* Mainly taken & quoted from “Feng Shui your Life – Jayme Barrett”* 

Feng shui is about the correct energy of flow.  It applies to your health, work, and relationships.  There are four main categories in Feng Shui:

1) Practical Feng Shui – The logical and sensible methods of arranging your environment for happiness and success

This is the most logical category – what feels and looks good to you happens to be good feng shui.  For example, displaying photos or gifts from an ex is not good feng shui.  If you want to create new love in your life, you should remove anything that reminds you of a past relationship.  You do not want to be constantly surrounded by an ex-partner’s energy.  Some basic examples of practical feng shui are as follows:

• Clear clutter: it promotes happiness, efficiency and peace of mind;
• Finding room for new things in your life requires you to get rid of things you don’t use, want or need.  If your bookcase is crowded with old textbooks from college, you won’t have space for fresh, stimulating works that can inspire and educate you to achieve your present and future goals;
• Adding sunlight to an environment lifts your spirit and expands your vision, darkness inhibits life force and can be depressing.  Bright light is synonymous with birth, creativity and productivity.  Darkness is associated with constriction, hibernation and sadness;
• Bringing nature indoors adds harmony & healing to the surroundings.  Plants produce oxygen, helping people feel better.  The gentle sound of a water fountain eases your mind, blocks out disturbing noises, and calms nerves;
• Colors influence moods (colors discussed further in this post);
• Working in your bedroom is not a good idea.  The bedroom is a place for rest and connection.  You’ll want to remove all work-related items (computers & bills) so you can leave the stressful day behind you and concentrate on relaxation, quiet contemplation, or intimacy with your partner.

2) Energetic Feng Shui – The manner in which subtle energy moves through each space you inhabit and affects your life

Feng shui is based on the idea that everything is energy.  The world and everything in it is composed of vital energy or of life force that vibrates at different frequencies.  It swirls in and around every living being in nature, buildings and in space.  Energy from the sun, earth, and air breathes life force into everyone and everything.  This energy is called “chi” in China and “prana” in India.  Energy is the universal breath of life that connects everything.

You & every object in your daily life have the ability to absorb, project, and deflect energy.  This is why it is important to ensure that the energy which surrounds you is healthy & life affirming.  Healthy energy is moving energy – it needs to flow & circulate to be beneficial.  Feng shui thus offers specific rules to guide the vital energy evenly and continually through your space.  You therefore must be careful with what & whom you bring in your home.  If you have to swim in this energy, it needs to be positive, or you may be sabotaging yourself.  Dwellings that radiate love, happiness, and fortuity present the same feelings and opportunities for you. 

3) Symbolic Feng Shui – How the contents of your home reflect who you are and where you’re going

Along with correct energy flow, you need to be keenly aware of what your house is saying to you on a daily basis.  Your house serves as a mirror for your thoughts, passions, morals, spiritual beliefs and much more.  An exciting aspect of feng shui is that you can change what your home is saying to you.  As you change your outer template of your home to encourage your unique dreams and goals, your inner life shifts. Becoming clear about your dreams and goals for health, love, happiness & success, and using symbols for them within your environment is essential.  When your intention for your life surrounds you, it tends to materialize in a better & faster way!

 4) Personal Feng Shui – How your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual energy influences your path to fulfillment

Your life is complete when you integrate balance, flow, and positive energy into your body, mind and spirit using the principles of feng shui.  Take care of your energy field through cleansing your eleven chakras (Basic, Sex, Meng Mein, Naval, Front Spleen, Solar Plexus, Heart, Throat, Sight, Forehead, and Crown)

Remember – you must cleanse yourself before energizing yourself.  If not, it is like mixing sour milk with good milk.  The only way to enjoy milk is through eliminating the sour milk, cleansing your cup and then filling it with clean milk.  Proper ways of cleansing is through taking care of your body, then the feng shui can help with your energy.  This can be done through proper exercise and saltwater baths. 

Integrate pleasing colors into your wardrobe and environment to uplift your spirit, enliven your home, or accentuate a desired feeling or yearning.  The following is a listing of colors and their symbolism:

• RED: Passion, courage, power, wealth, motivation, and fame;
• PINK: Love, sweetness, uplift, happiness, tenderness, and enticement;
• ORANGE: Enthusiasm, joy, exuberance, interaction, fun, and captivation;
• GREEN: Harmony, beginnings, prosperity, nature, growth, and healing;
• YELLOW: Optimism, focus, communication, sunshine, inspiration, and fidelity;
• GOLD: Wealth, wisdom, luxury, abundance, sparkle, and influence;
• BLUE: Imagination, calm, serenity, relaxation, compassion, and ocean;
• VIOLET: Intuition, devotion, respect, peace, spirituality, and awareness;
• BROWN: Solidity, warmth, practicality, diligence, reliability, and patience;
• BLACK: Strength, elegance, protection, sophistication, intelligence, and shrewdness;
• WHITE: Purify, innocence, faith, benevolence, honesty, and grace.

OVERALL: Choosing good feng shui in any situation is nothing more than an awareness of what feels right and what doesn’t.  Each circumstance, thought, or person will energize you or deplete you.  It’s up to you to decide – move towards people and things that make you happy, and pass the ones that don’t. 

“Sometimes, you can base your choices on past events, but many times you’ll need to take a risk.  For example, if you have a friend who complains endlessly and brings you down, it is safe to say that spending time with that person is not good feng shui.  Similarly, staying in a job that squelches your creativity and underpays you is not beneficial.  Conversely, if you feel lonely, signing up for a class is excellent feng shui, even if you are nervous about meeting new people.  As you move through your day, make positive choices!

Observe how you feel when spending time with specific people in your life.  Include all of your love ones.  How do you feel when you’re with them? And how do you feel after you leave them?  Be aware of your emotional, mental, and physical state when you’re in friends’ homes, in restaurants, at work, etc… Are you uplifted or depressed?  You have free will to make conscious choices at every moment. 

Proceed on your journey with excitement and positive expectations.  At the same time, be patient.  Your path is unique.  The timetable for materialization is different for each person.  Regardless, your life will flourish as you welcome all feng shui possibilities. 

The great yogi Patanjali says: ‘When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all of your thoughts break their bonds; your mind transcends limitations; your consciousness expands in every direction; and you find yourself in great, new, and wonderful worlds.  Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.’ “

1. Unclutter your life.
If you haven’t worn/used it in a year, toss it, donate it or sell it!

2. Clear your calendar of unwanted and unnecessary activities and obligations.
Make yourself available for spirit and you will know the glow of inspiration.

3. Be sure to keep your free time free.
Begin declining invitations that don’t activate feelings of inspiration.

4. Take time for meditation and yoga (or anything that gives you the opportunity to commune with God).
Give yourself at least 20 minutes out of a 24 hour a day to sit quietly and make conscious contact with God.

5. Return to the simplicity of nature.
Take time to be in nature, notice nature. There’s nothing more inspiring than nature’s beauty.

6. Put distance between you and your critics. Be independent of the opinions of others.
Choose to align yourself with people who are like-minded in their search for simplified inspiration. Give those who find fault and seek confrontation a silent blessing and remove yourself from their energy field as quickly as possible.

7. Take some time for your health.
Your body is a sacred temple, give it the exercise that it craves. Take time every single day to be healthy, even if it’s just a short walk, just do it. Keep the words “portion control” uppermost in your consciousness – your stomach is the size of a fist.

8. Play, play play.
Learn to be in a playful place.

9. Slow down.
There’s more to life than increasing its speed. Take a couple of breaths and enjoy your life.

10. Do everything you can to remove debt from your life – it is decidedly unspiritual.
By accumulating debt, you put the control of your life into the hands of creditors. Being debt free is really being spiritually free. If you can’t afford it, save till you can.

11. Forget about the cash value of everything.
The people who think about money think about almost nothing else. Do not obsess over money and what something costs. Most people can get what they want in their life, despite what it might cost. Have a vision and you can make it happen.

12. Remember your spirit.
When life gets overly complex, too fast, too cluttered, too deadline-oriented, stop and remember your spirit. You’re headed for inspiration, a simple and peaceful place, where you’re in harmony with the perfect timing of all creation. Go there in your mind and stop frequently to remember what you really want.

G&J’s Big Move: Here are the important things we will need to ensure we do prior to our big move!  Busy and happy times…

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