Is This Painting Good Feng Shui For $$$?

Here was the question:
Hey Katie!  My parents gave me this drawing when they downsized. I love this artist, love the drawing (it's all pencil!), and love the way it is framed. But it is a ship on a stormy sea! Not the best feng shui I'm thinking! If I can hang it, what section of the bagua would it work????

Alright.  Here's the deal.  Sailboats in motion are AWESOME feng shui in the Money section of the bagua.  I have one in my Money corner, in fact, a pencil drawing as well, and I love it.

But, Oh, this is a tricky one…
…because there is definitely a storm a-brewing in this picture.

Or is it a storm a-waning?

Regardless, it's a mighty boat on a mighty sea with a mighty sky.  That boat is absolutely harnessing the power of the wind, and that's exactly what the Money sector is all about -- harnessing those Winds of Fortune, in fact.

My advice to this client:
 Since you love it, I will say Yes, hang it in your Money sector, and only in your money sector.  But be forewarned -- you may have quite a strong wind of sorts coming your way, so please prepare yourself.   According to the size and strength of the boat in the picture, you are prepared!

This is a case where I would have you hang it, but pay extra special attention to what happens in the days and weeks after hanging it.  This is a riskier piece than some, given the storm, but if you feel like "playing" a bit with the feng shui, then I say go for it…. but learn as you go!  And I 100% support you in taking it down if things seem a little rocky for you after you do hang it.  

And, by all means, let us know what happens!



P.S.  This is a little bit more advanced feng shui, but it should be noted:  Remember that each room has a Money section in it -- so if it doesn't really fit aesthetically in the home's Money section, the back right corner of any room will do!  Especially an office!

My Surprising Insomnia Cure

About two months ago, I quit sleeping.  Not altogether, mind you, but I was only getting about three to four hours a night.  And I’m an eight-hour-a-night gal.  At least!

It was torture.  The slightest thing would wake me up, at one or two, or three or four in the morning, and then it was all over – there was no way I was getting back to sleep.

This lasted at this intensity for about two weeks.  Sure I had had little bouts of insomnia before whenever life was a little more stressful than usual, but nothing like this!  I coughed it up to a surge of creative energy (which I really was having with some work projects) and some other fun things, and yes, the usual stressors, and eventually, I just said to heck with it, and went with it, working in those early morning hours only to be spacey and weird the rest of the day.  It did start to subside for a bit, after trying some of the following:

1.     Feng Shui – I already had this going on, but it’s worth mentioning.  I have very little electricity in the room, and it’s decorated in calm colors.  There’s no clutter and absolutely nothing under the bed.  In other words, it’s made for sleep.

2.     Bach Rescue Remedy for Sleep – I had used this before with success.  This time it wasn’t cutting it.

3.     Lavender essential oil – again it was a nice smell, but it wasn’t making me go back to sleep in those wee hours.

4.     Eating heavier at night.  I usually have dinner with my little girl before 6 PM and I usually keep it light, but maybe I needed a little more to keep my energy grounded?

5.     Exercise.  This is not a problem for me.  I am very active, running my own business, being a mom, and fitting in a workout every day.  Still, was I exercising enough???

6.     No computer near bedtime.  Again, I already practiced this, but it’s worth mentioning.

7.     Melatonin.  A couple of people suggested this.  I had never heard of it.  Sure enough, it worked!  Yes, I was drowsy the next day on it, but I liked the drowsy.  It was such a relief after the constant buzz I was on!

8.     No caffeine.  I don’t drink the stuff except when I really and truly feel like I need it (like maybe once a month), but I tell you what, if you are complaining of insomnia and you have even one cup of it a day, I suggest you re-evaluate.  Read more for why.

So the melatonin became my friend, and I got a few decent night’s sleep…but then the insomnia came back and this time, the melatonin wasn’t really working and just making me feel ill.  Two months of this!  I was going nuts.

So I talked to a sleep doctor.  He told me to keep a sleep journal.  He wanted to see if there was a pattern.  I knew this would be pointless because it was the holidays, and I was traveling and there were celebrations, and I was not going to be on any sort of schedule.  But I vowed to do it at the new year when things settled down.  I had to try!

However, the conversation did inspire me to pay attention.

Sure enough, the next day after the talk, I woke up around 3:30…and I was wide awake after about two minutes. Yes, I had a zillion thoughts running through my head, but I noticed something else.  It was as if I got a surge of energy when I was awake just enough.   I FELT this.  I felt my blood start to run faster. 

It dawned on me:  “This is something physical.”  It’s amazing how this did not even occur to me before.  After all, I knew myself well enough – with my immensely healthy sleep patterns from the past – that my thoughts were not the only thing keeping me up!  I have always had a lot of thoughts and a lot going on….

What could it be?  Why this physical “rush” early in the morning?

That next day, I let myself ponder this.  I thought back to when it began.  I thought about any changes that happened then.  I thought about this and that and….

…LIGHTBULB!

When did I start taking those Vitamin B vitamins every morning??!?!  (I hadn’t taken vitamins since the Flintstone kind in grade school, but I had recently gotten on the bandwagon.) 

It was two months ago!!! 

Could it be?  Could it be that…. easy?!

I quit taking the Vitamin B to test it out.  Within two days, I was sleeping soundly through the night, and I have been ever since!  Even when I woke up to use the bathroom or my three-year-old crawled in bed with me, I remained in that naturally drowsy state of sleep and fell back asleep immediately upon waking, even sleeping later than I had slept in MONTHS.  (I’m typically a somewhat early riser.)

Really and truly, my insomnia was kicked.  And sleep has never felt so good!

Moral of the story:

Sometimes the solution is easier than we think.

Look to the source first.

Pay attention. 

Our bodies are sensitive.  Don’t buy what they are selling! 

And pay attention again!

Clutter: What It Is & What To Do About It

CLUTTER!  Biggest feng shui no-no of ALL!

Here's a peek at last night's lecture on de-cluttering and organization:

The following lists are inspired and/or borrowed by Karen Kingston's book, Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui, because why reinvent the wheel? -- this book is GOOD.

WHAT IS CLUTTER?

1.     Things you do not use or love.

2.     Things that are untidy or disorganized.

3.     Too many things in too small a space.

4.     Anything unfinished.  

Source

WAYS CLUTTER CAN AFFECT YOU:

·      Make you tired and lethargic

·      Keep you in the past

·      Congest your body

·      Fear of being poor

·      Fear of living your true path

·      Fear of letting good things in your life

·      Can confuse you

·      Can affect the way people treat you – respect

·      Affect your weight

·      Can make you procrastinate

·      Can cause disharmony

·      Can make you feel ashamed

·      Can put your life on hold

·      Create excess baggage

·      Can depress you

·      Can make you more disorganized

·      Be a fire/health hazard

·      Cleaning takes longer

·      Having clutter can dull your sensitivity and enjoyment of life

·      Create undesirable symbology

·      Can cost you financially

·      Can distract you from important things – does your stuff own you?

·      Lack mentality- make you poorer

·      Stuck in your woundology – identifying with a sad part of your life

WAYS TO DEAL WITH CLUTTER:

1.  Get rid of it.  No really.  JUST GET RID OF IT.

2.  Organize it. (From Sharon Stasney:  Decide if the item is Priority 1 -- needs to be accessible easily and often; Priority 2 -- still needs to be accessible but not, say, on the countertop; Priority 3 -- doesn't have to be readily accessible -- can be in more of a storage type space.  Then give the item a "home" accordingly!)

Again, it's just a peek, but hopefully an inspiring one.  Now get to it!

IF YOU WANT MORE, then click HERE to learn more about this 27-day online Declutter Your Way to Clarity course that I offer.  It'll give you a kick in the pants so that you'll never want to live with clutter again! Fun, easy, and good stuff.

Feng Shui for the New Year

Who doesn’t love a new beginning?   Luckily, those of us who practice feng shui or honor Eastern cultures have two chances to celebrate New Year’s!  First on the traditional calendar day of January 1^st, and then again, a few weeks later when the Chinese New Year comes around.

In feng shui, the Chinese New Year is considered very important, and it is highly celebrated.  It’s a major shift in energy, marked by animals such as Rabbit, Dragon, Tiger, and Ox and elements such as Fire, Water, and Earth.   This year the date is January 31^st, 2014, and we are entering the Year of the Wood Horse, moving out of 2013, the Year of the Water Snake.

It’s considered beneficial to acknowledge the changing of the years with certain rituals and acts in order to usher in good chi (a.k.a. energy) to last all year long. 

Here are 5 feng shui tips to help you do just that:

1.     Do a clean sweep.   Literally.  It’s tradition in feng shui leading up to the Chinese New Year to clean like crazy as to not bring any of the old, “dusty” chi into the new year.   The goal is to have the home in best condition as possible on the first day of the new year and then NOT do any cleaning that day and the days after.  You want to keep the good chi IN those days!   When you clean, be sure to pay special attention to your stove (it represents prosperity) and under you bed and any places that are particularly neglected.

2.     De-clutter.  Clutter is the biggest feng shui no-no of all!   Go through your things, and if it doesn’t fit with the “future version of you” or if you don’t use it, don’t love it, or it’s just not serving you, get rid of it!  It’s the fastest way to shift the energy in your space and therefore your life.  

3.    Set some intentions.   In the West, we call them resolutions.  In feng shui, we call them intentions.   There is something powerful about being specific about what you would like to experience in the upcoming year and then voicing them or writing them down.  Even better, implement symbolic feng shui cures to bring the intention further into your subconscious.  For example, if you intend to write a book this year, mock up a jacket for your book and put it on another one and place in your Creativity section of your home.  If you’d like to manifest more romance, put two candles (representing a pair) in your Love corner.   (The list goes on!)

4.     Decorate.  Traditionally, the Chinese use reds and golds to make their home beautiful and "rich" for the new year, hanging lanterns and paper cut-outs.  Again, symbolism is considered: placing candies in bowls to bring in a “sweet” year; oranges for abundance; and flowers, for beauty and love.  Another tradition is to buy something new to wear on New Years Day, especially in the color red or a hue that correlates with the element for the upcoming year. 

Source

5.     Celebrate.   There are many traditions on how to spend the first two weeks of the new year, including handing out money in red envelopes (generating prosperity), giving oranges as gifts, (also generating prosperity) and snapping firecrackers on new year’s eve (to scare away any unpleasant energies from the previous year).  Another one is to gather with friends and family in good cheer with good food, especially on New Year’s Eve.  Although these may seem like fun and games, the very act of celebrating actually generates positive chi.   So even if you don’t participate in the red envelopes, perhaps invite some friends for dinner -- and make a toast to the blessings of new beginnings. 

To usher in amazing, positive energy for 2014 with the help of feng shui, sign up for Katie’s on-line 27-day program: Charge Ahead in 2014 with Feng Shui!   It’s only $1 a day!   Email Katie at KatieRogers777@gmail.com to register!  See the Event on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/events/226207920836654/?ref_dashboard_filter=calendar