to get done will get done.

     I don’t mean that they will magically get done. They still need the manual labour as any activity does require.

     However it is done in a way that isn’t done from a ideal that it needs to be done in a certain way or time at the expense of our well-being.

     It is done in a way that is respectful of ourselves.

     1. To enjoy it as well…. Just the word ‘chore’ will illicit a slight groan because of all the ideals I have about a regular task that requires me to have to do it. To enjoy it as well. Phew, that would be life changing!

        1. It would and is something I’ve yet to master. I’m glad I’m aware of it.

           I guess it comes close to the saying “make lemons into lemonade”. However I’ve become one to eat the lemon whole and enjoy it 😉

     2. ‘It does take a deep trust in yourself to know that what needs to get done will get done’. These too are words of wisdom that I couldn’t agree more with. It’s the foundation to all we do including our house work.

        1. Agree Kimweston2, I think I may have been thinking about housework when I was writing that ;). Among other things…

244. We are all practitioners of our home, who clean and clear ready for the next imprint. It’s remembering that we are giving ourselves, and all that enter our home a healing when we clean in our innermost.

245. To me having trust and staying with me is always work in progress while cleaning my house. It seems to be a major thing that takes me away with thoughts, stress and drive. Having 2 young kids adds to the amount of chores that need tending too. I know in my being how important it is for my whole household that I practice being with myself as I move around my home. I feel and know that all that I do leaves an imprint for all to feel, be it gentle or stressful.

246. ““Slow down – you have to do it, so you might as well enjoy it!”” I love this Johanna. As someone who has a tendency to do things quickly, slowing down to appreciate all I am doing in the moment has become very important for me. I still have a tendency to get chores done so I can get onto ‘more important’ things. What an illusion – as everything we do – and the quality in which we do – is important.

247. ‘My house cleaning chores no longer felt like chores but lovely little moments where I was able to spread my loveliness around our home.’ Johanna, great blog. After reading it I almost look forward to cleaning my house. Not tonight though but when one of those moments presents itself :).

248. I have found that when I don’t push through or hurry, space definitely opens up to complete all that is necessary – and it feels lovely. Great sharing, Johanna.

249. This is a beautiful example of how to fully honour your body and not push through to get something done despite what your body is saying. In the past I lived like this all the time but since attending Universal Medicine presentations and courses now regard my body very differently from how I did when growing up and as an adult always striving to achieve. Thank you for the inspiring and insightful read 🙂

     1. Love this Julie: “This is a beautiful example of how to fully honour your body and not push through to get something done despite what your body is saying.”

     2. There is a lot our bodies can show us if we take our minds out of the driving seat. To take our time and be present in what we are doing is a very natural way for the body to be, and it is only the mind that blocks this. What we have here – in knowing this, is an opportunity to live in a different way, and this example of cleaning the house is a great one – to not see it as a task to do, but rather as a movement of our bodies.

250. Great sharing Johanna, I am learning to trust my body too and this is changing my perspective of what is important and what not. I just have cleaned my bathroom and the toilet and I did it with feeling my body, appreciating feeling my own loveliness but also appreciating how beautiful our bathroom and everything in there is and that it deserves my gentle way of cleaning.

     1. Yes Annelies, our house deserves our gentle way of cleaning and we deserve to live in a house that is cleaned with gentleness. I remember in the past I would judge my house not being quite up to standards and it is great to experience truly appreciating my house after I handled it with loving care. Old or new it is all about the energy it is carrying.

     2. Annelies when I read your comment here I felt a deep appreciation for you and the impact that such love and attention to your space has, not only on you as you live in it, but it leaves an imprint for me and everyone to feel and mark. Thank you.

251. Trusting in the body to lead the way and trusting that it will all fall into a rhythm that encompasses all that needs to be, is so beautifully harmonious. I love what you have shared Johanna. The lesson of this is very clear and loving. We are well supported for each necessary thing to do to have a time and place and rhythm. We just have to be aware of the impulse and move to it.

252. Wow this was gorgeous to read and so beautiful to feel. Our way of being in the world is something we get to choose every moment of the day, and yes its not about what we do but how we do it, then nothing needs to be drag or a burden anymore but a pleasure, a pleasure to be who we are.

253. To me it is always magic if I trust and let go of when I have to do or finish things how the perfect timing presents itself. all I have to do is go along with that, effortless. Whereas the completing my to do list without allowing myself to feel what my body is telling me takes a lot of energy and is very tiring.

254. ‘trust my body, trust my feelings, trust myself and the rest (including cleaning my house!), will fall into place.’ – so true Johanna. I can relate to the drive that comes with thinking the when you get this done or that done then I will be able to relax and be me. It really does not feel great. When in fact, as you have beautifully shared, we can be with ourselves with all that we do and enjoy spreading our loveliness around.

     1. What you share here exposes an old and common mentality Carola: “I can relate to the drive that comes with thinking the when you get this done or that done then I will be able to relax and be me.” – it’s like this push and reward mentality – abandon ourselves (our quality) in the doing, thinking we can just ‘come back to ourselves’ once the inevitable has been ‘got through’ – kind of tricky really. Making it all about quality and being “with ourselves with all that we do and enjoy spreading our loveliness around” is such a different way – that means by the time we complete whatever is there to attend to, our quality might actually have deepened, and not need to be recovered. Naturally this is a development that might take a bit of practice, but just seeing its playing out is a really supportive step.

255. We get drained more by not living the joy and love we truly are than we do by actually doing the cleaning itself! Appreciation is super important.

256. It feels really lovely Johanna in the way you integrated your chores into your routine throughout the weekend. I can feel how they became a part of everyday life and something to enjoy rather than rushing to get things done in order to then get on with the things we’d ‘prefer’ to be doing.

     1. It feels like there is an important shift between thinking of chores, as something additional we have to do, and considering them a Joyfull part of every day life.

        1. I agree Meg – it’s a very important and almost imperceptible shift in the way we go about the “doing” as it’s about how we are in the doing that makes it so profound.

257. Thank you for sharing, our routines can have such a restricting effect sometimes on how we are with ourself and with the task at hand. Leaving the space for change and let everything fall into place at the right time, makes every chore a joyful happening.

258. Hi Johanna. There are so many ways to look and feel into the regular, everyday task of cleaning house. You have identified how we can more deeply care for ourselves in listening to our body, how the way we approach the cleaning through breaking it down allows for ongoing support through as we continue our week and how being present in the movement can be so lovingly rhythmic and holding. A powerful sharing about how everything is so much more than what we are aware of and because we are totally present in every moment. Nothing becomes a ‘chore’ in this way and everything becomes a ‘Blessing’. JOY:)

     1. It’s a huge shift in thinking, from considering cleaning the house a chore, to seeing it as part of looking after yourself.

        1. Great comment Meg – and reminds me how I can treat exercise in the morning, or getting ready for the day. There is always the choice for them to be something done of rote because they have to be, or possibly, just maybe, that we remind ourselves why we are doing them and then suddenly they become the treat, and the opportunity they really are.

        2. Yeah…! Opportunity is a great way to put it, everything we do is an opportunity, even things that could be considered dull like getting ready.

259. “My house cleaning chores no longer felt like chores but lovely little moments when I was able to spread my loveliness around our home”. It is so easy to get caught up in having to get things done and disregarding ourselves in the process. Thank-you Johanna for sharing the difference there is when we choose to do our housework from self honouring what we feel and not from what we think we ‘should’ do.

     1. Deidre it is great to read that you share your house chores as “lovely little moments”. Johanna has shared a great point that it doesn’t all need to be done at once. This has made a huge difference in how I clean my home. Actioning the small amounts of clean all adds up to less cleaning at the end of the week.

        1. It’s actually quite empowering to say ‘no it’s time to stop’ or ‘I’ll just do this part at the moment’ – why? – because ‘that’s what I feel to do from my body’. It is so honouring and hugely supportive to our energy levels, vitality, even the way we relate to others and being purposeful in life to listen to and honour every detail our body shares with us.

260. Johanna I’ve been feeling recently times when I am “torn” between wanting to get something done because then its complete and I am onto the next thing and allowing things to be done in the time and at the time that is actually needed and truly supportive. Whilst thats not directly about cleaning I’m finding a very similar situation to your example and how this affects every aspect of life. I can see that when I am invested in getting something completed that I put undue strain on myself and my sleep or quality in being suffers – the choice is therefore one that is becoming clearer and clearer to make. Bringing this honouring and trust into each are of life will certainly change the picture quite dramatically.

     1. This is true David. This way of being that we choose – either drive or presence for example will be reflected in every aspect of our lives and really all our relationships too.

261. What a difference it makes to do things in a self honouring manner. “My house cleaning chores no longer felt like a chore but lovely little moments where I was able to spread my loveliness around our house.” What a beautiful energy you will be spreading around the house.

262. I just so loved this blog Johanna, thank you for inspiring me to clean my house in a self honouring way leaving it lovingly imprinted.

263. To shift our focus from getting things done to developing a quality of being in what we are doing is huge, it is diametrically opposed to what we have learned from childhood on. It takes a firm and loving choice to do so and putting that choice into action to then and only then being able to make the miraculous experience that we can do even things we don´t like and still can feel amazing.

     1. It is the opposite of what we have been shown and taught to do as chidden, for example, at schools in the UK there is a real drive to get kids to attend 100% of the time, and a lot of pressure on the kids to meet this expectation. I can’t understand as why would you want someone who is sick to come into school? I can understand asking for them to be on time as it is disruptive to come in late to the whole. The message is very clear, do not listen to your body, go into denial, bury, do not feel. So when we grow up we have very little relationship to ourselves other than what we are told we should be doing.

        1. Very true Vanessa we all got the wrong message while growing up with devastating consequences.

     2. Absolutely – the switch in focus from getting things done to considering the quality we are doing it in changes our whole experience of whatever we are doing, it feels completely different and we cannot help but connect and honour our bodies as that is the crux of our quality!

        1. Time to ignite a culture that first honours the being and the wisdom of the body before and while learning the practicalities of life. And we do so by simply living that way every day in everything that we do. It is our personal ‘lifestyle’ that can inspire others and over time shapes the culture we as a society cultivate.

        2. Yeah – when I read your comment I could feel how often I think one person won’t make a difference, or will this really have an impact, how crazy when one person can inspire many.

        3. Yes Meg, I also sometimes tend to forget that whatever I do doesn´t stay with just me but has a ripple effect on everyone else. I guess it comes to the level of awareness we choose to have to recognise these effects or ignore them. That is part of the giving up energy many of us carry from past experiences. Fortunately the effect we have always comes back to us at some point so that we get to understand and learn the lesson and evolve – sooner or later (that´s the karma thing, huh?), so that we more and more come back to an all-encompassing awareness and level of absolute responsibility.

        4. And what an amazing lesson to learn 🙂 it’s very empowering to know that every choice we make affects not just one person but everyone.

     3. I get too eager sometimes to get other people to understand how amazing it is to ‘develop a quality in being in what we are doing’. I realise that when this happens my own quality of being drops and that focusing on whatever I do and however I choose to do it will naturally effect others.

        1. Yes, I guess real learning only happens through reflection as it is the only authentic way of showing what is possible and hence allowing another to observe and develop trust.

        2. Great point and as Alex follows up ” real learning only happens through reflection” is true wisdom. When our reflection simply comes from our loving dedication and commitment to ourselves, then everyone benefits.

     4. I love your finishing line Alex, “….being able to make the miraculous experience that we can do even things we don´t like and still can feel amazing.” I am experiencing that too and really it is a choice, do I want to do something I don’t like and feel miserable on top of it? Or do I choose this opportunity to spend time with me, enjoying my movements, my breath, my voice….? It is up to us really! And as you say our life becomes less focussed on tasks and more about how we are with ourselves.

        1. Yes, and sometimes when the thought or mood creeps in of not liking to do something I simply stop it and choose to be open and willing to do it and as you say to enjoy myself while doing it.

     5. ‘Time to ignite a culture that first honours the being and the wisdom of the body before and while learning the practicalities of life.’ When I read these words Alex I could feel my body release; as if it was welcomed home!

        1. Developing a new culture: very fascinating to start living in such a way at the age of 30 or 40 or 50 or 60 — re-cultivating a field that until this point was exposed to overexploitation, now being honoured and cherished for its true nature ready to yield rich harvest.

        2. And the harvest benefits All when life is lived understanding that we are of the All and returning to our true place with the All, not playing separate to it!

264. To be able to trust, in general, is one of the most healing qualities for humanity to return to , or develop, as lack of trust is endemic.. The way people trust occupations is very revealing as well ….least trusted? Politicians… most trusted? Ambulance officers…Lack of trust in general has pervaded our society, and the only way home is to start to engender the connection with ourselves, start to trust that connection, and then to live with that trust.

265. I also used to feel a certain ‘grimness’ about cleaning, in that it have to be done, so just put your head down and do it… Now cleaning for me serves many purposes… And not just getting the place nice. When I have a sense of purpose, cleaning actually helps me to realign myself, it brings me into focus, it is the means, not the end. What a transformation.

266. Johanna this is something I’ve been playing with for quite some time. I clean house’s as a profession and have come to an amazing space and stillness while cleaning other peoples house’s, but, it’s not the same in mine. This has brought up the question for me of why? Something that came from this is that I give more to others than I do myself. I find it difficult to stay with my stillness while cleaning my home, why? What am I allowing to throw me off? Why do I feel that I’m not deserving of my gentle present touch? As you can read it has brought up a lot for me to work with. I now stay more present and with my stillness while cleaning my home, give myself what I was only giving to others. I try to listen to my body and have trust that time and space will arise, which it does. This is a constant work in progress. Now I feel I’m worth every bit of my amazingness, I’m working at clearing what’s in the way from me giving it.

267. It was brought to my attention recently that I have a habit of ‘burying’ myself in my chores, the hardness/tension felt in my body was a great indicator to have a stop moment and to really feel and reflect what was truly going on. It is so easy to ‘get lost’ in the busyness of chores and to lose the gentleness in our bodies in that process. Thank you Johanna, a lovely sharing with us all.

268. Thank you Johanna for sharing this. I have always had problems with keeping on top of cleaning and chores. I realised it was because I would always go into overwhelm and when I do go into action it has been done with a drive to just get it done and over with. I am now learning to approach it in a loving way. sometimes I can still feel myself go into hardness and drive trying to get them done but I am slowly learning to appreciate every movement in my body in everything I do. I am learning to be more aware, to stop and choose to be more present and connected to my body. Your blog is an awesome reminder for me to be more and more aware of my choices.

269. In reading this blog I got a sense that I still have too much clutter in my home – just like I can have more than I need in my body or my head. I had been clearing things every day for a while but the last week, having people staying, I had let go of this part of my daily round and I am now seeing how vital it is for me to stay with it for the time being – it not only allows me more space and freedom but it keeps me feeling lighter and choosing lighter foods even!

270. What a beautiful way to approach housework with no rule book but an honouring of you and your body. It is a lovely gift to ‘self talk’ appreciating yourself as you clean – I will certainly practice this for myself in future thank you Johanna.

271. What a joy to feel how even the simplest of everyday tasks can be so much more when bringing all of you to them, very inspiring Johanna thank you.

272. Awesome. ‘feels nice to be in a clean and organised space.’!! That it does, it feels so lovely. Your cleaning routine is a tad inspiring Johanna. Taking the time and care to clean your space each week is really lovely. I think I have to get less caught up in life and take time to take care of mine after reading this !

     1. I agree Emily, I am inspired to bring much more attention to the way I clean my house after reading Johanna’s blog. I can get quite agitated if the house is messy, it is like it is a reflection of what is inside my head and you can’t clean it till it is tidy! I can only ever do it in bits and pieces though. The best bit and the only time it ever feels truly done is once I have hovered (vacuumed), that is and will always be my favourite moment 🙂

273. Johanna I love how you have turned your chores into moments where you have spread your loveliness throughout your home. Now that is something for you, and everyone who is in your home, to enjoy.

     1. Yes, I love this too. I am inspired to do the same.

274. Johanna this is enjoyable to read, cleaning the home with enjoyment (!) When it becomes a task then it removes the joy, when it becomes an honouring of oneself and feeling this as the activity takes place, it feel completely awesome, fresh, clean and fragrantly zesty. In the zesty fragrant honouring of our home, we so too honour ourselves with fragrant zest.

275. Wow Johanna, I can relate. It is like this thinking is “if I can just get this out of the way… then I can get on with X”. But in this way what ‘gets out of the way’ is life! Beautiful how you saw past rigidity and rules to honour what feels right.

     1. Spot on Joseph, you have described exactly what process I can get stuck in. By striving to get the ever existing X out of the way it takes me out of the way also.

276. This is great Johanna, I can relate to getting stuck in the ‘have-to-do-this’ mode and putting this huge pressure on myself to get a certain amount of work done in a certain amount of time – and all supposedly to look after myself. In that I forget to check in with my body and also forget to enjoy whatever it is I am doing, and it turns out that I am not looking after myself at all! Thanks for this awesome reminder 🙂

277. What a beautiful example of how to deeply honour yourself. Your house must have felt amazing and so much more joyful to be living in Johnanna!

278. “Slow down – you have to do it, so you might as well enjoy it!” – I love this sentence, I will take this into my workplace and apply it to what needs doing. And also “What if I used the lovely gift of ‘self talk’, appreciating myself as I clean with how I am cleaning, and how lovely I am re-arranging the things on the tabletops?” – I realise the self-talk I use at times is berating and focusing on the pain I am feeling in my body but knowing I have to get the job done and so pushing through. I am inspired by your blog to be more appreciative with my self-talk, thank you Johanna.

279. Such a supportive blog Johanna to trust and let go of ideals and beliefs. Thank you.

280. I have been having similar experiences of late, knowing that there are things that need to be done and not being entirely sure as to when they are going to get done. I am finding the more that I listen to my body and feel what to do next, then there always seems to be time for all that needs doing and it flows a lot more smoothly as well.

281. It seems as we connect more to our bodies and our tenderness we are guided by an inner knowing, this knowing builds trust.
     With trust we don’t need to have the external ideals and beliefs and strict to do lists, we simply can trust what needs to be done and when.

     1. Beautiful Thomas, living with trust in our lives is living with more space and time.

282. Our household chores have to get done, so why not do them with loving tenderness; it’s all a matter of choice.

283. What you share is lovely and reminds me of something said to me years ago by a meditation teacher who loved ironing. She said that when we approach each household activity as a meditation, it is no longer a chore but a joy. At the time I didn’t fully appreciate the wisdom of her words, but do now. Bringing gentleness and love into everything I do is not always the choice I make but at least I know I have a choice. I loved it when you wrote: My house cleaning chores no longer felt like chores but lovely little moments where I was able to spread my loveliness around our home’.

284. And things will fall into place….I have noticed that as well, that when there is trust and I don’t go into the ‘I have to do this today’, that there is a time for everything. I stay in a natural flow and my body loves it.

285. It all comes down to trust, trusting oneself. I have found the more I trust myself, everything just unfolds as it should and I observe much more flow in my life.

286. Your article reminded me of a small event in my cleaning career.
     Some years ago I’ve been cleaning for an old lady. For years she never said anything to me apart from “hello” when I came and “thank you very much. see you next time” when I was leaving. One day when she said her usual “thank you very much” and I replayed “My pleasure”. It was true, but I didn’t expect such a reaction, she cried out “How is it possible to have a pleasure from cleaning toilets?!!” I just smiled at her feeling it would take too long to explain.
     You, Johanne, put it in words so lovely that yes, cleaning or any activity in this matter can be joyful-it’s like everything else up to us to choose-or not.

     1. Elenalight, I cleaned a friend’s house recently as her cleaner was on holiday. It was a real pleasure as I felt the responsiblity of leaving loving imprints for when she would return and so it gave me greater awareness to move and clean from my stillness.

287. I can certainly relate to doing chores in a task orientated way, always wanting to just get them done and out of the way. After reading the blog I am contemplating how I can go about my tasks in a much gentler way. Thanks Johanna for bringing this aspect of daily living to my awareness.

288. What a different way to approach chores and I am sure it can be applied to many areas of life. Why not enjoy everything we do? Perhaps because I make them things I must do and try to get done rather than as something that is supporting for my home.

289. This was really beautiful to read. Spreading your loveliness around the home sounds just gorgeous. An inspiring way to clean.

290. Johanna this is absolute gold. I have been working a lot lately and it is wonderful to be reminded of how important it is to enjoy how we feel when we do whatever we are doing. There is no reason ‘chores’ or work should feel different to visiting the cinema or being if we are with ourselves and in love with our own presence and essence.

291. How gorgeous I am inspired to sack my cleaner and do it myself… but then I have such a super gorgeous cleaner who cleans in exactly the way you have described and blesses our house with each visit. I also have found that ANYTHING that I do in the quality you have described and with my full presence is extremely nourishing and joyful and it brings a whole other yummy dimension to life.

292. Thanks Johanna, You’ve inspired me to go and tidy my room 🙂 Seriously, I can feel the quality of the space in your house from how you’ve chosen to be with it, and in the love and honouring of yourself that you were in. I love how it magically gets done without it being a chore. And now you get to enjoy living and being supported by what you have created. More magic.

293. Cleaning is a rhythm – we as people forget how much of a support it can be to clean not only our homes, rooms, garages etc but even ourselves, connecting deeply with the love we are to ensure the clean is deep and true.

     1. I agree Lee, connecting deeply with the love we are to ensure the clean is deep and true, brings the truth to light that cleaning is not just cleaning the dirt off the surface but all that has energetically lied beneath.

294. Cleaning is not usually on my list of fun things to do! So I have been doing it with a ‘get it done’ attitude. When I have taken the time to focus on the way that I clean i actually enjoy it.

     1. That’s a great recipe for all those out there that find it somewhat a struggle getting on with the cleaning business. I love feeling how the room feels, how the furniture and everything else feels together and then it’s more fun and inspiring to make it all a constellation I feel they, and I deserve. And just feeling how the floor feels after I’ve hoovered it not to mention the windows after having my delicate touch.

295. Such a beautiful revelation Johanna. Thank you for sharing it.

296. You’ve definitely found a healthy rhythm here, listening when things are ready to be done. Cannot help imagining all those things that needs to be reorganised, perhaps put away, be cleaned, they might have a life of their own and doesn’t want to be disturbed sometimes. You know like in the movies where things come alive when we don’t watch.

     1. Very true. It is possible to incorporate chores into a rhythm so that it is no longer a chore but a task that is performed with the entirety of one’s being.

297. That sounds like a beautiful way to clean a house.. by feeling how tender you are and putting in the effort to actually enjoy it. It would definitely be harder to enjoy cleaning if you were pushing yourself through it when you are tired on that Friday evening.

298. I too have been doing the chores around the house whilst adding the ingredients of love and tenderness, thus the work no longer feels like a chore and doesn’t take as long to get done because I am no longer dragging my feet but enjoying those loving moments. Thank you Johanna great blog.

299. Wow, this is a perfect blog for me to feel in to and ponder on. I too clean like you used to. I will now work on a more supportive rhythm during cleaning. Thank you.

300. Johanna I love what you have shared here, using your chores as an opportunity to deeply connect with you. Yes, you are right, the chores have to get done, so why not enjoy them. We could stay in a drudge of ‘having to get on with it’ or choose to use this as an opportunity to be with your body. This takes the ‘bore’ our of our ‘chores’.

301. Your expression here Johanna is a timely reminder to listen deeply to our bodies rather than respond to the ideals and beliefs we have absorb.
     “I have felt a deeper level of appreciation in my ability to Trust… trust my body, trust my feelings, trust myself and the rest (including cleaning my house!), will fall into place”
     I really enjoyed reading your inspirational blog, thank you.

302. I enjoyed reading your blog Johanna Fredericks. The question comes up to me why our chores should be a nuisance because when we do them with the attention you describe so beautiful they are supportive and nurturing to us and are actually an act of self love.
     Could it be that we do not appreciate what the chores in life actually presenting to us, that they invite us to accept life in full and to appreciate ourselves in everything that we do, to love ourselves of who we truly are?

303. Beautiful Johanna! So lovely to read you! Your notes were very inspiring. After reading your article, I looked around the house and decided that it was a good time to make some mopping and cleaning happening!

304. Thank you Johanna – what a joy to read how you cleaned your house with such presence and tenderness.

305. Amazing Johanna, I am totally inspired to clean my house in this way, I am even excited, to clean, Wow! Thank you.

306. It sure is beautiful Johanna to put trust in what our body is telling us and honouring that and the space that is necessary to do what is required then always presents itself. I loved returning to read this, especially this line that shone out to me as a true way to be in all we do. ‘My house cleaning chores no longer felt like chores but lovely little moments where I was able to spread my loveliness around our home.’

307. i enjoyed rereading this blog as it is so easy to fall back into the ‘getting things out of the way” modus. But we cannot get life out of the way, there are always things to be done and the to do list will never be empty. I feel in wanting to get things out of the way im never fully present in the moment and with myself as part of my attention isin the next moment, or with the to do list. I am realising this more and more and am learning to not get anything out of the way but to simply be fully present with myself and the task at hand.

     1. Great point Carolienbraakenburg, I can relate to a lack of presence when trying to get things done quickly as I’m already thinking about what is next or what I’d rather be doing! A great reminder to stay with myself, no matter what it is I am doing.

     2. True point: if we want to get things out of the way, it is like saying to get life out of the way, at least certain aspects of life. With that we make a distinction that some things are more or less important than others. I realize now again how ridiculous that is. Who am I to decide to make this distinction? And aren’t all things and people in life equally important?

        1. What I also realised is that the trick about the ‘getting things out of the way’ is that I was waiting for this moment where there would be nothing more to be done. It exposes the energy in which I was approaching life, as a task as something unpleasant that once out of the way would leave room for pleasant things. Another exposure of not being with me when doing this as if i am with me in full every single task, how pleasant it is.

308. I can really relate to this, Johanna. I did have a set cleaning routine (like you did) and persisted to keep it. But, as you wrote, once I realize that how “cemented” I was in that routine, I stopped persisting and let changes come in and ever since, it just flows (as in this article). And it is so much better! It helped me to look at other things (or areas) in my life that if I have been “cemented” in. Thank you Johanna for writing this.

309. Thanks Johanna for a simple and reflective blog. I enjoy cleaning my house more than every now as I have realised that what needs to be cleaned is completed at the right moment and is not a chore.

310. Johanna, what you have highlighted is of huge significance. What the Universe is always asking us is: ‘who are you being now ?’ By rushing, by being disconnected, by not being our true selves, then our answer is always ‘not God’, but when we are our true selves in connection, feeling our own loveliness, then our answer is closer to ‘being God’. We are working towards the day when the entire world is able to answer collectively and categorically, ‘God’.

311. I love this approach Johanna, it feels loving, honouring and I could feel a real joy in the way you expressed. I feel quite inspired to take more time to be with me as I clean, as when I do I find I really enjoy it. I like how you expressed that you cleaned with tenderness, what a gorgeous imprint this would have left in your home and what a way to really love yourself back!

312. Thank you Johanna for sharing how we have developed the ideals and beliefs with regard to creating a loving and supportive environment in our homes. Even the word ‘chores’ brings to mind an unwillingness to do the activities with love.

     1. Yes I agree Andrew, the words we use can have a feel or negative meaning associated with them. Maybe this is because of the way society has falsely gone about using or acting them out, hence we feel the false or negative experience that that word has had for us in the past. Much truth has been bastardised from this- such as the untrue meanings and negative associations that people have with very amazing words like love, god, religion and so on. It is the way we have reinterpreted the true meanings of these words that we react to and not the words themselves.

     2. Andrew – for me too – the word ‘chore’ immediately brings up a feeling of resistance in me, and it becomes something I HAVE to do, rather than something I’d LOVE to do. And keeping your house clean and tidy is really a lovely thing to do.

313. Johanna I can feel the loveliness of your home when you clean it with tenderness and care.
     ‘My house cleaning chores no longer felt like chores but lovely little moments where I was able to spread my loveliness around our home.’
     The rules seem to fade away when the quality of love is felt in every movement. ✨

314. If I don’t get caught up in ideas of having to do something and I commit to doing activities with my mind on the task at hand, while feeling the movements of my body, I find any activity enjoyable, after all I am doing it with me.

315. I love this Johanna, it is so easy to get caught up and ‘getting things out of the way’ which then makes us focus only on the doing and not on the quality or if this feels right in the moment. I went through a period in my life where I had to learn to listen to my body and at times this meant only mopping half the floor. It is about letting go of control and trusting that it will get done in the right time. But when I do things in this way they are simple, easy and feel lowly every time.

316. This is lovely to reread Johanna, if we can trust our bodies then we are able to bring so much of ourselves to the tasks we ‘think’ are mundane, yet are little opportunities to spread a whole lot of love.

317. Thank you Johanna, I really enjoyed reading your blog, and your playful words are inspiring me to also have more awareness of “lovely little moments where I was able to spread my lovliness around our home”.

318. Thanks Johanna. One of the things that stands out for me is that the loving imprint left after choosing to bring your presence to your cleaning of your home has meant more honest support and nurturing for you. It is subtle – getting the cleaning done by being driven to achieve an end without the love, and feeling what is really going on and choosing to honor yourself in that.

319. Thank you Johanna, as I read your article I am reminded of my own relationship with my house and the cleaning of it, and I realise that this relationship is a reflection of the relationship I have with myself and then the world. How, if I allow small pockets of chaos to happen as piles of clothes in my bedroom, or stacks of dishes in the kitchen, then this is showing me where I am less committed to being all of me in the world, that I am perhaps choosing to not see or feel a hurt or I am withdrawn from stepping up and letting my full expression out in some area of my life both within and outside of the family home. Therefore, cleaning and tidying is a way to take responsibility for how I am, both with myself and in relationship with life as a whole.

320. I love to clean my house, and I love to rearrange my cupboards and my furniture on a regular basis. I like to have things in the place they should be in, bringing order and a feeling of space. I like to move things to another space, and play with this; I watched my mother do this when she was cleaning, which I have called; ‘the art of placement’. I feel a clean organised, clutter free house really supports me giving me more clarity and stillness because my house is clear and still.

321. This is a great blog Johanna. I can relate to what you are saying as only just yesterday after work, I sat down at my desk, and spontaneously began looking through my file that has all my tax information for this year. I had thought, it was all ready to go to the accountant, but noticed it needed re organising… more order etc.. With the ‘Dinner time’ pressure breathing down my neck (as if someone was literally behind me and telling me to stop what I was doing – there was no-one behind me just this expectation and belief!) I took a moment to let myself feel how good it felt to go through this paper work and collate it. And so I continued with sorting the paperwork. In fact it lead onto sorting out another file, and when I had finished, I sat back and it – well I felt amazing… not only had my focus been precise with the detail of organising the paperwork, the sense of completing something and not leaving it ’til later was gorgeous. And needless to say, dinner time flowed on effortlessly… As I felt so complete, and organised, this feeling flowed through dinner. It goes to show how listening to your body, how it feels is a great gauge to live your day by.

322. I am realizing it is about trust, trusting ourselves, trusting that the cleaning will get done and there is no hurry even when you are about to have visitors! How many of us rally round tidying up before they arrive completely ignoring our bodies? The pressure we put on ourselves is huge. Johanna, you present us another way and so beautifully.

323. I never thought it was possible to appreciate myself while doing the housework and cleaning. I have held the belief that housework was not important, something that was done and placed others and what they did as greater, hence giving my power away. I loved reading ”appreciating myself as I clean with how I am cleaning.” Inspirational. Thank you.

324. There are so many ideals and beliefs around cleaning. I used to clean a room at a time and was not happy until I finished it. I paid very little attention to how I was feeling, pushing my way through what I saw as chores but recently I have been asking myself ‘how about if I did a little of the housework when I felt to and not the whole room’! This is so timely for me. Thank you for a simple yet powerful piece of writing giving me an opportunity to go deeper.

325. Johanna I laughed when I read this as I find myself into the same routine of ticking lists to get things done as somehow doing them will make everything better. I enjoyed reading about how you re-approached cleaning with joy I had a similar experience at the weekend when I did things as I felt to do them instead of trying to cram everything in, it felt far more relaxing in my body and I ended up with far more free time than when I have tried to ‘get through my lists’.

326. It seems letting go of household chores is very challenging. I still find myself at times slipping back to the list and then the judging myself if I didn’t get it done. So I find your experiences very inspiring as I know that I can and do at times approach the things that have to be done just like this and it feels so very lovely, in my body and my home. The reflection of bringing all of me to each job is a blessing for everyone in the house.

327. Johanna, I loved reading your blog, I could feel the tenderness of your touch as I read it. Reading it has actually exposed in me something that it is now time to address. I too have begun to clean my house with much more care, however I can feel that the tenderness that I actually am has been missing as I have been cleaning. There is for me still an element of wanting it to look like I have cleaned, instead of enjoying myself as I clean.
     A big thank you to you for exposing this pattern in me.

328. I can relate to this article as I have totally changed how I do chores around the house and sometimes I don’t even get to them which would have been unheard of in the past.

329. Some great gentle reminders here Johanna thank you – In the past I’ve pushed myself to complete domestic chores and certainly over ruled my body’s signals to stop or slow down. I was always too tired (or in pain) to appreciate the results. Through making more self loving choices, I made gradual changes – what a difference. Asking family members to help was a great start. Just slowing down and being more aware of the way I moved, what or how I lifted things. It feels more like a hobby now, not a chore. Letting my body show me, not my head rule me.

330. Thank you Johanna for reminding us that we need to check in with how our bodies are feeling before we start going into a routine of ‘I need to do this on a certain day by a certain time so I can tick it off my to do list’. As you said there were more days in the weekend to be able to complete these tasks in a way that was enjoyable and in sync with your bodies natural rhythm, rather than pushing it to complete it in a set amount of time because your head was saying so.

331. Thank you for the reminder that my body is very clear in its knowing how how it feels to flow throughout the day. Often I find if I drive myself to get all my tasks done I am slower and a feeling of drudgery comes over me, but if I choose to do them in a certain quality my tasks get done faster and I enjoy them more.

332. This is so lovely to read Johanna, ‘My house cleaning chores no longer felt like chores but lovely little moments where I was able to spread my loveliness around our home.’ I can really relate to what you have written here, I felt unwell and fragile yesterday and so I was moving much more slowly, I felt to clean the fridge and became aware of how I usually cleaned with a drive, trying to get things done asap, yesterday I kept coming back back to cleaning gently and being present and this felt lovely, I really enjoyed carefully and playfully putting everything back into the fridge and it felt amazing to clean in this way, I actually enjoyed it.

333. It’s great to hear about different ways from different people, about how to complete daily tasks all in accordance to how our bodies feel compared to the task at hand. It’s all still a bit of a learning curve for me.

334. This is great Johanna, thank you for sharing the joy and fun in doing cleaning – and anything in gentleness and honouring of your body and how it feels. I also find this brings such an appreciation and satisfaction in myself and that time seems to expand and makes room for more. It is also great exercise and movement if appreciated this way.

335. Great illustration Johanna, that when we listen to our bodies natural rhythm and follow that instead of the mind-created agenda or plans and outcomes. Things just seem to flow better in the day and we can feel much less anxious and tired.

     1. Indeed, the energy wasted trying to juggle many balls at once often outweighs the energy taken in completing the task. The key is learning to stay present with yourself in each moment and prepare yourself so that you are supported to address everything that comes your way.

336. I love what you are presenting here, especially the bit about spreading your loveliness around the house – cleaning can be seen as such a chore, and something we have to do rather than something we want to do. I know I have had that feeling so many times – it has to do done – rather than think of it as a moment to connect more with me and to truly enjoy caring for our home.

337. A great article. The routine tasks I complete are only a chore if that is what I make them. I go for a walk every day and it is never a chore because I enjoy it, so I can bring this enjoyment into everything I do.

338. What a wonderful and cute way to discover more about yourself through the simple process of cleaning your house. Some might even say these stop being chores and become moments of slowing down. Having just moved house myself and not listened to my body at all I can now feel the tension rippling through me as it is clear I have “pressed on” to complete the tasks… amazing learnings through shared experiences

339. “This took a huge pressure off me because I was no longer putting an expectation on myself that would cause me to potentially put my body into an outcome based driven-ness. I said to myself that I was going to wipe all the surfaces and mirrors in each room tenderly, then replace everything lovingly”. This is so beautiful Johanna – together with your comment to slow down and enjoy whatever you’re doing, because you are going to be doing it anyway – so why not enjoy it?! Makes great sense to me!

340. Mary this is true for me too, I can very easily slip into getting it done, resenting the repetition of the chores and there is not enough time – but what if I started them a little earlier and only completed what I felt to do in that moment; how much more enjoyable the tasks would be!

341. ‘Each movement and moment felt complete within itself because I was in connection with myself as I moved.’ I love what you have presented here. There does not need to be a start or a finish point each element can be a whole within itself.

342. What a lovely and beautifully simple presentation about cleaning which of course could be applied to any aspect of our apparently busy hectic lives. Do they really have to be busy, driven, anxious and hectic roller coaster rides or races with time? NO! I have often found myself rushing or resenting cleaning or doing routine admin or maintenance tasks thinking they were less important menial things that were getting in the way of other bigger more important stuff. But what if it was all important stuff equally? What if our bodies saw every single thing we do as the same and it is only our minds that put more priority on some things over others? Why not take the time to enjoy every moment no matter what we are doing?

343. I love this last line Johanna: ‘I have felt a deeper level of appreciation in my ability to Trust… trust my body, trust my feelings, trust myself and the rest (including cleaning my house!), will fall into place.’ Trusting and honouring ourselves and our feelings and listening to our bodies is our own personal saviour. My strength and trust of myself is deepening everyday by approaching life with this philosophy.

344. Thanks for this blog Johanna. You explain how we don’t have to stick to the rules we have been given or even make for ourselves about how and when things should be done. I like the line “Slow down – you have to do it, so you might as well enjoy it!” That is something I am going to say to myself the next time I have to do the cleaning.

345. Johanna, thank you for sharing. It’s funny how we like to see cleaning as a chore, rather than connecting and enjoying it. I remember when I was younger, Saturday was our cleaning day and we had a routine, everyone had to share the cleaning, no one was allowed to watch TV until this was done. Once cleaning was done we would go for grocery shopping and in the evening mother would make a lovely meal. By the time I had eaten, I would be so tired from the day, I would fall a sleep within half an hour. So it became a habit that Saturday is cleaning day. When I got my house and had rented rooms, the rule in the house was Saturday is cleaning day and everyone one took turns. Now I listen to my body, if I feel tired I leave it for another day. I actually enjoy cleaning, it allows me the space to connect to myself.

346. Thank you Johanna for bringing to attention this important awareness around cleaning. I have noticed that if I slip into “get-it-done-mode” my neck starts to hurt and my arm instantly feels fatigued; and when I pause, choose to be gentle and enjoy where I’m at, the discomfort vanishes. Thank you body!

347. Why do I think some things are more important to do than others? I am working on just doing everything with gentleness and not thinking about what is next.. Thank you Universal Medicine for inspiring me to have more awareness in my life, so I can ask these questions.

348. Thank you Johanna, I love how you showed that just by taking the rigidity out of how you thought you had to get things done it provided the opening for a different much more enjoyable way of doing the cleaning!

349. I love this blog Johanna, what an education on how to be with my body in everything I do and enjoy it! Thank you

350. What a gorgeous way to clean your home. I have recently realised that I can actually have fun and feel sexy doing anything! I had a exercise session with Danielle Pirera from Re-Connect Exercise, and she inspired me to have fun with my exercise routine, and to actually be sexy with it! I had never considered this in my exercise routine, it was something I felt I needed to do to feel good, it was a bit flat and I certainly didn’t feel sexy. Now I am bringing a natural playful sweetness to it, and I actually enjoy the whole thing so much more. And of course I can clean in the same way, I usually do a lot of singing when cleaning, but there is a lot of movement involved, so it is a great way to experiment with feeling your body.

     1. I love this Laura! It breaks the mould of different ways we think we should hold ourselves when doing different things, be they exercise, cleaning, working, etc. We immediately hold our body in a certain way for these tasks, which potentially restricts the true expression of who we naturally are. It’s lovely to honour yourself and give yourself the time and space to play with these expressions.

     2. Thanks for sharing this, Laura, Inspiring!

     3. Having also started exercise sessions with Danielle Pirera, I experimented with moving my body in different ways. However until now I never considered that experimentation could be done in other areas too such as cleaning! (Or possibly other areas of my life as well) Thank you.

351. It feels so great afterwards!

352. My favourite part is when you describe how you spread your loveliness around your home. Very inspiring, Thankyou.

353. ”Slow down – you have to do it, so you might as well enjoy it!”
     It is so simple, yet in the past I have been able to relate to all the ‘Must get this done or the world will end’ nonsense thoughts my mind has come up with. I have found that when I clean in the ‘get it over and done with’ manner I feel awful afterwards but hold onto the ‘Well at least I did it!’ thought to justify the exhaustion. I now feel inspired to keep it simple and enjoy what I am doing rather then rushing through it to move onto the next thing to rush through. Thank you.

     1. Hi leighoflight, I can relate to the ‘get it over and done with’ attitude. From this blog and all the comments I am beginning to see I can choose to slow down and the world will still turn, and that it’s possible to have fun doing the chores.

354. Great article Johanna. I have done this also with housework, it can be really enjoyable . I never imagined cleaning a kitchen could be so much fun and the outcome is amazing. It may not look much cleaner but feels a lot better and people do notice that. At work, the more I am with myself and the more I honour myself, the more I enjoy it. Without rushing to get things done I generally get more time.

     1. That is so strange Kevin, not rushing to get things done leaves you with more time… surely not, but I have experienced this too, if I focus on doing one thing with care, and not everything at once. I also feel less frazzled.

     2. Kevin, I too have had similar experiences, when I am with myself and connect to the cleaning – I truly enjoy it, it does not feel like a chore. I feel there is no time barrier and I am not left tired or exhausted. I feel refreshed and the freshness around me is reflected back so lovingly.

355. How lovely to allow ourselves to simply “enjoy” our cleaning. The word “chores” simply disappears and we can bring more love into our home.

356. So simple, yet so true. We often turn things into “chores” and lose the opportunity to be and spread more love absolutely everywhere. Cleaning is a perfect example of this, but as you have shown – it too can be fun and loving.

357. Thank you Johanna, how freeing and lovely that you allowed that inner voice to be heard. How divine to feel cleaning as an opportunity to spread your loveliness around home! This has supported me to connect more and use cleaning as an opportunity to be more gentle with myself.

358. Great piece Johanna. I love it when we shift chores etc. to things we do in a loving way to honour, and support of, ourselves.

359. Thank you Johanna. My mantra had been “I will be gentle with myself after I have done my chores” – a reward for doing what had to be done. No wonder my body felt hard during and after doing the cleaning. Your blog has given me permission to enjoy and be gentle in the doing!

360. I too have found that I can use activities in which I physically move my body, as moments to build tenderness within myself and appreciate all that comes from this. Cleaning to me is an activity I enjoy, because of how I choose to do it and the reflection of Love that is offered back to me, all week, as I walk into a room.

     1. I agree and understand what you’re saying here Toni, I revel in the feeling of a gently cleaned room or a lovingly folded garment – it’s well worth the commitment to connect and place our love in all we do.

     2. That is inspiring Toni – I have always found cleaning an effort, time to appreciate doing it and appreciate what comes from it.

        1. And appreciate the movement of your body while cleaning, as you have highlighted James, there is so much to appreciate when it comes to the activity of cleaning. Cleaning the toilet becomes something to look forward to.

        2. It is funny Toni I do fully understand where you are coming from as it does feel great, say cleaning the toilet, but I can often feel so much resistance to stop me from doing it. As soon as I say yes and do it then I feel the huge support it is offering me, before that I often have allowed thoughts to stop me from doing it!

        3. I totally understand this feeling of hesitation when it comes to doing something I know will support me but I’m struggling to take that first step. Which is crazy because like you say James when I just get into it, it is easy. It is all the thoughts and feelings that get in the way. I find these thoughts are much more likely to occur with something I am not yet confident in doing, slowly I am learning to not get too caught up in the thoughts about it and just make a start, then it becomes quite simple for me to keep going. I completely get what you’re saying James, as you can tell I have had the same experience.

        4. It’s so true Toni when we start something after deferring it can happen so quickly but how much time do we waste dithering? I also find that often the most resistance comes up for me when I am going to do something really loving for myself, that I know will support me.

        5. Yes I agree James, the more self-loving or needing something is, the more the feeling of resistance can come up. I am slowly learning it is at these times that I need to remind myself that to be feeling so much resistance is a simple signal that I really need to just take a step and get moving on it, as it is of real importance.

        6. Well said Toni – “just take a step and get moving on it”. Otherwise we can spend our whole lives in a state of procrastination!!

        7. So very true James, and this creates a constant undercurrent of tension and nervous energy that we carry around with us until we stop procrastinating and get on with it. Yuck! Yet so simple to avoid….

361. Awesome Johanna. Great to knock out those beliefs around a time for cleaning and shopping etc. It’s amazing how we get into almost a habit of doing things regularly and fall into not stopping and asking ourselves why? or how do I feel about doing this now? Thank you for sharing.

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