A healthy home leads to a healthy body, mind, and spirit.
The bigger-picture benefits of KonMari Method decluttering are sometimes overshadowed by the focus on keeping only the things that spark joy, the importance of cleansing a home by category, not by room, and a pop culture fascination with Marie Kondo’s innovative folding techniques.
For me, working on all of those things with a client naturally evolves into a mentorship role that results in larger lifestyle improvements with benefits that go far beyond having a tidy closet.
As we move through the decluttering of physical things, a journey of emotional discovery is inevitable—simply by the fact that we have emotional attachments to our things and confronting those encourages reflection and reassessment.
I encourage my clients to speak freely about their emotions and their current lifestyle so they can clearly see what they would like to change on the path to choosing joy.
Once clients learn about my background as a healthcare professional, there’s a gravitational force on both sides that leads me to helping them with issues that go far beyond decluttering.
As part of my existing KonMari packages and rates, I inevitably end up guiding people through lifestyle realignments, as well as body, mind, and spirit enhancements, based on my three decades of experience helping people find balance in life as a Chiropractor, Reflexologist, Reiki Master Practitioner, and Acupuncturist. (I have a very busy practice based in Southington.)
In these difficult times, especially, I consider guiding these larger lifestyle transformations with emotional support, confidence enhancement, and bigger-picture mentoring to be part of my mission of doing good.
I’ll give you an example of how this experience might work.
On a strictly KonMari level, a client I work with discovered during our sessions that having her kitchen in order when she comes down to start her day is an important component of her vision for a more harmonious lifestyle. Being able to sit down with her planner and a cup of tea to start her day peacefully, calmly and in a tidy way sparks joy for her.
As we accomplished that kitchen transformation, we are also addressing another issue in moving through category-by-category tidying. Her background was in Waldorf teaching, something she was convinced she would return to after a hiatus. As a result, she chose to keep many things we assessed, saying each time, “That could be for Waldorf.”
Eventually, we had a large pile of Waldorf items, which, according to the KonMari philosophy, needed designated tidy homes if they were to stay, so there was more work to do beyond the “let’s keep it” decisions. Throughout the lengthy, arduous process we had many conversations about her life, her experience, and her goals.
Suddenly she said in a conversation about returning to Waldorf teaching, “I don’t think I want to do that. It’s who I was but not where I’m going.”
That’s the power of KonMari decluttering when combined with lifestyle coaching and informed conversations about health, wellness, balance, energy alignment and more. Through the tidying process, this client has actually changed the entire direction of her life to align with what she felt but couldn’t previously see clearly.
By working together, she experienced a level of discovery that helped her deal with many things she couldn’t come to terms with as she had been somewhat stuck in time.
KonMari, enhanced with my larger perspective, had liberated her.
I always begin by asking, “What kind of joy are you seeking?” Inevitably that leads to a journey in which I end up offering my clients a way to stay organized in every aspect of their lives. In a good way, people say to me, ‘Oh my God, it’s like a counseling session.”
And because they know I have a healthcare/natural therapy practice, people open up to me about health and wellness issues—and then I really engage. Helping improve people’s health and body, mind and spirit alignment is what I’m here to do. It’s my mission.
So those “counseling sessions” are simply wrapped in as part of my KonMari services—and, of course, if people also want to connect through my practice, I’m happy to accommodate that.
No matter the specific focus of a client’s KonMari journey, setting goals is a key to success in achieving their vision and fostering their ideal lifestyle. As we check off each accomplishment, there’s an important sense of affirmation, which provides “fuel” for overcoming the next set of challenges.
I always practice deep listening in working with people and use their thoughts, fears, and goals as yardsticks to track progress. It helps me provide commitment reinforcement and specifically tailored words of inspiration to help everyone get to that next level.
To learn more about your next level, and how KonMari is the key to transformations much larger than simply decluttering, email me at [email protected], or give me a call at (203) 772-8883.