New Delhi,  With the rise in working from home and flexible company policies, our homes needed to be our humble abode. When work-from-home became a constant, the lines became increasingly blurred between personal and professional spaces. Homes, as they say, are where the heart is, and are safe havens where one can de-stress, feel loved, be peaceful, and mindful of their being.

The year also saw an increase in the number of cases with mental health concerns, necessitating the need to create safe spaces within our homes. Designing our environment with mindful spaces has become an integral part of our lives. One is hugely influenced by our environment, inculcating healthy habits into our lives is essential.

What is a mindful space?

Space which has been created resonating with your own idea of calm. It's how we can connect to the space around us with our senses and nurture contentment in ourselves. It is in the way our frame of mind helps us savour and enjoy the feeling of being present in our environment.

Introducing mindful spaces in our homes is a great place to begin with. Here's why we need to create a space of our own that promotes mindfulness:

1. Declutter and re-organise -- Mindful spaces create a positive impact on our productivity and our mind-set. Research suggests that a large percentage of the population find messy, cluttered room stressful while others felt that the arrangement in the room and the things in it impacted how they were feeling. A cluttered space is synonymous with a cluttered mind; something which doesn't bode well when working from home, having a mindful space helps with clearing our mind and organizing our thoughts.

2. Being more attentive and increasing our concentration -- Having a dedicated space that allows us to be mindful of our happenings can greatly improve concentration and reduce ruminative thinking. By understanding our emotions in healthy ways, we will be able to think clearly and focus on the tasks at hand in a calmer manner. Mindful spaces help block out other distractions and focus on the details.

3. Calm and comfortable -- By adding small but significant moments of comfort, cosiness and joy to our home we can improve our wellbeing. 'Hygge', a Danish word meaning, creating cosiness in the soothing feeling in the space around us. There is certain mindfulness to hygge, it is about being present in the moment and brings a sense of wellbeing. It's an atmosphere and an experience rather than about the things. We feel relaxed when we have that hygge space, it gives us the feeling that we have control over our situation. Creating the hygge space is not only about how the environment looks but also how it makes us feel.

4. Elevate our moods and stimulate our senses -- The mindful spaces get replaced with memories. The areas of space and well-being are becoming more integrally interwoven. We can create this with an awareness of the subconscious drive to align our objects with who we seek to be. It is important to make our surroundings as relaxing and as soothing as possible. It should be a safe space for thinking, feeling, doing or just being in it without any judgements.

5. Think outside the box -- Sometimes we need reminders of why we do specific things and inspire us. No matter what else is happening in our work and home, that mindful space is a dedicated reminder of where we can fully enjoy our time when we are not working; space where you can brainstorm ideas, and at other times engage in creating something.

At the end of the day, our mindful space is what we make it to be. Whether it is an indoor space in our room, or a different part of our home, or a garden or a terrace, this space is ours and ours alone. Mindful spaces are designed to help us engage in activities which are rewarding, satisfying and train our mind to be more present and engaged when it's time to step away from our work.

Jenisha Shah, Lead Clinical Psychologist, Mpower The Centre, Mumbai