Thought I would continue with another post on Feng Shui and designing a healthy home with some excerpts from The Healing Home, by Suzi Chiazzari.



Isn't that the cutest house? I love that picture!

To recap a little about the rooms in our homes, according to Feng Shui...

"The arrangement of furniture in your home is significant and you can generally follow the rule that the home owner's chair, desk or table should have a commanding view of the front door. In the living room, the wealth point is located at the top left-hand corner as you enter. If you are suffering from financial worries, place a large, round-leafed plant in this position in the room. A sofa should never be placed under a beam as this puts pressure on whoever is supporting the family.

In the bedroom, it is best to align the bed north/south in keeping with the body's own magnetic field and it should not be directly opposite the door or it will drain your energy. Bedside lamps should also be placed next to the bed and not over it so they do not interfere with the electrical field. If it isn't possible to align your the bed north/south, sleep with your head facing east. A bed should stand off the ground so there is a healthy flow of air and chi below it.

Bathrooms should be kept to one side of the house rather than in a central position. Bad odors and dampness need to escape outside. For the same reason, kitchens need to have access to an outside wall and window. A square or rectangle kitchen works best, especially if it is on the south or east side of the house. A kitchen facing a bathroom or toilet will encourage bad health. South relates to the fire element and east is the position of family and health.

When approaching a house, the size and shape of the doors and windows will have a strong effect on you. They should give out a welcoming message to you and your visitors, while protecting you against harmful energies and unwanted spirits."- The Healing Home

My additional notes: You don't have to give up on your home if you start using Feng Shui and you begin to notice, that in order to use these concepts you think you will have to tear it down and start all over again. There are many "cures" for areas that are blocking healthy energy into and within the home.

Plants are a wonderful way to enhance the good chi in your home. Plants absorb and store light vibrations which transform and transmit chi into the air around them. Plants with round leaves help with financial problems, the larger the plant the better. Plants with pointed leaves act as daggers which cut fortune.

Stones and rocks placed in and around the home have a stabilizing effect on the chi. If you are having trouble holding down a job or stabilizing a relationship, use heavy objects like statues made of stone or wood to be of assistance. Try to place them in the right life path area such as Wealth, Finances, and/or Relationship)

Water symbolizes money and by introducing water into the home, it's energy will help attract life enhancing and wealth making energy. If you don't live near a river or other body of water, a pond or a pool will help. Also adding a water feature such as a fountain in your garden can also attract positive energy. Inside the home, an aquarium containing uneven numbers of goldfish or a bowl of water in which floats flowers. You might also try a vase of flowers which contains a crystal in the water. The crystal, water, flower combination helps to send out healing energy into the home.

Next time I will talk more about mirrors, wind chimes, and colors.

Have a great day everyone


I know...not a very good picture, I'll get a better one when we
play with the new camera again

Hello everyone

You might say I have kind of been in a little depression over here since LilLadyReg left the Stream and I'm sorry I haven't done any updates. I promised her I would take good care of this blog and after Halloween I will get back into it!

So Happy Halloween Everyone and I'll see you soon back here at Body Works.




Also wanted to mention that I have never checked the email that PM's go to on this blog as they are set up on an account that is different from my primary account. If you have sent a PM, I have never seen it. Please send PM's to dragonflower at Soul Quest or Lilith's Whisper. I'm sorry if this causes any confusion, perhaps I can talk to Blogstream and see if I can get this blog transfered to my primary account.

In the book, Everyday Enlightenment by Dan Millman, he offers some more tips about meditation and how it works:



* Sit in a balanced, stable, comfortable posture with your spine straight and your shoulders relaxed. (Recommended postures range from a variety of cross-legged postures, to sitting on the knees, to sitting on a chair, or even lying down).

* Keep your eyes closed or half-open; experiment to find what works best for you.

* Keep your tongue on the roof of your mouth.

*Relax and breath with your belly.

* Choose an object of attention. It may be a mantra or chant, the act of counting or watching your breath, visual images (internal or external), internal or external sounds, or, in the practice called mindfulness or insight meditation, noticing whatever sensations, emotions, images, or thoughts arise spontaneously in your field of awareness.

* There are different and equally valid views on how long to sit. Some say as long as you are interested in sitting. Others say a definite time, perhaps setting a timer with a bell. You may wish to set a minimum time such as ten or twenty minutes, or start simply, with three to five minutes and work up from there. Experiment as you would for any other practice.

(While the author doesn't go into any detail about the aspect of keeping the tongue on the roof of the mouth, it has been taught to me that one of the reasons is because at the roof of our mouths, we have a minor chakra.)

MEDITATION FOR INSIGHT
(chapter on Tame Your Mind)

(Insight meditation involves noticing (being mindful) of the thoughts, images, inner and outer sounds, voices, emotions, physical sensations...as they arise without casting judgment.)

"The beauty of insight meditation is that you can do it any time, in everyday life, with your eyes open, using whatever task is at hand as your meditative object. This is the key to understanding all Zen arts, including serving tea, arranging flowers, calligraphy, archery, swordplay, and other martial arts. All are forms of meditation. In fact, anything you do in daily life with real attention is a means to tame your mind."

(Again, the author does not go into any particular practice or exercise for this type of meditation but here are some suggestions I have taught to my students:

For an experience in mindful awareness, take any task you are performing and be aware of the actual action taking place, for example, if you are washing dishes, become aware of the muscles involved in the actions, the sound of the water, the temperature of the water, the soap bubbles...any and all things associated with the task at hand and nothing else...a total experience in the task.

Or, we can go another way, which is one of my favorites to do as it also helps with heightening sensory perception. With this practice, I choose a spot somewhere, usually a room I have dedicated to meditation, and I lower the lights and have the space as quiet as possible. I will sit or lay down and relax with three deep breaths. From there I do nothing but listen. If thoughts come into my mind (as they will always do), I try to ignore them and re-focus on the silence.

It's pretty amazing what you can hear and feel within what we consider as "silence."

Give these things a try and let me know how it went for you...what was your experience?

Have a great weekend everyone!
Dragonflower

Next to Dr. Deepak Chopra, Dr. Wayne Dyer is, in my opinion, one of the greatest metaphysicians in modern times. I think I have everything the two of them have ever put out in books and videos.

In Dr. Dyer's book, Getting in the Gap, he has some ideas he expresses about meditation that I think are important:

* "There is no such thing as a bad meditation. Anytime you spend in silence is valuable, even if your inner voice is persistent and loud. Don't judge, just observe."

* "With time your inner dialogue will shut down. We all know that mastery is seldom achieved without practice. Meditation is no exception. Perhaps that is why it's called practice."

* "There is no right or wrong time to meditate. Each of us finds our most comfortable time of the day, so don't try to do this on someone else's schedule."

* "There is no correct meditation length. A few moments can be nurturing."

* "There is no correct posture or place for meditating. Find what makes you comfortable and trust it. Sitting, lying down, kneeling-whatever works for you is the perfect posture."



Dragonflower Meditation Tip:

In a quiet place, in whatever position is most comfortable, close your eyes and put all of your attention on your breathing. Just relax and focus on your breath. Do not force it, but try to breath slowly and deeply from your abdomen rather than high chest breathing.

After focusing on your breathing for a few minutes, just relax and breath as you would normally. Let your thoughts float by without focusing on them. Just take the next few minutes as your time to do nothing but relax.

More meditation and relaxation tips later in the week.

Take a few minutes today and everyday to just breath

Dragonflower