Archive for January, 2012
This weekend I was reading the new In Style magazine and I came across this heading and subheading –
Life, etc.
Because style isn’t just about what you wear
And it got me thinking. For me, style is about living a life that embraces who I am and what’s important to me. A life that reflects my authenticity and personality – with panache and aplomb! Style is a way of living; it isn’t just about what we choose to wear or how we choose to decorate our homes. What we choose to wear and how we decorate our homes should be a reflection of our personal style, not the other way around.
Take a look around your home and in your closet. Does what you see bring you a sense of comfort and satisfaction? Do you like what you see? For many of us, the items in our homes are items we’ve accumulated over the course of our lives – and while this might be a good thing, it might also mean we’re surrounded with a jumble of furnishings and accessories that don’t bring us a sense of joy, things that we have just because they’re here not because we love them.
The same might be said about the items we have hanging in our closets. If you have clothes that don’t make you feel comfortable and attractive it’s time to release a few things and make room for something new!
When your surroundings, whether furnishings or clothes, don’t nurture and comfort you or reflect who you are, they are devoid of vibrant energy, they are devoid of style. And the energy in our surroundings is what inspires and motivates us, so it’s important that it be positive and uplifting. Not depleting and depressing.
The beginning of the year is the perfect time to really evaluate your belongings. Consider each item, determine if you love and need what you have and if some of your things aren’t things you love or you find you aren’t quite sure, consider releasing them.
Releasing items that no longer serve us creates space for change, space for opportunity, space for new things. And if the new things we select are things we absolutely love, they will also be things that reflect our personal sense of style, they’ll be just right!
When you surround yourself with things you love, you feel good about where you are and you feel good about who you are. Feeling good about who you are, empowers and enriches your life experiences and it all starts with the things you choose to live with.
Click for past article on clutter
For more info on clutter visit Lifestyle Feng Shui
© 2012 Harmony Life®, LLC by Laurie Bornstein
Feng Shui Lifestyle™ articles, tips and conversation http://www.fengshuilifeandstyle.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, BLOG OR WEB SITE?
You can, as long as you include the copyright and link above.
Feng Shui is based on change, the ebb and flow if life. An acceptance and understanding of this enables us to move through lifes’ challenges with a greater sense of comfort and ease. Just as the river adjusts and shifts to the shape of the land. A sense of flexibility and the ability to ‘go with the flow’ allows us to move through our hectic, busy days and lives open to new opportunity and relationships.
Is there a place in your life where you’re feeling stuck, immersed in old energy or thought patterns? How are these past experiences and patterns serving you? Does remaining in old patterns and ways of thinking enable you to remain in a job you don’t like? A relationship that doesn’t nurture you? Are you choosing to stay with the old because it’s familiar or because it helps you be the best you can be?
I believe that everything that happens to us provides us with the opportunity to grow stronger, wiser, more creative and more diverse. Often our needs for safety, predictability and controlled outcomes prevent us from fully experiencing all our life has to offer.
I believe that we can all truly learn to experience the perfection of each and every moment by simply letting our days unfold, letting each moment propel us to the proper action. We can chose to act rather than react. Life is experienced in the moments, in the now. If we are too focused on getting through our list of things to do, intent on ‘doing’ versus ‘being, life has a way of slipping by us. We are too busy to ‘see’ opportunity, to see and experience life before us. It is the unexpected moments that bring us synchronistic opportunities.
Lifestyle Feng Shui Tips for Living in the Moment
- Stop filling your days with tasks and activities that don’t serve your highest intention. Do you define yourself by how busy you are? Do you think being busy is proof that you’re successful? Are your days all about quantity rather than quality? Slow down, don’t fill every moment with activities, experience your life. Living is in the moment, not the past, not the future. Living is now.
- Do what you really want to do. What activities would you do right now if there were no obstacles in front of you? Take one small step toward doing something you like but haven’t given yourself permission to do. Start small, and stay consistent. You deserve to love the life you’re living.
- Stop trying to control everything. Let it go. Is it important to you what others think or do? By learning to release being stuck in the outcome of what others do or do not do, you free yourself up to focus on you.
- Tell the whole truth, all of the time. Most of us don’t realize how much energy we waste by not being entirely truthful with ourselves. Stop trying to live up to someone else’s idea of how you should be…..just be who you are. Who you are is not only enough, it’s perfect!
- Slow down and breathe. Reflect on where you are and where you’re going. Quiet time is a way of checking in with yourself as well as a way of connecting to those around you. Going ‘with the flow’ requires that we change our mindset, that we let go of the need to control every aspect of our days and lives. This doesn’t mean we can’t set goals, it means surrendering the need to forge ahead at all costs, it means trusting that what you’ve accomplished is enough; that what you’ve accomplished is what was meant to be.
If you can learn to incorporate the principles and spirit of Lifestyle Feng Shui into your daily life, not just your living environment, you will find you accomplish more than you can imagine. Pay attention to what makes you feel energized, connected and stimulated. Let go of the need to control your life and begin living it instead.
This weekend I was reading through some of my past Ezine articles and I came across this one. It’s as valid today as it was in 2007. I hope you enjoyed it. 
© 2012 Harmony Life®, LLC by Laurie Bornstein
Feng Shui Lifestyle™ articles, tips and conversation http://www.fengshuilifeandstyle.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, BLOG OR WEB SITE?
You can, as long as you include the copyright and link above.
To celebrate the new year, I decided to create my first video! Join me as I share 3 powerful Lifestyle Feng Shui tips to help you change the quality of your life this year. I hope you enjoy it!
SPACE CLEARING FOR THE NEW YEAR
A good time to space clear your home is at the start of a new year. This year, I’d like to share the steps I take when I clear my own home.
Space clearing is a way to instantly shift and transform the subtle, energy or the feeling in your home or workspace.
I believe that our homes mirror and reflect our consciousness, our inner state of being, and the act of clearing or re-aligning the energy in our living spaces shifts our energy and our experience of the energy within our living spaces.
There are seven basic steps to I use when space clearing my home. I usually do the first two steps the day before the clearing.
- Cleaning. I thoroughly clean my home from vacuuming carpets and floors to windows. When everything is clean the energy automatically feels better.
- Personal preparation. After cleaning my home, I make sure to take time to eat a nourishing meal and bathe. I like making this step a bit of a ritual. I love taking an epsom salt bath, (great for clearing toxins from our bodies while grounding us), with a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil added for clarity and focus.
- Preparation. At this stage I create a beautiful display that includes my space clearing tool (I personally love sound instruments – my favorite is a crystal singing bowl), a bowl or vase of fresh flowers, a beautiful table cloth, several candles and a fabulous crystal or semiprecious stone. I use this space to set my intention and to say my house blessing.
- Clearing. There are many ways to clear a space, this is what I do. I begin at my front door and moving clockwise through my home and each room I gently ring my singing bowl as I move through the space, paying attention to the clarity of the singing bowl. If the bowl sounds dull i know to spend more time in this space. When the bowl resonates with a clear tone, I know the area is clear.
- Blessing. Once I’ve cleared my entire home I go back to the front door and begin again. This time as I move through the space with my singing bowl, I also say my blessing, or intention for my home.
- Closing. Once the entire home has been cleared and blessed, I return to my beautiful display and I state the blessing once again as I close the ceremony.
- The final step is sealing my intention or blessing into my home. I do this by placing the vase of flowers on my kitchen table. The flowers represent vibrant, living energy and reinforce the power of the clearing. Their beauty embraces the beauty of my intention and blessing.
© 2012 Harmony Life®, LLC by Laurie Bornstein
Feng Shui Lifestyle™ articles, tips and conversation http://www.fengshuilifeandstyle.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, BLOG OR WEB SITE?
You can, as long as you include the copyright and link above.
