Don’t Hurry, Be Happy, Silver Lining Feng Shui Cures

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Nature doesn’t hurry yet everything is accomplished. -Lao Tzu

If your last two weeks were like mine you probably wish you could relive them. I wasn’t alone. I heard stories, intense stories, stories of disappointment and upset. So my question is,“While this was happening did you throw your arms up in the air and burst open with, “Enough!”? Did you? Good for you! No matter how disappointing and difficult a situation is, it contains a silver lining. It may not feel like there is one while it is happening but a challenge is a gift, a silver lining of insight, wisdom, growth, a new attitude and most importantly, learning to be better at handling challenges because you really do know they will happen again and again.

Survival of the flexible. Nature encompasses everything–humans, all of God’s creatures and natural disasters. There may always be the seed of drama in conflict but we carry inside our chromosomes the adaptable gene and we can choose to change. Often we forget that it gives us the advantage. A flexible attitude is energy efficient. It creates mental space for more brain power. Clarity to focus. So focus on what makes you happy. If it’s to spin the great American novel, do that; marvel over the Seine in a hot air balloon, find the time; run with the bulls in Pamplona, nothing is stopping you; triumphantly wave your flag at the summit of Mt. Hood, you’re nearly there. If your plan is to live long, prosper and accomplish everything on your bucket list, adaptability is survival of the fittest.

Don’t hurry be happy. Challenges are demanding. When you see one coming offer it your open-mindedness. It will give you leverage and that is half of the challenge. And don’t hesitate to chant, “don’t hurry, be happy”. Giving a volatile situation time will give you the space to formulate your thoughts and look at how you can accommodate all sides and create a win-win. Because life really is about “us”.

Polish the silver lining. Like the characters from the Silver Linings Playbook who run, argue and dance because it makes them feel alive in their heart, the lining shines bright when you live from your heart. Today is the Autumnal Equinox 2014. Day is balanced with night, dark with light. I have included five extraordinary practices that I believe will help you polish your silver lining, feel balanced and in tune with your heart when times are trying.

  • Sound. Karma is the law that past actions create your current reality. You live in the residual of yesterday thoughts. You are not who you are now but what you thought and believed yesterday. When you feel anger or conflict, open to the sounds of the Universe. Empty your heart, chant the Calming Heart Mantra, Gate Gate Para Gate Para Sam Gate Bodhi Swoha nine times and discover peace.
  • Smell. It’s hard to think with an unclear mind. During the day stress and clutter accumulate in your energy. If you have experienced a difficult scene with your partner, take an orange peel bath. Cut nine round circles from the skin of an orange and wash your entire body, even your head. Orange is auspicious. Its clarifying essence uplifts your Ch’i helping you seek your level of balance.
  • Sight. The natural condition of Ch’i is fluid. Our visual surroundings impress upon our eyes and continually influence our Ch’i. Low energy or unhappy emotions breed in a sterile or stuck environment. Increase your vitality with the coloration and luminosity of green plants. Your bedroom is the most important room in the home. Placing nine healthy plants here will help you maintain a positive attitude.
  • Taste. A bitter pill can ruin a good relationship. Before you say something you will regret, step back and “Swallow Your Saliva”, nine times. First create the saliva with the tip of your tongue on the upper palate of your mouth by moving your tongue back and forth 27 times. Then swish the saliva around your gums and teeth. While doing this think whether what you have to say will cause harm. Swallow then speak. It connects all the meridians in the body. Not only will this create positive relations between you and your friend, but strengthen your organs, in particular your stomach and spleen. Setting intention is the motivating factor to positive change. You will experience heart-felt results.
  • Touch. Kindness opens the heart. Giving your friend or family member a twenty-two second hug releases the bonding hormone and neurotransmitter oxytocin, which is nature’s antidepressant and anti-anxiety drug. Acting from a kind heart and performing good deeds daily helps you dial into a benevolent universe that you created yourself. You will find your family, friends and even folks you don’t know will want to join you.

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.

Closing The Gap On Joy.

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“If you make joy your goal, you are eternally joyful.” – Abraham 

Do you love treasure hunts? Here is a pretty special one about Joy that I am excited to share with you and I think you’ll be excited too. I was searching the internet and came across Abraham and Ester Hicks. Their work is well known but up to now it had been in the background for me. I found one of their Q&A videos. I clicked. Flashes of truth appeared on the screen. Brilliant like a diamond, the talk encapsulated this phrase, “our reason for being is joy”. This time it really came home (literally)! Now at my house, Joy and Happiness have come to play and I am having the most delicious time. Joy is open, receptive, expanding and allowing. Happiness embraces “Yes!” Like Botticelli’s Venus, her presence uplifts. But it is not her emergence from the sea of emotions but from the senses that makes her presence most felt. I recalled H.H. “Professor” Lin’s immortal teaching, “We have 100 hundred senses in our body and Feng Shui helps us to open up to them.” Another piece of the Feng Shui puzzle landed in its rightful place–live your highest potential when you create mirror-like resonance between your senses, space, Feng Shui and Joy. 

Closing the gap. Abraham shares we will always be in a place of wanting. It is our inherent nature. It creates a life of expansion. Our part is to experience joy by matching our energy vibration to the things we want to experience. How do we close the gap? First admit the wanting creates anxiety. You ruminate and worry, “I want it but will I get it? I don’t have it yet but I want it…” relax into the dance until it manifests. But if you cannot and your thoughts are in a spin, know it will create resistance and push your desire away. Quelling your anxiety to receive what you want can be supported when you create a Feng Shui umbrella over your home. Where there is a blocking wall at the front door (limitations), create space with a mirror. Where there is a stairway in the middle of the house, (fluctuating health and finances) lift the Ch’i with a wind chime. Feeling good is the path to your desires. When you take your difficult design details out of the anxiety equation, you are poised to send laser-like focus to what you truly desire and care about and this has joyful side effects.

One more word. Well being flows from Joy and visa versa. A home where the Ch’i has been adjusted expands awareness, creates calm and supports your well being. The interconnectedness of well being, Joy and Feng Shui shine through a beautiful home that delights your senses. What more could you ask for than living in an oasis for Joy to expand.

But if Joy evades you.  Though I would love for you to feel Joy, there may come a time when you don’t quite know how to resolve a problem or you are overwhelmed by a crisis. Go to the Center (of your home). The eight trigrams of the Bagua were created as a representation of the thousands of things in the universe. However they cannot manage to cover everything. So, what is not covered, is in the center. Go there to find what you cannot find anywhere else. If, for example, you are having an issue with your oldest daughter and your not quite certain whether to place an adjustment in Tui (Children) gua or Hsun (Wealth) gua which represents the oldest daughter, remember the following: If you are not sure about the appropriate gua, or if you want to be “totally covered”, adjust the center as well. If something cannot be resolved, the t’ai ch’i also faces outward to all the trigrams. In this way you may find the answer. Herein lies the poetry of Feng Shui and the effectiveness of its wisdom will get you through. 

Happy Treasure Hunting!  

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.

 

Whatever Feeds Your Soul, Add Feng Shui Cures To Enhance Your Experience.

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“Promise me you’ll remember, you’re braver then you believe, stronger then you seem and smarter then you think.” 
– Christopher Robin to Winnie the Pooh.

Have you made a commitment to your heart? I recently did. I spent two glorious sun-filled days at the Oregon Coast but the journey didn’t begin that way. A dark sky, the crack of thunder, gale force winds and pelting rain flashed intermittently, contrasting against gentle grazing Holstein and Jersey cows that dotted rolling coastal pastures. This little storm made navigation tricky, yet it was the perfect insular hum for ruminating, if you will excuse the pun.

Weather and Life are mirrors. Sudden theatrics, torrents of expression whether rain or anger, will derail most plans. A  “perfect summer” bubble is a prime target for a dark cloud. I thought if this start is any indication of the next two days I might as well head back home. But there was no time for misgivings, I was halfway there and I was determined to feed an ache in my heart. This trip was not only about Big Blue and leisure walks, but drawing and paper and pencils and dusty doubts from years on the shelf. I blew them off and I blew off my fears. The next day my ache was mended. Like the moon that follows the sun, the jolly red ball came to play again. I indulged in a relaxed morning then tentatively made my way to a place that carries sweet but poignant memories. The same creek was making its timeless rendezvous with the ocean. A wild bunny was sunning itself on a rock, I tiptoed passed and walked to the water’s edge, set up my camp chair and inhaled the marine air. I reveled in the trees, the rocks, moss and pounding surf. I tuned out the distractions of folks searching for pebbles and shells and applied my attention on capturing the wild scene set before me. I let my heart flow and my hand followed. Grace under fire, I danced with Spirit once again.

There are no coincidences. When I settled back in to Portland I found the “Heart Mender”, a gift I received some years ago. Its message reminded me of the polarity I had witnessed on the coast, Nature’s storm and then the calm, my stress and then surrender, the words floated like a beautiful refrain: “this Heart-Mender has been specially designed to fit your hand and lighten your heart. The natural exotic wood will become more beautiful as you hold it and rub it. Allowing your worries and stress to melt away.” 

We tell stories to ourselves. Some are true, some are not. But what holds veracity for both is that life is complicated and compacted with details and we become constricted from lack of mental space. Peace and joy become smothered under dust and responsibilities. If you worry and work long hours may I suggest that before summer fades, feed your soul, embrace your inner child and balance work with play. Wondering where to start? Your home can also be your Heart Mender. Beauty is an integral part of our human experience. Feng Shui cures create beauty. They support you, lighten your heart and melt your worries away. l am delighted to share with you these four Feng Shui cures that, I believe, will help you tap into your happy space.

  • The sound of a bell ease the afflictions in the heart. Hang a wind chime on the front left eave (as you face the street from the front door) of your home. Visualize a steady stream of benefactors coming to your aide to support you. Say a prayer to complete this cure and honor this sacred object.
  • When you have little money and you need a big change, purchase a Pre-Heaven Ba-gua mirror. It will get things moving. Turn it upside down; placing Earth at the top, and Heaven at the bottom. Place it over your front door. This arrangement turns heaven and earth upside down, bringing heaven to earth. Visualize and invite paradise into your life. Say a prayer to complete this cure and honor this sacred object.
  • Your esteem has a great deal of influence on how well you do in life. This is also true, even though someone may be doing well, they might express low self esteem. If you are constantly in a bad mood change this by wearing a solid color of green. When you first dress yourself in this color, say a prayer to honor this sacred message.
  • Bamboo’s symbolism means longevity. It’s durable and resilient through all the seasons. It is hollow inside so it is humble. It has been carved into a flute, its tune brings peace. It has been used as a sword, it protects. If you want to attract peaceful financial transactions hang a bamboo curtain in your wealth gua. Say a prayer to complete this cure and honor this sacred object

Whatever feeds your soul this summer, may the experience be abundant. There is nothing like the pleasure of barbecues with friends, jumping off a diving board or simply sipping cold lemonade on the front step and soaking up Vitamin D.

If you see results from these cures, a red envelope is appreciated. And when you share with friends, please acknowledge the source, Bette Steflik, Shen Men Feng Shui.

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 Gratitude Jar – Sparking Freedom Everyday!

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July 4th reminds me how I am lucky to live in the United States. It is more than backyard barbecues and trips to the beach. We’re blessed we have the resources to burn the night sky with brilliant pyrotechnics, free to express dissent or appreciation and to pursue the happiness we choose.

Declaring gratitude is a lot like a declaration of independence. When I practice tenderness and compassion, I feel an inner freedom. When I practice a grateful heart, it sparks a happy resonance. When I say “thank you”; when I acknowledge the people I love; when I affirm kindness, I feel liberated. I’ve discovered that expressing gratitude increases the value of, not only what I appreciate, but my value as well. It throws the doors open to sovereignty, to being authentic, full, expressing unlimited potential, receiving divine inspiration and these augment my well being. If this is not freedom, then what is?

If you’ve been waiting to amplify your health, your happiness, appreciate your worth, wouldn’t now be the time? It’s takes very little out of your day to write down your mementos, your thoughts, your love, your appreciation, your victories, your tributes (jazz them up on brightly colored paper) to the people, places, animals, colors, sounds, moods, emotions, music, whatever moves you, and pour these into a ‘Gratitude Jar’. Give it a try. You may see that this container of joy quickly creates an unrelenting flame.

Building joy, luck and flexibility leads to personal freedom. Feeling unappreciated? Need to feel stable? Here is a Ch’i strengthening exercise to spark your energy, manifest robustness and increase prosperity. I’d love to hear what you experienced. 

Stability Cure

Materials Needed: new black pen and a circle of red paper.

Procedure:

  • Using the new black pen, write “stability” on one side of the red circle. Hold your breath while you write.
  • Continue to hold your breath, turn the circle over and write the name and birth date of the person in need of stability.
  • Attach the red circle under the bed (beneath the heart). The word “stability” should face the ground.
  • Reinforce with the body (calming heart mudra or prayer mudra), speech (six true words mantra or prayer) and mind (visualize stability).

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.

Friggatreiskaidekaphobia And A Full Moon? Hold On! Don’t Get Unhinged By Superstition Again.

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“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.”
– Albert Einstein

This week as I stay awake late collecting the waxing moonlight for a cure, Einstein’s quote and my friend’s words, “Just because you don’t understand something, doesn’t mean you have to put it down or fear it.” filtered through my thoughts. It occurred to me it would be a missed opportunity if I didn’t talk to you about a subject that is the underpinnings of the work that I do – superstition. Rare indeed and equally profound, tomorrow is a full moon plus friggatreiskaidekaphobia aka Friday the 13th. If you have experienced accidents or conflict on either of these days, it may be hard to swallow but you need not anticipate this double whammy as a cause for double trouble. You can shift your anticipation from a bump in the road to a bright spot. Let me share with you why and how.

Taoist Master Deng Ming-Dao wrote, “The moon is faithful to its nature yet its power is never diminished.” Before science there was superstition, folk cures and rights of passage to ensure a life of safety and prosperity. Before science, life was rich with connectivity to Nature. Continuity via tribal tradition and family unity were celebrated with cultural rituals that included the moon. Water was honored as the essence of life; we are born from a watery womb and we are made of 70% water. Primal and creative, the moon has the power to influence the tides and to pull an entire ocean from shore to shore. Equally profound the moon can pull the tides of our emotions within us too. In the early development of Chinese cosmology, this constellation quickly acquired cultural significance because of it’s life altering qualities and gentle influence. The Chinese believe the moon’s indirect reflection and bright silver, fullness bring a happy life. Its mystery continues to captivate our gaze and its 28 day waxing and waning cycle has birthed myths and ceremonies that emulate its essence.  

Our 21st century urban mindset and high tech world may get us through the day but our computer-age brain still needs the basic requirements for safety, comfort and prosperity that only ritual can fully satisfy. Eventful times need ritual. It gets to the heart of our emotions like a mother comforting her child. The moon is the great crone, the grand mother of all, the Yin to the sun’s Yang, the other half of the Tao. Without the moon life would stagnate, there would be no hope for peace within, a sense of benevolence, balance, nor forward movement.

Select BSTB Feng Shui methods and rituals honor the moon.
Anger dissipates your sensibilities. If you find your emotions are getting the better of you, someone just cut in front at the check stand or a car nearly hit yours and this has left your fuming, when it is safe take yin time, take five to draw within yourself. Here is a spiritual breathing method that may help. Hold your hands in the heart calming mudra (left hand over right, thumbs together, palm up) and place them over your tan’tien (two inches below your navel). As you take a deep breath in through your mouth, chant: gate, gate, para gate, para sum gate, bodhi swoha, nine times. Breath in positive karma and good luck. Visualize and focus on the cool light of the moon and see yourself releasing distractions. See it penetrate your cells, smooth the Ch’i throughout your body, its silver essence relaxes your mind. See tension release when you exhale in eight short puffs with the ninth puff expelling all the air in your lungs. See any negative karma and bad luck disappear. Repeat nine times. Email me for the complete spiritual breathing method. Red envelopes apply.

Special Offer!
Until the July 12th (2014) full moon I am offering a $26 (13 doubled) discount on first time residential consults only. Plus the first nine who sign up will receive a beautiful 38mm crystal. Consultation appointments must be completed by July 31, 2104 to apply the discount.

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 K.I.S.S. of Good Health

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Do you believe that being healthy is only about being mobile? That as long as you can stand up, go to work, do your job, make time for family, go on a two week vacation every year, that is health? It’s an old paradigm, It keeps your health a mystery and you are powerless to influence the course it takes. Eventually a crisis takes you by surprise which costs you time and money, as you lie debilitated in a hospital bed, never suspecting that you needed to learn how to live and master ways of seeing the world to create good health.

Now consider this: your thoughts, the state of your emotions and stress cause your good health or poor health. That changes what health is, doesn’t it? Dr. John Hagelin, quantum physicist, shares, “Happier thoughts lead to a essentially healthier bio-chemistry and a healthier, happier body. Negative thoughts, stress, have been shown to seriously degrade the body and the function of our brain. Because it is our thoughts and emotions that are continuously reassembling, reorganizing, recreating our body.”

At this very moment if you are having a health setback you have the power to shift the outcome by a shift in your thoughts and emotions. Even if you are feeling well, you can maintain your vitality by implementing a daily practice. These are simple, short and I hope you think, sweet things you can start doing today to feel the effects of more happiness and the K.I.S.S. of good health.

Keep in tune with your emotions.

  • Take time to check in when you are happy, angry, depressed or sad. You may not be able to respond to what caused the feelings nor would it be appropriate, but acknowledging them allows the emotion to move through your body. This practice keeps you tuned up and all of your systems humming. And even better, you are less likely to even catch a cold. Feng Shui solution: if you are distressed by your emotional state, tap your head 108 times. It will help you to get clear about what is causing the intense emotions. You may need to do it two more times for a total of 324 times but well worth the good night’s sleep when you go to bed that night.

Invite awareness.

  • Turn on your inner compass. Unplug. Go for a stroll. Look for something new in your neighborhood. Say hello to a stranger. Immerse yourself in the moment and appreciate it’s magic by feeling the temperature of the air, the sun on your face and the depth of your breathing. This expands your consciousness and opens neural pathways for creative problem solving. You get to the solution quicker with the most desired results. Feng Shui solution: place a mirror in front of you where you sit at your desk to open your perspective.

Stimulate your senses. Switch things up.

  • The senses are extraordinary but they can be dulled by monotony. Eat something pungent like Indian curry for breakfast. Listen to classical music if all you play is soft rock. Spend three hours in an art museum if you  continuously watch T.V. If you have an aversion to a certain smell like popcorn, sit with a bag and explore what that really is. Maybe it’s connected to an experience, a memory and it’s not the popcorn at all. Feng Shui solution to adjust the Ch’i by sense of touch: one of H.H. Lin Yun’s favorite adjustments is to place a piece of fur on your banister. When you, a family member or guest touch it, the difference in texture startles you and wakes up your Ch’i.

Smile often and without a reason. Feel grateful.

  • Expressing gratitude cultivates happiness. When you appreciate what you have it appreciates in value. It’s not about more and buying new things, it is loving what is already in your life, that being the good health and prosperity you are experiencing right now. Announce to the Universe how much you love you, your family, your pets, your friends and your coworkers. It will exponentially improve your relationships and the love you send, comes back to you. The added bonus, it boosts your immune system. Feng Shui solution: H.H. Lin Yun expressed that when we perform a kind deed, this act of love is generosity in action. Not only does it uplift the Ch’i of the person who receives the kindness but the person who does the kind deed. Performing a kind act daily expedites your Feng Shui cures.

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.

Think Outside The Travel Channel – Feng Shui Travel Cures

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“I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way (s)he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.”
– Maya Angelou

Minimizing stress on a trip makes for more relaxation and fun. I want you to have a great time so here is my Feng Shui A list that have worked for me. I believe these travel cures will help you experience an out-of-the-ordinary vacation, complete with feeling safe, at ease and when an unusual circumstance happens, you can respond with an open heart. 

Travel With The Buddha Purchase a small Buddha statue, one inch is a good size. Place it in a container that holds heat such as an incense holder or a cauldron. Place this in a private area like the top of your bedroom bureau for nine days. Each day offer incense, visualize this is your “Traveling Buddha” and it will protect you when you travel and bring good luck. Let the incense burn down and allow the ashes to fall onto the Buddha. On the tenth day take out the Buddha, do not brush off the incense and carry with you. See you are protected wherever you travel.

Start On The Right Foot The Red Carpet ceremony is performed when departing your home for an business appointment, wedding or trip. Create auspicious opportunities and safety by placing a six-foot red cloth over the threshold of your front door. As you step down onto the carpet (cloth) with your left foot, visualize your trip is accident free and negative energy is cleansed. Make eight steps and end with the ninth step, your left foot, stepping of the the carpet. Fold and take with you. Do not go back into the house.

Boost Your Immune System Jet lag, time change, activity fun can catch up pretty quickly. Color influences how you feel. Make sure you pack a scarf or ensemble that has the five elements-black, green, red, yellow and white. At the first notice of overall weariness change to this and start to feel the vibrance, radiance and balance of these colors. Visualize you are receiving what you need and paid heed to what advice your intuition is giving.

Remove Old Energy It might be old, it could be negative. It could be whatever. Don’t take chances on who or what has resided in your room even if it is five star Hilton. If you forgot to carry orange spray or mister made with true essential oils, you can also use the peels of an orange to clear out stale or negative energy. Cut nine circles, rubbed them in your hands then place them under your pillow for a great night’s sleep.

Use Insight Over Anger Probably the biggest influence keeping the trip upbeat and good luck coming. If anxiety flairs quickly for you: before you say something you will regret, step back and “Swallow Your Saliva”, nine times. First create the saliva with the tip of your tongue on the upper palate of your mouth by moving your tongue back and forth 27 times. Then swish the saliva around your gums and teeth. While doing this think whether what you have to say will cause harm. Swallow then speak. It connects all the meridians in the body. Not only will this create positive relations with your family and travelers but strengthen your organs, in particular, your stomach and spleen.

photo credit: Bubo Blog, A New York City Dad

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 Cures “I Have Nothing To Wear!”

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I bet you have a few all time favorites from your closet that make you feel super comfortable, right? Yet they aren’t your “go-to” kick-ass ensembles when you have an important engagement. Nor when you’ve received a quick phone call for an interview or a spontaneous dinner date, same ole, same ole, won’t do. You want an outfit that makes you feel put together, dynamic and you don’t want to purchase something new. Step out of panic, you are in luck! You can take those favorite black pants or little black dress and go “3 for 3” with the Five Element Colors. These colors may be placed in specific sequences to balance your Ch’i, give you confidence and help you feel your best. Yes! Color plays a huge role in how you look and feel. And that’s the secret you can pull out of your closet in a moment’s notice.

The Five Element Theory derives from Chinese cosmology. Each element shares a corresponding color. Water is black, Wood is green, Fire is red, Earth is yellow and Metal is white. There are two cycles and they either feed or control the other. In the Constructive Cycle an element feeds the next element. You must choose at least three colors to make the cycle work. A CC sequence is: water (black) feeds wood (green) and wood (green) feeds fire (red). Begin at your shoes or feet and work upwards to your head. Feeling a little tired when you get up? You can rely on this sequence to brighten your mood, strengthen your Ch’i and support your mental capacity. The Containing Cycle controls or destroys an element. For example: wood (green) chokes earth (yellow) and earth (yellow) absorbs water (black). Why use this sequence? Because there are times when life is coming at you fast and you need to feel stable. Or if you have experienced a trauma and you want more security. Begin at your head or throat and work down to your shoes.

Now that you have a bit of Five Element savvy you will be spot on for an important presentation and brilliant when negotiating a transaction. And as you know a picture is worth a thousand words. I am delighted to share two, one minute videos for when those words fly uncontrollably out of your throat,  “I have nothing to wear!” 

Feng Shui Cures “I Have Nothing To Wear!” Constructive Cycle

Feng Shui Cures “I Have Nothing To Wear!” Controlling Cycle

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.

 

Mud not clean, but it is what you need to grow.

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Mud is unavoidable. Plop. plop. Giant drops. Spring started in biblical fashion, wet, soggy, take a soaking weather. Heaven had conspired to macerate every penetrable fingerbreadth of earth. To stay inside was the safe alternative rather than experience getting stuck. Thich Nhat Hanh’s soothing voice softened the backdrop of thunderous rain. His talk: the nature of mud. Coincidence? Maybe not. When it stopped, the rains wet force brought floods of mud. It was everywhere. If you could sell mud, it would make you a fortune. Playing in mud were happy days for me as a child. I couldn’t wait to twirl the mud swimming tadpoles and make mud pies. When did it happened that I sidestepped mud? When did we disconnect from the life giving medicine of mud?

Some of my client’s stories are a stark reminder how powerful our present circumstances and past memories can keep us caught in a storm. One dear friend felt his home was sucking him under. He felt it would kill his spirit if he didn’t leave. What appeared like a drastic measure was a summoning of courage to save his own skin. He began a pilgrimage, visiting havens to collect the fragments of his past. One experience he described was so compelling I felt equally compelled to share he need not feel inundated by the ooze of his memories. I sent him a compassionate teaching of Thich Nhat Hanh. It was meant to reassure him that vicissitudes bear gifts, “Mud…not clean, doesn’t always smell good but it is what the lotus needs to grow. It cannot grow from anything but mud.” “Remember friend, your mud makes you a lotus.”

Mud, glorious mud. Mud represents a meaningful part of the lotus flower’s development. In Buddhist teachings, we humans are born into suffering, it is a vital part of our experience. The sacred lotus grows in the deep mud, far away from the sun. Yet eventually it reaches the light becoming the most beautiful flower imaginable. If you’ve struggled to accept your fears. If you’ve felt your burdens have undermined your redemption. If despair reminds you of what you feel you have failed in, it may be difficult to see that these muddy waters make you the exquisite human being that you are. And you are!

Rain renews the earth, it is a blessing. And renewal is a universal theme this time of year. It is inherent in all manner of life’s DNA. The mud the lotus grows in is the “rising and blooming above the murk to achieve enlightenment.” Rebirth and renewal need not only be a physical transformation but also a change of heart about your ideas about life. It can be the renaissance that changes the course of painful memories by forgiving and saying prayers of gratitude when you receive a second chance.

When you feel the pain of your past, hold yourself gently as you would a crying baby. Thich Nhat Hanh shares: breathe in, come home to your body and say softly, “I recognize in you there is pain.” When you breathe out say to your mind, “I will take good care of you.” Mindful breathing brings concentration, insight and liberation. When you feel anger rising, you are not in your body. ”Breathe in, you are home. Breathe out, you realize the miracle of life.”

When you breathe mindfully you grasp the root of your passion. This simple mindfulness practice brings peace and the gift gives rise to find wise, funny and creative ways to reinvent your glorious mud.

There are many metaphors in Feng Shui for creating awareness. Rather than “the aspirin of Feng Shui” as a mirror has been described, it is like your higher consciousness, your Buddha nature. It does not judge, it only fills what is before it. It reflects, it expands, it can bend or turn an image. Like mindful breathing, enhance your confidence and your command of the present moment when you place a mirror before you at your bed, desk or stove and may your blessings multiply in this month of the Dragon.

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.

Eight Lucky Cures for St. Patrick’s Day, Feng Shui Style.

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Can we change our surroundings to bring about change for our own good?

Happiness said, “Let’s meet.” Serendipity replied, “In a blink an eye”. How lucky I am. I wear green because it brings me the luck, not of the Irish, but of Feng Shui. It shifts circumstances from bad to good, from stuck to serendipity. Or is that a superstitious belief.

Cindy emailed and said she met a wonderful man. I think back a few months ago when I came to her home. As we talked at her dining room table she said she wanted to get her consulting business up and running again. But as I sat there I felt the white curtains, the white walls in her apartment and the white flowers in her bedroom tell a different story. White symbolizes death for the Chinese. When I told her this she shared how badly she had been burned in her past relationship. She didn’t want to admit she was unhappy and at a crossroads. But then the tears started to flow uncontrollably, there was no hiding how she felt. So when she wrote me a few weeks ago with, “Also, since I last saw you, I met a wonderful man. We’ve been having great fun getting to know each other. I’m enjoying myself tremendously.” I was ecstatic for her. It was more powerful, more compelling than any new client prospects she could have told me about. In my mind’s eye I could see her hanging new curtains in her relationship gua with a broad smile beaming over her face. And a sparkle of happiness lift her heart when she hit the nail to place the red and white framed cat drawing that she loved. In the bedroom she arranged a vase of beautiful pink flowers next to her bed; they were robust, bursting with vitality. Bit by bit these secret delights started to reshape her world and her inner confidence bloomed once again. The adjustments helped her to open to the vulnerability that she felt in her heart. 

Building a new life using Feng Shui adjustments, each item that Cindy placed was crafting a future moment of joy. Fate works this way: happiness creates opportunities and serendipity follows.

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day: luck cannot be contained by borders, it’s spread by the currents of love. May the luck you receive be generous like the blessings from heaven above.

From our esteem founder of the Black Sect Tantric Buddhist School of Feng Shui, “Professor” Lin Yun, here are eight lucky cures for St. Patrick’s Day, Feng Shui style. It’s an opportunity for you to change your energy field and change your fate.

Adjust the Feng Shui in your bedroom and office
Professor Lin told the following story: I was recently sick and almost died. I had not been in my office in Berkeley which is my main office for a very long time. It was important for me to be there, to check in and to be sure all was well. It was important for me to:

  • Sit in my office chair.
  • Activate (place a cures like a water fountain in Career and a picture of a beautiful place you’d like to visit in Helpful People). If you do not check in, bad luck may “catch up with you”.
  • Place a crystal ball, or a wind chime, in the center of your office. Visualize that the Feng Shui of your life is positive.

 Changing Your Ch’i Type

  • If you are constantly in a bad mood change this by wearing a solid color of green.

Adjust the Effects Of A Bad Experience

  • Carry nine round pieces of orange peel for twenty-seven days to soften the effects of a bad experience.

Being Taken Advantage Of

  • If you feel you are being taken advantage of, carry the three dimensional zodiac animals.

Refocus Your Energy

  • If your luck is not good, every 9, 18 or 27 days, change some aspect of your furniture arrangement. You are changing the Ch’i using the sense of touch. Your Ch’i will be refocused, and awakened.

Still Encountering Bad Luck

  • If you have completed the Feng Shui above and still encountering bad luck, perform good deeds without expecting a reward. Be sincere, you will never be disappointed.

One thing 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.