Spring Equinox Ritual To Wash Winter Away

“Spring is proof that there is beauty in new beginnings.”
– Matshona Dhliwayo

The spring (vernal) equinox, when polarities find balance: night equals day; yinyang distributes the eternal Tao; the sun and moon reflect heaven’s benevolence and the earth receives the hidden treasures from winter’s slumber. If we take time for reflection to reboot, to reset, and renew our life force, then our endeavors will be more powerful, our inspirations greater and our burdens lighter. Connecting our hearts to the galactic rhythm available on this day, resonance will be available when we need it most. Wash Winter from your front door with the Door Washing Charm. Enjoy!

The Door Washing Charm
A spring equinox ritual to harmonize and protect the loving energy of the hearth and home from the Goddess and the Green ManThis simple charm helps to safeguard the home and boost harmonious energies within. And who knows a little magical gift for your visitors too.
Materials
3 drops of orange essential oil. It invites good fortune, happiness and contentment.
2 drops of clove essential oil. Clove oil encourages courage and protection.
2 drops of lime essential oil for purification and love
Hot water
A white cloth
A bowl or bucket
Procedure
Place all the essential oils into your bowl and pour hot water over them. When the water has cooled stir well in a clockwise fashion. Next take your cloth and gently wipe your door starting in the center, work outwards in a clockwise movement. While you are doing this, say three times (either out loud or silently): “I protect this home and shield all within. Love, peace and harmony, I call you in…”

When you have completed the ritual, wring your cloth out under running water, dry it thoroughly and keep it for future cleansing. Where it is safe, pour your water outside. Feel the love and joy of spring.

Beginnings are potent. Whatever you do may it reflect what is important to you. A Black Sect Feng Shui adjustment when leaving the house for an important meeting or event like getting married or closing on a home, leave the threshold on your left foot. It will bring you luck.

Happy Ostara, Happy Spring Equinox

Allow me to help you arrange your home where you feel fully supported. I am available for a full consultation service or for an hour telephone conversation. Details are at this link Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

The Thanksgiving Gift

“May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.”
– John O’Donahue

We’ve been through more than we knew we could handle and though the struggle has been challenging, I believe we have been given this year to birth something new in each one of us. I admire your courage to overcome the obstacles that came your way and your fortitude to grow in love. The signs tell us we are coming into a state of grace and it begins with the Thanksgiving gift. 

Wealth is a reflection of good-heartedness, trust in the future and generosity. Here is my Thanksgiving gift to you as “something beautiful to hold in your heart to survive difficult times and enjoy good times.”

The Three Harmony
If a house is square or rectangle and there are  no extensions you can magnify this shape with the Three Harmony. It’s a method from Professor Lin to create auspicious extensions in your home. If you wish to improve your career, go to the Career gua (middle front) and place a mirror. Visualize a projection and in your visualization, the mirror becomes an auspicious extension. You may stop here OR enhance the mirror placement in Career, by placing a mirror in Wealth (far back left) and one in Partnership (far back right). These guas harmonize with Career and this adjustment is The Three Harmony of Water (water is the element of the Career gua). Complete with the Reinforce with each adjustment with your body, mind and speech.

Three Harmony of Water - Career, Wealth and Relationship. Add mirrors to each sector (guas) of the home. Shen Men Feng Shui, Portland, Oregon

             Three Harmony of Water

If you are looking to build a new home, remodel, plan a wedding, purchase a home or sell one, when you begin has tremendous influence on the outcome of your event. Beginning on the right foot with an auspicious date and time will bring success to your endeavor. Contact me, bette@shenmenfengshui.com for details of how I can assist you with getting started.

Allow me to help you arrange your home where you feel fully supported. I am available for a full consultation service or for an hour telephone conversation. Details are at this link Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

Photo credit: Jack Hood, Flickr

2020: Your Soul In Focus

“Sometimes life is about risking everything for a dream that no one can see but you.”
– Enrique Iglesias

2020 is the year of conscious living. What this means is there will be a pronounced shift from operating via our intellect to living from our heart. We can take real advantage of this incoming energy when we marry our soul desires with our purpose. This alignment is the kind that incites our joy which creates good timing, prosperity and abundant opportunities. If you want to realize your dream for 2020, here’s your opening to envision “your future you”.

Beginning is not so difficult when you understand that physical reality is not fixed but malleable and can be manipulated for positive change. Now through the end of the year is a perfect incubation period for imagining, setting intention and seeing all the details. Explore the dynamic, prosperous person you are, first in the subtle realm, by writing out your day to day activities. See all the elements of the work you’ll be doing. Imagine what your good health looks like. Envision the high value relationships you will attract and muse over the opportunities you want to see happen. Invest in this daily and you will create a solid foundation for your future you.

Master this shift with four areas of the Bagua that enhance personal development. Blend Feng Shui design with self discovery and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the alchemy. Isn’t it time to go for what you want?

Knowledge/Self Cultivation
Self awareness is the foundation to understanding your potential. The Knowledge area, Gen, of your home (front left corner of the house) is referred to as the Mountain. It is the time to strategically withdraw and muse over your experiences. Hiking up a mountain trail and resting at the summit is a form of contemplation. The fresh mountain air stimulates deep breath and this activates the brain, opening the channels for your intuition to directly access your cognitive functions. Which means your decision making is direct, fluid and connected to your desires. Literally this may be achieved with spiritual breath work like the Nine Step Breathing. In Feng Shui design, place an intentional object in this area. It can be a wall hanging of a mountain you love; or paint the room or a single wall the color of this gua (blue, teal, turquoise); or hang a clear, faceted crystal for clarity. With proper visualization, anyone of these adjustments will encourage mental reflection and remind you to perform daily meditation. The gateway to your success is your intuition and meditating helps you connect to the world through it with a calm mind. Dedicate time to ponder your behavior, your choices and your experiences. You will be in sync with your goals and confident to release beliefs and behaviors that will not serve you in 2020.

Helpful People/Travel
Heaven is the complement of Earth, the Yang of the Yin. The duality of Yang and Yin creates balance. You can bless your endeavors with the help of Heaven. You can manifest your intentions with the ease of Helpful People. Chien is in the front right corner of the house. This area symbolizes the head. If you are experiencing fuzzy thinking, distraction, confusion, obfuscation and you really want a shift to occur, place an image of a person who is helpful. It may be a public figure you admire, a mentor who has helped you or a deity whom has assisted you in times of need. Set the intention to amplify a ‘clear head’ and laser focus. Also pay attention to a streak of bad luck with contractors, vendors or service people. If it’s taking longer for the work to be completed or materials are misplaced or stolen, this drama consumes your valuable time where you could be doing something else. This is another opportunity to place a cure in this area. But remember do not place two.

Fame/Reputation
In the central back area of the house is the Fame gua. Its Chinese name Li means ‘clinging’ but it also signifies ‘brightness’. The sun and the moon cling to the heavens brightening the world. Grass and trees cling to the earth prospering the world. The I-Ching (from which the Bagua derives) describes the intention of Fame/Li in the following. “It is advantageous to persist to clinging to the right object; then what is intended can progress smoothly. When clinging to the right object, one must act with tenderness. i.e. remain steady with it and nourish tenderness….(iching123.com).” In the Bagua metaphor the eyes symbolize (the light that shines through them) Fame. If you are stymied by inaction, if you are ruminating and cannot access what your heart is telling you, if you are searching but your eyes cannot perceive what you truly desire, place an adjustment here to carry out your aspirations for 2020. The color is red and the triangle shape represents Fire. Remember this is the area where your reputation shines onto your community.

The Center
As you prepare for a transition in your life, call upon the Center of your home to provide support. It is the center of your Universe. It is your domain, your place to collect yourself, poise your thoughts and absorb life events and to pull it all together. In the transcendental sense it is mental, emotional spiritual and physical health. When you are experiencing a shift or growth, life may feel unstable. Create firmness here. Add yellow (orange or brown work too) if you need to feel safe and trust your ideas. When the fruit of our labor have been harvested we are ready to push on. Place an adjustment in the center for a harmonious conversion to the next stage. With change disarray may suddenly appear. Go to the Center, pause and let Earth support you as you move through the life lesson. Because the four sides are equal and it lends soundness, the shape is the square.

We all carry the initiative to awaken our heart and identify our purpose which lifts everyone on this planet. My hope is you find this time insightful, fertile and rewarding for however you choose to fulfill your potential.

Want to get started right on designing your future you? A well designed space allows you to access positive energy at all times. Call me, 503-232-2543 and I will help you arrange your home where you feel fully supported. I am available for a full consultation https://shenmenfengshui.com/services/consulting/ or for an hour telephone conversation, Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

The Restorative Power of Harmony

“He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the Universe.”
– Marcus Aurelius

The hot days of August sweeten the landscape and the harvest yields its fruit with ample abundance. We are aware of the Earth’s providence and our senses are filled with peace and plenty. Earth follows Fire (in the Chinese Five Element Theory) just like the fruit forms after the blossom, for Earth it is the fruit ripening on the trees, heavy and suspended. This is the season of transition.

Earth represents our center of gravity. It is the axis from which everything else–our dreams, our career, our relationships–orientate from. When we amend the earth we create a proper and receptive soil that supports our roots and gives us a sturdy base. Our growth is sustained by balance and we gracefully manage a stressful world.

Summers have become more intense and 2018 was particularly stressful. The arrival of the passive, caring Earth season has been a welcomed relief. Like Mrs. Doubtfire, this time denotes generosity, kindness and feeling grounded, Earth’s qualities that help us find our balance again. If you have lost a sense of serenity, want to reestablish harmony, desire focus or aspire to feel whole and undivided, I have culled from Professor Lin’s wisdom the following five insights in the hope these teachings will you help you realign with your purpose and regain your peace of mind.

Find Your Axis With Color The “earth” beneath our feet locates us in time and space. When we worry and stress about events that are beyond our control or when we don’t feel supported, the center of our home helps us regain our inner composure. It is the center of our Universe. It is our domain to collect ourselves and trust that the sun will rise again. In the transcendental sense the center is your health. Create harmony, stability, focus and calm by adding earth colors like yellow, orange or brown to the center of your home. These colors cultivate trust in yourself, your ideas and feeling supported by those you love. As the well of trust deepens you become trustworthy. Rapport among family and friends becomes unified and harmony abides.

Create A Center of Gravity When life’s difficulties threaten to flip your world upside down, adjust Earth in your home to set things straight. It is represented in the Bagua by the Tai Ch’i symbol (Yang ascending, Yin descending). In your home it could be a very busy place where family members come and go without a care to what is happening here, yet this area requires everyone’s attention as it supports handling stress. If you are falling a lot, nervous, resistant to change or feeling off center, activate the center of the house Bagua with a 60mm faceted crystal. It represents the supportive power of the light of universal wisdom. Before hanging it, program the newly purchased crystal with your intention to stabilize the entire household. Visualize the energy spiraling to the floor(s) above and through the basement. See the Ch’i from the crystal radiating to all the rooms in the house.

Change Directions Without Losing Balance If you have taken one of my classes, received a consultation from me or if you have read a book on Feng Shui, you will recognize the Bagua, the eight sided octagon. The eight trigrams represent the eight directions (E, S, W, N, NW, NW, SE, SW) and the thousands of things in the universe. However not everything is covered. In the center you will find what you cannot find elsewhere. If life feels disharmonious or fragmented or if you are unsure about what direction to take and don’t know where in your home to correct this, you can be absolutely covered by adjusting the center. Remember the t’ai ch’i faces outward to all the trigrams and interacts with them. Visualize harmony is restored in your life.

Stabilize Your Relationships If you are asking too much from others and not giving in return or giving away too much, you may have an imbalance in your Earth element. Purchase a Yu bowl (flat and squat, it represents stability). www.etsy.com Place nine small round or oval stones in a shallow bowl (a Yu if you have one). Fill the bowl three-quarters full with water and it place outside briefly to absorb the daylight (the supportive power of the light of universal wisdom). Then go to your bed and place it under your bed or on the nightstand. Visualize the qualities of the earth: stability, security, gentleness, ease, nurturing, peace loving, supportive and reliability. Perform the body, mind, speech reinforcements known as the Three Secrets (red envelopes requested). Remove the water every morning and fill it three-quarters full. Take it outside briefly to absorb the sunlight. Do this for 9 or 27 days. After 9 or 27 days return the stones to the earth. Do not use them for anything else. To stop family members from quarreling, place the Yu on your nightstand.

Cultivate Focus Find time to be alone to know yourself. In my June blog I share tips on how to create a sacred space. The quiet enables you to tune into your inner voice, the voice through which your intuition speaks. Meditation, journaling and chanting will help you develop self-esteem and self-reliance. These moments in solitude help you tap into the restorative power of the Earth, harmonize your spirit and replenish your soul.

The yellow Buddha, Ratnasambhava is associated with giving and generosity. Six forms of generosity are: of material things ~ giving time, energy and thought ~ giving knowledge ~ Fearlessness ~ Life and limb ~ the Dharma

Have you decided this will be your year? “Boldness has genius”… start with one hour of Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

Sacred Space Is Where You Find Yourself

“Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again.”
Joseph Campbell

Beginning of June I made a reentry into the world of pigment, canvas and brush and I love it! It’s an online course from a remarkable painter. Listening to her I feel my excitement mount over the possibilities that lay before me as she extolled in her video, “The best painting, no, the most joyful painting, comes from a soul that is nurtured from the inside.” Her gentle encouragement has blown confidence into my heart and I feel a release of trepidation. In one short week I have learned, painting is not just what you put on the canvas but what you surround yourself with too. Who you are and what you love is right there in your composition of discovery, “Before you even pick up a brush, welcome what nourishes your soul into your space and you will find this nurtures your ideas and what flows from your brush onto the canvas.” Sounds a lot like Feng Shui? We are all creative, it’s what we have come here to enjoy. In a space that expresses all that you love, you foster your creative impulse. Your space is the threshold to your inner sanctum. Assigning time to cultivate what your soul desires, you champion what you came here to be.

You are the creator of your life, however life does not come without challenges. Oftentimes life changing events obscure your heart, your desires and what you love. They pull you off course and off balance: the death of a beloved; losing a pet; moving to another state; missing a promotion….These will and do come to you in life yet they need not define how you live the rest of your life.

Upon first meeting some of my clients they inform me they cannot let go of life changing events and are puzzled when they find clutter piling up when before there was none. Or they find they argue with their spouse, children, friends and coworkers for no apparent reason. Opportunities for career advancement passes them by. They may spiral into depression, lethargy and illness. If any of these resonate with you, if you are feeling disappointed, disconnected and distressed, it may be your soul’s S.O.S. to find yourself again.

I urge you to create a sacred space to renew your connection with your inner self, especially if your life is chaotic. Claim an area of your home, make it just for you. Size does not matter, it can be a room, a nook, even a chair in the corner of your bedroom. This space is for you to explore, to write, draw, paint, chant, sing or listen to Nature. It is your time to connect to the sacred and in doing so imagine a clear vision of your future. I encourage you to get started. To make it easy here are six insights for creating a sacred space.

Lighting The choice of lighting can set the tone for a room. More light is energizing, lower light is relaxing.

Mood This is your special area to invite stillness, to be silent, to be contemplative, meditate and pray. These methods engage an inner dialogue with your soul. Add pillows or a comfortable chair. Your body needs to be supported.

Decor Plants’ life force bring you into balance in an natural way. Flowers invite beauty. They add color, Ch’i and oxygen. Choose soft fabrics to hang or drape. Create an altar with candles, incense burner, essential oil diffuser and natural objects like feathers, rocks and shells. Choose what is meaningful to you. Consider placing an object that is related to your spiritual practice.

Color Purple transforms on a higher level. It relaxes the nervous system and has a calming mental effect. Pink opens the heart. Green refreshes your body and spirit. It can help you feel grounded, creative and calm. Yellow enlivens your health. 

Wall Art Display an image or images of the ocean, mountains, lakes, meadows, gardens, spiritual teachers, mentors, deities or angels and you’ll create an ambiance for harmony and reverence during this time of inner engagement.

Music Choose whatever inspires you. You want it to be soft and low, in the background so it is supportive of going inward. Select authors who arouse a sense of mystery such as Rumi, Hafiz and Emerson. Their words invite transcendence. And remember be selective with the words that live in your sacred space. You want them to summon contemplation and divine connection. 

“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” (Joseph Campbell) Each opportunity to create reciprocity with your soul bathes your mind in clarity and rallies you to live the life you were meant to live.

Have you decided this will be your year? “Boldness has genius”… start with one hour of Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

Feng Shui Design For Your Best Life

photo credit: Paintzen

“Recent discoveries in Western Science now add to a growing body of evidence suggesting Beauty is a transformational power… Through our experience of Beauty, we’re given the power to change the feelings that we have in our bodies. Our feelings, in turn, are directly linked to the world beyond our bodies.”
Gregg Braden

Moving a bed to take command in the bedroom, painting a front door crimson red to expand opportunities, positioning a desk so a voice will be heard…these mini experiences create beauty and offer peace of mind but they also are thresholds that beckon something extraordinary to happen. When we correct the structural deficiencies in our home’s design Feng Shui’s subtle positive power not only releases restrictions in our life but reflects a bigger vision of who we might become.

That vision begins at the front door. To discover who we might become we need to uncover the story our entry tells. The Feng Shui design metaphor of the front entry reaches into our career, reputation, the people who help us and the health of everyone in the household.  “…so place something attractive here so when you first enter your home you enter through beauty.” Louise Hay’s perfect action step is a great reminder to appreciate Beauty because we all have storms in our life. 

Plagued by headaches? Do you feel confused or lose stuff? You can open your entry to vitality when you place plants just inside the front door. They embody life force and generate a positive impulse. Green is soothing and can be viewed for a long time without causing eye strain. If one of your family members has an illness, place nine potted plants in the front entry. 

Discord in your family could mean there is a split view when you walk into your home. A split at the front door can stimulate the brain unevenly, you may think more and act less or act more and think less. There is a potential for illness along the midline from the head to the kidneys. When your eyes cannot focus on one object, you may feel confusion and it becomes difficult to make decisions. Everyone in the house may become impatient, anxious, out of sorts and not accommodating to one another. You At home you want to feel relaxed not harassed. Hang a beautiful chandelier to lift your eyes upward. If your stairway is causing the split, mount a crystal finial on the stair’s post, it will draw your eyes to it. Or hang a faceted lead crystal from the ceiling.

Conflict in your heart that you can’t put your finger on and is difficult to express suggests your stairway leads straight out the front door. This feature not only affects all the eight guas, especially health and wealth, but it can create conflict that is burns your heart and never gets expressed. Anger could take over your life. But there is hope. A planter outside the front door will catch the Ch’i that is escaping out the door.

Lack of risers can steal the Ch’i from everyone who enters your home. You may feel tired all the time and just can’t handle your responsibilities. As simple as it may look, it’s impact is debilitating. Plants underneath delivers vitality or uplight the stairs.

Restriction in your career might be mirrored by a blocking wall as you enter your home. Hanging a mirror or a beautiful landscape can expand your entry and give you a wider entrée. But here is an additional piece not widely known–sound–hang a wind chime on the door will open up the space. It’s lyrical quality can awaken your senses and clear your mind.

Need a boost to your career? A bright light at the front door is good for the career of everyone in the household so the brighter within reason.

Accent your entrance with a splash of red directly across from it. This design treatment can improve your reputation where you work. Red symbolizes happiness, virtuosity, power and inspire you every time you walk through the door.

Spring is a pioneering time, a time of great energy, tender shoots are breaking through the hard ground. I feel inspired by the vernal season and I am excited that winter has ended. It’s time to take up a paint brush, hammer, ceremonies, cures and start designing my own reality. Hope you’ll join me!

Have you decided this will be your year? “Boldness has genius”.. start with one hour of Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

Year of the Earth Dog. Unleash Joy. Master Success.

“You are all that you need to be inspired and living on purpose and the things that continue to flow into your life are just symbols of the unlimited abundance of your source.”
Dr. Wayne Dyer

You’re in for stability after all the speed from the last two years Fire energy. Doesn’t that feel great? Plus the Earth Dog year has the potential to bring lasting, positive change. Loyalty, fairness, justice and surpassing unbeatable odds will illuminate your journey. Together we mutually prosper when we to tap into our altruistic nature and help the greater good. Harmony will underly our endeavors. Life will feel on purpose. We will unleash our joy and master success. No longer will inequality be tolerated. Dog’s sense of fairness, empathy and kindness will weigh in on prejudice, bigotry and mistreatment of all beings. 

What can you look forward to? Relations will be your greatest asset. Developing strong family ties; loving friendships; community with like minded people; minimizing stress and maximizing comfort in your homes–these will support lasting harmony, good spirits and fulfillment.

What does Chinese Astrology have to say about the year? Here is a snapshot. Yang Earth sits on top of Dog (also Earth). These two elements are capable of great support to each other however we feel weighed down by the sheer density of the mountain when these two meet. Instead of an undulating surface that reminds us to be soft and nurturing there are stand offs and refusals to surrender. With the absence of Fire, our enthusiasm wanes in the face of challenges. Flexibility fails us when we need to bend with the wind. What we require is modulation in order to succeed.

Motivational guru, Tony Robbins’ “harmonic wealth” just may be the modulation to unleash Dog’s natural joy. It may add the confidence to handle the spectrum of events that inevitably will come your way. In Tony’s words, “Wealth is not just money it embodies five key factors: financial wealth, relational wealth, intellectual wealth, physical wealth and spiritual wealth.” Balance these five areas and you build wholeness and well-being.

Harmonic wealth gives you the stability of Earth without its stuckness. With stability worry dissipates, the heart becomes calm and the channel between the heart and brain expands. The brain will mobilize then magnetize the people, resources and events to manifest your intention and actualize what you came here to do–share your gifts. To help you set The Year of the Earth Dog in motion, I have chosen corresponding Feng Shui rituals that I believe will call forth the joy and success that is rightfully yours.

Financial
If you want money and you want to work peacefully for it, hang a bamboo drape some place in the Wealth gua in your home. One of the attributes of bamboo is to provide safety. If you travel often because of work you can hang a bamboo curtain in the Helpful People corner to keep you safe. If you wish to avoid legal problems that create afflictions for your family or if your family has been pulled apart by arguing because of money, hang a bamboo drape in the Family Gua.

Relational
If and your partner are deadlocked in your opinions, place a wind chime in the bedroom. It can help get the “sounds” of conflict and disharmony out of your system. Professor Lin shared a story about a husband and wife having outrageous fights. One day there was silence. The atmosphere was electric but no words were spoken. The next day the wife sent her husband a letter suing him for divorce. They consulted with Professor, he gave them this cure, the couple began to communicate again and did not divorce.

Intellectual
There is a lot in this world that is beyond our perception. When we take measures to develop our sensory organs we develop better perception. It helps us to see the yin side of life. We are better able to predict future events. We learn to look in a profound way. Practice the Astral Body Meditation and it will help you enhance your ability to make accurate predictions and to see the yin in the yang and the yang in the yin. (Nine red envelopes requested)

Physical
Strengthen your immune system by changing your furniture three times over a 99 day period. Or rearrange your furnishings every 27 days for three consecutive times (total of 81 days). It wakes up the Ch’i and removes stale or blocked energy.

Spiritual/Transcendental
If you find yourself in an escalating situation, calm your mind by chanting the Calming Heart Mantra: Gate, Gate, Paragate, Para Sum Gate, Bodhi Swaha nine or 27 times. You will come up with solutions not available to you before.

Get your leafy greens in The Year of the Earth Dog. Cultivate plants in your home. The vitality of the Wood breaks up Earth whereby generating movement and growth. The flip side Earth feeds Wood, so incorporating Wood by adding the color green in your home is essential in this Dog year. The second lucky color is black. Entertain the notion of wearing black or adding water to your environment to balance the surplus of Earth. Water feeds Wood, you are adding another layer to offset the surplus of Earth.

Take measures to watch your diet and digestion this year. The stomach/spleen are the paired organs related to Earth. Encumbered digestion engenders the urge for sugar and starch. You may vacillate between the urge to fill up and the discomfort of being too full. Avoid feast or famine cycles that speed stagnation and deprive you of diminished metabolic efficiency. Long lasting nourishment comes from complex carbohydrates, vegetables and proteins.

Carry a three dimensional Rabbit charm with you. It can be jade, boxwood or bone. Do not purchase a red resin Rabbit, it is a cooked rabbit. The Rabbit is the secret friend of the Dog. From Khadro Crystal Chu of the Black Sect Esoteric Feng Shui, ‘Chinese folk culture believes that when Rabbit and Dog meet, it will bring forth wealth and nobility.” 

Have you decided this will be your year? “Boldness has genius”…start with one hour of Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

Winter Solstice. Share Your Light.

“The more we give light, one to the other,
It shines and it spreads and it glows still further.

Winter Solstice reminds me that even in my darkest hour an ember burns inside. This Solstice day may you join your heart with family and friends and light up the night. I believe there isn’t a better time than this Winter Solstice day to share the warmth of your beautiful heart.

Until every spark by friends set aflame.
Until every heart with joy to proclaim.

The season is also an opportunity to resolve family issues, estrangement and loss. If you are having trouble with a brother, father or neighbor; if you seek new friendships or want to begin a project, start with the stove.

The stove is key to family prosperity and harmony. It is where the cook lovingly prepares the food that nurtures the family. This sustaining nourishment allows them to be more productive. The stove represents unity of family, freedom from legal troubles and the career and finances of the owner of the house. When you stand at the stove and face a wall and the main door of the house is behind you, the stove is “out of command”. Place a mirror that is the width of the stove and and as tall as the tallest person in the house (do not let the edge of the mirror fall below the top of the head). If this is not possible, place a convex mirror (has a 160 degree view) instead.

In the Bagua, the Family sector of the house represents friendship. If a bathroom is in the Family gua, the energy of the home leaves through the drain in the house. It can place a drain on family relationships. Mount a 3″ round mirror on the ceiling over the toilet to lift the Ch’i. Visualize the family and friends who have “gone down the toilet” in your life, are lifted up again.

If someone living above you is jealous of you, place a small round mirror on the ceiling above you. You want to see the mirrored side. If they live below you, place a small round mirror on the floor beneath you. You want to see the mirrored side. This adjustment provides the means for your ch’i to communicate with the jealous person’s chi. It is a way to restore harmony. If jealousy surrounds you, both above and below, the mirrors do not need to be directly aligned. The ch’i will flow despite that they do not line up.

Do one good deed a day for 27 days to improve your luck or 9 good deeds a day for nine days.

In the depth of our souls,
A shining sun glows.
–Advent Verse

Keep The Days Merry And Bright Winter Offering
Introducing to you on this Winter Solstice day an offering. From now through February 28, 2018, if you schedule a residential Feng Shui consultation by that date and complete the consultation by April 28, 2018, you will receive $25 off of your consultation fee. This applies to new clients or new residence to former clients. Onsite consults only.

Have you decided this will be your year? “Boldness has genius”… start with one hour of Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

Highly Sensitive? Keep Your Holiday Sparkle With Feng Shui

“Being highly sensitive is a gift that fosters peace. Help create a kinder, gentler world by embracing it.”
Amy Leigh Mercree

Some holiday stress is expected but if you are particularly sensitive to family gatherings you may be a highly sensitive person. Licensed social worker, Melody Wilding, defines a highly sensitive person as acutely aware of their environment. They notice details and are conscientious to a fault. They agonize over their decisions because they are concerned how it will impact those in their sphere. They have a clear intention to create harmony, yet often it comes at their expense.

Don’t get swept under the table by family stress. Well before guests arrive, please peruse this check list (below) and see if the Feng Shui in your home could be, in part, contributing to your angst. I’ve included adjustments too! Smoothing the Ch’i in our homes helps us hold strong to who we are and enjoy family, friends and festivities with all the trimmings.

A home that is too close to the street (not in balance between the front and the back yards) may create difficulties in all areas of your life, including family. One of the cures for this placement is to hang a wind chime or place a mirror, on the front of the house to deflect the ch’i.

When the corner of a house points at the house next door and if both point at each other, the families may constantly bicker. This can escalate into hostility and possibly a lawsuit. One effective cure is to install a spinning element between the two houses.

A path has an important relationship to the house. If less than the width of the front door, those who live in the house will have difficulty expanding their mind and heart. If there are opportunities they won’t be able to take advantage of them due to feeling inhibited and closed off.

Feng Shui problems in the bedroom will affect the feelings, actions, and speech of the entire family. A round mirror in the bedroom can help eliminate tension and rough talk.

Lack of command position in the bedroom and at the desk and stove affects self image. Someone can feel less than. If that is the case place a plant in the bedroom where the leaves reach upward. This will lift the person out of their circumstances.

If family members are headed in different directions, check the center of the house. Does it appear empty or is there too much going on? A strong center can stabilize a family, holding everyone together. Hang a crystal ball or wind chime in the center of the house.

Doors represent a mouth and an adult’s voice. All doors need to work suitably for our voice is what speaks of our longings and passion. “Arguing Doors” bump up against one another when they open. The bumping creates contention. When they are at the front door conflict may spread throughout the house. Re-hang the door or doors so they do not touch. Or Perform the Arguing Door Cure (red envelopes requested).

“Biting Doors” are misaligned doors. When they are misaligned by one half, may cause verbal and physical fighting. A family member may leave and not come home. Hang a crystal ball between the doors to lift the Ch’i and the hearts of the family.

An “Empty Door” is a door without an actual door. This strongly suggests lack of communication. If an empty door is in the Family gua, there may few loving words or meaningful conversations. Install a door or paint the trim with color.

Many doors in a small space can be “noisy” because all the doors are talking at once. Listening may be difficult at best. Hang a crystal ball or a light fixture with crystals on it in the center to quiet the voices. It will help harmonize the guests at the holidays.

“Piercing Heart Doors” are three or more doors through which you could walk in a straight line. This design is like an invisible obstacle through the house which creates separation between parents, parents and children and between siblings. Over time communication breaks down as each family member is focused on their own desire and achievements. A different color in each room along the path works well to dissolve the obstacle.

A highly sensitive person may be prone to stomach ailments. When a door is at the end of a long hallway there can be digestive upset and distress. A simple comment from family or a friend may having the HSP recoil and demonstrate behavior that is out of proportion to the situation. Place a mirror on the outside of the door.

A dining room too close to the front door may send friends and family out the door. The colors pink, green and blue stimulate the appetite and may invite guests to stay longer for dinner parties. Or hang a crystal ball between the front door and the dining room.

Interested in more design suggestions for the holidays? Savor Thanksgiving Dinner With Six Feng Shui Trimmings. How to mix tinsel and soul and magic: 10 Feng Shui Decorating Ideas That Can Stay Up After The Holidays.

Have you decided this will be your year? “Boldness has genius”…start with one hour of Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

Investing In The Wise Counsel And Comfort Of Your Kitchen

“The kitchen really is the castle itself. This is where we spend our happiest moments and where we find the joy of being a family.”
Mario Batali

On a recent Dr. OZ segment, a financial adviser shared how as a young married man he tackled money issues “When my wife and I were first married we would have ‘kitchen table talks’. We came to an agreement that any item we wanted to purchase that was over $25 dollars we consulted the other.” The kitchen, like no other room in the house, helps us to focus on family, it is the heartbeat of the home.

Though texting while dining on fast food have preempted meal time, the kitchen, according to Feng Shui principles, still has the most influence on our good health, family harmony and fortune. It is here we prepare meals, smooth over hurt feelings, children share secrets with mom and the family enjoys happy moments. The space of wise counsel and comfort, this room invites having real conversations. The strength of this bonding time helps us to walk with our heads held high across the threshold and out into the world.

Do you feel your kitchen could use some extra love? I am delighted to share these nine fresh Feng Shui fixes (with emphasis on the stove), to help you get started on nourishing your space.

The stove is the key to family prosperity and harmony. It has a significant role as wealth generator, creating family unity and keeping us free from legal trouble. When we lovingly prepare our food it nurtures us, our lives become fuller and we manage what life delivers with ease and grace.

Stove in command position. If you are standing at the stove and facing a wall then you must turn your head left or right to see what is going on behind you. This takes you off balance. Over time your body will conform to this unconscious posture that influences your attitude where you may feel out of control and ill at ease. You may experience a downturn in finances or plain bad luck. In regards to the stove placement, you want to see what is going on behind you by placing a mirror on the wall in front of you. It should be the width of the stove and ideally doesn’t cut off the top of the tallest person in the household when you look into the mirror. Some stoves have a microwave above then place a convex mirror (which takes in a 160 degree view). Visualize your heart trouble resolving and an upswing in your finances.

Stove seen from the front door. Or is the first thing you see when you enter the house. Family problems may not be resolved. There may be accidents involving blood, blood disease or surgery. 

Stove under a microwave or collection of pots. The ability to make money will be oppressed. Either remove the microwave and pots or hang a wind chime over the position where the cook stands at the stove.

Stove in line with two doors, one on either side. Members of the family may argue a lot, especially about money. And their fortune may diminish. Adjust this inauspicious placement by hanging a 40 mm faceted crystal or wind chime on both sides of the stove between the door and the stove.

Stove in a corner. The cook cannot move around the stove very easily. This affects the quality of food and family finances. The occupants may be limited in career choices and opportunities. Mirror the wall to the side of the stove and visualize that the space is expanding and the Ch’i flows more easily.

The Work Triangle If you follow this arrangement then fire and water placement do not become an issue.

Stove and refrigerator placement. Contrary to what you may have heard, the refrigerator has a motor that generates heat, it is not a cooled water element. This does not present a problem to the stove. Best placement for the sink is across from the stove not adjacent.

Kitchen placement. The best placement for the kitchen is behind the midline of the house. Too close to the front door and a parent may be eating in someone’s kitchen. This placement threatens the family’s stability.

Kitchen color. Select pleasing colors according to your home’s palette and your personal aesthetics but keep these Feng Shui and Five Element principles in mind while choosing. According to H. H. Lin Yun white is the best color for the kitchen. It shows off the colors of the food. White, the color of the Metal element, is compatible with the kitchen’s basic element fire (fire overcomes or melts metal). Avoid all black kitchens because black, the water element, destroys fire. Do not choose red or there will be too much heat and the cook will always be hot tempered. Red and black accents are fine. Apple green is a color that signifies hope and the vitality of spring. 

Looking to create a lifestyle change? Feng Shui A La Carte will help you experience the well being of happiness right away. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your home.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.