In my last newsletter, I shared about the importance of cultivating your inner circle to enhance healing. In today’s newsletter, I’ll be sharing about the importance of curating your physical environment to enhance healing through your treatment journey.
Why your physical space matters
Think about your home for a moment.
Mentally scan it, thinking about all of the places that you love vs the areas that perhaps feel cluttered, dim, or uninspiring. How do you feel when you think about these different spaces in your home? What thoughts and emotions do they evoke?
Even if your conscious mind has learned to brush over or rationalize these uninspiring spaces, your subconscious mind is subtly keeping a pulse on them. This can increase levels of cortisol in the body causing anxiety, depression, and other symptoms. When you are going through a healing journey, it’s important to decrease levels of cortisol to create an optimal internal environment for healing.
What implications does this have when healing from cancer or other chronic illness?
It means that your physical environment and the objects you bring into it are an important part of your healing journey.
Environmental psychologist Roger Ulrich compared how quickly patients healed after gallbladder surgery based upon the environment they were in. Patient rooms either looked out on a grove of trees or a brick wall. The study found that patients with the view of a grove of trees consistently healed faster than those whose windows looked out on a brick wall.
Choosing to clean up your environment and bring in objects that increase feelings of peace, calm, and overall well-being can support and enhance your healing journey.
Assessing and enhancing your physical environment before beginning treatment
When looking at your physical environment, there are three important factors to consider:
- What, if anything, in your environment is creating more stress? Is there an area of your home that you want to clean up or clutter that’s been weighing on your mind? Do you want to clean the windows to let more light in or buy curtains to keep city lights out at night?You don’t necessarily need to make huge changes or completely demolish your home if you’re feeling like there are many stressors in your environment. In fact, small changes over time can make a big difference.
- What can you bring into your environment to promote feelings of peace and calm? Bringing in soft blankets that bring a sense of comfort into your home or pictures of your pup that bring a smile to your face are simple yet effective ways to shift the energy of your space. Again, small shifts can make a big difference so identifying two or three items that enhance your overall peace and well-being can be a great place to start.
- How can you increase your exposure to nature? Bringing plants into your home or sprucing up your outdoor spaces to spend more time in the sunlight can enhance your healing journey.
As you assess your environment little by little, eliminating what weighs on your energy vs what is life giving, you’ll cultivate optimal environments for healing.
Join me for next week’s newsletter where we’ll start to talk about shifting your internal environment to promote healing along your journey.
Much Love,
Dr. Katie
Announcements
The doors to my virtual practice are OPEN
Are you or a loved one currently going through treatment for cancer or other chronic disease? The doors to my virtual practice are officially open and I would love to support you in healing the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual root causes of disease. You can learn more on my website katiedeming.com and click the ‘BOOK ME’ tab to schedule your 1:1 consultation.
The new season of the Born to Heal Podcast debuts in February
I am excited to announce that my Born to Heal Podcast is relaunching on Tuesday, February 13th! In this new season, I’ll be interviewing different experts in the field of healing to empower your conscious healing journey. Stay tuned for updates and sneak peeks as we inch closer to the first episode’s debut!
You can catch up on past episodes on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or all other major podcast platforms.
Let’s Stay Connected
Each week, I post content to Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn where I offer practical tips to become your own conscious healer. I hope to see you there!
DISCLAIMER:
This Blog in its entirety is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider regarding any medical questions or conditions.
