Where Energy Flows

Denise Linn noted recently that often today’s Feng Shui consultants find it necessary to not only look at the Feng Shui components of a home (or professional space) but to look at the Feng Shui of the person. I’m finding with my practice that this is becoming the norm. In our more and more stressed economy, clients are running in way too many directions.

It is funny, the client wants you to come in and do a quick fix on the house, when the client clearly needs the arena to make decisions for personal change. Understanding how to explain this can be a delicate proposition. How do you say to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, “Well, your house is cluttered and in chaos and that is reflected in your person.”  That really doesn’t work. So we have had to learn new ways of coaching the client gently into creating the dynamic where they can see the need for personal Feng Shui change, even before there can be noticeable change in the building.

 Personal Feng Shui has become the first step in most of my consultations. That is followed by: Clutter Clearing, Earth Acupuncture, Space Clearing, and Feng Shui. What a wonderful difference that personal step makes.

Some things to consider personally:

• Do you find yourself running in circles and not really accomplishing anything?
• Looking at the bagau map, are you taking care of yourself in all eight areas?
• How is your personal health?
• When is the last time you actually: Sat down for a cup of tea? Read a book for fun? Took a walk in nature and listened to the songs of nature? Had an ice cream sundae for dinner?
• Is your relaxation going to the mall and purchasing more clutter for your closet and your home?
• Are you hiding from yourself by telling that inner voice you’ll get to YOU later?

 It is hard in today’s world not to keep adding more to our plate of life. On the other hand, stopping and smelling the roses is a wonderful thing and it might open doors you never dreamed could be opened.

© Roberta Binder, 2008. All rights reserved.

Neshi’s most recent post (Going Into The Quiet) inspired me to continue on the topic of quiet and stillness. In my own life, cultivating stillness has been a challenge. I was born with an abundance of yang energy and movement has been my mantra! As I matured, I’ve come to embrace the wisdom of getting quiet and going into the stillness to find my own answers to life’s opportunities. As many of the authors of this site have shared, Synchro-Alignment has been an integral part of our Interior Alignment™ practice….with ourselves, clients and students alike. Every time I’ve used this approach when making important decisions, I have been presented with clear and concise choices. As I’ve acted on those choices, I’ve experienced flow in moving forward in life. Synchro-Alignment

The most common segment of the bagua that represents stillness is the Knowledge area. The trigram for Knowledge is still mountain and the key word is wisdom. When I use the image of a mountain as a resonance field, I “tap” into the solid, quiet nature that a mountain represents. In addition, I imagine the wealth of knowledge and wisdom contained within the mountain having been on the planet for thousands of years.

Another important attribute to cultivating stillness for me has been breathing meditations. When I focus my awareness on extending my inhalations and exhalations, my mind chat immediately starts to quiet. The key to quieting mind chat is an essential part of going within. My left brain begins to relax and allows better access to information contained within. Cultivating a practice of quieting my left brain has been a very rewarding journey. (For some fascinating information about brains, check out Jill Bolte Taylor’s website Jill Bolte Taylor )

Consider the importance of cultivating stillness. I believe it is one path to creating a kinder and gentler world.

© Catherine Hilker, 2008.  All Rights Reserved.

I have the lyrics from the Beatles song Let It Be running through my head, “in times of trouble Mother Mary comes to me. Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.” It is a song that keeps repeating over and over in my head. So, I take time to contemplate its meaning. I find that it is to write about how we can be calm and peaceful during times of trouble.

I recently wrote two articles for Where Energy Flows regarding the financial recession and what we can do to be positive during this time. Just the word recession has such low vibrational energy attached to it that we can feel our energy fall when we say or read the word.  I would like to try to bring up our energies through this blog article.

Interior Alignment™ taught me so many wonderful life lessons and also validated my conscious steps on my soul journey. One of these gems and validations is about meditation. As practitioners we are taught how to assist a client by using Synchro Alignment which is a form of guided meditation. As a teacher, I teach Interior Alignment™ practitioners how to use Synchro Alignment with their clients. Synchro Alignment has taught me how to be calm and peace during “times of trouble”. How we can bring those divine parts of ourselves all to one place and align so that we may be clear conduits for divine Creator energy. Interior Alignment™ practitioners know that our soul already knows the answer we just need to be quiet and calm to hear our soul’s voice.

The Onondaga Nation, calls meditation going into the silence or quiet. It is in the silence or quiet that we can hear our soul’s voice. We can hear the Creator through our souls.  As we use meditation as a tool to help ourselves to identify what we want from life, to set our intentions, we begin to live our lives from a peaceful place.

Once we set our intention to live our lives in a certain way, sometimes we just need to “let it be” and have the faith and believe that Spirit, Creator, the Universe is behind us as we do our part in our daily lives. 

As Mahatma Gandhi said,”we must be the change we wish to see in the world”. This means to me that we do our part and we start with ourselves. We start with ourselves by going into the quiet of a mediation to hear our soul’s voice as we make our way to a clear intention for our lives.

Blessings, Neshi.

© Copyright, Yvette Neshi Lokotz, August 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Creating an abundance altar in your home or on your property is a great idea during these times of recession.

When creating an altar intention is very important.  Begin by identifying what abundance, wealth, and prosperity means to you personally.  This is a definition beyond Webster’s dictionary.  Once you have a clear meaning for abundance, wealth and prosperity, you can begin to clarify your intention for your abundance altar. The time and energy that you take to define abundance, wealth, and prosperity is worth the effort as you will begin to accept that your definition may not mean abundance to another person. Identify what kind of life do you want to live. Identify what is important to you in your life.

Once you identify your definition for abundance and what kind of life you want to live, look for symbols that will hold these definitions for you.  For instance the energy of Buffalo (the American Bison) is a symbol of abundance for many Native American Nations.  I have a statute of a Buffalo with her calf on my abundance altar.  (I am Prairie Band Potawatomi and my Nation takes the stewardship of the Buffalo so seriously that we have a herd on our reservation to stay connected with the Wisdom of Buffalo.)  The symbol of Buffalo means health and vitality, life force, to many Native peoples. Not only did it provide sustenance but Buffalo also provided shelter - a home, clothing and luxuries.  The Annishabe Nation, you may know this Nation as the Ojibiwa Nation, may use the symbol of wild rice in their definition of abundance.  Your symbol of abundance needs to mean something to you in order for the symbol to have power.

Consider placing your abundance altar in the Wealth area of your home for the maximum assistance from your home to support your intentions, life goals and desires.

As you place thoughtful items on your abundance altar, consider including a symbol of your personal business or career.  This symbol of your personal business or career may be your business card or a brochure. You may even want to write out your intention on a beautiful card to place on your altar. 

As you receive payment for service to your clients or have your paycheck automatically deposited, place the payment or your payroll receipt on the abundance altar for a few days so that you may show your gratitude and also bless the payment.

I would also suggest placing a candle of your favorite color and scent on the altar. You may want to research the energetic qualities of colors (see Deborah Redfern’s IA blog articles about color) and the energetic qualities of certain flower essence or essential oils scents to add another layer of intention to your abundance altar.

On my abundance altar, I have a candle with the essence of Angel Wings, a lingam stone placed in a red glass bowl filled with sand so that the lingam can stand upright. I also have citrine stones which are known as the merchant stone for abundance. And, I have my business card in a prominent place on the altar as well. 

Each time I light the candle I have in my mind and heart all that I am grateful for and that I am open to all the positive abundance and prosperity flowing to me from Spirit.

May your abundance altar energize your home and hold the intentions for your life as Chi or life force energy flows through your home, may your altar receive the attention from the Universe. 

© Copyright Yvette Neshi Lokotz, August 2008, All Rights Reserved.

Do you love to assist others in fulfilling their dreams?  Do you enjoy discovering how our environments and energy influence our daily life, our productivity and our success?   Then, perhaps you have considered becoming a Feng Shui and Space Clearing consultant!

Interior Alignment™ practitioners work to create harmonious, healthy environments that support the goals and deepest intentions of our clients.  Using a rich blend of techniques gathered from around the world, we balance the energy of homes, offices, gardens and plots of land. 

An Interior Alignment™  consultation can take many forms.  We may utilize Feng Shui and perform a Space Clearing ceremony.  We may do clutter clearing or work with color.  We may incorporate a Synchro-Alignment guided meditation or complete a Healthy Home assessment. Many times the consultation is done over a period of several sessions, beginning with an interview to assess the client’s intention for the home and their life. The IA Practitioner and client work together closely to make the best possible adjustments to the environment, generating spaces that not only feel good, but also nourish the intentions and goals that were identified.

As Interior Alignment™  Practitioners, we consider a consultation to be one of the highest and most honorable ways to be of service to others.

What does it take to become a Interior Alignment™  consultant, you might wonder.  Well, the first requirement is an open heart and a willingness to assist and empower others.  It takes awareness and observation.  And, it takes some curiosity about how our environments impact our health, vitality, creativity, relationships and productivity.

Beyond this, you simply need to complete the Interior Alignment™  training program with one of our skilled Master Teachers to become proficient in the Interior Alignment methods. 

There are no prerequisites, other than a genuine desire to make a difference!   

Deb Swingholm, 2008.  All Rights Reserved.

When filling your vehicle with petroleum, gasoline, means paying substantially more than this time last year, we have to wonder how can we approach these times of recession in a more positive way. As Interior Alignment™ practitioners and teachers we have the ability and tools to assist our clients with supportive feng shui and space clearing techniques to achieve this goal.

How can feng shui and space clearing help me pay for my full tank of gasoline?  Well it starts well before filling the gas tank. Now more than ever we need to be clear about our thoughts and intentions. Having a clear intention about what kind of life do we want to live and what is important to us in this life is the foundation for creating that life we wish for.  It is times such as these that help really identify what is important to us, such as being financially secure or having a fulfilling peaceful life. Once we are clear about our intentions, then it is our emotions behind thoughts that support or rather fuel the intentions to bring them into the physical world.  This is also the basis of the Law of Attraction. When we have this clear intention, emotions and thoughts then we turn to feng shui to help turn our homes and work spaces into areas that can support these intentions.

First we ensure life force energy is invited and welcomed into our home-mouth of chi which is our front door. Second, that life force energy can flow through each of the rooms of our home and energize critical areas that hold our intentions and spend more time and energy there (abundance altars). Third, we ensure that the natural elements (fire, air, wood, earth, metal) energy is balanced to be in harmony with nature. Fourth, that yin and yang energies are balanced so that those opposing energies in nature are balanced in our home. When we have these items in balance, then our home is ready and able to help us to create what we desire.

Space Clearing is the otherside of the Interior Alignment™ coin. Once the feng shui is in place, then a space clearing to remove unwanted energies that are no longer useful to us can be released. The template is set through the clear intention, the feng shui supports the intention, space clearing clears blocks to energy flowing to that intention. Space clearing brings all the aspects of the Universe to help support your intention through prayer and ceremony. Your home becomes a sacred space that supports the life you intend to live as you and your home are in balance with all of nature and Universe.

What is your intentions for your life and are what are you emotions around your intentions? Its time to seriously know what you want from life.

© Yvette Neshi Lokotz, August 2008. All Rights Reserved.

“What is beauty, anyway? It’s more than something pleasant looking.
If it doesn’t stop us in our tracks and make us unable to move for a moment, unable to put into words what’s closing off the breath in our throats, then maybe it’s pretty, but it probably isn’t beauty.”  - Alan Alda

In a recent article about the upcoming World Science Festival, Alan Alda discusses the concept of beauty and he writes about how beauty is perceived differently by artists and by scientists.

Of course, what he wrote had me thinking about what I find beautiful. As an artist and photographer I am a keen observer, always looking for things that evoke a sense of beauty. But, as Alan asks… what is beauty anyway?

Last week, I found beauty in a field of wildflowers, bathed in the golden light of sunset. Yesterday I found beauty in a pair of turkey vultures, perched on a branch on a dark, foggy morning drying their feathers. Interesting, as vultures are not often thought of as beautiful.

When I consider beauty, it comes down to what touches my soul. It arises from the eternal nature within all things. Beauty is that which inspires. Beauty reaches my heart in some inexpressible way. It does not have to be physical beauty. And, it doesn’t have to be something I see with my eyes.

Wayne Dyer says “your natural state is beauty”. I think the natural state of the world is beauty. We can see beauty in all things when we are living in a way that is closely aligned with the Divine source; that essential energy that enlivens and vibrates in all things. When we connect with this energy all things have beauty.

Explore beauty. Cultivate it. Be receptive to it. Be willing to be surprised by what you find beautiful. And bring beauty into your surroundings - not what the world or a designer or an art expert says has beauty, but what YOU find has beauty.

Be open to beauty and beauty will be reflected in your life.

Copyright 2008, Deb Swingholm. All rights reserved.