Using Nature as Your Guide

Our homes represent a reflection of who we are. We can look around us and see colors and style that we selected, family and friends among the pictures and gifts, tokens from adventures we’ve taken, and rooms that help us relax and rejuvenate.

When we feel out of balance, want a change in our life of some sort, we look at our homes as a place to shift the feel or energy in our lives, seeking some additional level of support for that change. This is at the core of what we do in Feng Shui, and when we do, we turn to nature as a guide, incorporating aspects of nature into our home through color, pattern, texture, energetic flow and the like.

Why do we do this?

Consider that when we walk through nature, multiple scientific studies have shown, our bodies and minds receive great benefit – reduced blood pressure, improved immune systems, greater clarity in our thoughts. We in essence reset ourselves to be in alignment with the natural rhythms all around us. It creates greater balance for us mentally and physically.

This should come as no surprise, as at the core of Nature is the need to create balance as represented by The Tao. Comprised of the divine masculine and the divine feminine, it shows how without light there is no dark, without action there is no stillness. So if the nature of our universe is to find balance, then it is within our nature to find balance as well. Hold that thought.

I define being in balance as being at one with our soul’s purpose. So the better we understand our true selves, our souls, the closer we are to being in balance and a state of contentment. And while in Feng Shui, we try to do this by bringing more of nature into our homes, what happens when we leave our home? Where do we find balance then?

All around us. Think again about the nature of the universe – to create balance. Then if we look around us, among the sights, sounds and feelings we experience in Nature, we can use the outdoors as our guide. Now consider how unique each of us are – some of us are morning people, some night owls, some of us are highly driven while others prefer to observe and analyze, some of us grew up in urban environments while others in the arid deserts of the world.

When faced with this level of variety, finding balance can be a very unique endeavor – as unique as each of us. So then how does Nature do this? Help each of us find balance? It is by helping us to get grounded enough to remember who we are. It is by reminding us every day of who we are based on what we are drawn to in Nature. It is by establishing signs that speak to each of us individually based on our own life experiences.

Of course, we play a role in all of this. It is to listen and take action accordingly. When Nature tells us to pay attention, we should. When Nature reminds us that there is more to life than being a cog in the wheels of corporate enterprise, we should focus on the difference we make or want to make in the lives of the people we see every day. When Nature points us toward our soul’s yearnings, we should follow it.  

Nature guides us every day, in sometimes subtle and not so subtle ways, all in an attempt to help us find ourselves. Are you paying attention?

Bridging Divides Using Feng Shui

Light snow is falling outside. Trying to make its presence last across a sea of green-brown grass. It feels peaceful – the slow, meandering pace of the flakes filling the air, slowing my breath and body, and almost my mind.

It’s been a tough few months. I’ve been caught up in the anger and frustration many people are feeling at the recent U.S. election, and even more so the actions being taken since President Trump took office less than two weeks ago. I went to D.C. for the Women’s March with my wife and two girls, meeting up with our closest friends, in the hopes of feeling a sense of unity with others of like mind, like emotions. We made signs. We got up at the crack of dawn. We listened to great speeches and then we marched.

My family and I (lower left corner) at the Women's March in D.C.

In one sense, I’m still processing the experience, but I’m also trying to transform the energy I felt there into actionable efforts back home – getting more involved in the local political scene and planning on attending various protests and rallies.

For many in the New Age (or whatever we’re called these days) community, getting embroiled in the issues and putting a focus on the negativity being driven by the new administration, staying atop of the resulting fallout – both peaceful and violent, isn’t the approach to take. It’s depleting. It’s overwhelming. It’s an empath’s greatest challenge to stay functional in the day to day world. I get it, and yes, I’ve had a couple days when I couldn’t look at the news; but for me I need to feel like I’m able to stay on top of what’s happening. There appears to be too much at stake here for me to turn my focus away from it.

I also know though that if change is going to happen, I’m going to have to do some uncomfortable things – like try to understand people who are so far away from my belief system that I can’t see through the fog of all the labels we have for one another to allow me to even find their hands to shake.

When I have a tough challenge like this, I look for a solution, or at least the start of one, using what I’ve learned through feng shui. So as I considered this, an idea started to form around the time of year we’re in, and specifically the holiday: Chinese New Year. In China, they follow a lunar calendar, which results in their new year starting in late January or early February. This year, it started Saturday, Jan. 28, and will be celebrated until Feb. 15th.

In Beijing, a dragon dance and red lanterns offer a glimpse
of the start of the Chinese New Year celebration. 

Considered the Spring Festival, this traditional holiday is used to honor our families, starting off with the most important meal of the year: a reunion dinner. It’s a time to connect with one another and look forward to a prosperous year together.

Seeing the images from around the world, people celebrating not only in China, but London, Sydney, San Francisco, the list goes on, makes it crystal clear that the idea of family can and perhaps should be expanded to include a more global family. From that perspective, I told myself, what’s to keep me from expanding my definition of family to people outside my home, my community, my state, even my belief system?

So, if I were to honor this much larger definition of family, considering the Chinese New Year as a guide, how could I do it? There are many traditional ways to celebrate, including sharing red envelopes for best wishes, setting off firecrackers and eating lucky food. In my feng shui and space clearing practice, I like to honor others intentions through altars.

And that’s what I have done – as you can see here. My altar’s base is a ceremonial wooden bowl and includes Epson salt for grounding, a bridge to symbolize the bridging of a gap of beliefs between me and my larger family, a red envelope under the bridge that includes the words unity, respect and love and two red candle holders (red is very auspicious in feng shui) with candles to initiate the action (fire) needed here. 

An altar with the intention of creating greater unity between
people of different beliefs and perspectives.

It’s simple but altars don’t have to be complex to be effective.

So now I have a focal point for my intention to bring my larger family together. And I’ve found a way to incorporate feng shui and space clearing practices into supporting me as I work through this latest of challenges. I suspect the road ahead will include more frustration, anger and outrage, but I also know that to get past those events to one of greater unity, I need to try to understand the ideas and perspectives of my larger family, even if I don’t agree with them.

I know this altar can help me, and perhaps it, or one you make, will help you as well.

With gratitude.

Getting back to center

Starting fresh. Getting back on that horse. Brushing yourself off and standing back up. While it's not as daunting as starting over, it still has its fair share of fear associated with it. There's a sense of failure, and even if it's a small sense, it's still tied to the "f" word. A sense that you've veered off your path, if even for a short period of time.

We all go through those times in our lives when we lose our focus. Sometimes it's because of the various events in our lives, other times it's because we didn't quite know what our focus was in the first place. For me, I typically get caught up in what I like to call my Muggle world (thank you J.K. Rowling, for that and soooo much more). The one that includes long hours away from home and pays the bills.

So the issue for me isn't that I get caught up in this world. It's that I get so caught up in this world that I lose sight of what I want to be doing. There's the rub. It might sound familiar to you. If it does, then I've got some thoughts to share that may help you.

When I realize that I'm not where I want to be, which frankly takes more time than I would like to admit, I often turn to tools that help me to go inward. See we all have this inner voice that helps guide us, but I've found that my voice gets drowned out by stress, fear, anger, any negative emotion really.

There are many tools I use that hopefully may be helpful to you.

An easy one is music. I'll pop on my headphones at work so I can focus and listen to any music that really makes me feel good. Of late, this includes some Norah Jones, Christina Perri, Michael Buble and some of Adele's powerful songs. The goal here is just to make me feel good -- the opposite of how I feel when I'm stressed and worried and angry about work. Once I've got that good feeling, I'm more open to thinking about the path I want to set for myself, and I may even start listening to some meditation music with flutes, drums and the like (I love Dave and Steve Gordon's Native American music for this). This will actually help to change more than my mood but my physiology -- my breathing changes and my body relaxes. In this space, I'm much more open to that little voice inside. 

Oracle cards are varied enough that you can
find a deck that resonates with you

Another option is to use oracle cards. If you haven't used these before, or only think of these as fortune telling tools, they've come a long way since the days of a mysterious woman in a dark room with red velvet table clothes and have become valuable personal tools for many people. While I know several people who offer readings for people, and in fact I have done this as well, I think they are most valuable as personal development tools. Think of them as a way to help you listen to your own inner guidance -- like talking to your higher self. They can help you expand your own intuitive skills and give you valuable insight to a situation. The shear variety of cards that exist are pretty amazing. When I was much younger, I started with Tarot cards, moved on to angel and fairy cards by Doreen Virtue but then found cards that aligned more with my connection to nature, e.g., Animal Medicine cards by Jaimie Sams and David Carson. I've found a new deck recently that I love working with by Denise Linn -- Native Spirit Oracle Cards. Each deck will include directions for how to use them, so my advice here is to get centered, focus intently on your question and be open to the insight that comes. Your first reaction (to an image, a color, etc.) is typically the one meant for you, but each card has its own meaning in an accompanying guide book.

Peruvian Chumpi Stones

Here's a third approach you can take. There is always something new to learn on your path, where ever it may lead you. So find something that you've wanted to learn more about. If you're a teacher, is there a new method to connect with your students? If you're in retail, have you considered a new way to reach your customers? If you're a massage therapist, have you considered the importance of your space when you provide your massages and how you could enhance it? In my case, I received some new healing tools that I'm excited to try -- Chumpi Stones. These Peruvian stones are connected to sacred mountains and aligned with each of the seven primary chakras in our bodies. In conjunction with drumming, singing bowls and other tools, they are purported to provide great healing benefits. 

So there you have it, a few ways to help you get back onto your path, or perhaps stay there in the first place. I hope they inspire you to stay true to your path. 

And before I go, yes, I realize that getting lost in the stresses of work and life is actually all a part of my path -- a reminder that while I have an idea of what my path is "supposed" to be that in truth in order to get there, the stresses in fact push me closer to my goal. It's as if my path is actually much wider than I realized, and the goal is to stay in the center of my path for a clearer understanding of where my path leads. 

So that said, from now on, when I get so caught up in things I think are taking me off my path, I'll look at it as not stepping off the path but stepping off-center. Here's to staying true to our center.  

Until next time...

The real problem with clutter

Clutter brings up a lot of cringing. The word immediately raises images in the minds of many of overstuffed closets, crawlspaces desperate for our attention and stacks of papers that never seem to diminish despite our best efforts.

The problem with defining clutter in this way is that we don’t get to the real challenge associated with it, and so we overlook clutter that may be affecting us every day.

Everyone can see the big clutter items in their homes. In fact, they’re often so big that we can’t even address it without outside help or a weekend dedicated to trips to Goodwill. So we don’t, because it’s just something we all have and deal with in our lives.

There are a few problems with this.

Clutter begets clutter. Once we’ve identified a space in a room or an entire room as the place to put things we don’t know what to do with in the moment, it acts like a magnet for more clutter. Admit it, you’ve seen it happen in your own place – whether a basement, a closet, a desk or a junk drawer.

It weighs on us. Every time we look at clutter it reminds us that we need to clean it up but either don’t have the time or the will to take care of it in the moment. It’s like a daily dose of regret. Who needs that in their lives?

It’s diversionary. That’s right, when we see the big areas of clutter, we fool ourselves into thinking that clutter only applies to big messes. That just isn’t the case. Clutter can be the grouping of pictures on your piano that prevent you from seeing the good in each photo and only see a mass of photos. It can be the ceramic elephant in your home that you’re hanging onto not because you love it but because someone gave it to you and they might stop by so you want them to see you have it out.  Otherwise they might just JUDGE you. Gasp!

Clearing clutter is like a breath of fresh air for your home.

In feng shui, this means you’re filling your home not only with objects you don’t like but energy that just brings you down!

So, if that resonates with you, and I hope it does, take a look around you and see where you might have some clutter: a vase that held flowers from an ex, a second-hand chair you’ve had for far too long, a family portrait that reminds you of a time when the family wasn’t getting along so well. 

Start with just one thing. It’ll be a relief, and it may feel so good that you’ll find another thing, and another, and another. You may not get to the basement right away, but you'll feel lighter and happier and maybe, just maybe, it'll give you the boost you need to tackle that closet. 

A home's center is key to a balanced life

Feng Shui Bagua

If you’re familiar with feng shui, you’ve probably heard of the bagua (pronounced baw-gwa). If you haven’t, just think of it as a map you can place over a layout of your home. It’s comprised of 8 core life aspects (e.g., career, relationships, abundance, etc.) surrounding a central and unifying aspect of life – balance (picture the yin-yang symbol).

The great thing about the bagua is that it allows you to see how different areas of your home represent different aspects of your life. For instance, based on the placement of a room, it can represent your family or your job or the people in your life who offer support.

There are different schools of thought as to how it should be positioned (e.g., cardinal directions or the entry to a home). More traditional schools follow the cardinal directions while the more “modern” schools use the entryway. In the school where I was trained, the International Institute of Interior Alignment (learn more at www.interioralignment.com), we tend to use the entryway, but have also used direction depending on a home’s location (that’s a topic for another blog).

The nice thing about the balance aspect of the bagua is that no matter how you position the map it’s always in the center of your home. Easy, right?

OK, so why is this important? Well in feng shui the goal is to direct the energy within a home so that you have greater success in all areas of your life, and ultimately so you feel more balanced in your life across all those areas. So the center of your home can give you insight into something being off kilter in your life and it also can be adjusted to help realign the home’s energy for greater balance.

You might be asking how you might know if the center of your home is out of balance.

Well first, stand in the center of your home, or look at the center (sometimes it’s a utility closet or a flight of stairs going downward so you can’t actually be in the center), and ask yourself how you feel. Trust me, it’s important.

If you feel good, you smile or generally enjoy the space, great! That’s a good indication that things are in balance. If you do not feel so positive when you look at the space, a feng shui enhancement could probably do you some good.

Ok, so if you have more of a negative feel about the space, here are a couple common feng shui challenges that may be the culprit and how they might affect the balanced energy you’re trying to create:

1. Stairs. In feng shui, stairs, going up or down, can create some fast moving energy or chi in the space. When you have energy that moves too quickly, then the home, and in this case the center of yor home, doesn’t get a chance to benefit from it. Remember, feng shui is about directing energy to different areas of your home, and as a result different aspects of your life. The goal is to provide more support (energetically) for you to achieve your goals. If the energy doesn’t stick around in an area of your home, that aspect of your life won’t get the energetic support you want. So, stairs in the center of your home can mean you won’t be able to access the energy you need to be more balanced. It’s as if every time you try to create more balance, it eludes you.
2. No light. Light generates chi, while darkness dampens chi. So if there’s no light, the energy may not flow well in the space. Stagnant chi is a common challenge in feng shui as it creates a feeling of sluggishness and inactivity, and is reflected in our lives when it takes an inordinately long time to achieve a goal. Stagnant chi also tends to attract more stagnant or heavy energy. It’s not unusual, for example, when a room with stagnant chi becomes a dumping ground for clutter (Have you been in your garage lately?).
3. Bathroom. The bathroom in the center of a home offers challenges because of its connection to the element of water. In feng shui, water represents either emotions or money. When we are constantly “flushing” the water out of the home, this can affect our stress levels, our financial well-being or both. These can be especially frustrating imbalances.   

These are just a couple examples of situations in the center of your home that could affect the balance you are trying to create in your life. Does it mean if you have these situations, it’s the end of the world? Nope. First check your gut. Does your life feel pretty balanced (e.g., work vs. play)? If the answer is yes, great! If not, I’m happy to talk to you further about it, just shoot me an email at bill@fengshui-24.com.

Hopefully now you’ll think a little differently about your home, and the importance of its center.