"I somehow feel like the air in my room is stagnant."
"I cleaned, but for some reason it doesn't feel refreshed."

When people think of purifying a room, they often picture burning incense or pressing their hands together in prayer. But it's actually said that the most effective step in purification isn't the incense itself — it's the seemingly plain work that comes before it: letting go of things. And this isn't just a matter of mood; it's increasingly backed by research data showing an actual shift in stress hormones in women's bodies.

Why "Tidying Up" Works as Purification

A research team at UCLA once studied 32 dual-income households living near Los Angeles, documenting the inside of their homes with photos and video while measuring the stress hormone cortisol in residents' saliva. The results reported that the more clutter a home contained, the higher the mother's cortisol level tended to be. What's interesting is that this tendency wasn't seen as strongly in fathers living in the same home, suggesting there's individual and role-based variation in how people experience a cluttered space.

What this research shows is that the feeling of "a messy room brings me down" isn't just imagination — it can occur as a response measurable at the level of hormones in the body. The more objects in view, the more the brain unconsciously keeps trying to process them, and this is thought to build into a state of chronic tension. In other words, the first step in purifying a room, before scent or any ritual gesture, should be reducing the sheer amount of stuff in view.

The Japanese Idea of "Washing Away Impurity With Water"

Japan has long carried the custom of wakamizu, water drawn for the first time on New Year's morning. Wakamizu is said to hold the power to ward off a year's negative energy, and has been used to wash one's face or prepare tea and ozoni soup. The simple act of "using fresh water" has carried the meaning of washing away a year's impurities and welcoming in the new.

This idea overlaps with the concept of purifying a room by letting go of things. Letting go of what you no longer need, and the physical act of wiping away surface grime with a damp cloth, have both carried the sense of a turning point, "resetting what came before" — wisdom common to Japan's seasonal customs. Whether it's wakamizu or the year-end deep clean, the underlying idea is the same: washing away invisible stagnation through the act of moving water, or your hands.

Concrete Steps to Purify a Room

1. Start Letting Go With "Things You Haven't Touched in a Year"

The easiest place to start with purification is not the things you're most attached to, but the things you haven't picked up once in the past year. For anything you're unsure about, put it in a "holding box" with a set deadline — this lowers the psychological barrier to the act of letting go itself.

2. Wipe Away "Surface Stagnation" With Cleaning

Just wiping windows, floors, and shelves within reach with a well-wrung cloth often leaves you feeling like the heaviness of the space has eased along with the dust. This is thought to work the same way as the wakamizu idea above — the act of "washing something away with water" carries the meaning of marking a turning point.

3. Open Windows to Refresh the Air

Once you've reduced clutter and finished wiping, open windows in 2 or more directions for even just a few minutes to create airflow through the room. Refreshing stagnant indoor air is also an essential step in preparing to bring in scent.

4. Close With Scent at the End

Once the physical purification — tidying, wiping, ventilating — is done, burn a scent. Following this order changes how the scent itself is perceived. Adding scent as the final step, after the sequence of letting go, washing away, and tidying, makes the feeling of "purification is complete" linger more strongly.

Reset With Scent

Once tidying and ventilating are done, a scent focused on space purification, like No.10 Clean Energy, settles naturally into the room. Many people build a habit of burning it as a closing step after people have gathered, or when the room's air feels heavy. If it's right after a move or redecorating and you're still not feeling at home, also try No.18 Field Reset. If you're curious, take a look at the Reset Series to check out the character of each scent.

Summary

• Purifying a room hinges on the step of "letting go of things" that comes before burning any scent
• UCLA research data shows a relationship between a cluttered space and stress hormones
• Japan's wakamizu custom also carries the idea of washing away impurity and marking a turning point through the act of moving water or hands
• Following the order of tidying → wiping → ventilating → scent makes purification easier to actually feel

Worth reading too: Why You're Exhausted After Coming Home From a Crowd | Purifying Your Space With Incense and Fresh Air and Why the Air in Your Room Feels Heavy | Causes and a Scent-Based Self-Care Habit, each covering how to tend to a space from a different angle.

References: Research in environmental psychology on housing environments and stress response, and general knowledge of Japanese seasonal events and folk culture.