Where Energy Flows

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.

A while ago I wrote a series on the impact of colours in feng shui and it was suggested that I bring all these posts together in one place. So here it is!

© Deborah Redfern, 2008. All rights reserved.

As a youngster, I collected rocks. That love has never diminished. Today, although I can often come home from a wander in the woods with more that one rock in my pocket, I continue to expand my collection with glorious crystals of all sources, shapes, colors and properties. Many of my clients ask about crystals and love to incorporate them into their home to enhance balance and harmony. Crystals are frequently the gift I give to clients.

In looking at the Feng Shui bagua, suggestions for locations for crystals include:

Gua                                                                               Stones

Helpful people/Travel                                                  Moonstone
Career                                                                          Black tourmaline
Knowledge                                                                   Lapis lazuli
Relationships                                                                Rose quartz
Fame/Reputation                                                          Garnet
Creativity/Children                                                        Clear quartz
Family/Past                                                                   Green jade
Abundance/Prosperity                                                  Amethyst
Health                                                                          Citrine

To attract abundance into your home, you could put a piece of citrine near your computer – especially if this is how you make your income. For communications, add a clear-quartz cluster in the family’s main gathering room and watch harmony replace disagreements. Watch your creativity spark when you carry a carnelian touchstone and invite relationship with rose quartz (this would be a great stone to tuck in your pocket as you attend the next networking gathering).

I place a moonstone on the ledge above all the outside doors in a house. This is said to keep out negative influences. Green calcite is another favorite protector from negative energy.

Do you ever find heart rocks designed by nature? These often show up on the banks of your favorite stream. They hold powerful energies of Peace and Love and can be placed anywhere. 

My preference is generally rough cut stones. However, others state that tumbled (smooth) crystals hold the same core energy properties.

A favorite book on Crystals and their properties is: “Love is in the Earth” by Melody. Her book has long been a classic on the topic.
 
Enjoy exploring and learning more about Earth Mothers percious gifts!

© Roberta Binder, 2008. All rights reserved. 

The Creativity area (also called Creativity and Children) is about experiencing joy in your life. We can all think ‘abstractly’ about what brings us joy. The challenge as I see it, is to be devoted to experiencing joy. 

The pace of life is such that for many of us, joy is the last thing on our list after all we have to do has been taken care of.  What a small world we then create for ourselves! I have observed in my own life that I am often my own ‘make-work project’, but those projects that seem very important and even urgent at the time, are quickly forgotten. And I observe is that they take me away from what is truly important in life.

The effect of the Creativity area is to wake us up, for many people feel fully awake and alive when they are experiencing joy. These are the moments where we are ‘being’ instead of ‘doing’. Getting more done will not feed your soul — most of the time we can not even remember what we have done. Taking time to experience, for instance, a beautiful sunset can be an experience that stays with you forever. And experiencing joy in your life supports your health on all levels. The gift of Presence is the biggest we can give to ourselves and to each other.

~*~ When to Enhance the Creativity Area ~*~
You can enhance the Creativity area of your home according to the bagua enhancements for this area, but better still, why not ‘be’ creativity? For many of us we will need to practice:

• putting yourself first
• avoid overbooking or creating more ‘busy’ work for yourself
• learning to delegate and say no
• identifying what brings you joy (a daily walk in nature, painting, reading a book, spending time with a friend, watching the sunset….there are endless possibilities.
• making time for joy a priority.

© Deborah Redfern, 2008. All rights reserved.

I sit at my desk, working at my computer, typing another draft letter for my supervisors to edit before final signatures.  My office space is a small cubicle on the third floor of a government building.  The building is grey cement with large windows on the exterior.  The interior of the third floor is grey blue.  All you hear in the office is the clicking of keyboards and some low voices in discussion.  The room is very quiet as people diligently work.

This is short description of my past workspace.  My cubicle was unlike most others as I had color in mine from well placed pictures and flowers.  My favorite place in my cubicle was just to the right of my computer screen.  I had a “special” place arranged with a picture of my husband and our dog, a small fairy figurine, a stone that I found on a walk, a special amethyst crystal and a small vase of flowers.  While most of my colleagues listened to music through headphones, I played my flute music CD’s at a very low volume. 

I had a fair amount of visitors to my cube.  If there was a short discussion on a project, informally, we met in my cubicle.  Friends would stop by on their break and spend a few minutes with me.  They always said that they felt so good in my space.  My cubicle was my Sacred Space.

Since I worked for a state government there were specific rules about religion.  So my “special” desk arrangement was not called an altar, but it was a work place altar and I knew what each item represented and the specific placement on my desk.  I knew the Feng Shui of my desk.  This was the Helpful People area of my desk according to the bagua.  My helpful people were my family, my canine spirit helpers, stones and crystals, the fairy and to honor all of them…flowers.

Most people have a way of placing items on their desk, such as family pictures, mementos, and “lucky” items.  I believe that arranging these types of items is natural and we do this arrangement by instinct or intuition.  When we begin to understand that every item we place has a special energetic meaning, then we step into the world of Spirit and we then consciously select those items and their placement. 

I am very grateful for my education through Interior Alignment as creating altars is integral in Space Clearing.  But even more important is that when we consciously create our own altars, our own “special” arrangements, we invite Spirit consciously into our lives.

© Yvette Neshi Lokotz, 2008. All Rights Reserved.

A common desire when working with clients in their homes or through life coaching often focuses on increasing prosperity, abundance and wealth.  Who doesn’t want to live the good life without feeling overwhelmed and stressed?  In our culture, instant satisfaction and results are the desired norm for many.  In some cases, instant results are possible; however, the most stable things in life come through persistence, consistency and commitment.  In other words, reaching our desires is a process.

The trigram for the wealth, abundance, and prosperity area of the bagua is “persistent wind.”  As one of my teachers put it, “the slow, steady accumulation of precious resources and priceless blessings.”  To feel truly abundant requires a consistent practice of being grateful.  A consistent awareness of being thankful for all the Abundance represented in our lives.  Like the abundance of friends, family, time, pleasure, creativity, soul searching, knowledge, being of service, and of course, financial resources. 

Gratitude is a natural state of prosperity consciousness.  It is very difficult, if not impossible, to experience lack or limitation while being grateful. When we are appreciating all that we have in our lives, we are a magnet for even more!  So, if you are like me, you’ll probably benefit by toning up the gratitude muscle through a consistent, ritualized practice.  Here are some suggestions:

At the end of the day, record all the things that you’re grateful for in a special journal.  And enter your dream state from this expanded place.

• Regularly offer smiles or other friendly gestures to those you encounter during your day, whether you know them or not.
• Give of yourself and precious objects without attachment.
• Focus your awareness on the upside of situations.
• Be generous with your time, your special talents, your positive encouragement, and your creativity.
• Most important, feel deserving of all the good things that you desire.

May you have all you desire, readily, easily and joyfully!

© Catherine Hilker, 2008. All rights reserved.

Feng shui can be used on a personal level to instigate change in our lives. Working with the bagua is an excellent way to instigate change. Enhancements placed with regard to the bagua work in two ways. On a vibrational level they are in harmony with the element and quality of the gua. For example a lamp placed in the fame area is of the fire element, and gets you noticed. Enhancements also work because of the power of intention that we invest when we place them, and every time we see them.

Affirmations are a powerful way to bring about what we want. Instead of just hoping for something we clearly state out loud our intention. Affirmations can be used when placing objects, and also when we walk past them and notice them. When placing the lamp in the fame area you could say “I am placing this lamp to enhance my reputation”. When walking past the lamp area you could say “I am well known and well regarded”. Surprisingly, you don’t have to believe in affirmations for them to work, they do anyway.

Affirmations usually start with the words “I am”. For whichever gua you want to work with there are many possible affirmations. Just make one up that best fits your desires. It is probably easiest to work with one or two affirmations at a time, so you remember to repeat them. By using affirmations you’ll move out of a state of wanting, into a state of having.

Copyright Helen Harvey, 2008. All rights reserved