Category: Feng Shui Tip

Daily Feng Shui News for Jan. 29th – ‘Seeing Eye Dog Day’

I’m going to put a little twist on today’s ‘Seeing Eye Dog Day.’ If your dog loves to ride in the car with their head hanging out the window, from time to time you may notice that their eyes will get inflamed. Dampen a soft and lint free cloth and carefully clean out the dog’s eyes. Then place a drop of castor oil in each eye. Do this twice a day until the inflammation has gone away and the dog’s eyes are normal again. See, I told you — a new spin on ‘Seeing Eye’ dogs.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

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Feng Shui to Beat the Winter Blues

Feng Shui to Beat the Winter Blues

Create warm and uplifiting energy even during the darkest time of year

Simone Sanders   Simone Sanders on the topics of winter, insight, feng shui

 

Winter’s cold temperatures and long evenings bring the blues to many Sun worshippers. Fortunately, Feng Shui can mitigate the more chilling effects of the season.

Even better, Feng Shui can also accentuate the many positive aspects of winter. Remember, winter symbolizes a time of turning inward. Instead of catering to everybody else’s desires, it gives you the chance to attend to your personal needs.

Shed a little light on the subject

Installing full-spectrum bulbs throughout your home can counterbalance the effect of Seasonal Affective Disorder. These bulbs provide natural light similar to the sun, helping you to feel more energetic, focused and alert during the winter months. Varying your light sources can also lift your spirits. Have a mixture of overhead fixtures, task lighting, floor lamps and up lights throughout your home and office.

Create a cozy corner

Winter is the season of self-nurturing. With that in mind, what better way to honor the season than to position a comfortable reading chair in a corner? Add a snuggly blanket, a footstool, a small table and a reading lamp. The mere sight of your cozy corner will remind you to slow down, relax and enjoy some precious quiet time.

Fire things up

Cooking can generate much needed warmth during the winter months. Having a simmering pot of soup or stew on the back burner of your stove will fill your home with mouth-watering aromas, and fill your stomach with healthy nourishment.

Keep a journal

Writing is a perfect wintertime activity, because it invites you to go inward and explore your emotional landscape. Jotting down your thoughts, worries and dreams in a journal each day will provide a welcome outlet for your feelings.

Reach for the sky

Tall plants, chairs with straight backs, and narrow bookcases lend uplifting energy to any space. Patterns with vertical stripes have a similar effect. Integrate these furnishings and design elements into any room where you are prone to succumb to depression.

Don’t forget to warm up

Warm colors can combat the hazy shade of winter. Add touches of garnet, pumpkin, goldenrod and spring green wherever you need a lift. Keep grays, blues, blacks and purples to a minimum.

Make a comfort drawer

The natural abundance of autumn is over, so now you have to provide creature comforts for yourself. Fill a drawer in your night table or desk (or both!) with little luxuries. A box of after-dinner mints, a vial of lavender essential oil, bags of your favorite tea, a tube of scented hand lotion, a juicy pocket paperback, a packet of ginger biscuits … whatever brings you comfort, put it in the drawer. Keep it well-stocked through the winter months.

Clutter bust

There’s a good chance you’ll be spending lots more time indoors now that it’s winter. Giving yourself more room to roam will help you beat the winter blues. Create spacious pathways throughout your home, take stacks of reading material off the floor, clear the countertops, and stow the kids’ toys in cupboards when they’re not being used.

Keep it moving

Things that have lots of movement — a pendulum clock, a ceiling fan, a mobile or a crackling fire — can stir up the stagnant energy associated with winter. If you have certain rooms that don’t get a lot of activity, aim an oscillating fan at a plant so that its leaves rustle occasionally. Alternately, you can suspend a piece of lightweight fabric over a heating duct so it flutters gently, generating uplifting energy.

Love the night life

Since night falls early in winter, you might as well embrace the darkness. Eat dinner by candlelight. Enjoy a movie marathon. Play board games in front of the fire with the kids. Go to bed early with your lover, but not necessarily to sleep.

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Daily Feng Shui News for Jan. 27th – The Theme is World Peace

‘Vietnam Peace Day.’ ‘International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.’ ‘Auschwitz Liberation Day.’ Sensing a theme today? Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with us. Whenever you can today, stop for a brief moment and say the following prayer from author and angel archeologist JoAnn Cornug. This prayer appeals to Angel Labbiel, who is said to carry peace in one hand and truth in the other as he resolves conflicts and soothes savage souls. ‘Labbiel, Labbiel, Labbiel. I call forth truth and peace in my world now and continuously.’ I’ll call it forth for all of you too. Peace.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

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Daily Feng Shui News for Jan. 24th – ‘Compliment Day’

I’d like to share a tasty recipe that will have everyone eating of your hands during today’s ‘Compliment Day.’ My passion for all things culinary has driven me to spend much time over the last twenty years studying the magic inherent in food, and there is one recipe that I repeat on a fairly regular basis because of its promise and time tested positive results. This recipe comes from ancient Indian texts and will the compliments coming right at you. You need a small amount of saffron, milk and some sliced almonds. Mix the almonds and some of the saffron together and then boil them in the milk. The lore surrounding this secret recipe says that whoever drinks it will be blessed and think only sweet thoughts while saying only sweet words. So go ahead and be generous with your compliments towards everyone else, but if there’s a special someone you’ve been waiting to hear sweet nothings from: got milk?

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

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Daily Feng Shui News for Jan. 22 – ‘Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day’

It’s ‘Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day’ and if one of those kitty questions asks why their ears itch so much, then your pet might have ear mites. Take a flashlight and look inside the cat’s ears. If you see something that resembles coffee grounds, then your pet has ear mites. Puncture two vitamin E capsules and squeeze out the oil from one each into the cat’s ears. Gently rub the oil in and carefully clean out both the oil and the mites with a cotton swab. Repeat this process for three days in a row and the mites should disappear. The oil not only suffocates the mites, but will help Kitty heal from all that itching. Next question.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

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Daily Feng Shui News for Jan. 21 – ‘National Hugging Day’

Here’s a day that you can really wrap your arms around — it’s ‘National Hugging Day!’ As an anonymous author once wrote: ‘A hug is universal medicine, it is how we handshake from the heart.’ Virginia Satir, often referred to as the mother of family therapy, determined that we need four hugs a day for survival, eight for maintenance and twelve for growth. Part of the reason why hugs are so beneficial is that they touch the part of the brain that puts out positive and optimistic emotions. Have you had your daily dozen today? If not, then you better get hugging. You’ll feel so much better.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

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Daily Feng Shui News for Jan. 20th – ‘Penguin Awareness Day’

It’s ‘Penguin Awareness Day’ and I thought I might fill you in on the lore involving having a penguin as your power animal or totem. Should you adopt a penguin as your power animal, expect a two-month period in which you will nurture, protect and then hatch creative energies that will propel you up the ladder of success. This information is ages-old and in black and white, so if you want to stir up some creative opportunities, then put an image of a penguin in the ‘Creativity’ area of your living space (middle of right-hand wall) and watch how things start to go swimmingly for you.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

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Daily Feng Shui News for Jan 15 – ‘Humanitarian Day’

On ‘Humanitarian Day’ do something totally swell for someone without letting them know. Pay the toll for the car behind you or sneak a latte onto a coworker’s desk without telling them who put it there. Then do something in your own space that will affect a shift towards peace and harmony. Bring home a healthy green plant, or hang a round and faceted crystal somewhere in your space. The plant will facilitate healing on every level while the crystal will lift the soul and the psyche. When you do anything to improve the place where you reside, you will also improve the neighborhood you live in. And why stop there? This ripple effect can improve the whole world. Just one special something placed with intent inside your space can have a huge impact on the entire universe. That makes you a real and true humanitarian and global citizen in good standing.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

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Daily Feng Shui News for Jan. 10 – ‘National Cut Your Energy Costs Day’

Although I’m sure that ‘National Cut Your Energy Costs Day’ refers to lowering your electric bill, I’m going to take a different tact. If you find that you’re expending a lot of energy on worrying about your future, then you should also know that you are additionally creating more circumstances to worry about. Rather, stay in the present by taking time each day to write down five things that you are grateful for at this very moment. Then, whenever you find yourself fretting over the future, rein yourself in, exercise that attitude of gratitude and go about your day. You’ll be attracting more to make you happy. It really is that easy.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Daily Feng Shui News for Jan. 9th – ‘Balloon Ascension Day’

‘Balloon Ascension Day’ lifts my mood as it allows me to share a fabulous Feng Shui tip that uses balloons to make your wishes come true. Simply take a new black marker bought especially for this occasion, and a helium-filled red balloon. With the marker, write a wish on the balloon and be as clear as you can be. Tie nine or eighteen inches of red ribbon onto the balloon, and on a clear and sunny day let the balloon go in an open space, like a park or your backyard. Watch the balloon until you can hardly see it. At that point imagine that the balloon has turned into a golden orb. Imagine the ‘Celestial Dragon In the Sky’ swallowing the golden orb while feeling satisfied and full. This grandest of all Feng Shui animals will now repay your kindness by making sure that your wish comes true. And — no emails please — the only balloons that hurt the environment are mylar balloons. This is not that.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

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Daily Feng Shui News for Jan. 8 – ‘Bubble Bath Day’

On today’s ‘Bubble Bath Day,’ let’s take a look at a negativity-clearing soak that can make magic and miracles happen. If you’re looking to purge your problems and your propensity to dwell on them, then look no further than your bathtub. You will need nine oranges and an attitude of optimism for this bath. First, cut a small circle out of the rind of each orange. It should be about the size of a quarter and should be the peel only. Fill a tub to halfway and add the nine pieces of orange. Let the peels soak for twenty minutes before filling the tub to full. Now it’s your turn to soak for twenty minutes or more. This bath will lift your spirits, draw toxins and negativity from your body and allow you to wash all your worries down the proverbial drain. Once done, squeeze the juice from a half a fresh lemon down the drain to ensure that every last bit of stuck or stalled chi has been washed away, leaving you with a brand spanking new clean slate.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Feng Shui News for Jan. 7th – ‘Old Rock Day’

Today we pay homage to ‘Old Rock Day’ by sharing the ‘rock’ most associated with January — the garnet. When worn or carried, this special gemstone is said to attract fortune and luck. Long considered a regenerative and healing stone, the garnet is also believed to bring strength and stamina. Wearing it can clear your mind while triggering clarity and compassion. A true jewel, the garnet is a stabilizing old stone that is strong and sincere. Let’s celebrate this rock today — because that’s how we roll.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Daily Feng Shui News for Jan. 6 – ‘Three Kings Day’

Some calendars mark today as ‘Three Kings Day,’ a time to celebrate the visit of the Three Wise Men to the infant Jesus. Among the gifts they offered were gold, frankincense and myrrh. Today, I want to concentrate on frankincense. This fragrance has long been used in many spiritual ceremonies and celebratory events because of what some call its ‘mystical/magical’ character. It’s also been used for thousands of years in Indian Ayurvedic medicine due to its anti-inflammatory curative qualities. According to Feng Shui, frankincense is one of the best incenses for cleansing or clearing a space. Used as an anti-cancer, anti-arthritis and anti-aging and cleansing agent, it’s clear why this is a gift for the ages.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Daily Feng Shui News for Jan. 4 – ‘Trivia Day’

Today is ‘Trivia Day,’ so I thought that I might share some of my own. Did you know that having a lit lamp on the same side of the desk as your writing hand will have you experiencing drowsiness and headaches? That’s because the light create shadows that will subtly make you work harder to see what you’re reading or writing. The extra effort and eyestrain could then cause headaches or even a drop in energy. Simply switch sides and see a big boost in your output.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Daily Feng Shui News for Jan. 3rd – ‘Festival of Sleep Day’

After a hectic holiday season it’s not surprising that today is ‘Festival of Sleep Day.’ But if you’re of the many living with insomnia, then sleep may be elusive. If so, sleep on cotton sheets in order to invite the Sandman to bed every night. According to eco-author Debra Lynn Dadd, polyester-cotton blend sheets are coated with formaldehyde, a harmful substance known to contribute to sleep problems. Sweet dreams.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Winter Feng Shui

Winter Feng Shui

Lighten up during the darkest days of the year

Stephanie Dempsey  Stephanie Dempsey on the topics of winter, insight, feng shui
The winter months invite you to turn away from social pursuits and attend to your personal needs. Too often, the demands of modern life tempt us to forgo rest and relaxation. This can create a terrible imbalance. This winter, take your cue from nature and turn inward. Make more time for solitary pursuits like reading, writing and prayer. If you have a hard time switching gears, try integrating some of the following Feng Shui cures into your home. They’ll help you savor all the benefits this wonderful season affords.

Slow down

Winter affords a welcome opportunity to slow down and enjoy the finer things in life. If you have a hard time slackening your pace, make some Feng Shui adjustments. Close the curtains, outfit the furniture with dark slipcovers and switch from overhead to task lighting. The more you minimize visual stimulation in your household, the easier it will be to turn inward.

Make waves

If you’re starting to get cabin fever, integrate some wavy patterns into your decor. Cascading plants, swagged curtains and a hanging display of pots and pans will make it easier to go with the flow. That’s because curved lines slow energy down, rather than speed it along.

Listen up

Soft, rhythmic sounds will put you in a contemplative mood, which is perfectly suited to winter’s calm. A white noise machine or a recording of the ocean’s surf will prove soothing, even on the most hectic days.

Block distractions

Nothing disrupts peace more than the insisting ringing of a telephone. Get into the habit of turning your phones off for two hours a day, just as a means to promote calm. Never fear: whoever is calling can always leave a message.

Take a hot bath

Once you’re in the bathtub, it’s very difficult to get out. This is just the sort of activity that’s perfect for winter, because it forces you to stay in one place. Stock up on bath salts, special soap and fluffy towels as a means to make this ritual even more tempting. Remember, winter is a time of self-pampering. Shop accordingly.

Paint it black

Black is the color of winter, for it symbolizes the season’s absence of sunlight. Dressing in black will help slow your pace. So will decorating with this color. A black tablecloth, bedspread or area rug are all good ways to introduce calm to a hyperactive household.

Make time fly

Throw the clock out of the window. Well, not literally, but hiding timepieces from view is a great way to instill an air of calm to any room. Remember, winter is a season of quiet reflection. You can’t cultivate a meditative state if you feel like you’re on a deadline.

Out of sight, out of mind

Now that you’re spending more time at home, you might as well feel comfortable. Take this opportunity to sort through any junk that accumulated during the busy autumn months. When you’ve cleared the area of trash, store necessary items neatly away in closed containers. This will prevent you from worrying about bills, doctor’s appointments and social appointments when you should be relaxing with your nearest and dearest.

Round ’em up

Winter is a time of intimacy. Integrating more circles into your decor will draw everybody in your household into a circle of trust. Polka dotted fabrics, oval area rugs and circular mirrors can bring even the most fractured family together in a spirit of harmony.

Daily Feng Shui News for Jan. 2nd – ‘New Year’s Resolution Week’

Some calendars call this ‘New Year’s Resolution Week’, so I thought I’d share what Feng Shui has to say about making successful resolutions of your own. You will need a few pieces of paper, a red pen and red envelopes. Write your resolutions separately on the individual pieces of paper and then put each one into its own separate red envelope. Then burn the envelopes. This last step is said to ‘seal’ the resolution, thereby making it permanent and promising that you will successfully complete the action.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Daily Feng Shui News for Dec. 31 – ‘New Year’s Eve Traditions’

Happy New Year’s Eve! If you want to attract more money in the coming year, then clean out your wallet of all old receipts and fill it with twenty-seven one dollar bills and forty-nine coins. Don’t forget to open your front door at midnight and throw both money and orange peels into the entryway. Leave them there until January second. The word ‘orange’ in Mandarin Chinese sounds exactly like the word for ‘gold,’ something it’s believed to attract. Opening all of the doors and the windows at midnight will also allow old or stuck energies to depart while inviting healthy, fresh and abundant ones to come and stay for the whole of your next fortune-filled New Year.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

Feng Shui News for Dec. 21 – ‘National Flashlight Day’

Call me crazy but I see synergy in today’s ‘National Flashlight Day’ and ‘National Look on the Bright Side Day.’ In fact, according to Feng Shui, using lights to their best advantage will always have you looking on the bright side, especially if you follow this next Feng Shui tip. If you’re looking for more positive opportunities to unfold in your life, this tradition says to keep your front entryway lit for at least three consecutive hours a day for nine straight days. They can stay on longer than three hours, but they must at least be lit for that duration. The promise is that you will be illuminating an intentional pathway for excellent opportunities to come calling. And since it’s the holiday season, let’s get lit!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com