1. Building consistency is my Top Tip. Committing to doing things on a regular basis is building a routine that will support you each day in your kitchen as well as the rest of your home. I like to run the sink with hot water as I’m about to start cooking, it keeps the kitchen in order as I’m working and that way I don’t finish with a pile of dirty dishes.
 
Building consistency is something that needs to be in every part of our lives.
You then get to see so clearly when something is amiss, if something is not right. These are little signposts for us to stop and have a look at what is going on.
 
2. When I put things away every thing has a place and everything goes in its place. That way I know were things are, and everyone else knows where things go as well. It puts an order in the cupboards and it is easy to see when you are running out of something so that you can pop it on your grocery list as you go along.
 
3. Cleaning out the fridge is something that I like to do before I go shopping, it's a way to see what is left in the fridge and what is needed when I get the groceries. That way I’m already organised when I get home and things can go straight into the fridge.
 
4. My husband and I do the washing up together each night, we unpack the dishwasher together, the kitchen is our responsibility not just mine. Before we go to bed I like to check that everything is off the bench and put away, the kitchen is tidy and ready for the next morning and feeling beautiful.
 
5. I like to wipe things as I’m putting them away, they might be the sauce bottles or other containers, that way you don’t have sticky things in your cupboards or fridge. It makes me more aware of the kitchen surfaces, the cupboard doors, the drawers, fridge doors and the pantry shelves. All these little things that help keep a clean and tidy kitchen and by regularly doing them the kitchen stays organised and sparkling.
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Yesterday I had a little giggle as I was walking around the house as I remembered that in the past I would always have a room that was messy. It was like a collection of all the things that I didn't know what to do with, they would all end up in the one room and then I would shut the door. What I felt was that I had to keep something incomplete, like I was holding myself back, staying in a pattern.

I feel that I have come a long way since then. Things are always and will always be unfolding for me. Now when I look around the house I can see how we are building a commitment and a consistently in our daily lives.

Now if I see something that I want to make part of my daily routine, something that makes my life simpler, I committee to myself that I am going to do this regularly, make it part of my daily routine.  

 I have found that if I don’t make that choice to commit, it will just drop of my radar.
 
The other day my husband came into the house and said to me why don’t I use the orange mop each day to mop up the small things that appear on the floor.
This brought me to a stop, this was something that had fallen off my radar.  I had completely forgotten that it was something that I used to do. I would vacuum once a week and then use the mop each day to keep the floors clean. It was simple, it only took 5 minutes to do the whole house and it makes such a difference.

I find that I can think that something would make my life much simpler but if I don’t let it fit in or give it a place somewhere in my daily routine, then it will not become something that I will do. It gets forgotten. 

When I build consistency and commitment into my life they feel like anchors, they support me to keep our home sorted. As I build these little anchors, they constantly bring me back to me, a moment to stop and look around and appreciate the things in my life that I am holding. As I walk around the house all these little rituals that I am making part of my daily/ weekly routine support me in a way that is far beyond just keeping the house tidy and making my life simpler. I get a feeling of Joyfullness each time I stop and appreciate.
                           
These choices are deeply nurturing choices that support me to build a life that holds consistency and commitment in more parts of my life. Building an appreciation for the choices that I’m making.
 
 
 

 
 

 

We recently shifted to our new home and I have been unpacking and setting up the house. When I have previously shifted, there has always been this rush to get it done. Wanting things to be in order right from the start. But this time was different.
The moment that I would start to rush or feel I’ll keep something for now  and deal with it later, I would feel that something was wrong. At first I didn't know what was going on, there would not be a place for everything and I could feel how I was trying to fit things in when they were not fitting in. It is so interesting to observe how by keeping things that I already knew had to go, I had stopped the natural flow of setting up my pantry. It is like everything that was to go into the cupboard already had its place and by keeping things that needed to go I was disrupting and complicating this natural process.

I knew I had to go back and re-do the cupboard. The first thing that I did was to remove the items that I knew I would not, and had not used up until that moment. It was like once they were gone something shifted. Everything started to fit and the flow returned, making it easy to organise the cupboard. Everything had its place and the pantry felt amazing. 

I know this may sound a bit strange to some people, but what if this is what we do all through life. The moment that we make that choice to over-ride something that we feel to do, we could be choosing to completely complicate our lives. Imaging doing this 10 times a day and the impact that it is having on our lives and we don't even notice it.

I know that by choosing to keep 3 things in my pantry that needed to go, I no  longer kept my pantry tidy, I didn't put things back where they went, I wasn't wiping things as I returned them to the cupboard. It was like what came naturally to me had somehow been removed from my memory and I didn't notice, it was only that I kept feeling that something was wrong every time I went to the pantry.

This was such an eye opener seeing the significance of every little choice that I make and how it impacts on my life. 

By stopping and feeling how my choice to keep a few things in my pantry was having an affect, not just on the pantry but it was then impacting on the rest of the house and all my unpacking.  It is then easy to see how this flow on effect can affect everything. 

It's all the little things we choose to do through-out our day that make a difference, they add up to our whole day, that add up to our whole week, to our whole year, to our whole lives and how these choices can complicate without us even noticing that we have been thrown off course.

WHAT IF ?  
​The next time you feel to let something go but decide to keep it, stop and observe how it impacts YOUR LIFE. How things can feel out of place.
At the time what was wrong with the pantry felt as little as feeling a hair across my eyes but it was in my face until I made the choice to go back and clear what needed to go.

I recently purchased two new toilet brush. I do this each year. I have a ceramic holder and each year I buy a new brush from Ikea to replace the old one. As I was doing this I was pondering on how many things in our homes do we need to replace regularly. Things that we are using all the time but we may forget to replace at intervals. The toilet brush is doing a lot of work and is one thing that really does need replacing regularly.

I then started to look at other things that may also need to be changed but may slip under the radar. Pillows are another thing that can go unnoticed, this is something that definitely needs regular attention. Even though you can wash them it is still a good idea to purchase new ones at intervals. I recently noticed that a new pillow I bought had a use by date on it. This is a great reminder.
The toothbrush is also another one, I know we are told every 3 months is good but if we are honest how often do we use them for far longer then 3 months. Its not because we don't want to, it is just something that again can go under our radar.
Then there are all the things that we us that start to wear out that also need to be replaced. These things will pop up from time to time letting us know that they need to go.

 Chris and I have a saying, 
"If something sits in a place for long enough we ask each other who wants to get a cushion" This is a fun way of looking at life, if we leave something and don't put it away how it becomes part of the furniture and you don't even notice it.
Having a place for everything in our homes is so important. If things don't have a home it is easy to just leave them out and think i'll get to that latter, or shove it somewhere, but if it has no home and there is no where to put it is it not telling you something else. 
Now when I buy something, it has to be something that I know that I will use.I have a place to put it. It has a home to go to. 
This can be a great stop while we are shopping, stop and ask yourself do I have a place to put it, will I use it or will it become another thing that sits in the cupboard. Last year I bought a garlic crusher, it looked amazing but I have used it once. I love to cut my garlic up with a knife, I knew at the time that I wouldn't use it but I got caught in the fact that it looked like a really good idea and maybe I would use it, maybe never came.
This is now an awareness that I have in me, I can stop and feel will I really use this or is it just another thing to have in my cupboard.

Recently while  emptying the dishwasher and  putting things away I noticed that there were a few things that needed to be cleaned, around the handles of the cupboards, some of the shelves  needed to be wiped just a few little things.
I could feel how for a second I went  into overwhelm, in a panic I started to think that I needed to do a lot.
Instead I just stopped.
I felt how these things were reflecting to me a grander picture of life in full. Life is continually unfolding back to us, always presenting something for us to look at, maybe seeing it in a different way.

These little stops are internal signposts to say something needs to be looked at, my body lets me know what is on the list next. It might be that I notice that the skirting boards need cleaning as i'm vacuuming, it might mean that I can do them now, depending on time or I will book them in for next time. This is my natural cleaning roster,  everything in my house has its turn, therefore its like a continual spring cleaning of the house and nothing every gets left behind and everything is done regularly. I continually get delivered a little reminder note of what is needed to be done next. This way I never feel that overwhelm feeling like everything needs to be cleaned and now. If I stop and listen to my body then things slot into there place and everything just flows.
Having a routine for the weekly things is the same, it can be as simple as sheets Monday plus a load of colours, Tuesday towels and whites, Wednesday kids sheets and colours. By working with routines it illuminates head chatter and you just get up and get going. 
I like to clean the shower when i'm washing my hair, while I leave the conditioner in I"m wiping the shower, so simple and easy. When we clean  up after dinner, my husband washes the things not in the dishwasher as i'm wiping the benches, wiping things that go back into the fridge, there is a real flow in what we are doing and you get to see how you work together as a team, enjoying each others company while cleaning the house.
When we connect to our bodies and do something when it feels right it will never be a fight to get something done , it will just flow into its space and you will feel absolute joy when you are cleaning your home.
I love cleaning, scrubbing my pots and pans. I love the feel of the house when I have cleaned my floors. When we love what we're doing then there is a completely different energy left behind. It sparkles and we get to walk in that love.    

​I love clothes, I love getting dressed up and wearing clothes that I love, things that I feel beautiful in. I love mixing and matching outfits and discovering new ways of wearing my clothes. I love the feel of fabrics, the softness, the texture, how they fall on my body, how they swish as I walk and sway from side to side.
 
But the thing I love the most is when my body talks to me about what I’m wearing, confirming what I’m feeling. I recently bought a new pair of jeans, when I put them on they felt amazing on, I can feel that all of me loved what I was wearing and I know that they won’t just sit in my wardrobe, I don’t need to ask anyone what they think because my body has already confirmed and expressed what I feel by the way I’m holding myself and how I move. It feels like a second skin not just something I’m wearing. My whole body has a language of its own from head to toe. This is such a joyful feeling and to me feels like true sexiness.
 
In these moments I love to stand in front of the mirror and watch how my body is expressing about what I have put on. I can’t stop smiling from the inside out. I feel like I’m glowing and radiating what I’m feeling on the inside. Shining for all to see. There is no place to feel shy or any lack of confidence, I just walk with a power and strength that magnifies as I walk. It feels like I’m walking in slow motion. The more I stop and observe the more aware I become, it’s a gift to myself and I can’t stop but smile. The power of the body can cut old behaviors that may try to come in to tell me that what I’m feeling is not true.
 
When I stop and listen to my body in these moments I can feel how what I’m feeling is coming from my body as a whole. When I get a message from my whole body it can never have an ounce of negative in it. There is an intelligence that my whole body gives me that is far more powerful then the reading that my head delivers. It is our heads that give us our negative thoughts.
 
When I listen to what my whole body is saying I am receiving a gift from God. There is a difference when I feel something in my body first or just think something. When I think, it has no knowing in it, I can be persuaded to change my mind, I can doubt myself and feel ill at ease and things don't flow smoothly, but when I feel something from all of my body it comes from a knowing deep inside me that has no questioning. The power that comes from this connection that brings with it such clarity. A knowing deep down that my body has confirmed. My head can’t change what I have truly felt so strongly in my body. It is an absolute marker.
 
That is true intelligence.
 

If we see something that needs to be done e.g. Yesterday a plant in the kitchen was nearly lying down, I thought "oh I have to water it", but instead of just leaving it until later I went and got a jug and did it straight away.  Doing it in that moment felt completely different. At one stage I stopped as I could feel how my body felt so free. There was no feeling of backing up, it felt like everything was flowing with no complications.

From that moment on my morning was flowing so easily and I got so much done before work without any trying. The difference I felt in my body was so amazing, I kept wondering what it was that had made this difference. It was then that I realised that it was because I  went and watered the plant straight away, no hesitating. Listening to my body in that moment  made all the difference. These little choices keep order in our homes. Then we don't get that overwhelming feeling of looking around and seeing a mountain of things we need to do. If we do these as they come up, this is our natural list and life is much simpler if we choose to stop and listen. Sometimes I might not be able to to it then so I will put a little reminder out so I can do it when I get home.
​( The plant may not have waited that long.)

I regularly clean out my wardrobe, letting go of old clothes that no longer feel right on my body. Even if I don't let go of things it is such a lovely thing to do for me. Taking everything out, wiping the inside and putting clothes back. You will feel a difference.