Many of us have a love-hate relationship with holidays like Thanksgiving that involve emotional family gatherings. We love the aromas and bounty of the food and the joy of seeing family and friends. But the strain of cooking all the meals, cleaning the house, and entertaining all of those out-of-town visitors can sometimes result in more stress than harmony. The cause of this discord may not be you or your family. It could be how you arrange your house during the holiday season. As you get ready for Thanksgiving this year, try following a few Feng Shui tips to balance the energy in your home and create more household harmony--and a lot more fun.
Feng Shui (pronounced "fung shway") is the art of arranging your interior surroundings in harmony and balance with the natural world around you. Our surroundings have a powerful effect on what we attract into our lives. When the energy around us (called chi) is blocked or unbalanced, our relationships, prosperity, and family harmony can be profoundly affected. Feng Shui changes for your home can unblock the flow of energy and make you feel more comfortable in your indoor surroundings.
Based on an ancient Chinese practice, modern Feng Shui offers common sense and real-world guidance for placing furniture and objects and for using color, which is especially important during the holiday season when we add new colors, shapes, aromas, and people to our homes.
You Are WHERE You Eat
The holiday season kicks off with Thanksgiving, the ultimate foodie holiday. Here are a few tips to help you create a peaceful and harmonious turkey day:
-- Use your dining room often during Thanksgiving because it is considered a place of wealth in Feng Shui; this is not the time to wolf down leftovers sitting in front of the TV.
-- Bring out the good stuff: the china, crystal, silver, and all the other pieces hiding in your cabinets and closets; what are you saving it for if not for the holidays?
-- Use a centerpiece of orange flowers to encourage conversation, or a display of fresh fruit and vegetables to symbolize good health and longevity.
-- Entertaining guests is associated with wealth, so hang a mirror in your dining room; you will reflect your guests and symbolically double your wealth.
-- A round or oval table is the best shape for Feng Shui-friendly dining because there are no sharp corners aimed at guests; if you have a rectangular dining table use a tablecloth to smooth the edges and make sure you seat your guests away from the corners.
-- Place bowls of nuts, fruit, or candy wherever people gather in your home, and pitchers of wine or sparkling cider and water, to represent the prosperity to continually feed guests.
You Are WHAT You Eat
The colors, aromas, and tastes of food are strongly related to good Feng Shui. In Feng Shui, we divide energy into yin (the dark, heavy side), and yang (the bright, lighter side). Since the winter months are the yin side of our energy, we need to balance this darker, lower, colder energy with strong yang energy in our food for the holidays. Cooked foods, spices, and hot foods such as chile peppers, ginger, and garlic, are the perfect yang choices for Thanksgiving. Foods like raw vegetables and fish are yin, and are better used in moderation during this period.
You Are WHO You Eat With
Is your family prone to arguments when gathered around the Thanksgiving table? Try these strategies to minimize the hot yang energy and cool things down:
-- Invite an even number of guests, keep the lights low and soft, and decorate with soothing earth tones like gold, brown, and green.
-- Keep shiny surfaces and sharp edges to a minimum.
-- Remove the carving knife from the table after the turkey is carved and you will avoid sharp words and arguments.
-- Whoever is seated nearest to the door will be the first one to leave, so consider a seating plan if you have any annoying relatives.
Bring a little bit of the practical magic of Feng Shui into your home this Thanksgiving and your life will be filled with peace and harmony through the coming year.
0 comments:
Post a Comment