by Ken Lauher

Easy Feng Shui changes

…you can make to your home to help you remember the spirit of the season.

As the leaves begin to change for those in the Western hemisphere, days get shorter and the temperatures get a bit brisker, we prepare for the holiday season. Staying balanced during the holidays is always a challenge. Fortunately, Thanksgiving sits at the beginning of the season and provides us with the opportunity to get grounded, to remember our life purpose and to renew our commitment to living in the moment.

If we’re practicing positive thinking and using our thoughts to manifest everything we want in life, we know that a key component is to be grateful for what we have in order to open ourselves to the opportunity to receive even more. But it can be difficult to show gratitude for what we do have when we want even more — whether we’re talking about love, money, time, energy… anything at all. Frustration exists when there’s a gap between where we are and where you feel we should be. We feel stuck. It becomes hard to be grateful for everything we have. When we use Feng Shui to bring our space into alignment with our energy, help us discover our life purpose and become in touch with our true self, those actions automatically produce gratitude. We become grateful for the present moment, and everything else is just a bonus.

As Dale Carnegie noted, “Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.” Once we achieve that state of happiness, where we are in alignment with our true self, everything we desire comes flowing toward us; we begin getting what we want, naturally — almost effortlessly.

How can we use Feng Shui to put us in that state of mind to begin attracting the love, income, and lifestyle we desire?

The Process of Gratitude Begins with Giving

Thanksgiving as a holiday has two components — “thanks” and “giving.” The first part means showing gratitude for everything we have, and also gratitude for what we desire. Whatever we want is already part of the energy of the Universe; we just have to bring our own energy into alignment with our desire in order to draw it to us. As Deepak Chopra noted when someone asked him where the money would come from to build his now-world-famous center: “It will come from wherever it is.”

The second part of Thanksgiving emphasizes the giving. We won’t get into the history of the holiday — suffice it to say that giving, sharing and kindness are an integral part of the entire holiday season. The Feng Shui tips that follow will help you show gratitude and also find opportunities to give with an open heart, which makes it all that much easier to receive without hesitation.

Ways to Show Gratitude Using Feng Shui

I often talk about the relationship between Feng Shui and focus. When we place our focus on gratitude for everything we have, we are sending signals to the Universe to send us more. Here are some ways to stay grounded in an “attitude of gratitude.”

The Process of Giving in Feng Shui

1. Keep a gratitude list. – Keep a notepad by your bed or, if it’s more comfortable, keep your list on your tablet computer or even your smart phone. Whatever means you use to bring your gratitude into focus, take time every morning to write a list of everything your grateful for. You might repeat many of the same things every day, (your home, your career, your family…) but make a conscious effort to add something new to your list each day, too.

2. Share your gratitude around the dinner table. – As you sit down to eat, encourage members of your family to share what they were most grateful for during the day. Remind yourself of all you have to be grateful for by creating a dining experience that is relaxing, comforting and pleasant.

Decorating the dining room in green and other colors found in nature and adding fresh fruit or flowers to the table will encourage people to linger and create active life chi around the table. Mirrors that reflect your dining room table may also help increase your wealth.

3. Share your gratitude with those around you. – I make it a point to tell my clients, my family, and anyone else I encounter on a regular basis how much I appreciate them. This is not just lip service. By saying these words with intention and really focusing on how much these individuals add to my life, I create more positive energy. Whether it’s a sales clerk, a client, a doctor, or an employee, make it a point to tell people that you truly appreciate what they do.

It can be hard, as I pointed out, to show gratitude when there’s a gap between how you want to be and what you want to possess and what you already have in your life. This is where easy and inexpensive changes to your environment can help you create an atmosphere that feels more like home, an environment that makes you want to give and nurture. When we feel wealthy, comfortable and at peace, we can begin giving without fear of not having enough for ourselves.

Here are three easy steps to get started using Feng Shui to make your space a home filled with gratitude.

1 – Make sure the chi flows freely in your home. – Arrange furniture so chi can flow naturally. Make sure to Feng Shui your front door, which is the mouth of chi. It should not be blocked and should be able to open a full 90 degrees. In the winter, many people hang coats on hooks behind the front door for easy access. Consider another solution. Between the shorter, darker days and colder temperatures, many people already have a sense of being “stuck” through the winter. It’s especially important to make sure your home is open to opportunities, guests and love.

If you add holiday decorations, make sure they have a logical place and don’t add to the clutter.  There’s no reason to hang on to decorations you don’t love simply because they are gifts or family heirlooms. Anything that doesn’t give you joy when you look at it should be donated, sold or tossed.

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2. Donate items you no longer use or no longer bring you joy. – As you’re making a stop at Goodwill to donate those holiday decorations that have sat in your attic for years, consider donating old clothes, children’s toys, tools, furniture, knick-knacks, small kitchen appliances and anything else you haven’t used in a full 12 months. This is one way to give even if you don’t have a lot of expendable income or spare time. Start small with the spirit of giving and soon you’ll find you want to give even more. Create that spirit of giving around yourself and around your home and you’ll soon find people giving you everything you need and want, as well.

3. Add live plants to your home and care for them with intention. – Plants are the ultimate example of the philosophy that the more you give, the more you receive. When we take the time to care for live plants and make it our intention to help them thrive, they bring life-affirming chi into our homes, help purify the air with oxygen, and look beautiful.

I recently recommended the addition of house plants in the home of a New York area client. Like many of my clients, she protested that she doesn’t have a green thumb and tends to kill plants. But, after we created her Feng Shui action plan and made other changes to bring her home into better alignment with her goals, she reported, “All your suggestions have made our house more of a home. The plants are wonderful and, for the first time ever, I feel a connection to wanting to take care of them and nurture them, so there is giving involved in the whole process!”

When we seek out opportunities to give — our time, our love, or material things — we bring the energy of gratitude into our space, which makes it easier to feel grateful for everything we have, achieve an abundance mindset, get unstuck, and begin to live our best life! How will you begin showing gratitude this holiday season?

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About Ken – One of America’s premier Feng Shui consultants, Ken Lauher helps thousands of people achieve their goals through Feng Shui. He can help you become a money magnet, attract passionate love, jump-start your career and get unstuck. Visit www.kenlauher.com to get your FREE Feng Shui guide and discover the ancient secrets that can help you unlock your true potential.