Thank you to Alexis from Singleparent.info for being our guest blogger for this week!

While moving may be stressful in and of itself, the opportunities that open during a period of transition are well worth a few days of hassles. When you move to a new place, it is like getting a blank slate. You have new neighbors, a new home, and a new chance to replace your bad habits with healthier ones and improve your life and overall well-being. We offer a guide to improving your life, with a focus on creating healthier habits and reducing stress.

 

Create a Healthy Home Environment

When you move, you have the chance to create a healthy home environment by making a clutter-free space that invites you to relax and reduce stress. Begin as soon as you unpack to think about creating a space that will be welcoming and help you relieve stress. For example, make sure you have a place for everything to reduce clutter. One study found that clutter increases stress levels and makes it more difficult to focus and process information. Since you already have your items in boxes, take care when you unpack. If you weren’t sure why you kept certain items, take advantage of their portability and donate them. For more tips on creating a happy, healthy home environment, refer to this helpful guide from Redfin.com.

Another way to create a healthy home environment is to place plants around your home and hang paintings or images of nature on your walls. If you’re afraid of adding clutter to your home, or if you’re afraid you’ll forget to water your plants, store plants in your shower. Shower plants are a hot trend that have healthy advantages: they improve air quality in your bathroom, absorb excess moisture, eliminate bacteria, and create a calming, spa-like atmosphere.

 

Dedicate Your Bedroom to Relaxation and Sleep

Sometimes, people let their bedrooms become the most cluttered area in their home because they can close it off to friends and relatives who visit. But, allowing your bedroom to be a mess is a bad habit that you easily can change after a move. Once you donate your excess items, work on making a cozy bedroom that invites relaxation and sleep. Paint your walls a dark color and contrast with plush, lighter linens. Choose soft lighting with lower wattage bulbs and flameless candles and make sure your lampshades direct light away from your bed. Make spaces for books and plants to create a relaxing area in your bedroom.

If you had been in the habit of scrolling through social media or working late on a laptop in your bedroom in your previous home, break that habit now in your new home. Keep your phone and laptop chargers away from your bed to avoid the temptation of using your electronics before bed. According to the National Sleep Foundation, electronic devices emit light that affects our natural sleep patterns and disrupts our circadian rhythms, promoting wakefulness rather than sleep. The recommendation is that we stop using electronics at least one hour prior to bedtime. If you find that you struggle giving up your electronics at night, get in the habit of reading a traditional book, meditating, or listening to soft music before bed.

 

Create a Home Gym

You don’t need to dedicate an entire room of your new home to exercise, but you should have a few basic pieces of equipment like aerobic weights and a yoga mat to eliminate your excuses to skip going to the gym or exercising. Once you start exercising regularly, you will feel better because you will release endorphins that make you feel good and lower your symptoms of depression and anxiety. You’ll also lower your stress levels and gain more control over your body and mind. Having exercise equipment in your new home is the first step toward exercising more and reducing stress after your move.

Moving gives you the chance to create a healthy home environment that helps you reduce stress. Keep the clutter out, get a few plants, make your bedroom a relaxing space free of electronics, and create a home gym to replace bad habits with healthy ones to reduce stress and improve your life in your new home.

Image via Pixabay by ErikaWittlieb