Feng Shui Tips for the Merry Traveler

From a Feng Shui perspective, traveling is the perfect example of the expression of yin and yang. On one hand, traveling is exciting, relaxing and can broaden our horizons. On the other hand, travel can be aggravating and overwhelming - mentally, physically and emotionally. Too much traveling can challenge your feelings of stability when it takes you away from your home and family.

The good news is you can create positive intention in your travels and here are some Feng Shui tips to help you stay grounded and safe when you find yourself on the road:

1. Set a positive intention during the planning of your trip, visualizing that everything associated with the trip will be smooth – from making the reservations to the airport and then arriving at your destination.

2. If you are flying, try to reserve a seat in the front of the plane. The front of the plane is more powerful from a command position.

3. Step into the plane and then your hotel room with your left foot. The Chinese believe left is more powerful.

4. Choose the best hotel room you can – away from the elevators, trash chutes, electrical closets, lobby, etc. Furthest away from noise, chaos and confusion is always more powerful.

5. Change a room that depletes your Chi when you open the door, has negative smells (smoke, mold, deodorizers, etc.), broken windows, damaged wall or bed coverings, badly stained carpet and, most of all, an uncomfortable bed.

6. Always keep a clear path from the door into the room. This will allow for healthy Chi to flow into the room and towards the bed to give you as many opportunities as possible.

7. Try your best to create some clear space – even if it is on the top of the desk or a coffee table in the room. This will help eliminate the feeling of being squeezed in and repay you with peace of mind.

8. Don't be afraid to move the furniture to recreate a feeling of being at home. Sometimes just repositioning the armchair makes a world of difference.

9. Keep the bathroom door closed at night, particularly if you can see into the bathroom or view the toilet.

10. If your room has the TV in an armoire, try to keep the doors closed while you are sleeping. If not, consider covering the TV with a towel so that you are not in the electromagnetic field while you sleep.

11. Consider creating a Feng Shui Travel Tool Kit that contains some or all of the following:

Something from home that reminds you to stay connected to the people and spaces you love – a picture, accessory, favorite books.

A plant or vase of fresh flowers – particularly if you are spending extended time at the hotel.

Refer to your list of Method of Minor Additions and incorporate some of those into your space.

The Year of the Metal Rabbit

As the Chinese Year of the Tiger draws to a close you may find yourself trying to catch your breath and calm your nerves. The Tiger year was certainly fast paced and filled with many unexpected events. If you are someone who doesn't take kindly to change, you will be glad that the coming New Year promises to be kinder and gentler. The Year of the Metal Rabbit begins on February 3, 2011.

The days leading up to the Chinese New Year are very busy. This is the most significant of all Chinese holidays - a time of new beginnings and new intentions. The left over clutter of your home, your finances and even your mind is cleared for a time of reflection and renewal.

The house goes through a thorough cleaning from top to bottom. Try to complete this checklist by the full moon on January 19th. This will allow you two more weeks of preparation time as you transition into the New Year. A clean house signifies a fresh start by cleaning out misfortune.

Vacuum your home and under your bed

Change your linens

Update your décor to ensure your home is welcoming

Wash your windows

Change your house filter

Fix anything that is broken

Reorganize, declutter, recycle, donate, return

The Chinese prefer not to carry forth the burdens of the past into the New Year, so it is also important to have a personal fresh start.

Resolve conflicts

Pay off old debts – this is the time to settle up

Ensure you have been paid for outstanding invoices or debts

Organize your tax information

The 24th day of the twelfth lunar month (this year January 27) is known as Small New Year. According to tradition, this is the day the Kitchen god heads back to heaven to report on your behavior this past year. One ritual is to smear his lips with honey so that he gives the Jade Emperor a favorable report. This is also the day to hang the Tai Sui for the coming year. You might want to burn some paper joss money to provide for the Kitchen god's "traveling expenses."

Learn more about Chinese New Year in February's tips.






Maintaining Your Balance During Nerve-Racking Times

Are these topsy-turvy times challenging your feelings of safety and leaving you stressed, rushed, fearful and out of balance? It's easy to feel out of sorts and powerless. But it doesn't have to be this way.

Your ability to cope with everyday events could be affected by your everyday environments. The ancient wisdom of Feng Shui can provide you with some practical, easy-to-implement ways to regain your center so that you stop feeling beside yourself. Try some of these on for size:

1) Seek balance – work, play, love, find a hobby, set time to relax and meditate. You will have more energy and creativity at work if you lead a balanced life. Be sure to include some joy on your "to do" list – do something ridiculous every day. Stop making excuses about not having enough time.

2) Get adequate sleep, rest, nutrition and exercise. Try to minimize electrical items and chemical exposure particularly where you sleep.

3) Spend time outdoors connecting with the forces of nature or at least create a view of the outdoors.

4) Focus on your own Chi. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in life, in surviving, in getting ahead and taking care of others that we lose sight of our basic requirement of having a mindfully balanced life. Healthy self care begins with checking to see if you are meeting your own basic requirements first and then when you are settled and steady helping others meet theirs.

5) Seek balanced, positive relationships and create strong support systems. Ask for help when you need it – we are all connected.

6) Create balanced and peaceful home and work spaces – improve your Feng Shui every day – no excuses. Make it a point to create positive intention in your space and in your life.

7) Provide an inviting entrance – the door is the mouth of Chi. Keep the area around the door clear to avoid blocked opportunities.

8) Love your bed and place it in the command position so that you can see the door. Your bedroom is the most powerful room in your home and your bed is your most precious possession.

9) Reduce clutter and disorder and improve confusing or impersonal work environments. Eliminate things that are broken or that drain you. Bless the mess then move nine things and move on.

Surround yourself with color, vitality, balanced lighting and sound and a good supply of things that you love.

Start where you are, do what you can, just get started.






How to Live to be 100 - Longetivity Tips from the People of Okinawa

1) Eat large amounts of sweet potato because of their low glycemic value. Trim fat off your meat and eat large amounts of soy and fish. Generally, you should under eat.

2) Cultivate a psycho-spiritual philosophy that enables you to effectively cope with stress. Okinawa has the only documented society in which a woman may serve as a divine priestess, which for reasons not fully understood, lowers stress and increases life expectancy.

3) Perform some sort of physical exercise every day.

4) Create and nurture a strong social support network that provides support for the elderly.

5) Ikegai – find your reason to live. Okinawa's residents all have one whether it is food, relatives or friends.

SOURCE: Dr. Bradley Wilcox, Medical Researcher, Pacific Health Research Institute Honolulu, Hawaii 2007 Hemispheres Magazine






27 Days 27 Ways to Perform Good Deeds

Performing one good deed each day purifies your heart and cleanses negative karma. Even the intention of performing a good deed brings good results. Treating others with kindness, respect and generosity will be repaid with interest. The happiness that you see is due to the good you have done for others.

Hold a door open for a stranger

Invite someone to lunch

Compliment someone on his or her appearance

Let someone cut in during rush hour traffic

Leave your server a generous tip

Tell a cashier to have a nice day

Ask a coworker or colleague for his or her opinion on a project

Bring cookies or some other treat to work

Leave a thank-you note for the cleaning staff at your office

Pay for a stranger's cup of coffee without them knowing it

Give someone a recording of his/her favorite music

Tell someone which quality you like most about him/her

Give blood

Offer free baby-sitting to a friend who really needs a break

Wave to a child who is riding in the car next to you

Pick up litter at the local park

Put a coin in someone’s parking meter before it expires

Return you shopping cart to the front of the store instead of leaving it in the lot

Donate some clothing to charity

Send a get-well card or email to someone who’s been ill or recovering from surgery

Offer an elderly person a ride to their destination

Check in with a neighborhood school to see what they need or donate to www.AdoptAClassroom.org to help underserved schools

Fill up the copier machine with paper after you're done using it

Tell someone you believe in them

Share your umbrella on a rainy day

Join others in your community to repair the homes of low-income residents

Volunteer to tutor struggling elementary school students on reading basics






Feng Shui Jumpstart

Cultivate your Chi – manage personal and environmental stress

Provide an inviting and unobstructed entrance - the front door lets in or keeps out the vital energy that promotes health, luck and wealth in your home

Love your bed and place it in the power position - keep electrical items to a minimum in the bedroom

Place your desk in the power position – no backs to the door

Reduce clutter and fix anything that is broken. Purging old energy is the first step to activating the Chi of a space

Adjust the Feng Shui of your home with some of the following tips:

COLOR: Color can affect mood, appetite, physical endurance and many other basic human functions. Through painted walls, artwork and accessories, colors can enhance and balance Chi flow, create peacefulness and encourage prosperity

LIGHTING: Light fixtures, candles, mirrors, lanterns, strings of lights and crystals lift and expand Chi and stimulate energy. Mirrors attract, deflect, expand and/or reflect Chi. YIN style (lower) lighting can help you to relax, let down your guard, feel more introspective and more connected to your physical body. YANG style (brighter) lighting can help you clear your head, have more energy, feel more inspired and motivated.

Light is a form of energy and the way a room is lit can have a powerful effect on the mood and tone of a space and the personal Chi of the people who spend time there. Try to avoid fluorescent lights where possible. Fluorescent lights are taxing on the eyes and depleting to the human energy field. Adjust the blinds achieve balance and avoid glare at all costs

SOUND: Depending on the quality of the sound bells, wind chimes, clocks, nature, fountains and music stimulate or calm Chi. Recommendations would depend upon the use and nature of each room and the personal preferences of the occupants. This category also includes remediation of high levels of noise – the fire house, construction, traffic, etc.

FRAGRANCE: Candles, flowers, incense and essential oils help purify negative energy. Incense helps lift a dwelling’s vibrational level and lifts your personal Chi so it is less susceptible to outside pathogens. This category also includes remediation of smells caused by mold, off gassing of carpeting and construction products and trash.

LIVING THINGS: Plants, flowers, trees, fish, pets and wildlife stimulate Chi. Living things have nourishing Chi that makes a room or garden more relaxing. This category also includes representations of living things in artwork, accessories and music.

MOVING OBJECTS: Mobiles, fountains, flags, banners, wind chimes, windsocks, weather vanes, hammocks and tassels generate and circulate positive Chi.

WATER FEATURES: Indoor/outdoor fountains, fish tanks, brooks, streams, trickling water, ponds with goldfish, vases and bowls of water or pictures and representations of water circulate Chi and activate prosperity.

HEAVY/STILL OBJECTS: Heavy furniture, statues, sculpture, stones and rocks stabilize the Chi of a place by slowing down the flow of energy.

OTHER: Favorite objects of art, soft fabrics, sacred images and symbols, meaningful or nurturing objects, advanced transcendental cures to expand on the basic cures and Feng Shui ceremonies.






9 Tips for Protecting Your Chi

Here are 9 techniques to help you balance your empathy and protect your emotional health:

1. Regularly cultivate your Chi to support a calm, patient and tolerant life. Meditate, read, write, pray, rest and exercise.

2. Pay attention to your surroundings – home and work – and adjust your Feng Shui on a regular basis.

3. Set firm time limits with friends and family who drain your energy so you can maintain a balance between empathic listening and enabling. At the start of the conversation tell them that you only have a few minutes.

4. Avoid late night TV, movies or reading that may be disturbing. You may dream about the events and then carry them with you the next day.

5. Make joy a priority in your life. Find something ridiculous to do every day.

6. Do something that is significant to you on a regular basis– a walk on the beach, a day at the spa, a walk in the moonlight.

7. Spend time with loving people. Why hang with people who do not love and support you or treat you well. Chi is contagious – good or bad.

8. Give yourself some space. Being with someone 24/7 can be taxing. Create ways to take care of yourself so you don’t build up resentments toward those you love.

9. Avoid getting overwhelmed. Sometimes just putting things on hold for 10 minutes will do the trick. Other times you will have to wait a lot longer. You can only deal with so much at a time. Pace yourself and don’t do things that feel inappropriate for you.

SOURCE: Dr. Barton Goldsmith - Emotional Fitness for Couples