Which of these signals is your home sending you?

I remember a time when I had trouble finding a place to sit down in my house - there were newspapers, cat toys, dirty socks, empty water glasses, backpacks, and shoes everywhere. Sitting in the midst of chaos felt chaotic.

No matter where you are stuck, how does creating a calmer home environment support your optimal health?

These things were "signals" that I was living a busy, full life - packed with three growing children and their friends, two kittens, a husband intent on planning the next adventure, and a full and productive work life.

And yet...

Not being able to find a place of calm within my own home didn't feel healthy.

That wisdom informed baby steps towards creating space that now feels much more welcoming and peaceful.

Is your home a restful sanctuary? Do you look forward to spending time there? Or is it a repository for old memories and detritus that no longer serve you? Do you surround yourself with things that feel beautiful? Or are you surrounded by things that others have unloaded or passed down and that produce a feeling of obligation?

Perhaps you are somewhere in between...

Here are some ideas to consider if it's time to make changes:

• Choose paint colors for your walls that match the mood you want to create - bring your favorite colors from nature into your home... wheat, lavender, early spring grass, the soft gray of a kitten's ears, shell pink, the red of the earth in Uganda;

• Clear out clutter - thank the things that no longer serve you and send them on their way to serve others (remind yourself, if separation is difficult, that "things" are not the same as the memories they evoke);

• Surround yourself with things that feel beautiful to you - artwork, patterns, soft lighting, textures, your children's "I love you" notes from kindergarten;

• Bring nature into your home through fresh cut flowers and green plants, wooden bowls, shells and rocks;

• And top it off with organic fragrances and pleasing sounds. A diffuser with organic essential oils can provide energizing or calming fragrances. Gurgling water or the sound of birds is pleasing to many people.

Baby steps.

Notice, as you go, how it feels to invest in your surroundings as well as yourself.

Then, celebrate feeling healthier by finding a place to sit and enjoy the calm.