How To Become A Zen Master (While Doing Household Chores)

By: Donna Smith

Introduce a little zen into your housekeeping, and you might actually enjoy doing chores. Sounds impossible? Not if you try these seven tips.

1. Mopping the Floor

Add a drop of etheric oil to your bucket with water. Carefully choose which room in your house you want to give which atmosphere: for instance, choose oil with peppermint for your bathroom, and lavender for your bedroom. In every room you come, think of what that room means to you. What place does it represent in your life? In the kitchen, you may think of the love with which you make breakfast for your family every morning. In the living room, you may recall good times with friends.

2. Window Cleaning

Dirty windows make it harder to see the world outside. While cleaning a window, meditate about which other aspects of your life make it hard for you to be uninhibited in how you see the world around you.

3. Grocery Shopping

The products in your shopping cart represent your current needs in life. Take a good look at what you're buying. Especially the purchases you don't really need, reveal hidden desires. Did you buy chocolate and cookies? Perhaps you need a source of comfort. Did you buy candles? This could indicate not only a need for romance, but also for love in general.

4. Washing Dishes

At the end of a day, your head is full of ideas and memories. Whenever you put something in the hot soapy water, link it to an event that happened that day. Try to "wash" the idea out of your mind and clear your spirit. If you have a dish washer, you can use the same approach: every item you put into the dish washer, represents a part of your day.

5. Setting the Table

A tasty meal tastes even better when you're sitting around a beautifully laid table. Some things only happen when you put love and patience into them. While setting the table, think about which projects in your life will need love and patience before they can happen.

6. Cleaning Out the Refrigerator

When cleaning out trash and bad food, think about which aspects of your life you'd rather throw away. Are there bad memories you'd want to forget? Let every item you throw away represent something bad in your life.

7. Folding Laundry

Every piece of clothing represents a part of your personality. For every garment, say out loud which part of your personality it reflects. You can also do this for other members of your family.