JOURNEY in HARMONY

I had the pleasure recently of participating in a tele-seminar with Dr. Alice Vlietstra a psychologist at Life Tree Solutions and anthropologist, Dr. Jane Granskog. Our topic was about creating environments of harmony and dealing with all the ’stuff’ we seem to accumulate in our life. We see articles about clutter all the time and how to deal with it. And in many cases it always seems to mysteriously and magically return to our lives.

We each shared our insights on how our belongings affect our thinking, behavior, stress level and our culture. This was fascinating to learn that this has not been a problem for all time in our western culture, AND, not all cultures emulate western behavior.

There’s fascinating insights for everyone who has clutter or has ever experienced stress caused by “too much stuff!”

http://www.lifetreesolutions.com/seminars/conference-calls

Share your comments below…..

Have you ever felt a bit out of sorts and wonder why? Perhaps you have been trying to make some changes in your life but nothing is working. Did you ever consider that your home may be influencing you? Are you aware of when you are at ease in a room and can work and play comfortably. Or perhaps just the opposite, that some rooms aren’t relaxing at all and you can hardly think in there?

Here’s a simple experiment to help you get in touch with the energy in your home and understand how it is affecting you:

• First, choose two rooms in your home … one that is messy or cluttered and one that is clean & attractive.
• Next, get calm and centered by closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths.
• Then, when your head is clear and you feel relaxed, walk into the messy, perhaps cluttered room … maybe it is your garage … and sense how you feel. What thoughts come to mind, are your spirits lifted or do you feel down and stressed by what you see?
• Again, get calm and centered by closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths.
• Then, walk into the attractive room that is free of clutter. Again, sense how your mind and body feel … are you tense or relaxed, happy or stressed and sad? What do you want to do in this room … sit & read, relax, create, draw, talk?

Can you feel the difference between the energy in these two spaces? How do they change your mood and thinking in a positive and/or negative way?

We are all affected by the energy in the spaces around us. The good news … we have the ability to control the energy in our environment. We can create the surroundings we need and desire to live, work & play in a balanced, positive, supportive home.

So if you’re feeling stumped and are curious to try new ways to feel, work and play better try these tips:

• Cluttered spaces usually make us irritable, stressed, depressed, sluggish and confused. So clear your clutter!
• Open spaces, with good lighting help us relax, feel comfortable, calm our nerves and help us think clearly helping us be creative and productive.

Check back for more tips soon…..

I had an enjoyable learning experience recently at a workshop called “Finding Your Voice – Speaking Your Truth”  facilitated by a talented coach Mary D’Amato in St. Louis, MO. It was fascinating working with other professional women digging deep into our psyches. Our goal was to identify an issue we would like to re-play from our past and script a new response that better honors our values and ourselves in the future. Think of it as re-writing the heroine’s future in a movie’s ending. Quite a positive and worthwhile experience! You can check out the program here…http://www.rxmgt.com/home/womans-retreats. I highly recommend it.

For me the workshop was a great example of life as an energy connection. Simply stated:

1. begin with a LIFE premise: an issue from our past we want to learn from and handle better in the future
2. add ENERGY: fresh outlook plus a variety of new ideas creating a new perspective
3. outcome: gain deeper understanding and CONNECTION to our core values, learn more options, and gain confidence to express our clear intentions

While this exercise was draining at times when I finished I felt exhilarated, buoyant, creative and energized. My soul seemed free from the ’stuff’ I carried around for months or longer with these issues.

We all, at times, find it difficult to be focused, speak our truth and live our truth too. Why is this important? If we can’t focus we can find it difficult to get even simple things done much less succeed at complex tasks…. like getting a degree from college or creating a business to name a few. When we don’t follow our intuition and identify what is important to us we often feel lost, unconnected, make bad choices, feel alone and unappreciated. Yuck!

The ability to see, understand and influence the energy in our life is fascinating and a valuable skill. It’s like viewing the world through new glasses… colors are brighter and things are sharper… life is good. Once you catch on to understanding energy…you’ll be changed and rewarded for life.

What’s energy, what does it do anyway, you ask? A short explanation is: energy is everywhere, of everything and in everything. Scientists recognize energy exists in many forms. Energy can at times be called the ’stuff’ in our life, such as:

• physical things (too many books, clothes) or not the right things (you really don’t like the painting or shoes)
• mental things (too many thoughts – the chatter you can’t shut off in your head) or multiple goals you want to achieve – all right now!
• emotional things (heartache over the one that got away or excitement over too many heartthrobs) or regrets
• the space (too much, too cramped), air (fresh or stale) and objects that surround us (attractive or not)

It’s no wonder we find it challenging to achieve the ‘quality’ of life we long for. So what to do?

I’m passionate about understanding energy and using this knowledge to enhance my life. So many wonderful changes have already happened to me…I’m never looking back. The workshop helped me clear my energy block around writing by helping me create a fresh outlook on the situation and adding new ideas from my group, resulting in my commitment (this is what I was lacking) to write a weekly blog. I’ve aptly named it: “LIFE – ENERGY – CONNECTION“. I will show you how to:

• create balance in your life (no more working all weekend) and why that’s important
• live with more energy and less stress each day (have some fun & smile!)
• make a stronger connection with yourself, the people, relationships and the things that are important in your life (the who and what you would take to that island paradise if you HAD to move today and live forever)
• live surrounded by and connected to what you love (not just a lot of ’stuff’)

Of course I’ve made it easy (no stress=good energy) to sign up for ‘LIFE – ENERGY – CONNECTION‘ weekly. Just click on the RSS Feed (orange box) near the top right of this page and choose your preferred delivery option.

Here’s to your LIFE ….. let’s fine-tune your ENERGY and strengthen your CONNECTIONS!

To your happiness, Samantha

When it comes to clutter there’s no where to hide. What does this mean? Well, you can put something out of sight, as in another room, or down in the basement, but ‘that stuff’ still lingers in the back of your mind even though you can’t literally see it. Sort of like that bad dream you can’t shake.

Clutter is things you don’t love, use or need that exist in three areas of your life:

• physical….the stuff you can literally see & feel
• mental…the background chatter that goes on in your head
• emotional…those lingering feelings of despair, loss, anger, resentment that remain in your heart long after the incident is passed

Listening to a ‘no texting while driving’ message today it occurred to me that we so overload our life with activities, requiring multitasking to get it all done, I wonder if we realize we are cluttering up our minds with more than we really can or should handle all at once. What effect is all this ‘busy-ness’ having on us?

All our ‘busy-ness’ is creating more mental clutter by the minute because we’re trying to keep it all straight! This is resulting in a growing in-ability to focus on anything for more than 10 seconds. This seems like the wrong road to take in life. Do you want your spouse, date, children, parents to spend just 10 seconds actually listening to you?

Wow, that thought makes me crazy! How about you?

Feng Shui is about finding balance in life, not the ‘all work & no play’ philosophy. So here’s a quick idea to get you started using some basic Feng Shui wisdom and make your life happier and more satisfying. Start today with this easy step to de-clutter your brain and become more mindful about who and what is important to you:

Force yourself, yes, I know it will be necessary to force yourself to sit quietly for 10 minutes without interruption, close your eyes and just breathe. I know it’s hard, I’ve been there… but oh, it’s so worth your time and sanity to do it.  Then, after you know how good it feels and how much you need it, force yourself to do it once a day. Aren’t you worth it? Don’t you deserve 10 minutes of  ‘free-me’ time?

That’s it! Start there, and don’t let me know how you’re doing… (not because I don’t want to know how you are doing) but because I don’t want to give you anything more to do….you’re busy enough already.

Then, when you feel like it, and your mind and life is less cluttered and more enjoyable, check back with me and find more easy ways to release the burden of clutter from your mind, space and life.  Have fun!

Gals, (and guys of course) Feng Shui helps us care for ourselves and make our life easier and better. Feng Shui is focused on energy and tells us that our home is the most important place in our life. Caring for ourselves and our home takes on many forms, some not always obvious, with many often overlooked benefits. Most women care for others and often run out of time to care for themselves. Well gals, this blog is for you…the first in my new series sharing easy ways to help you make your home and life better…one small, easy step at a time.

Inviting, restful?

Does this make you feel relaxed?

Start with your bedroom, the most important place in your home in Feng Shui. First, answer these questions about your bedroom and … say them out loud…just for fun.
Do you like your bedroom?
Do you like your bed?
Do you sleep well?
Have you actually decorated your bedroom so you love it?
Is your bedroom your second office?
Is it your second/third TV room?

OK, now you know what you really think of your bedroom and how you use it. So, first things first…your bedroom is meant for two things…sleeping and intimacy! If your bedroom serves any other function…..you’re robbing yourself of true relaxation, warm intimate relations and rejuvenating your body. These are three things you need to fulfill your desires for a long life filled with happiness, good health and doing everything else on your bucket list.

How your bedroom looks, feels, and how you use and care for it is vitally important. Your bedroom reflects how you treat yourself, your partner and your intimate relations. I know you’re thinking I’m pushing it a bit, but stay with me. Are you saying: “but I don’t have a partner”…well, this will help clear your head and start to attract the right one. I’ll start with one easy change in your bedroom. And I’ll bet only 15% of my readers already do this.

This easy change is: make your bed every day!

Sound silly? Sound dumb? How can that help me? How does my life improve if I make my bed you ask? Well listen up! Your bed reflects the condition of your head. If it’s jumbled and unmade, so’s your head and subsequently your life. You are helping yourself in 3 ways when you make your bed: you show attention, care and respect for yourself. And what’s not good about that?

1. Attention: You pay attention to the most important piece of furniture in the most important room in your home – your bedroom where you spend 6-8 hours renewing your body & spirit daily. The bed that helps you relax your muscles and supports you as you sleep.

2. Respect: You respect yourself by spending a few quiet moments arranging your bed and at the same time organizing your thoughts to start your day in a positive, clear frame of mind.

3. Care: You show gratitude towards what you appreciate… and you prepare your room for the upcoming night’s restful sleep and in turn care for yourself. Would you rather walk into a bedroom with a neat bed or one that looks like it’s been slept in while you were at work? The messy bed feels cluttered and that’s too much energy for a relaxing night’s sleep. Besides it puts you in a down mood….”what this mess again?”

So please, start here… make your bed every day for just one week. You can stick with anything for a week. See how you feel. I predict you’ll benefit, feeling more relaxed, more in control, less stressed, think more clearly, and you will have a wonderful week. After all, if you are rested, relaxed and confident you will glow.

I’d love to know how you do….drop me a note. Stop back next week too as I explore another aspect of the master bedroom to help bring sweet dreams and delicious relationships.

How are you doing? … Can you FOCUS?

Have you noticed there are so many people talking about FOCUS? Actually people are talking about how they lack the ability to focus. More people are noticing that we no longer feel in control of our multitasking lives. Is that how you feel? Were you able to begin using any suggestions I gave you in my last post? Were they useful or were you too busy doing 10 things at once?

I noticed something recently myself and I want to share my experience – I had a problem with my internet provider setup so Tech Support helped me get everything fixed. The provider has up graded their site and when I got everything fixed I looked at my new sign in page. I could hardly tell where to sign in as there were so many ads, options and toolbars I was getting blinded by all the flashing, scrolling, multiple options on one screen.

I searched my new screen to write some emails but the email function was certainly secondary (or more correctly probably #9 out of 10) to all the ads and options I had available. How many of these options do I actually use? Almost 70% of them are unnecessary clutter and I can’t turn most of them off. The snarly guy sneering at me to re-finance, and the flashing diet miracle make me squeeze my email message between them to write. While trying to write they are like a circus flashing at me enticing me to ‘CLICK HERE”. And we wonder why we can’t focus? Duh!

It takes effort to stay focused these days! And the benefits of being mindful of what we are doing at the present moment are HUGE!

Here’s some easy examples – there are so many more:

1. You actually appreciate the food you are eating, the book you are reading, the relaxing bath you are taking

2. Your can calm & clear your mind to think in depth about a situation that requires your attention – and find the right solution.

3. You can finish projects you started last month, week, year

4. You can relax and really listen to your children, spouse, partner, friend

5. You can pay attention to (or discover) what’s really important in your life…

Can you clear out some of the clutter in your life and be mindful today? Let me know how you’re doing…..