5 Things You Can Do During This Yin Season

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The crisp, white snow has smothered summer. It appears as if someone has laid a sparkling white sheet over what was once summer and put it to bed. I love winter. I love the hot chocolate with marshmallows melting into the whipped cream, snuggling up with a fire burning, blankets draped over me, and most of all a brilliant book.

In winter and as the world becomes cold, we go inside. Nature tends to freeze and die and there is a stillness like no other time of the year. It is in the deep stillness that gives us a moment to look into our depths, reconnect to our inner being, and embrace the darkness that surrounds us. 

This is the season that we celebrate holidays, we eat and drink, and go to parties with our friends, but it is also the season where our inner world is most accessible because winter is represented by the water element, the most yin of all the five elements. This is a time of contemplation and reflection. 

Here are a few things I do during this yin season:

  1. Practice self-acceptance –  for me this means spending five minutes a day looking in a mirror at myself and I don’t criticize what I see.
  2. Listen and recharge – Listen more to others and listen closely to what your heart might be saying. It is a time of receiving, not doing.
  3. Drink lots of water – in this yin season we lose a great deal of moisture out of our bodies so it is important to hydrate.
  4. Dream – we all have ideas and dreams and this season allows us to slow down and have these thoughts germinate as if we were planting a garden. Nurture these images and allow them to develop and grow naturally. Do this and see what sprouts in the spring.
  5. Serve – so many are in need during the winter. Perhaps gather coats for the homeless shelter or make a pot of soup for the older people in your neighborhood. Each season provides us all with unique chances to help those around us.

Have any Feng Shui questions? Feel free to contact me at michelle@michellecromer.com and sign up for your Power Color or visit me on Facebook at Michelle Cromer Feng Shui.

AI, Jesus, Aliens and Feng Shui

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AI, Jesus, Aliens and Feng Shui
Photo by Lucas Pezeta

What are your thoughts on Artificial Intelligence as it relates to Feng Shui, Jesus, and Aliens? This is the question I got from a viewer, so let’s unpack this.

Let’s take aliens first since I know the least about them. So, let’s put our science crash space helmets on and ask if UFOs were spaceships from other star systems then how do they cross the interstellar void? Let’s break this down into two parts:

  1. One light year equals 32 million trips around the earth. Astronomers measure interstellar distances in light years which is the distance light travels in a year and spans six trillion miles that’s 12 zeros. The Milky Way Galaxy is about 100,000 light-years across. And that is just our neighborhood. Space is a big, huge place. When UFOs come for a visit, these are the distances they have to cross.
  2. UFOs obey the speed limit because the universe has a maximum speed limit, and nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. So, I think UFOs are magical. And they are way more advanced than we are. How they relate to feng shui is that they must have found a way to stay in the cosmic flow and manipulate laws on their behalf.

So, whether Jesus knew it, he was actually practicing the principles of Feng Shui.Feng Shui is older than Jesus, so it had to have been around, and I feel there has never been a human on our planet who was more balanced and who brought harmony and love to any situation. So, whether Jesus knew it, he was actually practicing the principles of Feng Shui.

Artificial Intelligence – let’s take the fear out of AI.Artificial Intelligence – let’s take the fear out of AI. My son August is a full professor at New York University, and he teaches the intersection between AI and art. I recently went for a visit and asked him if my fears were founded. He laughed and explained that humans seem to give AI much more credit than it deserves. As a writer, I specifically wanted to know about CHAT GPT. August said that CHAT can scour all the data banks and write something that is good, but CHAT does not have the capability to have original thoughts. This brought me a great deal of comfort.

Thanks for the questions!

Have any Feng Shui questions? Feel free to contact me at michelle@michellecromer.com and sign up for your Power Color or visit me on Facebook at Michelle Cromer Feng Shui.

Nine Feng Shui Tips to Eliminate Holiday Stress

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Nine Feng Shui Tips to Eliminate Holiday Stress
Photo by Leeloo Thefirst

With the holidays once more upon us, we need to keep your chi in balance. Here are my 9 Holiday Feng Shui Tips.

  1. Set your holiday intentions:
    Before the holidays begin clear the energy of your space by opening up the windows and burning a sage. Spray rose oil to invite in love. Write down affirmations in the present tense in a blue journal. The color blue is a calming color.
  2. Be Mindful of the Colors you wear:
    The traditional colors of the season are red and green. Red represents the element of fire and green the element of wood. Fire burns wood and grows stronger. Balance the red by using colors that represent water such as blue and black.
  3. Clear the Clutter From Your Front Door:
    The front door is the entryway to bring in good chi and harmony. Make sure this area is clutter-free, well lit, and honor this space by using your front door every day.
  4. Live plants:
    Healthy plants enhance the wood element and symbolize new beginnings and family relationships. The perfect thing for the holidays and the New Year!
  5. You are what you eat: The holidays are full of sugar, sugar, and more sugar. To keep good internal harmony, balance, and flow select seasonal foods in the color of the rainbow. 
  6. Take a nine-minute break each day and go for a walk: A walk, hike, or bike ride outside will provide the fresh air needed to replenish our bodies with oxygen and help us cope with holiday stress. Take your shoes off, stand in the grass, and breathe. This calming gesture will help us reduce stress.
  7. Place a bowl of oranges with cloves in your kitchen: Oranges stimulate the mind and improve your mood. Cloves stimulate balance. The combination has a powerful effect on the flow of chi and energy in the home.
  8. You are what you keep: Decluttering can increase the chi (life energy) of your home and invite change into your life. End the year by reducing your clutter and opening up space for new energy to flow into your life.
  9. Space clearing after the holidays: After the parties are over and the relatives are gone, burn incense or sage throughout the house open the doors and windows, and bring in fresh air to clear out all the lingering stress. And stand in gratitude that the holidays are over and everything went well.

Click here for your free downloadable Holiday Tips.

Have any Feng Shui questions? Feel free to contact me at michelle@michellecromer.com and sign up for your Power Color or visit me on Facebook at Michelle Cromer Feng Shui.

Harmonious Tips for Thanksgiving

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Harmonious Tips for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the kick-off to the holiday season and it can be stressful so here are some harmonious tips to help make your Thanksgiving warm and peaceful:

  1. Harmonious seatingHarmonious seating
    The dining room is considered to be the place of wealth in your home, so use it, and bring out your good stuff, your china, crystal, and silver.
  2. Harmonious décor
    If you think your guests might argue, and mine seem to, then invite an even number of people for that balance.
    In Feng Shui, we divide everything in order to balance the yin (dark) and the yang (light). So decorate with soothing earth colors like pumpkin, evergreen, and chocolate. Orange is the element of fire, which encourages conversation. Yellow wakes up the room just like the sun.
  3. Harmonious Food
    Have plenty of food and all of your family’s favorites. In Texas, we have cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole, broccoli cheese casserole and yes that is made with Velveeta cheese, tamales, and of course lemon Jell-O. I love pie so I have half of a pie per person and I normally have around 26 people. Pumpkin, pecan, apple, cherry, sweet potato, buttermilk, coconut cream pie, and chocolate – we have it all. As we are eating, my family and friends take turns and tell everyone the main thing that they are grateful for. After you eat move your chi and take a walk or play football.

Harmonious Food

I hope all of y’all have a healthy, happy, and prosperous holiday filled with good food, great family, and friends who surround you with love, harmony, joy, and of course tons of gratitude.

Have any Feng Shui questions? Feel free to contact me at michelle@michellecromer.com and sign up for your Power Color or visit me on Facebook at Michelle Cromer Feng Shui.

Using Feng Shui to Stay Grounded During Chaos

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Using Feng Shui to Stay Grounded in Chaos
Photo by Marek Piwnicki from Pexels

In times of crisis and chaos, like right now, so much lies beyond our control. But we always have control over at least one thing. That is our own reaction to what’s happening. When we choose to find our grounding in the midst of crisis and chaos, we empower ourselves. We free up mental space, so we can think more clearly. This enables us to act in alignment with our inner strength and wisdom, so we can make the best possible decisions for our loved ones and ourselves.

If you want to know how to stay grounded, you first need to establish what it means to be grounded. Being grounded means you’re connected to your calm, steady center. It’s trusting in your ability to survive; even when what’s happening in your life feels like it’s threatening to overwhelm you. I think of it as having deep, strong roots to anchor me – like a giant oak tree. Even when the winds blow hard and my limbs swoop and sway, my core remains unmovable.

But being grounded means we don’t give in to the chaos. Instead, we make a conscious choice to return to, or find, our inner source for courage, trust, and resilience. We choose again and again to return to a more grounded perspective.

One of the best ways to stay grounded is to shift what’s happening for you energetically in your body. There are two reasons for this. The first is we experience anxiety and fear acutely in the body. That’s why we often use the term nervous energy when talking about these emotional states. When we’re feeling anxiety and fear, the nerves in our body are frazzled and charged. If the emotional charge is high enough, we may also feel elevated heart rate, tightness in the chest, shortness of breath, trembling, and other physical manifestations. Fear, anxiety, and stress live in the body.

The five elements in feng shui are utilized to bring balance and harmony so here are ways to stay grounded using those elements:

  1. Earth: physically in our bodies, earth represents our bones, skin, and hair, so stand barefoot on the earth every single day, get a facial, which is wonderful for your skin, and get a haircut.
  2. Water: saliva, urine, semen, blood, sweat, and our kidneys. So drink a lot of water, or go into the water, work out sweat, and have sex.
  3. Fire: Hunger, sleep, and our heart. So fast one day a week, get a good night’s sleep, and love and be loved.
  4. Metal: which is air and is our lungs so take deep breaths throughout the day.
  5. Wood: Liver and gall bladder so give your liver a break and don’t drink alcohol. Stand under a tree and feel the unwavering strength of that tree.

 

Have any Feng Shui questions? Feel free to contact me at michelle@michellecromer.com and sign up for your Power Color or visit me on Facebook at Michelle Cromer Feng Shui.

Michelle Cromer