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, 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.

Are you wearing the best colors for you? Each of us has a power color based on the five elements and the day we were born. Sign up for my email list and provide me the day, month, and year of your birth and I will send you your birth element and power color!

Holiday Chi and The Christmas Tree

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Holiday Chi and The Christmas Tree

My family celebrates Hanukkah, Christmas, The Winter Solstice, New Year’s, and Chinese New Year, – because feng shui is all about moving and celebrating all kinds of energy.

Since the energy in your home affects your health and well-being, here are nine things you can do to help with your holiday chi:

  1. Clear out unused toys and items. Before the tree and new gifts are given, take time to go through each room and clear out old, broken, and unused items.
  2. Put the Christmas tree up early. Research has shown that people who put up their trees earlier are happier, and the twinkling lights of the tree naturally put us in a better mood.
  3. Placement is important. Select a spot where the tree isn’t blocking your path and access to things like cabinets you might need.
  4. Buy a live tree. Consider buying a tree with roots so you can plant it outside after the holidays, which adds to your karma points. Many communities have an “adopt a tree” program where you return your tree in January so it can be planted outside with other trees, and then you can decide if you want it back next year.
  5. Use gold ornaments. The color gold represents wealth and opportunity.
  6. Everyone decorates. Have everyone in the family place at least one decoration on the tree. This will help to contribute to better family connections.
  7. Presents. Never let your tree stand without presents; it’s like having a wallet with no cash. Both are bad symbolism.
  8. Place lots of heartfelt gifts under the tree. This year more than ever is the perfect time to forgo extravagant expensive gifts in exchange for thoughtful ones. Write a meaningful letter to each member of your family and tell them how grateful you are for them and why. Put the letter in a big box symbolizing all your gratitude. Go to the Dollar Store and buy playing cards and games so that after you open your gifts; your family can continue to enjoy each other. Baked goods under the tree are always welcome in our home.
  9. Keep the lights on throughout the night. Lights are the most powerful way of activating the fire element, which will bring happiness and good fortune. So, if it is safe to do so, leave the lights on, symbolizing that you are lighting the way for opportunities next year.

However you celebrate, warmest wishes, and may your days be merry and bright!

Are you wearing the best colors for you? Each of us has a power color based on the five elements and the day we were born. Sign up for my email list and provide me the day, month, and year of your birth and I will send you your birth element and power color!

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 is 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 and 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.

Are you wearing the best colors for you? Each of us has a power color based on the five elements and the day we were born. Sign up for my email list and provide me the day, month, and year of your birth and I will send you your birth element and power color!

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.

Are you wearing the best colors for you? Each of us has a power color based on the five elements and the day we were born. Sign up for my email list and provide me the day, month, and year of your birth and I will send you your birth element and power color!

Feng Shui Your Halloween

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Feng Shui Your Halloween

Several of y’all have asked me whether the changes you make when you decorate for Halloween affect the Feng Shui or Chi adjustments that you have already made to your homes.

This is a time of year when everything is decked out in orange and black or covered with witches and ghosts.

This is a time of year when everything is decked out in orange and black or covered with witches and ghosts. However, there is no need to be concerned about ruining the chi of a home if you follow a few simple decorating guidelines for balancing the five elements. The five elements in Feng Shui are used to describe the colors, shapes, and materials attributes around you. The five elements are fire, earth, metal, water, and wood.

Here are five simple Halloween decorating tips that will help you keep the five elements in balance and the chi flowing:

4. Ghosts: Halloween is one time when ghosts are considered positive feng shui
  1. Black: Black is the water element color which represents the flow of energy. For example, I hang a big witch from a tree, and she is dressed in black. The wind moves her, and she looks as if she is flying so she really moves the chi around my front yard.
  2. Ghosts: Halloween is one time when ghosts are considered positive feng shui because they add so much fun to the night. Mine are white, representing the metal element, and they sit proudly in my front yard like little soldiers greeting all my little trick-or-treaters.
  3. This is a time of year when everything is decked out in orange and black or covered with witches and ghosts. Orange: It’s natural to use lots of orange color for Halloween decorations, but it’s also good feng shui. Orange is the fire element color in feng shui so use lots of orange decorations to promote conversation and communication. I like to put a huge orange pumpkin by my front door.
  4. Lighting: Lighting is a major tool in feng shui and for Halloween, this could be as simple as hanging up lights or keeping your porch light on. Jack-o-lanterns with candles in them are a good source of lighting. You can always use lanterns or luminarias to light the way for all the trick-or-treaters. I hang bit orange witch hats by my front door lighting the way to me and the candy. I put the witches’ hats over three witches holding their wooden broomsticks representing the wood element.
  5. Animal Symbols: Animal symbols like owls, bats and ravens are good feng shui symbols for Halloween.Animal symbols like owls, bats, and ravens are good feng shui symbols for Halloween. Display these animals by your front door or place them in windows as a token of welcome. Ravens are mysterious and powerful symbols because their deep black color and macabre presence represent mystery and power. I put a black raven in a candy cane wreath on my front door which represents the earth element.

Wishing y’all a night of fright, the pale moonlight! I hope your Halloween is a scream!

Are you wearing the best colors for you? Each of us has a power color based on the five elements and the day we were born. Sign up for my email list and provide me the day, month, and year of your birth and I will send you your birth element and power color!

Michelle Cromer