Tag Archives: Rumi

Feng Shui Flowers That Whisper Good Fortune

Posted on by

“Hear blessings dropping their blossoms all around you.”
– Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

If we wish to attract what is good for us, flowers are a direct path to enhancing our feelings and elevating our sense of well-being. Nancy Etcoff, Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General. Hospital and her research team investigated the effects of flowers in the home and they concluded 1) flowers influence people emotionally; they foster compassion and kindness. 2) people feel less negative around flowers. Looking at them first thing in the morning dissipates anxiety or feelings of depression. 3) having flowers at home can carry over to work creating a frame of mind for happiness and enthusiasm. 

In the right place flowers in your home whisper their message, be joyful and blessings will fall like blossoms all around you.

Flowers have a long held importance and cultural significance in Chinese culture. They believe they communicate positive messages.

Here are five of my favorites that I give as Feng Shui adjustments and personally display during the Chinese seasonal festivals.

Peony Their elegant, full blossoms and delicate fragrance make them a favorite of bride’s bouquets and with good reason. The Chinese hold the peony in high esteem because it symbolizes prosperity and nobility. It also represents wealth, rank, female beauty and honor. Yellow and purple varieties are the most desirable. According to Feng Shui tradition, cultivate affluence by hanging either an image of a peony in a vase or placing an actual peony in a vase in the living room of your home. Either one expresses the wish for ‘prosperity and peace’, because the peony represents prosperity and the vase is a rebus for peace.

Orchid We all want someone special who is just right for us. The orchid represents integrity, friendship and nobility. Confucius compared the orchid to a virtuous man. In BSTB Feng Shui tradition to attract a refined and cultured partner place a pink orchid in your Relationship corner. The nuance to this relationship adjustment is visualize you are attracting the perfect person for you.

Lotus The Chinese believe the lotus symbolizes purity, long life, humility and honor. In Chinese Buddhism, Quan Yin is depicted seated on a lotus flower because it rises from the mud in beauty and symbolizes perfection and purity of the heart and mind. 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. But sooner or later, it reaches the light becoming the most beautiful flower ever. If you’ve struggled to accept your fears. If you’ve felt your burdens have not brought you redemption. If despair reminds you that you feel you’ve failed, it may be difficult to see that these muddy waters make you the exquisite human being that you are, but you are. 

Chrysanthemum The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the Double Ninth Festival also called Chongyang Festival (this year it is October 17, 2018). Nine is a yang number (symbolizing forever). Celebrating the double nine brings auspiciousness to the household. “Double Ninth” is pronounced the same as the word “forever” so ancestors are also worshipped on that day. Chrysanthemum is a Chinese word derived from “Chu hua” meaning “October flower”. White chrysanthemums represent nobility and elegance and attract good luck to the home and a life of ease. It is revered like the orchid, bamboo and plum. Displaying chrysanthemums in the home and eating Chongyang (double yang) cakes (cake sounds like height so they are regarded as lucky) are popular customs honoring this festival. They lift the Ch’i of, not only individuals, but families and communities too.

Narcissus Narcissus is known as the “water goddess”. It is said this flower can rout out evil spirits. At Chinese New Year (The Year of the Water Pig is February 5, 2019), the Chinese believe daffodil and Narcissus bulbs when in bloom bring good fortune and luck to a home. The modern take: enliven your Ch’i through the sense of smell. This adjustment calms the nervous system and promotes a sense of well being.

The Flower Cure Many times the most unlikely Feng Shui adjustment has the greatest affect. If the valve between the stomach and the esophagus is not opening and closing properly and there is acid reflux, H.H. “Professor” Lin Yun suggested this cure (nine red envelopes requested). The essence of this cure is how the sense of smell affects the body, mind and spirit.

Photo credit: https://www.quitecontemporary.com/2017/01/diy-ceramic-vases.html

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.

What To Practice Before Space Clearing.

Posted on by

“The very center of your heart is where life begins – the most beautiful place on earth.”
–Rumi

Have you noticed that what you do in a worried state affects the results and the people involved? Have you noticed the opposite? Results are by far more successful when you feel calm and clear. Before you cleanse your land of unwanted energy it makes sense to cleanse your heart. There is a simple and profound yogic gesture, a mudra, that is recognized in the west as a prayer posture. It nourishes your heart and calms your mind. It encourages connection first to yourself and then to the Divine in other. It is as universal and timeless as the Tao itself.

Mudra in Sanskrit means ‘seal’ or ‘sign’. Sacred hand gestures and whole body positions are mudras that invoke a prescribed inner state. The Anjali mudra, the prayer posture, is an offering, in fact the word means offering. It is the practice of seeing the Divine in all of creation. When we bring our hands to our heart, we are meeting in the middle. It positions us at the core of our being. The roots of BTB Feng Shui stem from Hinduism. Many of the BTB Feng Shui mediations and adjustments on the cosmic scale, place the human, the mediator, in the middle, between Heaven and Earth.

When you bring your hands together you return to your heart. Literally you connect the right and left hemispheres of the brain. In yogic practice the energetic heart is visualized as a lotus at the center of the chest.  “Anjali mudra nourishes this lotus heart with awareness, gently encouraging it to open as water and light do a flower.”– Shiva Rea, The Yoga Journal

Before purifying the land and space clearing with Feng Shui ceremonies, it is essential to nourish the lotus heart within you. It is then easier to be present and joyous with the ceremonies. The salutation involving the Anjali mudra “aligns your mind (awareness), feeling (heart) and actions (body).” The BTB method that incorporates this yogic gesture is The Purification of Negative Karmas. We begin with stretching our arms wide and then bring our palms together, holding the Anjali mudra over our crown chakra or sahasrara. This posture is accompanied by the chant, Om. As the sound reverberates in the space, we gently bring our awareness and palms to our mouth/throat, vocalizing the sound, Ah. Next lowering our palms to our heart chakra or anahata, suspending them in this place we express Hum. Completing the cycle here, we bring our palms together briefly and then cast our hands down our sides to the Earth with the request that all karmas are purified rapidly, the sound we utter is Shia. This is repeated two more cycles with the second cycle removing negative karma from the body, speech, mind. The third cycle involves releasing bad luck and sick chi and finish by inviting virtuous deeds and positive karma to blossom rapidly. This purification is a way of bridging inner and out experience; it can cool the fires of stress or when you feel reactionary. From here you can begin any activity from a place of connectedness. This purification stabilizes your body and mind before performing a space blessing. With peace and clarity your land or home receives your deepest intentions.

Want to focus on one or two areas of your home? Feng Shui A La Carte is designed get you started on harmonizing your space right away.

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.