Feel the Space

I've had a strange feeling this week. Since I completed my massive tidy up I've been experiencing a feeling of space in my house.

When there were piles of papers in every room and carrier bags of stuff in the hallway and on the landing, the house felt claustrophobic. Now, after my reorganisation, I can once again see the dining room table, the sitting room cabinet, the hall carpet. My living space seems bigger and I feel less hemmed in.

When you think about it, most people like space. When people go to buy a house, they usually want it to feel spacious and they are often put off a particular property if it is cramped or cluttered.

It's the same when you're faced with a page of print. A sheet of paper covered edge to edge with words, with no white space, is not inviting to the reader. It's far more comfortable to read something that has a larger percentage of white space - in other words, emptiness.

Most of us will be familiar with the discomfort of having to squash ourselves into a bus or a train that is jam-packed with too many people. We endure it if we have to, but isn't it so much nicer to be on one where there is plenty of room, a choice of seats, a bit of space between you and the next person?

Having our lives too crowded with appointments and demands can be very stressful. That feeling of wall-to-wall activity makes us feel we have no breathing space, no time to sit back and take stock. No time to simply enjoy our life.

How are you at the moment? Take a look at the room you're sitting in. Is it a space that you can breathe in? Do you find it conducive to working in or relaxing in?

Get out your diary and have a look at how your week pans out. Do you have space to think or are you trying to cram in so many activities that you've no time to think?

Take a look out of your window. Is there space for you to relax and roam freely? If there isn't, maybe you'd benefit from a weekend in the country or by the sea.

Give yourself a mini Space Break right now. Stand up and let yourself spread out as much as you can. Lift up your arms, stand on your tiptoes, have a good stretch and a yawn. Feeling better?