Home Clearing and Feng Shui

Thanks to Marie Kondo, https://konmari.com/ and her book, “The Magic Art of Tidying Up,” and her Netflix show (lol, good for you, sister!), many more people are aware of the value of having a minimal, efficient, tidy and cleaned-up home life. However, the principles of Energetic Work through home living intentionality goes back thousands of years and in many cultures, is essential to both business and home development and building.

According to Feng Shui Living:

The origins of Feng Shui may well go further back than six thousand years ago,  the mid-Neolithic period in Chinese history. It is known that communities were well established by then, settled mainly in valley areas beside rivers. People had begun to farm, domesticate animals and grow food crops.  The term for Feng Shui in ancient Chinese texts was originally Kan Yu, which means ‘observe the ways of Heaven and investigate the ways of Earth’.

https://www.fengshui-living.com/feng-shui-origins

I’ve studied Feng Shui as a dabbler for many years, and incorporate its principles into my home clearing services, which also include sage smudging, crystal grids, etc. But I wanted a place on my site where I can discuss and share the practices that are easiest to incorporate into daily life, and things that work for me in a pinch when I’m feeling stuck and need the energy to shift. Embodiment practices are not limited only to the body we physically inhabit, but extend to our entire environment in which we occupy space and move, including the streets we drive on regularly, the shops we frequent, etc! Everything we experience, we experience on many different levels, and our mindset and mentality operates via mental projection upon the totality of our reality, both shared and private. Here you will find some simple tools and resources to assist you in living a Consciously Embodied Lifestyle at home, in harmony with your life and with the environment, our larger, shared container.

**These are not all Feng Shui practices, but simply things that I feel work and are easy to maintain**

Simple Ways to Shift Your Energy at Home

• KEEP IT CLEAN! This one is so obvious yet so challenging at times, especially if your energy is low! Since I work from home, I also sometimes distract myself with chores, but the reality is that sometimes just doing the easy/obvious things first really sets my mind to an attitude of accomplishment. If you like being on a schedule, there a loads of resources to help you with chore charts and schedules. I used to try to do this, but it is actually a lot of work on top of chores, so now I just: 1) keep the kitchen, floors and common area surfaces cleared off every day 2) Try to complete laundry fully as it finishes 3) Dust when I notice it is needed, in sections, not all at once 4) Throw away trash immediately
• GET RID OF IT! This is hard for some folks, but simply off-loading unused, extra, or broken items is a big time energetic release. In Feng Shui, it is considered bad luck to hang on to broken items. If this is tough for you, set a timeline for when you reasonably can have the item repaired. If you pass the window, it wasn’t a real priority, and it is time to LET THAT SHIT GO! If you struggle with being wasteful, join a local free group and post your unwanted items there, or take things to a second-hand donation store. LET SOMEONE ELSE THROW IT AWAY. It isn’t a burden, they do that regularly for items they can’t resell or re-purpose. You’ll feel instantly better when you let go of this type of baggage!
• DEEP CLEAN. About once a quarter, or twice a year, open every cabinet, look through every closet, and follow the two steps above: clean things and off-load items. Your energy will thank you!
• REARRANGE YOUR SPACE. In Feng Shui, they say “move 27 things,” but I operate a little more loosely with this. If you’re just starting out, I suggest you try a challenge to move 27 things to see how you feel. Check out more info here: Happy As Annie Blog

NEVER BUY HOUSEHOLD CLEANERS AGAIN!:

Household cleaners, like Windex, multi-purpose cleaners, etc., are wasteful in so many ways! The container, the chemicals, the industry surrounding these products…a truly embodied life is also an ecologically humble life! Use this mixture to make your own cleaner to replace all your cleaning products, it costs very little to invest in the base needed and almost no waste, and is super-safe for kids and pets.

– You’ll need a solid spray bottle, I up-cycled an old Windex bottle that was given to me

– Base soap, like Dr Bronner’s SAPs suds, or any liquid soap concentrate

-Distilled White Vinegar

– Tea Tree Oil and any other essential oil you like, rosemary and lavender have additional cleaning properties I like since I have the kids touching everything (ew!)

Fill your bottle 4/5 with plain water, add around 1/3-1/4 c of the vinegar, about a tbls of the soap concentrate, and 5-10 drops of essential oils. The Tea Tree Oil is important here, as it has such immense cleaning properties.

This works MAGIC on all finished surfaces, including glass and stainless steel! Try it out and let me know!

Easy (Cheap!) Dishwasher Solution:

2-3 Drops of hand-washing dish liquid

Fill chamber to 9/10 full with baking soda

Fill to brim with sea salt

Seal the cap and wash as usual!

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