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Gracious Living: How to Create Affordable Luxury in Your Home

Gracious Living is about creating a sense of luxury and pleasure that brings you joy in your home and life. Many times in our rush to get things just right, we lose sight of ourselves and what makes us happy and fulfilled. This blog is about regaining and refining that feeling in our homes and lives – easily and affordably.

We’ve provided a number of tips and hints below to get you started. We know you’ll find your own special ways to create a gracious lifestyle that sings to your heart, and we hope you’ll share your ideas with us via our contact form.

Surround yourself with the things you love

This is a guiding principle of Gracious Living. Love what you have and enjoy it. So, look around your home and pull out those things. Grandma’s wine glasses don’t do any good tucked away in the attic. Take them out and enjoy them.

Also, don’t discount items you love because you don’t know where to put them or how to display them.  Be open to possibilities. Your favorite Aunt’s shawl just might make a great throw on your couch. The picture you took on your walk in the woods could look beautiful in a frame.

Remember the corollary:  Donate or gift those things that you don’t like or no longer serve you. One of my Feng Shui clients keeps a ’gift box’ of such things (e.g., a bracelet she received that didn’t fit) and then shares them openly with others as from ‘Her Collection’.

Open the Door to a Nurturing Home

Take a moment to feel what you brings you a sense of ease and relaxation.  What can help create that feeling as walk in your door?  Is it a chair or stool you can sit on to take off your shoes? Or, maybe some beautiful flowers on table?  Perhaps, it’s something more practical like a bowl you can drop your keys in as you enter. (The bonus:  You’ll always know where they are!)

Think Comfort

Keep a cozy blanket or shawl near your favorite chair so you can grab it as needed.  Do you like to have a drink or snack as you relax? Consider putting a small table near your chair or couch if you don’t already have one.

Create a Feeling of Abundance

ut a bowl of fresh fruit on your dining room or kitchen table.  This is a traditional Chinese symbol and offering of prosperity that can also help promote healthy snacking.  Think of what else makes you feel prosperous and display it, symbolically if needed (e.g., a gold plate or coins from a foreign country).

Experience Extravagance

Take out the good china, wine glasses or teacups and use them!  Don’t have any?  Consider visiting a thrift shop or go to an estate sale but make sure you smudge it as you bring it into your house and use it. You can generally pick up a couple of items reasonably and don’t have to invest in a whole set.

Wake up to Beauty Every Morning

What is the first thing you see when you wake up?  Put something beautiful there – a picture or photo you love, a vase or special memento.  One note: Do not display pictures of water in a bedroom.  From a Feng Shui perspective water images in a bedroom can equate to a loss of prosperity.

Keep Inspiration Close at Hand

Think about inspires you.  Is it your family or friends? A special book of poetry, a quote, a photo or some music that you just love? Display it and keep it close by. For example, one of our clients loves art and keeps a few coffee table art books stacked on a cabinet to be enjoyed at a moment’s notice.  Another one of our clients created a gallery of family photos going up her hall steps.

Get Aspirational

What is it that you want to bring into your life?!  Reflect that in your home with something symbolic.  It could be as simple as a brochure for a trip you’d like to take or a pair of rose quartz stones if you’re looking for a partner.  From a Feng Shui perspective, rose quartz is the ‘stone of romance’ and keeping things in pairs, particularly in the Southwest sector of your home, symbolizes the desire for partnership.

Indulge Yourself

Keep a bit of your favorite treat or a pretty tin of your favorite tea handy to enjoy. Or, maybe keep some Epsom salts in your bathroom so you’re always ready for a relaxing bath.  FYI: The magnesium in Epsom salts actually promote relaxation and can help you sleep.

Get Creative

One of our Feng Shui enthusiasts found herself on a tight budget after a move but wanted a birdbath for her new garden that called for the Water element.  She combined the discarded bottom of a birdbath she found along the curb and a rustic bowl she purchased for $1 at a garage sale to create a unique and affordable water feature for her yard. What can you create to support your gracious lifestyle?

Get Feng Shui’d

Our last and final tip is to Feng Shui your home if you haven’t done so yet.  Creating good chi or energy in your home through this ancient Chinese science and art can help empower you and your life.  Placing your items strategically in your home and using the best elements and colors energetically for your space helps create a feeling of balance and harmony in your surroundings.  The end result:  A warm and welcoming environment that supports you living in ease and comfort.

To learn more, read our article: “Linda Ellson: Feng Shui for the Home” on the basics of Feng Shui in this interview in Buffalo Spree Magazine with Linda Ellson, Certified Feng Shui Practitioner.

For a personal Feng Shui consultation,  please email: linda@fengshuiyourworld.biz or call 716-863-8561.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Have you ever been in an Asian restaurant and perused a fun placement menu to learn a little bit more about your Chinese zodiac animal sign? Many of us have, but there tends to be confusion with what animal sign we are and how to figure it out. Contrary to popular belief, the animal sign is not automatically associated with the year we were born. A secret bit of information is that the Feng Shui Zodiac New Year animal signs begin on February 4th of any given year, with the Hsia Calendar, a farmer’s almanac type calendar system. This means that anyone born up until February 3rd is considered the animal sign from the year prior, but those born on February 4th or after are the animal sign of the given year.

 

Understanding the Feng Shui Zodiac: All of the animals have different traits and characteristics much like the astrological zodiac. However, from a Feng Shui standpoint, we are interested in the animals with what sector of the Pa Qua map they reside and how they are influenced by the yearly Feng Shui energy changes. It is also fun and helpful to know who the friend groups are in the zodiac. For example, the Rooster, the Snake, and the Ox are allied friends. The other ally animals are Rat, Dragon, and Monkey; Tiger, Horse, and Dog; and Rabbit, Sheep, and Pig. It can be helpful to know who in your friend group or work circles are your ally animals, as chances are it’s a harmonious connection.

While the Dragon is the star of the show in 2024, the real star over the next twenty years in the cycle of the Period of 9, which just started on February 4, 2024, is the Horse, who is associated with the South sector. It is a great time to make friends with a person born in the Year of the Horse, go horseback riding, or maybe enjoy a horse race.

If you want to learn more about your animal sign and the Feng Shui of the year, check out our on-demand class for the Year of the Dragon available now for instant access.

 

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Year of the Dragon Annual Energy Changes Class – ON DEMAND!

Start your New Year with this Feng Shui must! Welcome a brand-new era of the Feng Shui Period of 9!

This is a 2 hour replay of our 2024 Feng Shui Annual Energy Class recorded  on Jan 20th, designed to empower you and your space for the best year and 20 year cycle ahead.

Discover the art of making precise Feng Shui enhancements to navigate the new lunar year, ensuring prosperity, harmony, and positive energy.

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The Basics of Space Clearing

If you’re interested in learning about the basics of Space Clearing, then this blog is for you. You’ll learn what it is, why you can benefit from it, and how to get started.

What is Space Clearing?

When many people hear the term “Space Clearing” they think of clearing clutter from their home. While this is always a useful and important endeavor, Space Clearing, also known as energetic space clearing is about “clearing” your home or office space on another level.

This sounds a bit esoteric. Where is this energy in my home that I am going to clear? And why should I Space Clear my home or work environment?

Our homes absorb energy in walls, ceilings, furniture, and objects we keep in our surroundings. The energy comes primarily from the people who live there and the activities that take place in the environment. The concept works like this: If you have ever walked into a room after an argument, you can feel it even if you were not present for the argument. This energy though invisible can be felt and stored by our surroundings. Our homes and the other environments we occupy (offices, work, schools, etc.) absorb and store the energy that comes into them – whether it is positive or negative. Space Clearing helps to remove that old energy. example, start in the foyer closet, onto the linen closet, and finally clothes closet. Don’t try to do everything at once!

Is Space Clearing unique to Feng Shui?

No, many world cultures and religious traditions have some form of a clearing ritual. Native Americans may burn the herb sage. Ringing singing bowls are popular in the Tibetan culture, while the ringing of traditional upright brass bells and the burning of incense-like frankincense are used in western church settings. These various traditions can be used by anyone to help uplift their space to create an environment that feels fresh and clean.

When should I Space Clear? How often should I Space Clear?

If you can regularly practice Space Clearing your environment that is ideal. For example, consider doing it every spring or fall. With that said, also Space Clear any time you feel the need. This would include any time you feel stuck, have had a downturn of luck, or have experienced a major life change such as a divorce, passing of loved one, illness in the family, children going off to college, or if you are moving into a new home or leaving an old one. Many use space clearing to begin or deepen their Feng Shui process.

How can I easily Space Clear?

Some quick and easy tips to get you started without performing a complete ritual:

— Open all of the windows in your house and allow the fresh outside air to blow through your home

— Walk through your space ringing bells and/or clapping your hands along walls and up corners

— Walk with burning incense throughout your home (carefully of course!), moving along walls and up corners

— Play inspiring music such as something classical or a divine chant

— Place sea salt in bowls around your home for 24 hours and sprinkle it on the thresholds of your house. Sea Salt is a great neutralizer and absorber of negativity. Be sure to put a bowl in any room that may feel heavy (e.g., the room of a person recovering from an illness or an angst filled teenager). Important Note: Put the salt out in the sunshine for about 4 hours to “charge” it up, before using it. To discard, flush it down the toilet.

How can I learn more about Space Clearing? How can I learn to perform a full Space Clearing Ceremony?

To learn more about the art of blessing and uplifting your home, Feng Shui Your World has produced an instructional DVD on “Energetic Space Clearing” filmed during a two hour workshop. The DVD is complete with tips on how to prepare for a space clearing, supplies to gather, basic procedures to follow, as well as an actual space clearing ceremony in action including the application and use of sage, sea salt, bells, drums and rattles. To learn more or purchase the On-Demand Video, please click here.

What if I want my environment Space Cleared but don’t want to do it myself?

Feng Shui Your World offers Space Clearing consultations, where Linda Ellson will come into your home or office and perform a Space Clearing ceremony for you. For more information or book an appointment, please email: linda@fengshuiyourworld.biz or call 716-863-8561.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Here are Top 10 Feng Shui tips to help increase your abundance and prosperity.

Have some fun and do a Feng Shui experiment. Put these easy tips into action and see what happens. Wishing you abundance and prosperity on all levels, from all of us at Feng Shui Your World!

1. Energize and create flow in the Southeast section of your home.

Think growth! Get rid of clutter. (Electronic and paper too.)

2. Place a jade plant in the Southeast sector of your home or office. If you have limited office space, you can put the jade plant in the Southeast corner of your desk.

3. Display a bowl of fresh fruit

in the Center of your dining table, as a symbol of abundance.

4. There is auspicious annual energy in the Southeast this year

through February 4, 2019. Spend time in this area of the home to activate!

5. Settle any old debts

to keep your financial chi flowing.

6. Extend your wealth area into your garden

in the Southeast and plant some leafy green plants here.

7. Consider a symbolic object to keep your mind on wealth,

e.g. money frog, wealth Buddha, prosperity coins, or even your piggy bank!

8. If it is broken, fix it!*

Fix leaky taps immediately.

*Check out our quote highlighted in the International Feng Shui Guild article “‘Easy Money’ Wealth and Abundance with Feng Shui” ‘

9. Keep bathroom and laundry doors closed at all times.

Keep toilet lids down.

10.  Carry a piece of Citrine

known as the stone of abundance.

 

Special Note: Do not enhance wealth in the bedroom. This should be your special sanctuary for you and your mate. Do not keep money there.

 

 

 

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Here are some easy Feng Shui office tips to help create balance and harmony in your office or workplace

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• • Place your desk with full commanding view of your space, if possible. (Or angle computer a bit).
  • Whenever possible, sit with your back against a solid wall. (Try to face power directions!)
  • Sit in a tall chair for support.
  • Make access pathway into office clear and easy from door to desk.
  • Create an entrance area that is inviting to you and others.
  • Keep desk clear at the end of each day.
  • If it is broken, fix it!
  • Empty wastebaskets daily.
  • Personalize your space.
  • Place the Pa Qua over your work area and arrange accordingly.

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Extra Tips for Special Situations:

Negative energies:

If you are experiencing any negative attitudes or emotions in your workplace: Fill a small bowl with sea salt and tuck it away in your workspace (on a shelf, under a desk, wherever works). The salt will absorb the negative energies around you. Discard (flush it down the toilet, if possible) and refresh with new salt weekly or monthly, depending upon the intensity of negativity.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1588272128069{padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}”]

New Office:

If you are moving into a new office, be sure to clean and/or wash all surfaces to remove any old or stagnant energies. For wood surfaces, use a few drops of ammonia in water. Please note: This is also an excellent tip if you’ve been in the same office space for a while. Periodic cleaning will help refresh your work space and clear out any old energies.

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*Bonus: Some Feng Shui is better than no Feng Shui!

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