From a Feng Shui perspective, blessing ceremonies are a powerful way to change the Chi of your home, your property and your life. While Feng Shui cures have an impact on specific circumstance in your life, a blessing ceremony can simultaneously improve all areas of your life and environment.

Kids love to participate in happy ceremonies that honor special occasions like birthdays and New Year.  They can’t seem to get enough of the candles, music, bells, horns, drums and firecrackers. But it is also useful to teach kids ceremonies to clear sadness, worry and negative feelings after being ill, disciplined, or for overcoming a bad report card.

You can teach kids simple techniques to clear themselves and their spaces by using water, orange peels, bells, prayers and special transcendental methods given to us by His Holiness Grandmaster Lin Yun.  Stick to the principles of the cure and modify them for kids according to your inspiration and creativity.  You know your kids best.

One easy method is to have kids move 27 things in their rooms.  This cure by sense of touch is child friendly because kids can perform it themselves and understand why it works.  Simply have them move 27 things in their room and visualize that whatever is troubling them is moving and heading out the door.

It’s best to try to find things that haven’t been moved in a while, so use your inspiration and help kids to set intention.  “Moving” can be lifting, dusting, trashing, donating and recycling.  An overstuffed closet is a great place to start. Reorganizing is a great movement ceremony if you pair it with a clear intention.  When you’re finished, spray the room with a water/orange essential oil mix and you’re ready to go (until the next clearing ceremony).

Plan ahead and assemble a portable space clearing kit – negativity can pop up wherever you find yourself. Peeling an orange works wonders for clearing negative energy when you are on the run with kids, like when you’re on the way home from a loss at the ball field or some sort of “try out” that went awry. Never leave home without an orange or a little bottle of orange spray.

Singing is another great choice to clear and lift a child’s spirit, particularly when you couple it with clapping, snapping and other physical movements.  For an instant Chi transformation, adults must participate in the singing and carrying on.  Works every time.  Never leave home without a CD that everyone loves.

An orange peel bath is a powerful clearing ceremony for kids.  In addition to the transcendental benefits, the kids love seeing the little peels floating around the tub and bathing relaxes them before bed. In a pinch have kids wash their hands, particularly if the negative event involved touch.  Have them imagine all the bad feelings going down the drain.

The late His Holiness Grandmaster Lin Yun commented on my knack for incorporating his teachings into a creative, contemporary approach to working with children of all ages.   It’s not hard to do.  You just have to move beyond just accumulating ancient knowledge and turn the principles into modern wisdom that you use in every day life.

Going as myself for Halloween

Fall is definitely here in our nation’s capital. The cooler temperature set a lot of new things in motion as people scrambled for jackets and sweaters on their way to work and school. The stinkbugs are gone and the night time crickets are back. People are smiling and breathing in the autumn coolness and everyone seems ready to bid a fond farewell to the record-breaking heat we experienced this summer.

Halloween decorations and lights are everywhere and kids are excited to tell you “who they are going to be for Halloween.” Costumes and disguises are very much a part of celebrating this time of year. It got me thinking about how commonplace “disguises” are in our modern lives. Disguising goes hand in hand with pretending and denying – we claim we’re fine when we’re not, we’re happy when we’re not, we’re calm when we’re not. We deny feeling sick, overwhelmed, exhausted or scared as if the admission is a sign of weakness rather than a clue to what is really going on in our lives.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in life, in surviving and getting ahead that the disguise becomes who we are.  Sometimes we lose sight of who we “really” are and our basic requirements for having a mindfully balanced life. Make it a point to take a few minutes today to ask yourself if the real you is experiencing the sweetness of life without all the drama. You have the power to attract what you want into your life.

Why not take off your disguise (or at least a small part of it) and let the real you experience some peace, joy and harmony.  Of course, a bag of candy or some hot apple cider might make the process a little easier.

Feng Shui Farmer

My work as a Feng Shui farmer has been humorous, touching, sometimes frustrating, always powerful and always inspirational.  I will admit that it hasn’t always been easy to teach people about digging – there’s so much misunderstanding – but it’s always been interesting.  I confess – I really dig helping others dig.

Feng Shui is about desiring change and then creating that change by incorporating a little ancient wisdom into our modern complex lives.  To that end, digging deep down inside is essential to get to the “root” of the matter.  The reasons to dig and the methods of digging are as numerous as the people who find their way to this ancient art of placement.

Some people call me because they are ready to dig while others will never see the point.  Some folks dig with their hearts, their souls and their hands – others with a shovel, a prayer or a pen.  One thing is for sure when the urge to dig comes, nothing can stand in the way.

Some people dig for practical reasons like progress and prosperity.  They want better finances, better careers and improved interpersonal relations.  Some people dig for emotional and spiritual reasons.  They want to create meaning in their lives, to restore their spirit or to learn patience and kindness.  Some people dig when they are stressed, ill, worried or afraid.  They want to reclaim joy and balance in their lives and feel better overall.

Most people dig in their hearts and homes. But some people actually do their digging in the dirt.  They dig to create sacred outdoor spaces and are rewarded with a continuous supply of herbs, flowers and reflections of themselves.  Some people dig just because.  Some people have no idea why they are digging and just go through the motions.

Washington, DC, is a beautiful city where many powerful forces and long-cherished traditions come together.  The old “yin” ways provide tradition, cultural and spiritual depth.  At the same time new modern buildings provide energy to our city.  These “yang” forms reflect evolving technologies and changing patterns in cultural thought.  Someone is always digging in one form or another around here – literally and figuratively.

It has been quite an experience for me to live and work in a place of great intensity.  People come from all over the world to make a difference here. Some come for wealth and power, some come to teach or learn in our many universities, some come to serve in government and some have absolutely no idea what exactly they are doing here now that they are here.

The Washington, DC, area is a dynamic place rich with history and diversity but also very transient.   People arrive and leave with such frequency that the metro area can become an environment in which it is easy to feel unloved, disconnected and overwhelmed.  Because many folks here have long commutes and work long hours, they often lose their connection to the outdoors which further complicates their ability to tend to their “inner soil.”  I help them tenderly care for their “inner soil” so they can overcome any psychological, emotional, mental or cultural obstacles to planting their gardens.

In some gardens I help prepare the soil while others are overgrown with weeds and it takes a while to clear away the debris.  Some folks need just a little help to encourage the tender green shoots appearing at the surface while others need a farmer’s manual and a long-term plan. One thing is for sure, when you start digging there is an abundance of love, caring, sharing, understanding, compassion, consideration, loyalty and joy.  That’s not to say that the digging is easy but it is always worth it because digging is power.

It is my hope that more people will continue to seek the rewards of planting a garden in their minds, bodies, spirits and homes to restore balance and harmony to their lives.  It has been my experience as a Feng Shui farmer that when people learn what Feng Shui is really all about, they dig it.  When they dig it, they really dig it. That’s when they’ll be able to stand back and feel the thrill of cultivating their Chi.