Feng Shui: Getting ready for the holidays

It's always a great time of year to apply feng shui in your life. Feng shui, the Chinese art of placement, has the power to help you improve your life and health. If you think about it, it is difficult to do anything when you have too many things on your mind. Likewise, it is difficult for positive energy to flow into your life if your environment is cluttered with “stuff.” It must have been an ancient feng shui master who invented spring cleaning, as surely this is a powerful annual tool for change!

Clutter in different parts of your home can negatively impact your health. One of the first places to work on is right underneath your bed. As this is the place where you spend (hopefully!) eight hours of rest and rejuvenation every night, anything you place underneath you can interfere tremendously. Besides the energetic implications, anything metal can interfere with the magnetic fields, and stored items can collect dust, a significant source of preventable health problems. Check the space under your bed and clear it out!

Doorways to your home must be clutter free and in excellent working condition. Are you feeling hopeless? Perhaps it’s because you can’t get through the door! Make sure you remove things hiding behind the doors too! Feng Shui considers each area of the house to represent a different area of life. The center of your home is the most important health-related area, so be sure to keep this area nice and clear.

Don’t forget to pay attention to your basement and attic, too! What you store in these areas can create a cluttered foundation in your life and place undo burdens on your shoulders. Organization is the key to keeping these areas clear and in order. Follow this advice and you’ll soon feel a sense of positive power.

The Chinese element that represents spring is wood, so plants and herbs can be very powerful this time of year. Your home may be suffering from an energetic form of clutter. One way to create change is to bring aroma into your environment. By combining the herbs sage, cedar and sweet grass (a Native American blend used in sacred ritual) you can “clear” your home of negative energies while you retain positive energies. Place these herbs in an abalone shell, light them to produce a smoldering smoke and carry the smoking shell into each room of your home. Be sure to bring the smoke into every corner, as this is where negative energy tends to get stuck.

Once you have removed the clutter and cleared your home’s negative energies, now you are ready to plan your new start for the rest of the year. Detoxifying your body will help give you energy to accomplish your goals. The wood element is associated with the liver and gall bladder. Because these organs aid digestion, it is important to review what foods you are eating. This will help ensure that your digestive system is clear enough to allow for the proper processing of the foods that you eat. Spring is a great time of year to add a weekly day of juicing without solid foods, to prepare your body for the lighter foods you’ll need in the summer.

Spring is wonderful time to incorporate the art of relaxation into your regime. Clearing your body’s energy channels allows your body to enjoy your new, clear home. Take time for meditation, relaxation, massage, reflexology or other beneficial treatments for your soul.

TIPS:

Peppermint is an herb that represents wood energy. Use it in aromatherapy, or tea, to cleanse, stimulate and balance your life.

Enjoy fresh sprouts—the wood element at its birth—for vital energy.

Plant colorful flowers on the path to your front door to bring opportunities into your life!