Thanksgiving, a significant holiday here in the U.S., is just around the corner. Since Feng Shui is for every day, how can we best prepare for an experience that we can enjoy and remember fondly?
Any holiday carries with it increased traditions, gatherings and demands. All of the “extras” that make a holiday special can take more energy than we have to give. That is why Feng Shui, and it’s many vital Ch’i energy building tips, can make a difference and support you to have a happy, healthy, joy-filled experience.
These Feng Shui tips include both Inner Feng Shui techniques to improve your personal energy as well as simple Feng Shui adjustments you can make in your home. All will help to generate Ch’i that can move you toward a day filled with gratitude, sharing and harmonious interaction.
Thanksgiving Feng Shui Tip #1: Set a Thanksgiving Intention
On Thanksgiving, do you love to cook for 20 and be the hostess with the mostest? Is an intimate celebration with a few friends more your preference? Or perhaps volunteering to help with a community dinner, church supper or other local gathering would be your ultimate celebration.
Regardless of your preference, decide what you would truly like to do on this special day. Having a clear intention is the first step to creating an auspicious Ch’i flow that stays with you long after the holiday.
Sometimes holiday traditions box us into always doing the same thing year after year. Should family or other obligations stifle your ideal intention, charting a new course early and communicating with others can allow you to start to move the energy closer to something that works for you.
For example, if you normally spend hours baking six different homemade pies, you could opt to still bring dessert but only bake half the items and find a bakery you love to fill in the difference.
Explain to the host that you would still love to provide dessert and will have your classic but will unveil a delicious new offering as well. You could be surprised how everyone might enjoy a cake or specialty cookie alongside your legendary pumpkin pie.
Thanksgiving Feng Shui Tip #2: Center Yourself
Sometimes the bigger holidays can challenge my ability to stay centered in my intentions, not only for that day but my life in general. What steps can be taken when we start to feel off-kilter? Let’s turn to both Inner and outer Feng Shui to guide us back to breathing easy.
One Inner Feng Shui technique that can settle and elevate my energy is presented in my book, I Hold the Power of Peace. You can get your own hard copy for $6.95 or the ebook is just $1.99!
For now, try these three simple steps to assist when you feel the pressure of the holiday overtaking you.
- Thought: Stop and review what thoughts and spoken words are directing your intentions. If you hope to have a great time with everyone but are lamenting to your friend that your nosy sister-in-law is coming, your thoughts are creating adverse Ch’i that could derail you from your center.
- Imagination: Once you identify any discordant thoughts, simply drop them out of your mind. Replace them with a Good Feeling Story that you have at the ready. Your “story” of an adorable baby, romping puppy or cherished loved one can be brought to mind and immediately begin to shift the focus, and flow, in a much more positive direction.
- Feeling: Take your Good Feeling Story a step further and try to consciously feel the sensation of love, gratitude or other good vibe that the story generates. This is the key factor that really jump starts the positive energy flow and gets you back to center.
You can also take a quick Feng Shui look in the Center section of your home’s Feng Shui Bagua Map to reinforce a solid foundation for a smooth holiday. In many spaces I find that the Center gua of the home as well as each individual room is often a high traffic area, with a lot of activity and little furniture. This constant movement does not support the grounded nature of this Feng Shui area.
A square or rectangular rug may be placed there to help reinforce the Center. An alternative is to add an item that is brown, rust or yellow. Accessories or furniture with squares or rectangles are also an alternative.
Thanksgiving Feng Shui Tip #3: Share the Wealth
Being thankful and counting your blessings also relates very much to our sense of abundance. One way to keep our blessings flowing is to share the wealth. Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to continue your flow of auspicious Ch’i by donating to a local food pantry, homeless shelter or other needy cause.
Feng Shui teaches that everything is energy and the energy in all things is connected. As we radiate our own balanced Ch’i energy outward, we are accepting it from others as well. The quality of energy in this continuous exchange can be improved as we give and receive more abundantly.
We can also support this process in our homes by looking at the Wealth and Prosperity area. Located in the far back, left corner of our floor plan, take a quick check of its cleanliness, clutter quotient and overall feel.
After improving any discrepancies, place an item that makes you feel wealthy. I recently found a large gold souvenir coin at a gift shop. It has been placed, with intention, in the Wealth and Prosperity gua of my kitchen.
Thanksgiving Feng Shui Tip #4: Affirm Your Gratitude
Affirmations are another Inner Feng Shui tool that serves to strengthen and build energy. Even when the message may not be believable at first, when a phrase is repeated over and over, we can acclimate ourselves to its vibration as we repeat it.
Let’s use the affirmation at right as an example.
When you first repeat this saying, it may not accurately describe your current state of being. As you repeat it, begin to focus on its meaning. What would it be like for you to have a heart that opens wide? How would it feel to have gratitude flood in?
Continue your exercise, each time exploring more deeply its meaning and deep sentiment. Over time you should begin to personally identify with the saying’s vibration – its Ch’i energy.
When this connection is made, the affirmation begins to impact your life and you can receive its message not only in mind but in the opportunities that come your way.
If Thanksgiving is not a part of your culture’s celebrations, I invite you to try these techniques and Feng Shui tips with one of your major holidays. Being grateful, feeling centered and affirming your wishes are Inner Feng Shui techniques that are valuable any time of year.
Presenting my Feng Shui perspective on Thanksgiving would not be complete without giving thanks to each and every one of you Feng Shui enthusiasts that explores this rich topic with me. Your curiosity, vision and deep yearning for a better world for yourself using Feng Shui is so valuable and precious.
Thanksgiving can be a holiday that both inspires and nurtures. When approached with a Feng Shui lens, it can provide a heartfelt experience of gratitude and appreciation.
Know that your efforts will benefit more than you and your home. As you carry your new, auspicious Ch’i into the world, everyone around you will be graced by your brighter light.
Have fun,
Carol
