If it is true that love is the greatest healer, then it can be said that a house infused with love is truly a healing sanctuary with potentially far-reaching effects. With this in mind, we will explore how we can consciously infuse love into the home – the actual physical structure and its inhabitants – and why it’s important that we do.

Here we are not referring to remedies such as placing two red flowers in the “love and marriage corner” of the bedroom, but something deeper: how to infuse your house with love to the extent that it is so palpable that sicknesses washing through your community will “somehow” bypass your house entirely; and when guests visit, they will remark how good your place feels. “You can feel the love,” they say! 

So, how do we transform a house into a healing sanctuary?  

We clean our physical environment, as necessary. This ensures that our place is replete with clean air, pure water, and with all human safety, security and basic survival needs met. It also contributes to maintaining a relaxation response in the body, or a homeostatic state of equilibrium, which is health-generating.

We bring the outdoors in. It so happens that nature ranks behind love as the second-greatest healer! Of house plants in particular: not only do they provide a healthy air-exchange, but they are pure beingness, mirroring the stillness of peace and perfect balance. Stones, salt lamps, water features for those who live in dry climates: all of these contribute to a sense of balance.

We cook wholesome meals¹ – at least one or two a day. We bless the food (minimally, silently during its preparation); and we dine with our loved ones, appreciating pleasant conversation or quiet presence. This is a simple practice that reminds us of the value of our holistic wellness. 

We live as though the Divine is immanent in all things (because it is). In doing this, we naturally treat all objects with respect, whether or not we perceive them as conscious. Everything, then, is polished and placed with love in its most functional place. Putting function before form is an act of respect (and oft common sense), but we also give ample energy toward cultivating what we perceive as beauty.

We live as though life is worth celebrating (because it is), cherishing our precious time with our loved ones who share our home, hallowing each moment, remembering that we are here for an indeterminate amount of time. This keeps us in a state of appreciation. 

We enjoy life in the home as a multi-sensory experience. Lighting candles and incense, playing music, baking something that smells and tastes like comfort: these are ongoing acts of love. “A house remains a house until Life has been brought into it. Then it becomes a home,”² said our mother of holistic medicine, Gladys McGarey, who called love the most powerful medicine.

We create positive memories. Dr. Ceren Boğaç shares some profound insights: 

“[Our home] matters to us because of the way it makes us feel, because of the memories that were shared in it . . . memories of events happening inside a ‘place’ which are shared . . . constituting a ‘collective memory’….”³ 

The collective memory of psychodynamics and activities contributes to the home’s unique energy field. Positive memories, in particular, foster a healing atmosphere. 

We create a bridge between realms, incorporating spiritual items, texts, art that is meaningful to us, personally, and to those who share our place. We perform house-blessings! We balance the “heights” with rootedness into the earth and family lineage. This provides a deep and important sense of connection with the home as a hub of unity and cohesion.

Lastly for this concise list of ways in which we can lovingly transform a home into a healing sanctuary:

We love, love, love people directly.⁴ We give meaningful hugs and smile with our eyes. We are genuinely, deeply glad to be in the presence of our beloved home-dwellers and guests. We are inquisitively engaging, fortifying a sense of belonging and feeling loved. Why?

Love produces neurochemical changes. The human body produces oxytocin (“the love hormone”), which reduces stress and promotes bonding. It produces dopamine, which reinforces positive experiences; and serotonin contributes to our sense of well-being. When we experience love, it floods our system with these chemicals. 

Furthermore, love can also shield us against heart-related ailments. Emotional support, compassion, and laughter (also argued as “the best medicine”) contribute to better cardiovascular outcomes. Love can reduce inflammation, regulate blood pressure, keep our blood constituents in better balance, and more. 

We cannot underestimate the healing power of love, so we infuse it into our sacred space, our healing sanctuary. “There is an unbreakable flow between us and our places,” says Dr. Boğaç. “We act on our environment and in turn the environment acts on us.”⁵ This flowing reciprocity of healing is contagious, touching and inspiring neighbors, communities, and beyond.

NOTES

1. I highly recommend the book, Conscious Eating (Second Edition) by Gabriel Cousens, M.D. (North Atlantic Books, 2000).

2. Gladys McGarey. Living Medicine. Waterside Productions, 2020.

3. Ceren Boğaç. “Love of Place: Emotional Engagements and Psychological Process.” Presented at the 4^th EFPSA Conference, 2019. Academia.edu, www.academia.edu/95461245/Love_of_place_Emotional_engagements_and_psychological_process?rhid=28465047818&swp=rr-rw-wc-48881859. Accessed May 2024.

4. Consider the 5 Love Languages of Dr. Gary Chapman: words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of kindness, and physical touch. I recommend his book, The Five Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts (Northfield Publishing, 2015).

5. Boğaç, Ibid.