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Stuck. That is the feeling I loathe.  Stuck can be mental, physical, emotional, environmental or all of the above.  Stuck can create enormous pain and confusion. Luckily: stuck happens to be the easiest thing I’ve ever had to fix in life.  The trick is to realize how stuck you are and start to shake it off before it makes itself clear in unpleasant ways. 

It was interesting when I woke up two nights ago to a whole body that was stuck. My neck couldn’t move without searing pain shooting through my head, my back couldn’t really bend much without setting off the neck fireworks and even my stomach and lower back felt like they were in a vice grip.  I paced through my home, the backyard, the front yard, carefully up and down stairs, trying to get unstuck. I kept saying to myself What the hell is this trying to show me? What could I learn from THIS?  I’m a big believer that physical bodies manifest emotional issues, so I was unwilling to take no for an answer to why I was stuck in this way.

Turns out I came up empty handed, until I hit the acupuncture table. With every needle that found its way into my body I felt myself “turning on” for the first time in a long time.  Then the fire cupping began on my back and neck (more on cupping right HERE).  Talk about being in a vice grip.  My whole back was attacked by suction of about 20 cups.  I started to breathe deeply.  I felt a lightness that was so refreshing. Then the cups came off.

“You have a lot of stagnation.  Especially in your lower back, ” Dr. Chen explained.  When blood is “stuck” rather than freely circulating, the cups pull up the stangnant blood- the stagnant energy- and it appears as a purple rather than pink circular “cup mark”.  My back was so purple. I was so stagnant. I was astonished.

“Do you exercise?” she asked.

“A little.”

“You need a lot.  Do you have stress?”she persisted in her no-nonsense way.

“No. I’m just upset this week.” I am, I was, it was a big week of upset.  I didn’t think much about it as stress until my body froze.

“Upset is stress. Let it go. It can hurt your body.”

Turns out that in Traditional Chinese Medicine, stagnation is the collected, frozen blood, energy and life force that is not moving that creates disease. Thats the TCM philosophy.  In feng shui, clutter, massive messes, a dull home with giant areas that are always the same (you know, the home that never changes) are a manifestation of stagnation.  In your life, frustrations, neck and back pain, constant confusion, the inability to get past a certain point, body cramping, illness, lack of decisiveness— all stagnation.

How do you fix stagnation?

You get unstuck!

A few simple ways to clear stagnation: 

Get a grip on the basics of your life that may be stressing you out- be it your financial organization (or lack thereof), your work/life balance (or lack thereof), your daily schedule if its out of hand (keep a calendar) and even your relationships/friendships if they are imbalanced.

Exercise.

Water. Drink more water. Swim in the ocean. Take lots of showers.

Clear clutter.

Decide to switch things up, try new things and stretch more every week- or every day- in areas where you are stuck.

Rest, celebrate your life, and don’t let the stagnation force you to settle for anything that doesn’t make you feel free, flowing and super-excellent!  Stagnant is not a good word that I’d like to use to describe my life. I bet you feel the same. Off to drink more kale & find a yoga class! 

xoxo Dana

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And, if you want to dive in to your own personalized feng shui in a modern, practical way, Say hello to Feng Shui 101.  Its the guide I made for you to create your own personalized feng shui at home, in the office, wherever you may be… in 8 weeks.  It’s not filled with strict rules or what you “must” do.  Its filled with information, questions, exercises and even videos and classes to help you confidently create amazing spaces with killer feng shui and live with more flow.   Learn more about the 8-week feng shui adventure & grab your copy to get started right HERE…   And, as always, please let me know what happens!