By Michelle Luongo
Harmonious Holidays – Reality, not a Dream! Do your family gatherings result in more stress than harmony? We are never more aware of these facts than at holiday season, when all of the family is together. Nonetheless, there are ways you can prepare your home so the holidays proceed more smoothly and happily. Feng Shui has some uncomplicated, practical solutions for creating harmony for your home this holiday season.
Eliminate clutter. As holiday decorations come out, some everyday items may have to be stored to prevent overloading your environment, creating disharmony and preventing the flow of positive energy. The holidays can bring with it an entirely new opportunity for clutter to enter your home. It comes in disguised as gift wrap, Christmas cards, party invitations, decorations, unwanted gifts and the list is endless. Try to manage what enters your home so that you avoid feeling totally overwhelmed by the experience. For Feng Shui harmony in the home, the goal is a clutter free environment – a welcome sanctuary from the hectic outside world.
Holiday Decorating Your choice and placement of decorations is vital to the ambiance of your home and to the harmony of those who enter. Too many bright colors can create an overly stimulating environment and increase the risk of tension. While you may love the bright reds, greens and golds of the holiday season, these colors enhance existing energy and should be balanced with more calming colors, such as cream, blues and pale shades.
The Christmas tree is a powerful focal point in your holiday décor. There are three favorable locations to consider for your tree. First, is the center section of the left side of your home, where it will promote family togetherness. The next is the far left corner of your home, where it will encourage abundance and prosperity. Finally, the center portion of the far wall of your home can invite fame. When decorating your tree, consider applying Feng Shui colors for beneficial results. Red is the most popular color for the holidays, but avoid overdoing it. Red is of the fire element and can bring about unwelcomed stress and anxiety. But, then again green represents the wood element that can help calm your home as well as be nourishing to your health. Blue is a water element color and can also have a very calming and soothing influence. Living plants are providers of fresh, vital chi, and adding Christmas plants to a room is a wonderful Feng Shui cure. Mistletoe is thought to inspire tranquility and a peaceful state of mind, as well, it is believed by some to be a magical, healing plant. Holly is a sign of good wishes towards all. The red Poinsettia represents love and passion. You might also include wood in your decorations such as a wreath, to help promote harmonious family gatherings.
The Holiday Dinner Table A festive table set with shiny items such as silver serving pieces, sparkling crystal, and china, add excitement to the holiday dinner. Using candles will emanate a natural energy and enhance the soothing effects of dimmed lights. Dress the holiday dinner table by striking the perfect balance between the fire element of red napkins for a festive mood and the calming elements of green and cream colored linens. Round or oval tables are the best for Feng Shui friendly dining. In fact, circular shapes are symbolic of eternal unity and intimacy. If you do have a rectangular dining table, to ensure that everyone gets along, set your table with a cloth table to smooth the hard edges. Make sure your guests are not seated too close to the corners. This can cause a feeling of agitation and if people feel uncomfortably confined, they will be more likely to argue.
Gift Giving Looking for the perfect Christmas or Hanukkah gifts? The gifts you choose may have a great deal of hidden meaning according to Feng Shui. Here are some gifts to avoid giving and options for reversing the hidden message in these gifts if you receive them:
Steer clear of giving an empty wallet, purse, or briefcase as a gift, as it symbolizes the lack of prosperity. Instead, fill it with dollar bills, or coins to send the message that your gift will always be abundant with wealth for the recipient. In the West, timepieces are quite popular gifts. These include: alarm clock, wall clock, pocket watch, and wristwatch. Timepieces measure the passage of time and this subtly suggests a limited lifespan, which is very inauspicious. It is not recommended to give knives, scissors, or letter openers as gifts since they denote cutting a relationship. If you are the recipient of any of these gifts, hand over a coin to the giver to symbolize that you bought the item, and nullifies the negative effects.
Re-gifting is Feng Shui-friendly because it eliminates things that are not valuable to you and could be thoroughly enjoyed by someone else. Just be sure to avoid re-gifting if you have negative feelings about the gift or its original giver, since you might be passing along your negative thoughts to the next recipient.
What is Christmas?
“It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present,
hope for the future. It is a fervent wish
that every cup may overflow
with blessings rich and eternal,
and that every path
may lead to peace.”
-Agnes M. Pharo
Michelle Luongo, is a Certified Feng Shui Practitioner, founder of Balanced Living, Inc., and the Director of the East Coast Academy of Feng Shui. She is recognized for blending real-life situations with Feng Shui knowledge while offering her unique combination of skills that create innovative and practical solutions to a multifaceted teachings and consulting. Visit her online www.balancedlivinginc.com or call 888-272-7094
For more great holiday shopping ideas, check out the Premier Issue of the Women’s Holiday Gift-Giving Guide here: http://bit.ly/1Z6LSF
