My background has been in the Hospitality and Hotel Accommodation Industry working as a Hotel Executive Housekeeper, in Interior design, Managing and Building hotels, and as a professional House Cleaner, cleaning homes. The quality of cleaning I would offer was always very high, but nevertheless there was something missing.
In my experience working as an Executive Housekeeper, I was always feeling pressured for time. With every task that I did I had a very high expectation of myself and others. In order to achieve all that was needed to be done for the day, I would start very early and finish late in the evening, without any breaks. I always put the guests and all the other staff first before I considered how I myself was feeling, or what was truly needed. Later I realised that this way of going about my job was connected to the fact that I was brought up with the belief that everyone and everything came first before I did, and this belief programmed the way I worked – never bothering to stop or eat lunch. I had become a slave to my work, being obsessed with being perfect in everything I did, and always putting others’ needs before my own. Even my children called me a martyr.
I would help the room attendants to clean the rooms to be ready in time for guests, because I was afraid I would get into trouble with my manager and CEO if the jobs were not done and the guest complained. No wonder my day was so long and exhausting – I was constantly afraid of getting into trouble and never had enough time to do my job because I was doing other peoples’ jobs! I felt anxiety, stress and tiredness to the point of being numb in my body – but I kept pushing myself to the limit.
Living this way meant that my body suffered the consequences with stomach problems, migraines, back problems, anxiety attacks and heart palpitations. I ended up with blood poisoning and thrombosis in my right leg and had to spend 3 weeks in bed: after that I had to give up work. This experience showed me how I had being working and living all my life.
This pressured and stressful behaviour was also happening in other areas of my life, including my own house cleaning – something that in fact could have been a lovely, nurturing experience. I had come to live in a way that was just ticking one job off the list before I launched into the next. Before I even started to do my house cleaning I would get anxious a day before because it felt such a task to do. I could feel body tension in my arms, legs, back and neck and I would program myself so that the cleaning could be done by a certain time. My body would ache and feel exhausted and I would get frustrated and angry with myself for allowing myself to get to a point where I just wanted to go to bed and shut myself away from the world and sleep. There was no joy in my life, only pain and sadness from not being able to stop myself from this workaholic way of living. And it stands to reason that the quality of cleaning, and everything I did, was compromised because of how I was feeling.
Since I started work with Universal Medicine I have truly realised how I had been living and working. I began to feel my body and to know whether I was being nurturing and loving towards myself or not. I am now aware of the way my body communicates to me about how I am being and living. The more I connect with my body the more love I feel. The more love I bring in my body, the more I become aware of the way my environment feels. I could feel that if I was tired and did the cleaning in a pushed way, the quality of the cleaning and the house reflected that back. The house might have looked clean, but you could feel and tell that I had rushed my work and pushed myself to get it done and nothing that I had cleaned felt right or in its place.
Now I am more aware of the way I clean mine and my clients’ homes. I prepare myself each day in a loving way – preparing my body by starting earlier in the morning, not rushing in getting ready, and having a nurturing breakfast so when I start to do the cleaning, vacuum, clean the bathroom or place a piece of furniture, I am aware of not pushing my body. I work gently and my body knows where and how to place things so that the room feels harmonious. I love to do the little things that make a difference.
In the morning I love making my bed and being playful. When I finish this job it feels complete. This way of being supports my body and creates a beautiful welcoming feeling in the home; everything in the home feels loving and in its right place. I have discovered that it is not about ‘what’ or ‘how much’ I do, but the quality in which I am doing it.
Since I have become more aware of how my body feels in everything I do, I get more things done with ease. I feel light and there is a flow in what I am doing.
When I stop being aware of my body, my mind comes back in, driving me in everything I do and I can feel that this way of being is acting against myself and against time. My body then becomes tired, aching and exhausted.
When I stay connected to my body I have more clarity and I know how to be; time is no longer an enemy. Nothing is too big or too small for me to do. Listening and honouring my body not only supports me in everything I do, it also supports those around me. Life has become simple and fun. I enjoy the quality of cleaning services I now offer at a whole new, amazing level.
By Kathy Avram, Melbourne, House Cleaning Business
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
Your experience is nothing short of miraculous Kathy. It also highlights the power and magic of self-love and awareness and how absolutely important quality is in everything we do. It is the body that needs to preform and do everything, so keeping the body loved and cherished makes sense for everything we touch to carry that same loving imprint.
Thank you Rachael for your lovely comment. When we have self love and awareness it brings more understanding how precious and sacred our body is and through that love brings the quality of loving imprints in everything we touch and in our work
Elizabeth thank you for your lovely response. Love does change everything when we come from the inside out and bring divine love in our true livingness in the quality of our essences and allowing our body to express in that quality
“….I was brought up with the belief that everyone and everything came first before I did, and this belief programmed the way I worked – never bothering to stop or eat lunch….” so many of us were brought up to put everyone and everything before ourselves. In my family we had a saying FHB – family hold back – if guests were present. It took me a wee while to understand that caring for myself first wasn’t a selfish act at all, when i first came to Universal Medicine presentations. However, how can we love and care for others if we don’t do the same for ourselves first? By doing so we offer a reflection for others to be inspired by. Otherwise its just ‘do as i say not do as I do’, which is how most of humanity operates. Serge Benhayon presents the real deal – true integrity and love – which inspires me every day.
sueq2012 thank you for the reminder of putting self first is a great reflection for the All. It’s truly beautiful how Serge Benhayon presents the real deal in true integrity, love and energetic responsibility about the quality of energy we choose and bringing that in our work and the way we live
Linda thank you for your beautiful expression of the understanding when we stop and take the opportunity we realise that the way we live has a impact on our body. When we connect and communicate with our body we bring a deeper level of understanding in our quality and bring love to life and our work.
As I read your article Kathy, I realised that I have been having few breaks for myself at work too. I am fit and healthy, I use that as a belief that I don’t need to stop. This is very arrogant and not showing respect to myself. I know exactly what is needed, a walk or even a lie down or joining others for lunch or even a tea break. Why can’t I do that during a break time? Which of course I can absolutely. This is something that I feel will not only support me but others who may be in the same routine of working through breaks, eating at desks etc. Even though we are designed to work, it’s not about working or doing anything at the expense of our body. Thank you Kathy.
Jennifer it is amazing what we do to ourselves and our bodies when we do not realise what impact it has on us when we do not take care and listen to our bodies and seem to push through the day feeling that everything needs to be done and that time is of an essence in all that we do, only to keep us on the wheel of the doing and not stopping to rest, take a break and allow ourselves the space to just feel what is truly going on within our body. Thank you for your lovely response and coming from a beautiful understanding when we stop and enjoy our break with others or take a rest it is showing others to also honour themselves.
Embodying the understanding that it is not about how much we get done in a day that matters the most but is the quality of being we choose to do things with that sets the quality of living is empowering and freeing at the same time as we no longer have to seek approval from others just the permission to be ourselves.
Francisco thank you for your lovely response to how it is about quality not about how much we get done. As Serge always presents it is all about energy and everything is energy, which shows that everything we touch and clean and everything we do is a choice to bring divine love in the way we live and work
Thank you Kathy for sharing your experience of bringing love to all that you do. Interesting that you say “Even my children called me a martyr.” So often others can see and feel our disregard of ourselves before we do, and often do not accept it until our physical body speaks loud and clear.
Mary thank you for your lovely reflection of how others can see and feel our disregard for ourselves before we pay any attention to how our physical body feels, and speaks. Until we come to a point in life that it no longer can take the abuse that we stop to listen because we did not what to be honest with self and accept the truth of what is truly going on. We often forget to appreciate and love our body, it is our divine home that we live in each day
Kathy,
I really enjoyed reading your blog. There is a lot for us all to ponder on when we bring the quality of our work back to the quality we are in whilst doing it.
Thank you Leigh there is much to ponder on what we truly bring in the quality of our work whilst we are in the doing and how important it is to have conscious presences in our everyday living in the all, it is not about the doing but the quality we do it in
Thanks to Serge Benhayon bringing the way of the true Livingness in that all is energy and the choices we make that brings the quality
Kathy it’s beautiful to read about the different life you have now from simply listening to your body. It’s the same for me too when the mind comes in “driving me in everything I do and I can feel that this way of being is acting against myself and against time.” Life does become a joy when we listen to the body and make choices based on love for ourselves – everyone then benefits from the way we live and the quality of energy we live in.
Melinda it is beautiful when we realise how much our body truly shows us in the way we are working when we come from the mind, our movement is very harsh which makes the body feel tired and exhausted. We do not realise how powerful our bodies are when we come from divine love and understanding the joy it brings in ourselves and all that is around us, this reflects the quality of our choices we make.
I have never loved cleaning (or any physical task) so much since becoming aware of connecting to my body, and feeling how every movement I make magnifies the next.
When I stay connected to my body there is a certain quality that comes with everything I do, when I lose this quality I then go into my mind and I am then at the mercy of what ever, my voice is a good indicator for when I have lost myself and coming from my head as it comes out more higher, more strained and more superficial.
Yes, you can tell [feel] the difference when you walk into a room that has been cleaned with care. Thank you Serge Benhayon for confirming all the things i have felt but not trusted myself enough to express.
This is beautiful Kathy! I can understand how the ” quality in which I do it” is the most important part of the whole job , bringing in the beautiful harmonious atmosphere that makes the difference. A great way to work and share that energy with others too!
Thank you Roslyn for your lovely response it is all about quality we bring in all that we do instead of feeling that the more we do the more we achieve in the day and forget about what is truly happening to the body.
Thank you Kathy, this is such a simple yet powerful reminder, to bring this level of care and quality into anything we do is not only very honouring and supportive for our own bodies but also for everyone else as well.
Anna thank you for your response to the blog. Honouring our bodies first and allowing self to bring the quality from within in our work and living brings the love to all
There is a great point in this blog about time no longer being the enemy and how this can affect everyone’s enjoyment of the day, which makes sense because who wants to hang out with a stressed-out over-worked exhausted person? I am finding that relationships and the beauty of them can be enjoyed all of the time, even when there is massive amounts of work to be done. So time is no longer the enemy, because it is because of time that I get to hang out with the people in my life.
Shami thank you for the response to time in the blog. We have been brought up in a society about how time matters in everything and working against time. If we just choose to be with self and allow time to just be a marker for what is needed in the space of time we would all bring harmony and joy in our work and the way we live.
It is amazing and beautiful to live with this level of care. What I do in this harmonious, loving energy becomes like a dance of movement that is joyful and not stressed. What a difference this makes. What an awesome change you have brought into your life and into your body, Kathy. It just goes to confirm that the way we live with our jobs and environment is the way we live within our bodies.
Amanda it is beautifully expressed about the loving energy becoming a movement that is joy. The body is our vessel in the way we live and all that it brings in our life by the choices we make.
I can feel the high pressure of your job Kathy It is very time structured with many details and guests at the door steps.
Concetta thank you for your response on how jobs with high pressure is all about getting things done in time and forgetting about how our body feels.
Its been interesting reading a whole series of blogs on stress, and the common theme is the intense pressure that we feel from the outside world, and allow that to shut down how we feel on the inside. Over time that builds up and there are a multitude of problems, both physical and psychological that result from living like this. Its clear that we have an inner knowing of how to live and what supports us, and the outside world is much better served if we listen to that first, and then attend to our duties!
Simonwilliams8 thank you for your lovely comment and that we have an inner knowing how to live, of what supports us in all that we do when we come from within first. This allows to bring the love in all that we are and do with clarity, harmony, joy and ease in our body.
What an amazing turnaround from the mind driving the body into physical breakdown to listening to the body and bringing presence into every aspect of living and thus infusing a loving quality into not only your environment but everyone else’s you touch. Thank you Kathy you have inspired me to look again at refining how I approach caring for myself and my home.
Cleaning is such a great example of just how much impact the quality that we are in has on the things we do and on the quality we leave behind in our wake as a result.
Thank you Cathy for your lovely response. Cleaning has been always seen as a chore instead of truly understanding how lovely it can be when you come from a space and place of enjoying the quality you clean from the body and not the mind.
Thank you Kathy for a timely sharing, I am planning to do some house work today and already feel my mind going into drive to get it all done, like the way I have worked most of my life. So back I come to my body and stay with what I am feeling as I am now writing. I am looking at how I can support myself to stay in my body and bring a loving imprint to all that I do today.
Jill thank you for your great response. Everything we do comes from the body and the body shows us what is truly happening when we choose to feel in all that we do. Staying connect to our self and body assists and supports us to bring in the divine love in all what we do. It imprints the all in divine love bringing in the loving energy to everything we have touched, placed and cleaned and at the end of the work if you have stayed connect to self there is a clarity, ease, beauty and joy you feel within.
‘Now I am more aware of the way I clean mine and my clients’ homes. I prepare myself each day in a loving way – preparing my body by starting earlier in the morning, not rushing in getting ready,’ Kathy this is so important, when we do this we respect ourselves and our clients and offer them the best quality of work. When we rush, or are distracted our quality is impaired.
Sally thank you for your loving response. It is so important how we prepare ourselves each day so that we can be supported in everything we do to bring the quality of our divine essence through imprinting divine love in all that we touch, walk, work and say for all equally.
Kathy I loved reading your blog, and what you shared. ‘With every task that I did I had a very high expectation of myself and others. In order to achieve all that was needed to be done for the day, I would start very early and finish late in the evening, without any breaks.’ When we take on expectation, we are no longer working in a loving way, and as a result we are just exhausting ourselves.
When I read this blog I connect to how delicious it feels to do absolutely anything without being ruled by time. Cleaning with love feels amazing and this then becomes a supportive foundation that loves us back. Amazing to feel that it could be this way with everything that we do.
Leonne thank you for your great response. It does feels great when we do not work against time and allow self to build a foundation of love that supports us in all that we do and allowing the reflection to show us all that we are.
Wow, Kathy thanks for what you have shared, I am beginning to realise the enormity of the ills of how so many work places are run, based on stress deadlines and fear, and threat of getting into trouble. The culture is so often promoted in an attempt to control and manipulate employees to squeeze as much work out of them as possible – but this extremely shortsighted and callous strategy only backfires with increasing rates of disease and broken down, depressed and anxious workers. We can start though with taking responsibility for our own part and bringing a different quality to our work, and maybe this can begin to transform the places we work in as people and employers get to feel a true quality of working.
Thank you Annie for a great comment. There is so much more to be done in our work places to bring quality in our work. As you expressed we all can start by reflecting our truth in all that we do so others can see that there is another way. When we take responsibility for self first it allows us the space to do everything with ease, clarity and harmony without the tension, anxiety, depression and disease.
Thank you Kathy for a great blog, I have noticed lately that when I fold my clothes there is much more care taken and this feels lovely and supportive, your blog has highlighted for me that the love I leave behind in my clothes will come back to me when I again wear them, and this includes everything I do for others as well.
Thank you Jill for your lovely comment. It is amazing when we do everything in the quality of love, it brings love and joy in the way we express and the way we do things imprints everything we love and it is shared with all.
Thank you Linda for your lovely comment on the blog. The quality you clean is what truly shines in the love that you bring when you a connected to your body.
‘I was brought up with the belief that everyone and everything came first before I did, and this belief programmed the way I worked’. Sadly, this is a widely held view across most societies, cultures and continents. Religions, families, schools – all promote a position of putting others before ourselves – and then we live that out to the detriment of our bodies. It’s fascinating how life has us believing we’re selfish, self-centred and up ourselves if we’re choosing to put the care of ourselves and our bodies first. And it’s disappointing that people just don’t get that you can’t support others if you’re not living from a fully supported self. Anything less than that is a disservice, literally, for who are you bringing them if you are a lesser version of your full self?
Cathy thank you for your great comment. It is amazing how the ideals and beliefs can keep us in our thoughts and not allow us to truly feel what is happening in our bodies.
To honour oneself is to honour all. Being told that we have to put everyone else first and that it is selfish to think about self is the ideal and beliefs of others that want to control. It is our choices that we make that allows us to feel our truth and in that bring divine love in all that we do.
Great point Cathy, and this is where we can turn everything around, by bringing first a quality of our true selves, not the broken down, stressed, anxious, fearing to be wrong, not true self that many of us live and deliver to our family, friends and work. It is through first developing that inner quality and living it, that we can then understand what we can bring to the world.
Thank you Kathy, this is perfect timing reading this blog today as I have a lot of things that need doing and your words beautifully support me and remind me of what truly matters – ‘I have discovered that it is not about ‘what’ or ‘how much’ I do, but the quality in which I am doing it.’
Anna thank you for your lovely comment. We all get caught up with how much we have to clean and the tasks we set ourselves up to do when it can be kept as simple as just doing what it feels in your body to do for that day in cleaning because you are bringing the loving energy that is needed in everything you do instead of pushing self to get everything done from your thoughts of it has to be done.
Life has become simple and fun, how gorgeous is that Kathy?
I would love you to come and clean my house, what a beautiful energy you would bring.
It is so simple what you share here yet so powerful. It is not a big deal to be connected with our bodies and with the true quality of the moment, really enjoying and appreciating what we do, yet the difference in the quality is ginormously huge compared to when we are not connected and in our minds.
Joshua thank you for your beautiful comment. Connecting to our bodies is so powerful, bringing love in the quality for all equally. When we are in our thoughts we make it about self and can feel the body not at ease but in the doing
And in this dis-ease we tend to escape further into our minds as it is not nice to feel this state of being in our bodies
“Since I have become more aware of how my body feels in everything I do, I get more things done with ease. I feel light and there is a flow in what I am doing.” Totally agree with you Kathy – there is no tension in the body when we are connected and in our natural rhythm, all tasks are completed with no stress or anxiety and that feels pretty awesome for us and for everyone else too.
Shelley thank you for your lovely comment. It is awesome when we are connected with our bodies everything feels at one in all that we do with love and rhythm, for all equally.
It is our loving imprint that makes the difference. The mood we are in, our thoughts and the way we move, whether we are in connection with ourselves or not, makes a huge difference to ourselves and to the people who will live in the space. I recognise how I was too, Kathy, trying to get everything done and be perfect without a clear foundation for how I was in myself. How lovely is it now to understand how we can be responsible for all of our actions and create beautiful feelings in the rooms and homes we care for?
Thank you Kathy for a really great blog, this has highlighted so much for me to really ponder on and observe in my self as I clean my home.
Working from our body and not our mind and it does not feel like work at all!! Great sharing, Kathy.
So true, and the best part is we don’t get exhausted in the process when we stay connected to our body.
I do agree Kathy that life is so more enjoyable if we live from our body. Life is just so beautiful when we connect to our bodies and live from there, with our body as our compass and guide in life. And although it looks in contradiction I too experience that when I am very loving and in consideration of myself I can more things get done and I too experience a flow in that too. It is like a magical way of working, things get done with ease and flow naturally from one to another, always in consideration of my body and what it is capable of and what it needs.
When the world values the worth of quality over quantity, I can see an abundant of systems changing.
My first job in Australia was as a housekeeper in a top hotel. Looking back I am astonished at the amount of work I managed in a day. I was then a manic of perfection, checking every room after it had been cleaned. My pride resided in a job well done. I was devastated if a guest reported a light bulb blown or not enough tea bags. I remember a strike when most chambermaids stopped work. The housekeepers had to replace them. It was a crazy week during which I did an enormous amount of work. At the time it felt good. Here I was demonstrating my worth. I was dependable, hard working, dedicated….. The reward for all this hard work was a stomach ulcer. But at the time I was unable to see the connection. I have considerably slowed down my pace and introduced self care in my everyday living giving myself time to smile and enjoy life.
It seems to be such a common experience that we are all out there working super hard, trying to get everything done, and to please everyone. Yet there is that small, but ever so important ingredient missing – the central tenet of WHY we are doing all those things. When love (in truth, and not the slightly soft mushy kind) is placed at the center, and an awareness of our own self care to support that, that hard work gets filled with the very best quality and far from draining us, it supports us, enriches us, and feeds us back the same love we put in.
This is so refreshing to read and so spot on when you say cleaning is all about the quality that the cleaner is in. What’s lovely about this is that the quality goes both ways – back into the body, in support of it during cleaning and beyond, but also out into the room and the items being cleaned. I’ve noticed what you describe about staying with the body and not slipping back into the mind, especially when negotiating with the vacuum cleaner or scrubbing hard to remove a mark. Because when I do, I quickly get a familar shoulder ache reminding me I’ve overdone it and lost connection to where my body is at. So there’s nothing quite like cleaning for reminding me of the real need to move harmoniously and with real care for my body as I sprinkle my quality back into the house as I go.
“Since I have become more aware of how my body feels in everything I do, I get more things done with ease. I feel light and there is a flow in what I am doing.” I know this too Kathy. It is amazing how much we can get done and how lovely it feels when we do things when we are connected to who we are.
Kathy you make an important point that how the house feels reflects the quality in which the cleaning tasks are done. I too have discovered that the simple task of making my bed lovingly in the morning does indeed lighten my room, and amazingly anything that is out of place is easily seen and adjusted.
Thanks Kathy for expressing the importance of its not what or how much you do but the energy in which you do it in.
Thank you Joe for your response. We are all taught to do more than we can and get lost in the doing instead of being in the quality of energy that brings love in all that we do.
Kathy I too throughly enjoy cleaning and it is a task that when we are connected to ourselves feels amazing. I love making my bed in the morning it lights up my room. Thank you.
Hi Kelly, thank you for your loving comment to the blog. Cleaning is something that has a deeper level of understanding when we connect and that everything we clean and touch feels beautiful in the way we do our work..
Having an awareness of our body’s communication with us really is very powerful. We do of course have to choose to listen to it and honour what we feel! The intelligence of our body is great and it has a natural innate harmony deep down that we can connect with and live from practically day-to-day. Thank you Kathy for sharing how your life has become simple and fun and the support you lovingly give to others through the quality of your work.
Hi Fiona, thank you for your lovely response to the blog. Our body is amazing when we choose to feel and trust what is truly going on. Through what we feel brings in the quality of our work.
Hi Fiona, thank you for your great comment on the blog. Our body is powerful when we choose to connect and feel what is truly going on in all that we do.
What you are expressing Kathy is so true. I have walked into homes that are pristine but there is a feeling that something is missing, and then walked into a similar home that looks spotless but there can be a warmth and nurturing feel in it. How we are in all we do is powerful and can be felt. What you are now leaving behind in your healing imprint will go on to love and support those that use the space. Thank Kathy for creating awareness around everything we bring.
Hi ch1956, thank you for your loving comment to the blog. Bringing love in all that we do, brings through the energy of divine love in everything we touch and do, allowing for the space to feel more loving and supporting.
This is a great marker for anyone “I feel light and there is a flow in what I am doing.” I know for me, when I feel heavy, I am complicating things or feeling stuck, I know I am not really in a flow with myself. I know when I am feeling light, I am really connected with myself, things do flow, words just come to me, I can write what needs to be written and I then allow what needs to come next, to come effortlessly. That feels right.
Hi raegankcairney, thank you for your lovely comment to the blog. It is so lovely when we feel everything we do from our body and the flow it brings in all that you do, without any effort, just clarity and love, it is beautiful to feel.
So true Kathy, I have had the same experience, the job is hard work when I am thinking about finishing, how much I’ll get paid, why is this such a mess, resenting how physically hard it is, etc. as opposed to staying with my body, feeling me and each moment, the job is easy, is done more quickly and I feel great afterwards. So simple and more and more automatic when I start a job. What a difference!
Hi Mark, thank you so much for your lovely response to the blog. When we come from love, it does not matter what we are doing, everything flows enjoying all that we do.
It is awesome that you felt the quality of your cleaning when you were honoring your body and your own rhythm, compared to just ‘getting the job done’. They may all look the same, but feel entirely different.
Hi Sarah, thank you for your beautiful comment. It is amazing when we connect with our body how much it shows us in all that we do and the quality we bring through, the difference it makes in our life.
This blog shows how we can get things done, but in what quality? Our body will tell us how we are living, and often a stop comes with illness or sickness and we have an opportunity to feel the quality we have been living through the choices we have been making. This is a great example of how life is about quality – not action, but what is awesome is that when we bring the true quality of our love, care and connection, the quality of our action in fact increases as it carries our quality, rather than a doing or activity based on fear, anxiety or other ideals.
There is such a difference in the way you do things, and I loved reading how you now work with love, and how that changes the feel of the spaces you clean. Everything has an enormous effect.
When someone cleans our workplace with that presence and loving attention, you can feel it in every corner. You can feel it when you arrive in the morning. It is a blessing to enter the place and start the day. Thank you to all the cleaners.
Julia thank you for the appreciation for the cleaners and how you feel the blessing of divine love in the space and work place in the way the cleaners bring loving attention and detail in the presence of cleaning
Thanks Kathy, lovely reminder to commit to stay present and connected with my body as it creates such a flow in whatever needs to be done during the day. It is that simple and yet the result is profound and joyful.
Hi Carmin, thank you for your lovely response to the blog. It is truly inspirational when we come from love in everything we do.
Kathy, this is such a great blog for everyone, no matter what work they do. What a blessing your clients receive by having you clean their homes with such love and care, both for yourself and for them – inspirational!
‘When I stay connected to my body I have more clarity and I know how to be; time is no longer an enemy’ – this is so profound and powerfully said Kathy. I was always one that was chasing time thinking that there was never enough of it in the day. But as you have shared I have also discovered that when I stay connected to me, my body and whilst in motion, I have more awareness in that moment of what is needed to be done and how it can be done to support this connection. And with this time opens up as I bring to the space the steadiness of me and the Love that I am and no longer need time to identify me.
Hi Carola, thank you for your beautiful response to the blog. Time when treated like a friend gives us the space to be divine love and bring that love in everything we do through the body of expression.
I have been feeling what you say in your blog, that when I am aware of my body and feel at ease through my gentleness and loving attention, time stops being the enemy, and I am less tired and more vital. My home also feels more tidy and lovely, I especially like when you say: “I am aware of not pushing my body. I work gently and my body knows where and how to place things so that the room feels harmonious. I love to do the little things that make a difference.”I have been feeling what to put where so that my home reflects back to me all that attention and love.
Hi juliamanbos, thank you for your loving response to the blog. Our body is so beautiful and amazing when we connect and all that it shows us in everything we do. It is not about time, it is the quality we bring into the work that makes everything feel lovely and harmonious.
Hi Brendan, thank you for your great response to the blog. When we truly feel and honour oneself, it is so empowering that everyone is lovingly supported.
Hi sarahflenley, thank you for your lovely response to the blog. Our bodies are truly amazing when we connect to self and what they show us is how hard or loving we can be in all that we do. It is great to allow our bodies to feel our beauty in everything we touch.
Kathy what a wonderful blog. Your honest words are a good reminder for me: “When I stop being aware of my body, my mind comes back in, driving me in everything I do and I can feel that this way of being is acting against myself and against time.” It is very easy for me to slip into the driving and it needs my constant awareness to stop me doing so and to come back to my body. I wonder how many people are living in this drive as well and getting ill. Is it not that by living our lives like we both describe- we are going to ruin our health system without even knowing that we do so?
Hi esteraltmiks, thank you for your lovely response to the blog. It is not about the quantity in the doing, it is about the quality in how we do them, that shows us in our body when we are truly connected to self in all that we do.
Kathy this is a beautiful and inspiring sharing of how you re-connected to your body and how your loving choices changed the way you worked and the way you felt.
Anna, thank you for your loving response to the blog. Our choices are so amazing when we choose love, it brings beauty, joy and harmony in all that we do.
Body. Body. Body. Body. It’s all about the body isn’t it. It can share so much wisdom with us if we so choose. Gorgeous to read your decision to return much more to connecting to your body and to feel your loveliness in that. Inspiring and what I needed to read today.
Sarahflenley thank you for your lovely response. It is all about the body it is what shows us how we are feeling and what quality of energy we are doing things in. We can feel the ease in the way we do things or push ourselves to exhaustion all because we get caught up in the doing and not feeling.
Yes Brendan – it is self-full to support and honour ourselves which totally goes against the grain of what we have been otherwise fed of it being selfish.
It is really amazing to feel the difference when you walk into a room that you know has just been cleaned… seriously its such an amazing feeling! Energy shifts dramatically when we can bring presence in all that we do. When I clean, maintaining that level of presence can be hard, but when I do hold it, I have notice that I don’t have as much stiffness or aches at the end. A great blog to read!
Hi Donna, thank you for your lovely response to the blog. You can truly feel the difference when you have love in all that you do and everything feels so divine. Allowing self to be present in all that we do, allows you to bring all that you truly are
I find it amazing that you felt to go deeper with the service you offered. Many are happy to provide a high standard and leave it at that, but you chose to go further and bring in other aspects – awesome!
Hi Rebecca, thank you for your loving response to the blog. The more we connect and become aware of our body, the more we come to a deeper level of understanding of what is truly going on in our body. We then come from a true loving expression in all that we do.
Thank you Kathy for a great blog, I can relate to what you have shared, the continual drive in the doing, really being a slave to work. I am gradually learning to bring presence when I am cleaning my home, feeling more into what to do for the day, instead of ticking off the chores as done and then on to the next one, wanting to get finished.
Hi Jill, thank you for your lovely response to the blog. When we are truly connect to our bodies, you can feel everything you do with an ease without trying, pushing or being hard on your self and all that you do is without any effort and everything feels and looks amazing.
Hi Kathy,I really enjoyed reading your blog – and what struck me was the responsibility we each have as to ‘the way’ we clean house, whether it is for ourselves in our own little nest or for someone else, whether it be in a business establishment or somebody’s home – it feels to me as we scrub, polish and wipe we are placing an imprint of one sort of another with every stroke. Now being more in our awareness we can feel the importance of our presence, of our feeling and the energy we have chosen to be aligned with, whether it be of doubt, resentment etc. or one of knowing of our connectedness with the divine of ourselves within and the joy that can be imprinted gently and lovingly wherever and whatever we are doing.
Hi Roberta, thank you for your beautiful response to the blog. We each have a loving responsibility in everything we do. We sometimes forget that our homes and work places are just as important as our everyday chores in the way we do them. Bringing love in all that we do with our presence, feels amazing as we complete each day with our beautiful expression of joy doing what needs to be done.
When we work with the momentum of stress and always pushing ourselves there seems to be no room for appreciation for what we are actually achieving and doing. This is an important part of building a loving foundation towards ourselves and everything else we do in life.
Hi matthew, thank you for your response to the blog. Stress and pushing one self in all that you do, brings so much pain in the body, not allowing to feel and appreciate everything you do in a loving way.
This blog highlights for me the true meaning of carelessness: when we literally don’t care about ourselves or those around us enough to take care in everything we do knowing it makes a difference and leaves an imprint for another or others. I like Elena Light’s comment about folding her clothes. How we leave things is how we or others find them so we have an opportunity to bless our days in everything we do.
Hi elainearthey, thank you for your response to the blog. When you have not cared about yourself, you realise that nothing is done in love when you have lived life in the ideal and belief that everyone comes first, for such a long time until you come to a loving understanding to be honest with oneself.
Places that are cleaned with love and are appreciated for that love, offer me a healing the moment I enter. Thoughts change, body posture changes, even the senses transfer different information. I might have been hungry before and suddenly feel nourished.
Hi felixschumacher8, thank you so much for your lovely response to the blog. It is so loving when you come from love in all that you do and everything feels complete, the body feels amazing without any tension, tiredness or stress, you leave a beautiful energy for all to enjoy.
A great blog Kathy, it sounds like you have had a complete transformation. I can imagine how lovely it would be to walk into a house or a room cleaned by you.
Hi nicolesjardin, thank you so much for your beautiful response to the blog. Everything feels lovely when it is placed when you are connected to your body and bring your love in everything you do.
Thank you Kathy for sharing the joy of reconnecting to and honouring your body. A remarkable turnaround.
Hi Marica, thank you so much for your lovely response to the blog. It is truly amazing when we connect and honour our bodies, bringing love in all that we do.
It’s so interesting how our body tells us with illness when we aren’t living in a way that’s supportive. Working how you said, in constant fear of being in trouble, would have your body so tight! I have felt it too, when you’re tiptoeing around, body tightened and ready for the onslaught. It’s completely draining.
Hi Emily, thank you so much for your beautiful response to the blog. It is very draining on your body when you are not connected to yourself and do not notice how your body feels until you get ill. Then comes the realisation of what has truly been going on, because of living in constant fear and being on the alert.
Hi Kathy, I love this blog and how you listened to the stop moment when your body reflected its dis-ease at the way of living. To clean homes in the way you now live feels beautiful. I recently have felt more connection to how my body feels at work and if I lose that connection it soon tells me!
Hi judykarenyoung, thank you so much for your lovely response to the blog. It is truly beautiful when we connect to our bodies in all that we do and everything we do feels complete with no effort, just being you with love of who you truly are.
Hi Ariana, thank you so much for your loving response to the blog. It is amazing what goes on in our head of thoughts that it is sometimes difficult to get the clarity of what is truly going on until you come back to self in just changing the smallest thing done that you find that you can truly connect to your body and feel the love in all that you do.
Thank you for this awesome testimony. There is such a difference in doing things to have them done and doing things in a quality that you can do things without getting drained or exhausted. Knowing this is such a great step into healing exhaustion and enjoying my life.
Hi Lieke, thank you so much for your great response to the blog. Allowing oneself to just do things in connection with the body brings the quality and space to enjoy what you are doing without being drained or exhausted in all that you do.
It’s so healing and affirming to read your blog Kathy, and see the loveless hard way that I often drive myself to get tasks done. I see a pattern then of getting exhausted and giving up and retreating from the world. Its like I swing from one extreme to another.
Hi Thomas, thank you for your beautiful response to the blog. We have been taught to get things done not matter what or how we are feeling, which takes us in the swings of the ups and downs in life, instead of truly doing our tasks in a loving way for self and others equally.
Love it Kathy. Everything you talk about is self-care. Looking after ourselves first naturally allows us to then look after others, rather than trying to care for others first. It’s beautiful to switch the order in how we operate, one way drains and exhausts the body, the other energises the body.
Hi matthew, thank you so much for your lovely response to the blog. We can often feel guilty when we start looking after self because we have been taught that everyone else comes first. When we break that ideal,belief and pattern about caring for one self how beautiful your body feels and how amazing it truly is.
“I have discovered that it is not about ‘what’ or ‘how much’ I do, but the quality in which I do it”. Yes and I find if I stay consistently in this quality, then the way my body feels, truly appreciates it.
Hi Deidre, thank you for your lovely response to the blog. It is all about the way we live in the quality we do things each day that truly supports our body.
I was raised with very similar beliefs, to always put other people’s need before mine. I was seen as being a good person, doing the right thing by constantly trying to please people. I also found this way of living very draining, tiring and I became exhausted. Now I take a different approach, I have learnt to take better care of myself, by listening to how I feel about things before I say ‘yes’ to people. As in, is it out of sympathy, recognition, to please or to fix? If I feel any of these, I can choose to say ‘no’ to the need to help or to fix a situation or task. This new way of saying ‘no’ has been extremely supportive and loving to me and to others around me. So, now when I help others with the feeling of joy and love, it feels completely different. Everything just comes together. When I choose to operate in the energy of love, this brings harmony and joy into my life and others’ too.
Hi chanly88, thank you for your great response to the blog. The word No is sometimes hard to say as we were always taught to say yes to everything we did, making everything about others first, through the ideals and beliefs. You can truly feel when you honour self first and truly love all that you are, you then come from a loving understanding in all that you do for self and others equally without any need of needs from self and others.
Cleaning in such quality makes something really cleaner, even if for the eye it is equally clean. I love the freshness when the quality of cleaning applies.
Hi emfeldman, thank you for your beautiful response. Quality is truly amazing when you bring it through in your work, everything feels complete without any trying.
Your article was a great reminder of such an important concept that can be applied to so many areas of our lives. As when driven by time, ideals and expectations it is so easy to forget that the quality of anything you do is compromised and the flow and space available to you with connection and awareness are near impossibilities.
Hi Samantha, thank you for your great response to the blog. We have all been taught through ideals and beliefs on how much we do each day and the quality was never considered in all that we do. It is so beautiful when we truly do all that we do in the divine quality of love and how we feel from within.
I know how different things feel when they are done in the love and care for the body doing them. It makes so much difference. For a long time I was still focused on working in an energy that was going to improve the space, but now I know that to bring it back further to listening to the care I need to take for my body means the rest takes care of itself and the feeling is there. I also discovered that if I used earplugs while vacuuming, I wasn’t in such a frantic rush to get it over with. The discomfort of the noise was a huge element to my unhappiness with the job.
What very loving way to vacuum Amanda, I never thought of that. It is so amazing you taking so much care and love in your job. I am inspired to try this too.
Hi Amanda, thank you for the great response to the blog. It is so loving and caring when you make it about your body, and not in the head. Staying with the present in all that you do, does not take you away from who you truly are and all that you do is in love and light of your divine truth.
Beautifiul Kathy, by observing how you were feeling each day and recognising the push and drive you were in, you have turned your whole approach around to one that is loving and nurturing and still gets the job done. Of particular note is the quality in which we do things, and your clients are getting an absolute bonus having their house cleaned physically and energetically and they are also left with the imprint of it all being done lovingly – gorgeous, for them and for you.
Hi Jo Swinton, thank you for your loving response to the blog. It is truly amazing by observing how we feel in our body and working through our body is truly loving not only for self and for others equally. Work is then bringing the beauty of your true self.
Thanks Kathy you offer some very sound and practical advice on how to carry out a days work in a loving and considerate manner, much appreciated
Hi Joe, thank you for your lovely response to the blog. Life is simple when we come from the inner heart and body in our every day living in all that we do
Hi Linda, thank you so much for your lovely response to the blog. Our body is truly amazing when we connect within and the quality it brings through, not only for self but for all equally to truly feel the divine love that we all are.
I love your blog Kathy, it is an awesome reminder for us to connect within and choose quality instead of quantity. It’s not about how much we achieve but the quality in which we do it that matters. We all hold this divine quality within and it is accessible at any time anywhere.
Kathy it’s really great to read about how you have transformed your experience of cleaning. It amazes me to read yours and others articles describing how when we turn our attention from outside of us to towards us then our experience of whatever we are doing changes. Including amazingly our experience of time. I feel it explains a lot about why the world is so out of kilter when we consider how the majority of people are focused on everything around them rather than within them.
Hi Alexis, thank you for your amazing response to the blog. It was so lovely to read. I feel it is easy to focus on things we can see outside of us but not wanting to know what we are feeling from within because we do not want to feel the truth. The body knows more of what is truly going on than our eyes seeing what we think is going on.
Hi Kathy, bringing this level of awareness into whatever we do can have such an impact on our well-being. If we work with awareness of our body it allows us to know when to stop and rest rather than the push through to get it done. Your blog shows you have completely changed the way you work and its a great example of not to forget to truly care for ourselves at work as well as elsewhere.
Hi judykarenyoung, thank you for your lovely response to the blog. We sometimes forget how precious and amazing our body is and that work is just part of our day. If we care to listen, feel and honour our body, work then becomes a part of being love in all that we do.
Great comment judykarenyoung. I agree, this blog is a beautiful reminder for me too. To learn to take care of myself and to be aware of what energy I choose to run in – as in a rushed and pushy energy, or gentle, efficient and loving energy. I constantly switch back and forth with what I choose, but I know now that with practice I can choose to live with a loving energy consistently.
Kathy, thanks for such a insightful blog. Your comment ‘… I was brought up with the belief that everyone and everything came first before I did, and this belief programmed the way I worked’ really struck me as reflective of my experiences. I am slowly changing my work habits and agree that listening to my body first and foremost and bringing that quality to the task at hand feels amazing.
Hi Helen, thank you so much for your amazing response to the blog. It is great when we identify our old patterns and work with them in a loving way. Feeling our body first in all that we do, gives us clarity, showing us that it is all about the quality, not the quantity in achieving the work for the day.
Thank you Kathy. It is lovely to feel how you now go about your work with so much more presence and tenderness and not pushing your body which is the norm in this line of work. I love that you are still enjoying your job with no need to change your job but simply re-imprinting with a quality of gentleness and tenderness in your body
Hi annemarie, Thank you for your beautiful and loving response to the blog. Our body is so amazing, full of wisdom and the knowing of truth. Connecting with your body brings harmony and joy in all that you do.
Thank you Brendan for your loving response to the blog. It is always beautiful to share with others what one truly feels from the body.
Wow! So what our bodies want naturally is not always what our minds are driving us to do! That is huge. And the quality of which of the two we choose is HUGELY different.
Hi Joshua, thank you so much for your great response to the blog. It is amazing what our bodies show us in what is truly happening within us what we feel, the mind always tries to take us away from our inner truth of truly feeling.
I know that experience you are talking about Kathy when I connect with my body and suddenly there is so much space created to do what I need to do and in the quality that I want to do it in. It is priceless.
Hi Elizabeth, thank you so much for your loving response to the blog. It is great when we have an awareness in connecting with our body and how beautiful it feels in the space we have created in love.
That workaholic drive really is a killer, what I have found as well that comes with it is a constant justification of why life has to be this way – as if not working to such extremes is not even on the radar or in the picture, working harder only makes the situation worse. Not that long ago I would of baulked at the idea of just stopping to feel my body (thoughts of ”But I have SO MUCH TO DO” – *Insert drama here*’) But gradually I am learning that stopping is very important, regardless of how busy the day might be. One way I can do this at work is by drinking water frequently which leads to frequent loo breaks – in those short breaks I can take a deep breath and settle myself once again. This helped yesterday as at work there was more work to do than normal, situations like this in the past would have sent me into a complete meltdown of stress and anxiousness. While not perfect I felt these stop breaks were a huge support as I did not feel as stressed or anxious as I had previously.
Hi leighmatson, thank you for your great response to the blog. It is amazing how work seems to drive us if we allow us to let it run our life. The ideals and beliefs always creep in when we start feeling what is truly going on.
Wow Kathy. How many people want what you have! What a wonderful lesson you share with everyone when you started to discern the value and loveliness you felt after cleaning came from the quality you did the cleaning in. It sounds obvious but its not. Haven’t we all been taught it is about getting the task at hand done, crossed off the list with only a millisecond of satisfaction? Isn’t our world geared for results with no regard for the quality of energy used to get them? Kathy you make this point clearly – the quality that a task is approached with is what counts and this quality feeds us back with longer lasting satisfaction of a task done from and with connection.
Hi Deanne, thank you for your lovely reply to the blog. It is all about our quality in what we bring through.. Our body is so amazing in what it shows us when we are connected to self in all that we do.
I love what you say here about lovingly making your bed to have that imprint when you come back to it later that evening. I do this with somethings like folding my PJ’s and would love to make this more consistent in everything I do.
Hi Samantha, Thank you for your beautiful response to the blog. It so lovely what you shared about being consistent in what we do.
It was one of the first things I learned from UniMed student when I went to my first retreat in Vietnam. She was folding her clothes so lovingly and gently so I couldn’t resist to ask-Why do you spend so much time folding T-shirt? She said simply that she is going to wear this T-shirt again and she would like to feel this love which she is putting to folding it.
It made sense. Ever since if I don’t take time or put my clothes away somehow I can feel the disregard and carelessness in my body. The same way if I do it lovingly I can fell the warmth and care.
Elenalight, doing that loving folding of my clothes was my first expression of self care, I knew I needed to introduce that self nurturing into my life, but had no idea of where to start. The ripple effect of that one practice has spread, and is still spreading, and I love to come home each evening to the loving welcome I left behind that morning.
Hi catherine, thank you for your lovely response to the blog, It is truly amazing when you do everything in a loving way from a beautiful connection from within yourself and how it all reflects back in everything we do.
This story reminds me of my first session at the Universal Medicine Clinic and it was a Esoteric Breast Massage and there was something about being in that place (which I know now as being a room of soul-full love) that when I took my top and bra off, I folded it with the the most love and care I had ever done before. It was like the place was asking that of me without asking me at all. It has continued and I am so grateful for it.
I agree Elena, I feel the same when I have finished washing my clothes and dried them, I would be tempted to wear them before ironing them and I have done this several times, when in fact the feeling is not the same at all when they are ironed (with love!).
Totally agree Elena, how we leave something is then the feeling we return to when we come back to use it again…. and putting a bit of love in makes a big difference.
Great comment elenalight – Lately I have become aware of the fact that I often just throw my clothing on the floor when getting undressed to shower and in the past I justified this by saying “it’s just going in the wash” but the fact is this disregard meets me every time I interact with that item of clothing. Thank you for sharing so openly here and helping me to feel this.
It’s amazing how the quality of everything we do – whether large or small – can be felt far beyond the time of the actual activity itself.
Hi Brendan, thank you so much for your lovely response to the blog and appreciating the sharing and for being inspired by it.
I am sure you would be a lovely cleaner to have after reading what you have written here. It’s sweet when people clean for you but are respectful to put every thing back where it was otherwise you feel a little bit invaded.
Hi arieljoymuntelwit, thank you for your lovely response to the blog and for sharing what you felt about cleaning.
‘When I stay connected to my body I have more clarity and I know how to be; time is no longer an enemy.’ I have this feeling sometimes too, as if I fight with time. Staying connected with my body, being present, and not letting my thoughts go into what is next is a tool to feel more spacious in my body and in what I have to do in the moment.
Hi Annelies, thank you for your great response to the blog. It is amazing what our body shows us in what is truly happening and time tries to take us away from who we truly are if we allow it to.
When we begin to bring an awareness to our body that we haven’t had before, and feel how it responds, the difference when we lose that awareness is huge. When we are aware, as you have shared, everything flows with ease and there is no strain on the body and jobs that previously would have exhausted us no longer do. And when a house, a room, an office, a building etc, is cleaned with love and joy, it can definitely be felt.
Hi Ingrid, thank you for your lovely response to the blog. It is great when we become aware of what is truly going on in our bodies. You then realise how much love and wisdom they hold for us to feel and share.
I can agree Ingrid but it is also that awareness of how our body is feeling that is so confirming that there is no way we would want to have to put ourselves through the past behaviours that we used to use to get through the day such as stress.