Healing HOME

There are Extreme Cleaning videos all over my YouTube feed. While I agree with my husband, who calls this “a new low” in my viewing habits, I do it to learn what to do and what not to do when I do this myself. I also find it oddly relaxing, while also being gut-turning—a somewhat morbid form of ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response).

The cleaning process doesn’t just reward the viewers with dopamine, oxytocin, endorphins and all sorts of stirring bodily sensations—it also rewards the extreme cleaners themselves, perhaps most of all, with the satisfaction of the before-and-after transformation. They are quite literally house healers, and it extends beyond that. They heal the home-dwellers as well, in ways great and small, in hidden arcs and in ripple effects.

Nonetheless, this heroic job comes with consequences: depression is commonly mentioned, as is overwhelm; and at times, even sheer horror. On the flip side, these are some of the more compassionate and nonjudgmental people on the planet due to sheer disbelief of what people will tolerate within their own homes.

To support these emotional first responders, whether pros or simply neighbors, family members or friends, here are a few gentle practices to help clear the heavy energy after a deep clean—so it doesn’t ride home in the car with you.

• Pocket Guardian. Carry something small and energetically protective: a pouch of sea salt, a piece of black tourmaline, shungite, or a rosemary sprig. If this sounds silly, try it as a placebo, if nothing else.
• Protective Visualization Before Entry. Before stepping into the home, take a breath and imagine yourself surrounded by a shield of spinning golden light.
• Sound Clearing. Clap your hands around yourself, play uplifting music or roll your windows down and listen to the wind. Sound breaks up lingering energy and restores your nervous system’s cadence.
• Nature Grounding. Touch grass, literally. Sit under a tree, walk barefoot, or breathe deeply outside. Nature absorbs excess energy and resets and calms your own rhythm.
• Salt Shower Ritual. After the job, take a shower with Epsom, sea, or Himalayan salt. As the water washes over you, invite a sense of release, a soul decluttering: visualize the emotional debris spiraling down the drain.

These rituals are the scaffolding that holds up the emotional architecture of cleaners who metabolize trauma through scrubbing, sorting, and sweeping. They transform the space, but they must also return to themselves.

To all the extreme cleaners: may your hands continue to heal the homes of others, but may your spirit stay clear and light, untouched by what you’ve lovingly released. You are not just cleaning; you’re tending to the invisible.