(Kathy Klein)
Mindfulness. It’s not just a New Age catch-phrase: even doctors are catching onto the power of being present! There are research teams around the world measuring the effective nature of showing up for each day in mind, body and spirit. Today I am so excited because my teacher, feng shui master & mentor Gabriele Van Zon sent out a brilliant message about mindfulness in her newsletter…and its a real “get present” game-changer!
Mindfulness! by Gabriele Van Zon, via Feng Shui Universal
Once again, science is trying to catch up with Feng Shui. Mindfulness is the new buzzword in medicine, health care and the corporate world.
Mindfulness even made its way onto the agenda of the World Economic Forum 2013, the annual event held in Davos, Switzerland.
It seems to me that we have always been mindful with everything we do in Feng Shui. Mindfulness, in itself, is an abstract term and beckons to be further defined with descriptive explanations, e.g. mindfulness as a “method to sharpen focus and open minds,” or “intentionally paying attention to the present,” as perhaps in “mindful eating.”
Feng Shui has the immediacy and the presence of mindfulness because it serves as a constant reminder of what is meaningful and important in the way we live. In Feng Shui we talk about intention and awareness, but in essence, we are mindful of our path in life and how we connect to what’s around us every moment of our day and night.
Qi (Chi), therefore, is the mindful experience of how we perceive life with all our senses. And mindfulness is a good reminder that Feng Shui is about more than placing furniture. It is a more concrete and hands-on effort to focus on the presence of specifics. When we talk about qi, we are mindful of how we move through space, or what it is that captures our gaze, the fragrance or odor that enters our nostrils, and the rough or smooth texture of our walkway.
When we are suffering a disconnect in a fractured, information-overloaded world, the scientists see mindfulness as a panacea for living with more depth, meaning and connectedness.
Mindfulness is supposed to help us spend less time worrying about the future or fretting about the past. To reach this panacea, though, you’ll have to spend time and money, read books and attend courses or retreats, practicing meditation, hopefully with the result of
“directing your mind” and “settling into a more authentic way of being.” (NYT 3.23.13)
We believe that Feng Shui is the more immediate and lasting method of connecting a person to the present and to place, and raising the self to a higher level of focus and awareness. Feng Shui will give you mile markers and pegs to hang your hat, so that you know every aspect of your path in life as well as the process that guides you on your journey. Instead of hovering in a meditative pose, we know when we need yin space to decompress, and when we need a boost of yang to get going. Our deeply personal affinities are determined by either lacking or excessive elements and can be adjusted accordingly. A mindful walk through our bagua will connect us to what we see, hear, smell and touch, while mindful eating is stimulating or soothing to our taste buds.
Mindfulness, thus, has been around for 5000 years, waiting for us to pay attention and discover feng shui in creating our journey by mindfully connecting to Tao.
P.S.: The Catalyst Camp Feng Shui Home & Life De-Cluttering is on the way soon to open up your life to the new like never before!
It’s 8 weeks of de-cluttering, letting things go and lightening up life in radical ways.
Join us making space for more money, love, peace and happiness to flow now and in the New Year!!!
xoxo Dana
Great as usual. Your words are wise! Very inspiring feng shui.
Thanks Dana!
Love and Blessing.