When you think of your childhood home, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Is it family meals? Do you recall the smell of your favorite dishes? Often times, the typical gathering place in our homes is the kitchen.Our kitchens are places where we store, prepare and eat our food, providing us with the energy and nourishment to live. Kitchens are also a place of community, where we can come together with family and friends to prepare and eat meals together.
Consider your current kitchen area. How do you feel when you enter the room? Do you feel that it is a place of honor where you will prepare healthy and delicious food, or do you dread walking into the space? Is it cluttered and dreary? Does it represent more work that needs to be done, or a place of joy and creativity? While there are many things you can shift to enhance your kitchen, let’s take a look at just four ways to create a kitchen that supports aspects of wellness in our lives.
1. Remove the Clutter
No matter what aspect of feng shui we are looking at, or what room in our home we begin with, the first step in creating a supportive space is to get rid of the clutter. Take an inventory of your kitchen. Remove objects that are duplicates, things that you don’t use, or that no longer work. Then, take a deeper look at what is taking up space in your kitchen. Are there things in the space that constantly remind you (even if subconsciously) about what you think you “should” be doing, or that all the “good” mothers, or healthy eaters use? Be realistic about what you want in your life and prioritize. Let go of the rest. Removing those “shoulds” from your physical and mental space is just as important, if not even more important, in the clutter clearing process!
2. Infusing Our Food with Love
In addition to keeping our kitchens physically clean and clutter free, it is also imperative that we are mindful of what we nourish our bodies with. Keep in mind how much time you have to prepare meals. Focus on what you can do with the time you have. Make food preparation as mindful and joyful as possible! Realistically assess how much time you have to prepare meals (without judging yourself) and buy foods that will assist you in that preparation. Set your intentions when cooking that the food you are preparing will nourish and sustain you and the ones you love.
3. Design Your Table Settings to Honor Yourself and Your Food
In our busy lives, it is refreshing to sit and enjoy a meal, either by yourself or with those whom you share a home. Make each meal a sacred time to reflect, enjoy each other’s company, and enjoy your meal. One way to do this is to be creative with your table settings. Adjust your table settings to reflect the seasons and even the time of day that you eat. Create a centerpiece, either directly from nature, like flowers, pinecones, stones, or other objects found in nature, or create your own. You may even consider putting a gratitude or intention jar in the center of the table, where you can write what you are grateful for that day or an intention and place it in the jar to be infused with loving energy during the meal.
4. Abundance in the Kitchen
The kitchen, especially the stove, relates to the energy of abundance, bringing both health and wealth into your life. The kitchen is also a place of community, bringing family and friends together. Keep your stove clean and in regular use. Use all the burners on your stove. If you want to reflect the energy of abundance represented by the burners, place a mirrored backsplash behind the stove to reflect and multiply the energy of abundance. Create an area where you can eat without standing and without watching TV (and without checking your phone during meals). Make it a true place of community where you can uplift the energy of health, wealth, and family.
By honoring the kitchen as the true heart of our home, we can enhance our physical, mental and emotional wellness. Reflect on what emotions and feelings you want to experience when preparing meals and eating. Determine what objects and images will best support you, remove what doesn’t support you, and arrange what remains to allow for easy flow and clarity in your space. By creating a safe and sacred space to nourish our bodies, a place that uplifts our emotions and bring us together in community, we can truly create more joy in our lives during meal preparation and eating time. By doing this, we honor ourselves and what we use to fuel our bodies.