Over the years I’ve collected and experimented with hundreds of simple “prescriptions” — sets of actions and homeopathy and holistic goodies and even design tricks— all rolled together to lighten life, make things easier, direct energy and welcome in greatness. These hits of positive juju boost life, heighten moods, support dreams and turn intentions into actions.

I realized over time that there’s one quality and one habit that’s key to making any and all of this life-expanding goodness stuff work.

Without it, everything is just one big robotic and blah exercise that gets you nowhere near greatness. 

Have faith that you can – and should- take lots of breaks.

And by having faith, I’m not talking about religion, though if it’s religion that is your point of faith, that’s awesome.

Have faith that things are as they should be. 

Have faith that there’s no point in cursing what’s happening right now because it won’t help you fix it. 

Have faith that the right things will flow for you. 

People who have the kind of faith in life- and in themselves- that is groundbreaking tend to “have it all.” It’s not because they are particularly special. We’re all special. It’s more a quality of knowing that there’s no value in forcing life, there’s nothing to be gained by blaming others (or ourselves) and there’s no good that comes of panic and intensive stress.

If you do a quick Google of the term “Weekend Habits of Successful People” you’ll see pages of stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with work.

You’ll find: art-making, meditation, family time, books to read, hiking trails, road trips, cooking, sleeping, spirituality and fun.

Doing lots of relaxing is critical. Downtime is essential.

If you trust in your life, you’ll give yourself the time to live it. 

On the day pictured above, I sat in ancient fig tree roots that dwarfed me to a fuzzy speck in a photo. I saw the sunset purple, blue, fuschia and gold. I walked for miles on the Coronado Island beach and had tea, amazing guacamole and learned to make real deal baba ganoush.

This made my week. It cost almost nothing, for those of you who fall back on money as a barrier to exploration. I felt like I was floating. My mind worked so much better afterward.

Even a few years ago, the idea of taking a day off was not in the cards.

What if I missed out… what if I… what if… what if…

A non-stop schedule was something I was so proud of, my way of making sure I was “growing.” But… after a while I realized it was a way to hide. If I was non-stop busy I’d never have to confront the things I was afraid to tackle in life. I started to feel like I was a machine. I lost my way. Breaks were the key to getting my soul back in action.

For many of you, it’s not “achievement” that keeps you running 24-7, but, rather, you have lots of people to take care of and the idea of putting yourself before others is a strange and even scary concept.

Just about every scientist and expert agrees: you need empty time without structure and without a to-do list. 

Rosalie Puiman writes in Huffington Post about the importance of downtime and included this decisive quote:

Downtime is in fact essential to mental processes that affirm our identities, develop our understanding of human behavior and instill an internal code of ethics–processes that depend on the DMN. Downtime is an opportunity for the brain to make sense of what it has recently learned, to surface fundamental unresolved tensions in our lives and to swivel its powers of reflection away from the external world toward itself. — Ferris Jabr, ‘Why Your Brain Needs More Downtime’

One more important note here:

Experiences have been scientifically proven to be more gratifying than “luxury things” so it’s worth investing from your slush fund into trips and get aways that light up your life!

Try this: schedule yourself time off every week for the next month. Like… real time off. Go to spas, go to museums, do what you love, sleep in…

Does this seem impossible?

Then you really need it!

The more you embrace downtime and see how much it makes your whole life better, the less you’ll stress to force things to work exactly how you want them to work… the more you’ll come to trust in the timing of life… the less you’ll try to twist bad things into being good ones… the more the great things will rush in…

And… you’ll have so much fun you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner!

xoxo Dana

P.S.: If you want to really immerse yourself in the light of joy so much more, my favorite Feng Shui and cutting-edge energy-shifting tools that I use almost every day are HERE for you in the Joy Immersion: 30 Day Negativity Detox! 

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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!