At first glance, this might sound completely crazy, but cleaning up would bring some benefits for the human being and could even increase life expectancy according to science.
Indeed, cleaning thoroughly would provide a certain appeasement and feeling of well-being. This practice releases the endorphins while allowing to be relieved of its irritability and its black ideas. Unconsciously, the fact of cleaning around us, we would clean psychically and thus regenerate our morale, as if we indulged without even wanting to a rite of purification!
Indulging in household chores turns out to be a kind of emotional off-the-cuff for the less effective. We would lighten our dark thoughts as we would be alleviated from the mess. Moreover, tidying up around us, we would sort out in what clutters our mind.
It's scientifically proven
A study conducted by UCL (University College London) on nearly 20,000 men and women, 3,200 of whom suffered from stress or anxiety, reveals that an activity of at least 20 minutes, whether it is housewife, sports or even gardening would affect our morale in a positive way.
According to journalist Anne de Chalvron, who also focused on household psychology in her book Apologie des petits corvées: the secret pleasures of the household, engaging in household chores by tidying up, sorting, throwing, would be a great way to to relax and be a true therapy beneficial to health as also thinks the sociologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann who says that the more an activity required effort, the more it provides satisfaction once completed and clean its surrounding space gives the feeling to the mind to break free and move on.
Even life expectancy is increased
This activity, which seems at first linked to a real unpleasant chore, would increase the hope of human life by its benefits. This is confirmed by the American Journal of Public Health, which links household activity to a longer life expectancy.
Tidying up, vacuuming, washing the floor ... would be necessary to our mental equilibrium because of its stimulation by the body in actions. Three hours of energetic cleaning would be equivalent to three kilometers of jogging except that cleaning gives a feeling of purification that gives the impression of obtaining some gratification. This activity would also have a strong positive impact on our memory and our ability to concentrate that are solicited through the objects that we move and that we clean.
Even Alberto Eiguer affirms it; this psychiatrist and essayist in personal development, emphasizes that if the household activity has such important and positive repercussions, it is because it touches on something very personal, since "the house reflects our intimate self". According to him, "she is our place of protection, that of our family, she symbolizes our being". Clean, tidy, make beautiful, "is both a commemoration of who we are". A messy environment creates an impression of loss of control over one's habitat and, at the same time, over one's life.
Another study conducted in 2012 in the psychology department of Madrid reveals that 88% of depressed patients were cleaning up again in the first weeks of healing of their depression. A form of gentle therapy, they live at their own pace, without imposed external constraints.
Besides the fact that the household has many virtues on the morale and the well-being, this practice is also beneficial for the body and made it possible to fight against the overweight or the cardiovascular diseases.
To offer the luxury of cleanliness and order is undoubtedly beneficial and accessible to all. To be well at home and thus in one's head also goes through the household activities.
