Tag Archives: Grounding

Simple Rituals To Welcome Winter

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“Although the night is long, there is a light that never goes out.”
–Sage Goddess

For centuries humankind has celebrated winter solstice with rituals. Stories of herbs and trees transforming into fairies and mythical kings recount the return of the light. Gathered around the yuletide are traditions that honor the spirits of the home and land. “In Italy the ancestral spirits who protect the crossroads also guard the family and live in the hearths where children hang brightly colored stockings to be filled by La Befana. Her name literally means ‘epiphany’, the original meaning of which is ‘manifestation or sudden appearance of a divine or supernatural being’ or ‘sudden understanding as to the nature of something.’ (Circle of the Sacred Muse).” The same ‘sudden understanding’ is observed as a ‘sudden awakening’ in Tantric Buddhist Feng Shui. So perhaps there is a universal truth, a knowing, that transcends time and location where honoring the seasons and performing rituals invoke the blessings of Heaven and Earth.

Simple rituals to welcome winter
Adorning your home summons the blessings that accompany the solstice. Red and green or silver and gold candles along the window ledge lure the returning sun. Boughs of evergreen draped inside represent rebirth with pine symbolizing healing and joy. Holly offers protection from evil influences that roam during winter. Mistletoe above the headboard promotes fertility and abundance. Frankincense when lit purifies and accelerates spiritual growth.

Release and let yourself rise
A new year is approaching. Relinquishing habits and beliefs will help you tap your unlimited potential. Write out what you wish to give up with a new black pen. On the night of the winter solstice light a candle. Add some orange essential oil or burn orange peel on a plate. Silently read the list and thank each entry, then light the paper, watch it flicker and feel the epiphany lift your heart.

Ritual cleaning
Cleaning can be an invocation to create a fresh start. Wash your floors and countertops with rosemary and sage essential oil diluted in water. Move 27 items to generate new luck. Replace the sheets on your bed and add a lavender sachet under the pillow.

Reflect on what brightens your light
Kindness, compassion, mindfulness, charity and camaraderie come to mind. What words and what daily rituals brighten your heart? The year ahead will wax and wane. Begin a regular practice at this peak time will aid you in any shift that eclipses your light.

Replenish your body
Winter can be harsh on the liver and kidneys. Preparing root vegetables like beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, celeriac, carrots and turnips in warming soups remind us that when circumstances uproot our stability we can look to Mother Earth to ground us. Evergreens like kale and spinach represent longevity and initiate something new.

Repair a heart, pay it forward
The season is a reminder of the good fortune that surrounds us but for some it is filled with suffering and scarcity. If you want to make a positive difference donate food, volunteer your time or perform good deeds. Your efforts may remove the humiliation of those who experience less fortunate circumstances and help them see compassion exists in the world.

“May you find peace in the promise of the solstice night and may your days be abundantly blessed.”

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.

Declutter Your Inner World

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“When many voices are speaking at once, listen to the one most quiet and gentle. That’s the one worth listening to.”
–Miranda Linda Weisz

Crisis, illness, challenges sometimes life comes at us fast. When we are blindsided by a work situation, a family argument that becomes a feud, an accident that sends us to the hospital, it can feel like the ground beneath our feet is giving way. We become anxious and unsure what to do. Stress builds and we may feel the only solution is to try to out run the disaster. But we do have options. One of those is to slow down, return to the present moment and breathe, for in this place we are empowered and can listen.

Chaos initiates change (if we allow it) and change awakens life affirming gifts within us: trusting in the unfolding of life. Breaking the habit of worry. Connecting to our core to hear our inner voice, that quiet, wise one, whose perfect wisdom protects us against the storms that thunder through.

Want to know what simple steps will connect you to your inner voice? I have composed a list of wellness methods from prominent practitioners in the fields of metaphysics, health and nutrition. These easy exercises will give you a jump start on de-cluttering your inner world because your quiet, gentle voice is the key to your happiness and success.

Ground
Remember what it feels like after a summer rain? You can get that feeling by walking barefoot on the ground. Nutritionist, David Wolfe purports that when we take off our shoes and plant our feet on the earth, within five minutes the atmospheric static electricity that has collected in our body discharges. Performing this easy method counteracts the positive charged electricity that breaks down our immune system. When we touch the earth we absorb its negative ions and they charge up our immune system. Studies report that there are measurable health benefits with grounding. Gaining a few ions does wonders for your frame of mind.

Reflect
Doreen Virtue extols spend time in Nature reminds us of the infinite abundance that we see all around when we walk along a path or in the woods. As we get in touch with Nature we get in touch with our own nature and our creative ideas come forth. Disconnecting can be a responsible investment where you access a new idea, a new way of doing things…maybe a time saving way of doing things, your new book emerges or you may invent something that helps the world.

Stabilize
Smoothing your nerves soothes your mind. The sound of a bell or the radiance of a light inside the front door gathers in pause, refreshment and mindfulness to the beginning and ending of each day. The cure is such: when you open the front door create an automatic response. Either wire the light (make it bright) so it goes on when the door is open or a clear sound is heard like that of a bell or chime. Set your intention so your nervous system is smoothed out and see yourself responding completely and with clarity to your environment.

Breathe
When we breathe, we inspire and fill our lungs and body with pure Ch’i. Oxygenating our brain stimulates, motivates, encourages, influences, energizes and arouses us. Measured breathing, breathing in deeply and exhaling at the same rate, slows our thought processes down to a still point where we begin to access our inner voice.

Listen
Meditation according to Abraham Hicks allows you to expand to the fullness of who you are and resonate with the Source that is within you. Taking five minutes for a Yin meditative practice clears the blockages of frustration, worry and doubt. The Supreme Yoga Section One meditation quickens your good judgement; improves sleep and health; and helps you recapture your natural power and balance. A nuance to all BTB Feng Shui meditations from H. H. Lin Yun is before any nourishing method we begin with:
Rubbing your Palms
Rub your palms back and forth nine times so that they become quite warm and they if they don’t become warm after nine times. Back and forth is one time. If they are not warm after nine time then you might do 18 or 27 times. You want your palms to be really warm.

If you would like a copy of Supreme Yoga Section One Meditation please email me, bette@shenmenfengshui.com. The red envelope tradition applies.

I would love to hear how you stepped back into being and what you did to get there.

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 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.

Breast Cancer Never Takes A Day Off!

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“The only person who can save you is you: That going to be the thing that informed the rest of my life.”
–Sheryl Crow on being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Breast cancer never takes a day off. About one in eight (12% in the US) women will experience this invasive, malignant shadow over the course of their lifetime. For me it came home the moment my oldest sister, Grace, heard the words, “You have a malignant tumor in your breast.” Her world came crashing down and her dreams dissolved into a puddle on the floor. For 18 years she “battled” nausea, pain, depression, sadness, stress, anger and the despair that she would not get the life back that she once knew. Though Grace didn’t survive cancer, she was a survivor.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You may not think of turning to your home to address your health however neuroscience continues to uncover evidence that indicates your environment is a large part of your wellness package. As you know from my blogs and if you have had a consultation with me, I share that multiple factors influence our life’s situations, particularly when we are dealing with illness.

I believe education is an important part of our health picture. In holistic health Feng Shui is part of the cure. I have included some design features that deplete your Ch’i. Plus I have included Feng Shui cures and natural solutions to help you fight off illness and cancer, because I want you to believe you can take your health into your own hands and survive anything.

General Illness
Environmental
If you are sensitive to toxicity in the environment such as carpet off-gassing or paint fumes, one of the ways to address this is to:
–Plant a garden. The greenery has beneficial affects on your vitality, nervous system and general well-being.
– Go outside, walk barefoot in your backyard or in a park. “Just touching the earth, which is electrically conducive, neutralizes free radicals in your body and brings you back in sync with the earth’s energy field. Upon contact, the negative ions from the earth’s surface rush into our bodies to discharge the many unpaired positive ions (or free radicals) we’ve picked up from modern living.” – “Healing By Grounding”, Radical Beauty, Harmony Books, Deepak Chopra, M.D. and Kimberly Snyder, C.N.
If you know you have toxins in your body, you can neutralize them by performing “Ice-Cold Heart in a Jade Teapot”.*

Reoccurring
If you want to minimize the reoccurrence of illness:
Make an adjustment to a house that is situated too close to the front of the lot and especially if the lot is rounded at the back.

Fluctuating
If your health is constantly seesawing:
– Make an adjustment to a building with many levels, especially if it is a residence.
– Adjust a stairway in the center.

Persistent
If your illness never ceases and just persists:
– Make an adjustment to a dead tree that is planted directly in front of the main door.
– Make an adjustment to a sickly tree that is planted directly in front of the main door.
– Make an adjustment to a tree that protrudes and pokes at you as you walk up to the main door.

Chronic
If your condition is chronic.
–Make an adjustment by removing dead plants from the front door.

Breast Cancer
H. H. “Professor” Lin Yun’s first and foremost advice:
Find a doctor who is a specialist. Seek a second opinion.
Seek an oriental doctor. If these avenues do not prove helpful seek holistic healing.
Feng Shui
– Adjust the Relationship gua and the T’ai Ch’i position (the center of the house).
– Perform the Red Slipper Cure* (for cancer in general). It is also a cure for other illnesses, bad luck and legal problems.
– Place nine vital plants around the front door (for cancer in general).
– Practice the Sunshine Buddha Exercise.*
– Plus practice the Medicine Buddha Six Ch’i (Sound) Healing.*

If you are in the Pacific NW, I will be at Nu Life Chiropractic and Sports Medicine, Thursday, October 6 5-7 p.m. as part of their Women’s Wellness Event to promote breast cancer awareness. Please stop by. I would love to meet you and answer your questions. The address is: 14 SE Grace Avenue, Battle Ground, WA 98604. See you Thursday!

*Please contact me, 503-232-2543, if you have a health concern or you are dealing with cancer.

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.