Tag Archives: Earth

3 Ways To Transform Stress In Your Home

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“As we head into the dark time of year, let’s take a moment to check in with our practice of compassion, for ourselves and others. Let’s notice our reactions as we encounter pain and suffering, our own and that of others. Notice when we open our hearts and make friends with the discomfort and when we go into fear, anger, resistance or stuckness. Our heads might not know where we are at, but our bodies can give us loads of information.”
–Sacred Circle Dance

We are experiencing an unprecedented exposure to media, download of EMFs and anxiety over global events. These kinds of stress undermine our sense of safety and control in the world. If you are having difficulty sleeping; concerned for your family’s safety; wondering how to minimize conflict at home, on the road and in the workplace, there is a way to help your life go right. Not only compassion transforms stress, creating your home as your center of strength can help you act with confidence in an uncertain world. If you are ready to make-over your home, here are three key areas that will help you revolutionize your inner state and create a sense of safety.

Begin with those who make life easier.
Look to the front right corner as you face into the house, this is Chien, Helpful People help us accomplish what we set out to do. In the I-Ching this area is represented by Heaven. Heaven Ch’i is effortless in its ability to manifest.

  • Activating this niche with a Feng Shui adjustment draws Heaven onto Earth. Placing a sacred object here invites the people and sets up the events that come to your aide. An image or statue of dragon (no red dragons for that is a cooked dragon), horses, a goose, lion or elephant represent this area. You could hang an image of a special place that you have traveled to or long to visit. Or mount a wall clock for this gua is associated with time. How we manage our time is a mark of success. Make your visualization precise.

Hold your family together.
Locate the center of your home. A strong center can contain you and your loved in the thick of the intricacies of everyday life. If the center of your home is weak, your life can spin out of control. Check for the following details.

  • A stairway in the center creates instability which can lead to worry and restlessness. Loss of Ch’i can destroy your sense of peace and leak energy from the entire house and your energy too. Hang a wind-chime or a mirror at the top of the stairway. Or paint the railing green.
  • A bathroom in the center will deplete all the life situations that the Bagua contains. Your life’s resources will either vanish slowly or be depleted in an immediate surge down the drain.
    Place a mirror on the outside of the bathroom door. This “transcendentally” removes the bathroom by reflecting what is in front of the mirror, hence the bathroom “disappears”.
  • Other details that should be avoided in the middle of the house: boiler; motor; electrical service box – your main disconnect; oven; fireplace; generator. If something electrical or hot exists in the middle of the house, you can paint it green or decorate it with a green plant or place a green plant on top of it.

Avoid dissonance and exhaustion.
Walk to your bedroom. Check to see if your bed is placed on the edge of a “cleaver” shaped room.

  • If the master bed is on the edge of the cleaver, words may be cutting and sharp. This creates dissonance among family members that can spread beyond the walls of your home and impinge upon your life in exhausting ways. If you have a cleaver shaped bedroom, place a mirror on the wall opposite the bed to pull the bed off the knife edge. 
  • Subscribe to my blogspot for more bedroom help. Receive 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind.

If you want more information about design that contributes to stress, lack of safety, ill health and conflict, check out Floor Plans Matter. I describe one design feature in each of nine floor plans. My hope is that you start to think of your home as your source to regenerate your energy where you can face the world with good humor, trust and feel empowered to make a change for your own good.

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

Photo credit: LoveFairyGarden, Etsy.com

How To Build A Fire Under Your Reputation

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“Let the world know why you are here and do it with passion.”
– Dr. Wayne Dyer

In April I shared with you the creative Power of Wood. Now we have reached the second phase of the Five Elements where we ascend to the fulfilling Power of Fire. In Summer Nature is at its peak and splendor. Spring blossoms are now summer fruit, their ripeness accelerated by the expansive light, warmth and radiance of the sun. It is a time where all of life develops to its fullest potential. Fire, the marrow of summer, is hot, vibrant and voluminous. It is the element that merges with all that comes into its path. In humans it is expressed through intimacy, passion, touch, sentiment, vitality, understanding, communication and community. When we merge our hearts with the hearts of others and realize our humanness, we thrive best.

If you have longed to reach beyond your comfort zone; dreamt to share your vision in a venue the size of Yankee Stadium, improve the rhythm in your heart or find the clarity to finish what you start, these six BSTB Feng Shui cures may enrich your home with the luminous vitality to help you pursue what sets your soul on fire.

Located in the back of the house are three power spots, Wealth, Fame and Partnership. The Fame and Reputation gua is central, nestled in between the Wealth gua to its right when facing the door and Partnership to left when facing the door.

Rejuvenate Your Heart. Not only is Fame/Fire identified by a location in our home, it is represented by the heart that pumps blood through our vessels, instilling our body with mindfulness. In Chinese philosophy our constitution is strengthened through performing virtuous actions. If you need to rejuvenate your heart then build goodwill by doing good deeds among your family members, friends, colleagues and relationships.

Build Your Business. Your business will prosper when you foster interdependent relationships. Make a practice to give and receive support and assistance. You will become illuminated in your community with what you are famous. 

Polish Your Clarity. When the Fame gua is missing in your home it can manifest as a heart attack, insomnia, feeling scattered, burned out, lacking clarity, unable to focus, depression and unfinished projects. To complete the missing area, hang a convex mirror. As you place the mirror visualize the reflection of the house in the mirror and see it move into the missing area, filling it. See the individual tasks to complete your project fall into place. 

Restore Your Reputation. A bathroom in Fame will dampen the Fire element and deplete the gua. The heart may become weakened. We need the warmth of Fire to speak from our heart, to soften cold words, comfort grief from within or succor a loved one. We may also experience damage to our reputation, status and honor. Mount a full length mirror on the outside of the bathroom door and visualize it assumes the image of whatever is in front of it. See the bathroom disappear and your reputation restored.

Guard Your Health. Watch for design details in your home that will cause damage to your heart. Here is a short list: a stairway out the front door (illness along the midline); a kitchen in the center of the house (fire in Health); a bed on the door wall (heart arrhythmia); slanted ceilings (especially if you have low blood pressure); biting doors; a contrary door (where the door opens to the a wall), a blocking wall and any bed, desk or stove out of command.

Enhance Your Fame. Red is the color of Fire. Red is an energy source, a stimulator and a way of expelling bad Ch’i. If your reputation has been maligned, if you want to enhance your fame or if you desire to extend your reach beyond the city in which you work, paint a red wall in the Fame gua and set your intention accordingly.

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.

Spring Power. It’s Easy Being Green.

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Within each thing is contained all things. In the seed is the tree; in the tree is the forest…Each thing exists to nourish all others and in return to be nourished itself.
– Vasant Lad and David Frawley, The Yoga of Herbs

At the moment I am writing, Nature’s Spring Power has bloomed all over the northern hemisphere. As if awakened by Prince Charming’s kiss, the sun’s radiance arouses the landscape, dissolving winter’s sleep. Green, vernal shoots burst forth and aromatic scents perfume the atmosphere where hungry bees buzz mightily ensuring that our summer tables are fresh with fruit. Everywhere is an intelligent, pulsating world of creation, nourishment and support.

If you are like me you may want to harness this Spring Power for now and when winter’s twilight comes early and the leaves have fallen. It’s definitely the way of Feng Shui. You see, thousands of years ago in order to align with the seasons of creation and decay, the philosophy of the Tao, Yin-Yang theory and the Five Phases evolved. The Tao is the governing order of all things. However to explain the Tao’s movement through time, the Yin-Yang Theory of opposites emerged followed by the Five Phases/Seasons which further differentiated its dynamism as exemplified by the five powers, Water (winter), Wood (spring), Fire (summer), Earth (late summer) and Metal (fall).

You can imagine in the waining days of the year how a burst of Spring Power could keep your system running at its optimum. The Wood element is represented by Spring. It is a creative season. It’s symbolic of new beginnings. Its meaning is to be on purpose and be the change. It is benevolence and compassionate understanding, qualities we find useful in certain stages of our development, our relationships and our careers. Building the Chi in your home with Wood cures gives you the drive to remove stagnate energy and finish projects that have been languishing.

If your bedroom feels devoid of life force, your health is suffering from too much Yin Ch’i, or you want to enhance the energy in your home, here are five BSTB Feng Shui cures that invest your home with positive energy that will take you in a new direction.

Spring clean any time of year. Whenever there is an excessive build-up of stress and frustration, it’s time to pull out the oranges. When Ch’i becomes blocked, oranges have a warm, sunny, sweet aroma that convey joy and positivity, dispersing moodiness and irritability (Gabriel Mojay, Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit). To change the Ch’i and the fortune of you and your home, purchase nine oranges. During the hours of  11:00 p.m to 1:00 a.m. cut nine circles (zest only) out of each orange for 81 circles. Break these down onto a dinner plate and chant a mantra or say a prayer that invests the peels with the light of 10,000 Buddhas. Take a small handful of the peels and start in any direction. Every few steps, scatter the peels throughout the house until the plate is empty. Allow for them to stay for one night, three nights or nine nights. For a detailed version of the ceremony, send me an email (red envelopes requested).

Show your ‘face’ to the world. What story is your front entry telling? Does it represent who you are ? Does your door knob working properly and easy to grasp? This is how you grasped life. Do you have vital plants in and around your front door? Plants are life force. We are most aware of their rising yang energy in Spring but they are useful in balancing our Ch’i throughout the year. Your front door can be enhanced with healthy round leaf plants on either side. They lift your Ch’i and attract prospects. If sustainability is part of your philosophy, purchase native, evergreen plants that require little water as a green addition to the Feng Shui.

Transform worry into calm. Bamboo has a long and humble connection to the Chinese culture. If your children live away from home and you are concerned about them you can hang a bamboo drape in the Children/Tui gua of your home. If your child has a dangerous occupation, sport or hobby, hang a bamboo drape in the Children gua of your home because bamboo is symbolic of safety, it provides safety.

Work peacefully for money. The drooping bamboo leaves cross one another, as if they are composing the Chinese character “An” (tranquility). Being both hollow and soft inside, it symbolizes humility (the Chinese word for hollow means to be humble). Its hollowness allows it to bow in the wind. The sound a bamboo flute makes is peaceful and it can drive away negative influences so it protects. If you wish to have money and work peacefully for it, hang a bamboo drape in the Wealth/Hsun gua of your home.

Double your happiness. To nurture a partnership that you have already created add the Spring Power of nine lush plants in the bedroom. The demands of work can deplete your energy. The plants’ life force will support your own and expand your mental focus so you can dedicate time to your partner. A nuance to this cure is place fruiting or flowering plants as they symbolize that your efforts will bear fruit.

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.