Why tidying up may be good for your health
A tidy environment motivates a person to reach for healthier food choices like fruits and vegetables as opposed to high-caloric and sugar-loaded treats.
Who has not heard of Marie Kondo or her KonMari method? In 2015,Timeeven included her in the list of the 100 Most Influential People in the world. Her 2011 book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,has sold more than eight million copies and has been published in 30 countries. Half of that number was sold in the United States when her book was published there in 2014.
No time to read her books? You might be amazed and inspired watching the eight episodes of Season 1 of the Netflix original Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, which debuted on Jan. 1. In each episode, the sweet and diminutive Marie visits American homes with her interpreter to help organize their domestic mess. Her popularity in the US, plus this new documentary, which is propelling her to far greater heights made it necessary for her family to move from Tokyo to Los Angeles.
Hooked after a few episodes, I immediately tried the concepts I learned and organized my closet. To my surprise there were clothes I forgot I had. Don’t you have that tendency of wearing the same clothes more often than others because they are the ones you see first in your closet? Well the KonMari method of folding and storing clothes helps you see everything and allows you to get what you want to wear without making a mess.
But how does tidying up boost your health? Well, for one, a 2011 study published by The Journal of Neuroscience revealed that a cluttered environment could limit the brain’s processing capacity. Clutter distracts and diminishes our focus.
A messy environment can also lead to an increase in cortisol levels or stress that can eventually lead to illnesses if not properly managed, or added weight especially in the midsection. Research also warns that clutter can have an impact on one’s quality of sleep.
Some experts also say that a tidy environment motivates a person to reach for healthier food choices like fruits and vegetables as opposed to high-caloric and sugar-loaded treats. More than that, KonMari method is built on gratitude and joy, which are emotions associated with good health.
Kondo’s passion for organizing began when she was five years old. In school, she found joy in fixing the classroom bookshelves. It was in school that she had a breakthrough in tidying up. She recalled that she had a nervous breakdown and was unconscious for two hours.
She said she experienced a breakthrough in organizing one day. “When I came to, I heard a mysterious voice, like some god of tidying telling me to look at my things more closely. And I realized my mistake: I was only looking for things to throw out. What I should be doing is finding the things I want to keep. Identifying the things that make you happy: that is the work of tidying up.”
Her home-organizing consulting business started in Tokyo when she was 19. She was so popular she had a three-month-long waiting list. Some of her clients requested for her to write a book.
The KonMari method starts with gathering together all of one’s belongings, one category at a time, and then keeping only those things that “spark joy.” There are five catagories: Clothing, Books, Paper, Komono (kitchen, bathroom, garage and miscellaneous) and Sentimental items.
Tidy by category, not by location. Kondo points out that one of the most common mistakes people make is to tidy room by room. This doesn’t work because people think they have tidied up each room when they end up only stuffing items around the house. To get a more accurate grasp of the volume of things they actually own, the correct approach is to organize by category. So when tidying up in the clothing category for example, you have to gather every item of clothing from the entire house and pile them in one spot like a mountain of clothes. You then hold each piece of clothing with your hands (not longer than three minutes) and segregating the ones to keep (the pieces of clothing that sparks joy) from the ones to discard or donate.
In her book, Kondo promises even magical results from tidying. “If you tidy properly, you will become thinner and your skin will clear up. You will be spiritually fulfilled and develop good fortune. You will face your anxieties about the past and the future and learn what it is that you really want from life, and at last, your real life will begin. Tidying, after all, is magic. It will open up your life to true joy.”
Maybe that over-simplifies everything but just maybe organizing our lives around gratitude and joy is really the key to a peaceful balanced life.
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Post me a note at mylene@goldsgym.com.ph or mylenedayrit@gmail.com.
