Feng Shui Your Mind

I want to share with all of you how excited Maureen and I are about the adventure we’re on as authors of Feng Shui Your Mind.  Today I realized that, for the past couple of months, we’ve been consistently hearing stories about people loving our book and naturally inspiring their friends to read it.  People have told me along the way, ”a book has a life of its own.” Now I know what they are talking about — it’s all about energy.  In fact, everything is energy, especially the thoughts you allow to live in your mind!!  When Maureen and I were writing our book, I was constantly engaging her in a little envisioning about our book…”let’s envision that people get as pumped about our book and find it as life changing as we do.”  Maureen, being the sweet, go with the flow kinda gal that she is, would always join in.  Together we infused our little book with our intention that it be carried by the Universe to people who want to create a much better life through ease and effortlessness.   And so it is!  My heart is filled with appreciation.  And a ton of awe.  Yes, it’s true…everything is energy.  When we declutter what does not serve us and envision what we are ready to experience, the Universe answers our call.  We love hearing from all of our readers.  We love you!!  Please feel welcome to share your stories with us so that we can share them to inspire others.  The ripple effect in action.  Life, with a Feng Shuied Mind is magical!!

In the past couple of weeks, I (Maureen) have really been thinking about the whole notion of grace. What does it really mean to live with grace? Yes, it is about accepting what is but I also think it’s about slowing down and really seeing what’s in front of you. When you slow down, you’re able to take everything in a little deeper and have more energy reserves to act with grace. I’ve been thinking about this lately because I’m trying to unwind my busy lifestyle being a working mom, wanting to do everything at home and racing off to work to enjoy my career. However, recently I’ve felt like life was getting off kilter, and speeding up a little faster than I could take in. I tend to be a DIY everything kind of gal, but I’m learning I really need to pace myself. If I make a good home cooked meal for my family, then I’ve got to be present to enjoy it! I can’t be worried about kids spilling things on the floor because I just cleaned it or what we have to do to get them to bed. For that moment, it’s all about relaxing and enjoying it. I’m realizing there is a strong rhythm to my days and life and if I just surrender to that, everything seems to get done without the worry. I also have noticed that when I’m in the flow of life, things don’t upset me like when I’m racing around. I am in what Jill and I call “the flow” and have more graceful energy to respond to whatever shows up. Just the other day I was cleaning up after breakfast and I noticed my kids playing with the french doors off our deck. Normally this would rattle me–feeling the door slam or thinking of the glass I’d have to clean. This time, because I was more aware, I went up to them and asked them what they were playing. I realized that they were playing the most adorable game that pretty much mocked the way my husband and I say goodbye when he goes to work. I got such a kick out of it. If I was in my normal hurried way, I would have never seen this little gem of a moment.

Jill Lebeau and I (Maureen Raytis) have had several juicy conversations lately about expanding our experience of love and how to amp up that magical, magnetic energy in our lives.  Both of us agree that love is not just a sentiment but a powerful practice.  A practice that creates an amazing energetic tone from which we can live our lives.   The more we attune ourselves to being in that place of love through our thoughts and emotions, we emanate the highest vibration therefore attract the highest vibration in return.  In Feng Shui terms, this connection to love is fueled by the Fire element.  In nature, the Fire element warms our body and relaxes our mind.  Not only does it help us attract deep satisfying relationships, it also encourages us to expand our consciousness.  And how do you feel on a warm summer day?  Open, spontaneous, ready to have fun?  Yep, that’s it.  When you think about the spirit of Fire energy, think joy and warmth.  Think laughter and lightness. Think la joie de vivre.  Oo la la!

Oh yes, your Fire energy inspires you to live as a free spirit. Rather than live according to someone else’s design, you live by your own truth.  And here’s an interesting little factoid:  Chinese medicine associates the health of the heart with living your truth.  So the more you march to the beat of your own drum, the more your healthy heart opens naturally, just like a rose in full bloom.  Like the beautiful rose, your energy is equally alluring.  And people are inextricably drawn to you.

We were talking about the powerful practices that we each use to tap into this energy.  Jill loves her sacred walks around the bay–her heart is instantly filled with gratitude as she enjoys the majestic display of nature.  To this sacred practice, she adds listening to inspirational music or words from her favorite spiritual teachers.  It is so effortless and at the same time so rewarding for her to walk in nature and sing along with her favorite songs, reminding her to “release and let go”–and don’t we need daily reminders to do just that?!   Maureen takes her young children to the most magical meadow where she can relax in the sun while she hears her children laugh and play.

When you know how to connect with the love that is always within and use the Fire element connection within each one of us, you have a very potent way to raise your vibration which protects you from the “doom and gloom” way of thinking that is so prevalent today, and it is our job to shift that perception through Feng Shuiing Our Mind.  Remember, when the mind is free of clutter, it is easy to open to higher states of consciousness.  And Maureen and I are all about EASE!!

Welcome to our new blog where we plan to guide you on a quest to Feng Shui Your Mind!

As your guides, (Jill Lebeau and Maureen Raytis) we are thrilled to show you how to become the master of your life. The first step to Feng Shui Your Mind is to understand how your thoughts affect your energy. Energy, or chi, in Feng Shui terms, needs space to move freely, especially in your mind. As we said, when you step into a cluttered environment, you’re bound to feel uncomfortable and on-edge. The same principle applies to the mind. If your mind is cluttered, you simply won’t be able to operate at maximum capacity. And when the house is cluttered, you can’t see the cute end-table or find the phone when it starts to ring. In the same vein, focusing on big, ugly, fear-based thoughts blocks your mental chi and keeps you from living the life you want to be living.

It’s obvious that, when redecorating a house, the first step is to clear the old stuff out. If you want to redecorate your mind so that you can attract vitality, wealth, and love with ease, the first step is to declutter the thoughts that are using up your valuable energy.

What do we mean by mental clutter? Basically, it’s all of the thoughts that have us convinced that we are deficient in some way and that life is scary and must be hard. According to the cluttered mind, in order to be successful, a lot of stress, hard work and struggle are required. You know what we mean…it’s the crack that whip or no pain, no gain philosophy. So when you feel that pressure, just know that you are under the spell of mental clutter. If you remain unaware, you will continue to suffer, feeling confused and hopeless. When you get caught up in the if only syndrome – if only I had more money, a new car, better job or more loving relationships, etc. – you are drowning in mental clutter. It’s like the cat chasing its tail. Whenever you look outside yourself to feel complete, you get trapped in the viewpoint of scarcity. In that case, you feel powerless to change anything about your life. Your power, after all, lies within you – not out there, somewhere. If you allow the clutter in your mind to run wild, your precious energy will be drained.

Jill and I were just talking together and agreeing that the more we practice living this way, the less stressed and easier our lives get.  So do you want easy?  The first step is just observing what thoughts are in your way!  We’re so excited to be sharing these techniques with all of you because we are committed to showing you how to use the least amount of energy to generate maximum success.  Sound good?  So over the next week, really think about what mental clutter you’d like to release and what you would like to create in it’s place.