Feng Shui in the bedroom podcast on “Co-Parenting and Coffee”

Listen on the go to Feng Shui refresher, “Bringing Good Energy into Your Space,” focusing on the main bedroom. Plus, learn new information about using the Ba-Gua.

Jill and Ally recently interviewed me for a podcast called “Bringing Good Energy into Your Space” on “Co-Parenting & Coffee” (Spotify). We had a great time, and their questions gave me a chance to share a lot of information and helpful ideas.

We delved into practical Feng Shui tips for the home, with a special focus on transforming the main bedroom into a space of sanctuary and healing. I discussed effective methods for clearing out any negative energy, optimizing lighting, and de-cluttering, as well as the key areas of the Ba-Gua to activate when going through a major life change.

Jill and Ally have a very supportive and upbeat approach on their podcast, while sharing information for others who are co-parenting or going through a divorce. Please note: the information in my interview is not limited to people who are co-parenting or divorcing.

My “Coffee Date” (Feng Shui in the bedroom podcast interview) begins at about 5:50, but I encourage you to listen to the entire forty-five-minute podcast.

Click here for an image of the Ba-Gua discussed during the interview. You can see the areas of the Ba-Gua I recommend enhancing with a cure for people going through any kind of major life change. Scroll down when you get to the article; the Ba-Gua is there.

Here is a direct link to the podcast: “Bringing Good Energy into Your Space”

Please send me feedback about what you think of learning more about Feng Shui in audio format. Thanks! Linda

Happy Glow: Become Who You Want to Spend Your Life With

Too often, people use Feng Shui to bring romance and happiness into their lives only by enhancing the Chi in their home’s Romance/Marriage area. Use Feng Shui with more wisdom to create more happiness for yourself now; instead of waiting for someone special to come into your life, bringing romance and joy with them.

“Perhaps the biggest mistake I made in the past
was that I believed love was about finding the right person.
In reality, love is about becoming the right person.
Don’t look for the person you want to spend your life with.
Become the person you want to spend your life with.”
– Neil Strauss www.livelifehappy.com

Happiness isn’t only found “out there” in some magical someone; happiness is in yourself, your outlook, and the life you live. Become that person who glows with happiness.

The Glow of Happiness

Think of the people in your life who glow with happiness. That glow works as a people magnet, drawing others to them. Every time a friend I worked with arrived at the office, every one, one by one, would pop their heads above the cubicle walls and smile at her. At that moment, the office looked like a prairie dog colony. And people stopped by her cubicle too. Despite her life challenges, she had that infectious glow of happiness.

How to Cultivate Your Happiness

A recent article in the New York Times, How To Be Happy, points to several studies about personal happiness and draws insights from them. Number 1 on the list was getting in the habit of Conquering Your Negative Thoughts.

Conquering Negative Thoughts

Everyone has negative thoughts, but if they dominate your thinking, they will bring you down. Focus on the positive things in your life and the more positive and happy things in your future. When you’re aware of having a negative thought, stop and think of something positive. Don’t criticize yourself for negative thoughts, be kind to yourself as you would be to a friend. And just like a friend would help you to have a better perspective on your situation. Conquering negative thoughts is not a “done and dusted” task but the development of a life-long skill.

“Only connect!” – E M Forster

Spend Time with Happy People

COVID took a hit on our social lives. Now is the time to reconnect with old friends and reach out to new ones. In. Person. Each additional happy friend in your life will increase your happiness by 9%. It’s OK to keep a distance from the grouches and complainers.

People who get married experience a slight boost in their happiness, but this lasts about two years. “…[I]f you are an already happy person, you will not gain much extra happiness from marriage.” – Tara Parker-Pope, How To Be Happy

Chances are, while you are busy glowing with happiness,

your glow might attract someone who wants to share their joy with you.

How to Use Feng Shui to Help You Glow

People reflexively energize the Romance/Marriage area of the Ba-Gua when they want to bring or boost romance in their life. The Romance/Marriage area is effective, but activating the Helpful People/Travel and Wisdom/Inner Life areas of the Bagua first might be more effective for your happiness now instead of waiting for someone to bring happiness to you.

Below is a diagram of the Ba-Gua with foundational Guas noted. Place meaningful cures in each area you want to bring positive energy into your life. When your happiness grows, you can enhance the Romance/Marriage Gua to better effect.

For blog posts on how to Feng Shui your bedroom the traditional way and a sweet Valentine’s video, check out these links:

https://www.lindavarone.com/1452/a-valentines-video-for-you/

https://www.lindavarone.com/1531/feng-shui-for-valentines-day-and-beyond-6-steps-to-make-your-bedroom-a-sensual-retreat/

https://www.lindavarone.com/1249/feng-shui-romance-and-a-sweet-valentine-video/

Click here to read the New York Times article “How To Be Happy” by Tara Parker-Pope.

Have a Warm and Cozy Bed This Winter the Eco-Friendly Way

Winter is here, but high fuel costs are too. When the thermostat goes down, a good night’s sleep can be elusive if you feel cold. Electric blankets are an option, but personally, I’ve never felt good about sleeping under an electric field. Here are three simple, do-able ways to winterize for a warm and cozy bed. Now, what’s old is new again in making a warm and cozy bed for these cold winter nights.

Solutions for a Warm and Cozy Bed

Simple, Green solutions from our ancestors and modern Europeans show us how to make a warm and cozy bed for these freezing winter nights.

Hot water bottles -what’s old is new again.
Flannel Sheets – with recommendations for the best brands.
Duo Duvets – one each for you and your partner.

1. Hot Water Bottles

Bright green thermoplastic hot water bottle with "turtle neck" cover makes for a warm and cozy bed. — This green thermoplastic hot water bottle will keep you warm all night long.

You may think of hot water bottles as a joke, something an old spinster aunt in a British mystery would use. Don’t laugh; they can be more effective than a pile of blankets. Any outdoors person knows: When your feet are warm, your whole body is warm.

You can get a standard rubber model or one of the new recyclable thermoplastic ones in a bright color. They are available at most drug stores or online.

A hot water bottle cover is a good idea as it lets the heat disperse slowly and keeps you warm all night. The covers come in many colors and patterns, some with fanciful decorations, and others look like little turtleneck sweaters for your hot water bottle. Find these on Etsy.

Tip: Never place a hot water bottle in a microwave.

2. Flannel Sheets

If you’ve ever slipped between flannel sheets, you know the warm and cozy bed welcome they provide.

My experience with flannel sheets is with LL Bean’s Ultrasoft Flannel Sheets. No bedtime shock from cold sheets, just warmth, and coziness. Named by The New York Times’s “Wirecutter” product evaluation team as their #1 choice. “Wirecutter’s” budget pick is Target’s Threshold Flannel Sheets, judged better than some of the more expensive brands.

LL Bean also has flannel duvet covers which can help with the next solution.

3. Duo Duvets

Colorful comforter on double bed covering duo duvets looks like a warm and cozy bed. — This bright comforter adds color to a bed with duo duvets for a comfortable night for two.

Suppose a nightly blanket tug-of-war with your partner makes good sleep impossible, or you have the dilemma of your shared bedcovering being too hot for one partner and inadequate for the other. The Danish Duo Duvet is the answer.

The Danish Duo Duvet is two twin-size duvets for a Full or Queen bed. (If you have a King-size bed, you may need two Full-size duvets.) Each one is for the temperature preferences of each partner. One duvet can be lightweight and cool, while the other is heavier and warmer. The Duo Duvets make for a warm and cozy bed like Goldilock’s: “just right.”

Photo showing how duo duvets are placed on a bed. — This photo shows how duo duvets are arranged on a bed before nighttime.

Take two duvets and fold them in half the long way and place them lengthwise on the bed with the folded sides next to each other in the center of the bed. Or, you can lay them out flat and overlap each other in the center of the bed.

If your duvet covers are plain, you can cover the bottom half of your bed with a colorful spread or comforter, as shown above.

At bedtime, shake out your own duvet and snuggle underneath.

If you like this article share it!

Click here to learn more about how to survive winter

If you have tried any of these solutions, let me know how they have worked for you in the comments below.

Year of the Water Tiger 2022 Trends

Happy Chinese New Year!

February 1st is the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year festival. And 2022 is the year of the Yang Water Tiger, meaning this will be a very active year. 2022 will take on the characteristics of this Chinese Zodiac Animal.

People born in the year of the Water Tiger are admired for their strength, daring, and courage in fighting evil. They are smart, humorous, and good at socializing. Water Tigers are adaptable, open-minded, and more in touch with their emotions. They tend to be lucky with money.

Year of the Water Tiger 2022 Trends for You

2021 was the Year of the Metal Ox, meaning slow and steady progress. Sometimes so slow it felt like no progress at all.

2022 is an energetic year, a time for making big changes, risk-taking, and adventure. The Water element brings out intense emotions. Use the wisdom of the Water element to understand the deeper source of emotions, both yours and others.

After two years of pandemic restrictions, this may be the year to fly with your dreams, finding enthusiasm for ourselves and others again, combined with generosity and a desire for social progress. It is important to guide your big decisions and big emotions by tapping into both your wise intuitional self and your rational logical self. And, keep your ego in check.

Using the inherent energy of this year, actively pursue interests and goals. Projects completed this year will have a lasting impact. Projects begun this year aiming toward the future will have extra support this year.

The forward momentum of the year will not be without delays. Use the Water aspect of this year’s Tiger to go with the flow when progress is stalled, and go deeper seeking to understand their underlying causes.

Year of the Water Tiger 2022 Trends Summary

Stay focused and active in achieving your goals, while seeking a deeper understanding of the people and events around you this year.

2022 may feel like a roller coaster ride with many ups and downs. Tighten your seat belt, by the end of the year you will see overall gains.

Mercury Moves Forward

Good News: Mercury, the ruler of communications and electronics, will be going direct on Thursday, Feb 3, 2022. That means the delays, breakdowns, and miscommunications that have made the last three weeks difficult, will resolve and allow forward motion.

Thich Nhat Han

Zen Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Han died last week at the age of 95. He generously shared his wisdom with us in the West. Here is a quote from one of his books in honor of him.

“The best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment.”

– Thich Nhat Han, Living Buddha, Living Christ.

Gung Hoy Fat Choy!!!

I will be teaching an in-person class for Arlington Community Education,

this Wednesday, Feb 3, 2022 on

Hygge and Interior Psychology: How to Have Fun This Winter.

Click here to learn more

To learn more about Nurturing Spaces Feng Shui click here!

Tis The Season to…Declutter?

Seasonal Clothing Switch-Over Is An Opportunity to Declutter On-The-Fly

Cluttered coat closet — Cluttered Coat Closet

After a long, hot, wet New England Summer, Fall is finally coming in its typical roller-coaster fashion: warm one day and cold the next. This may leave you scrambling between your summer and winter wardrobes to find the right clothes to wear on any given day.

Prepare Your Winter Wardrobe for Comfort and Style

The advantage of seasonal clothing switchover is you can declutter on the fly. As you are pulling out warmer clothes, you may notice that a sweater, jacket, or pair of slacks looks worn, dated, or small. Now is the time to decide if that item will carry you through another winter with comfort and confidence. If not, let it go.

Review Your Summer Clothes Before Storing Them

As you are packing away your summer clothes, give them a quick once over. Is something looking like it barely made it through the season? Now is the time to edit these items from our wardrobe. This applies to footwear, hats, and athleticwear.

Donate

If you are letting go of winter wear, ask yourself if it is good enough to be worn by someone with dignity. If “yes”, donate it to a local charity or winter coat drive. If something is past using, you can donate it to a fiber and materials recycler like EarthLink, in the bright yellow donations bins.

Take advantage of this seasonal clothing switch to declutter your wardrobe. This way, when you rearrange your closets and bureaus for the coming months, everything there will be a pleasure to wear.

Successful organizing means decluttering before you buy any bins, boxes, or storage bits.

Pile of shoes — Pile of Shoes = added stress getting ready in the morning.

PS – Remember to go through that pile of footwear near the back door. Eliminate those shoes, boots, and flip-flops that are worn-out or out-grown. If you have some shoes or boots that need TLC, take them to your cobbler. (“Cobbler” is New England-ese for “shoe repair”.)

Check out my short blog on decluttering outdoor gear and sporting equipment.

Photo credit

Feng Shui Intentions for the Year of the Metal Ox

Chinese New Year Intentions for 2021

2021 Chinese Year of the Metal Ox — Plan for what 2021 brings.

The Chinese/Lunar New Year is an excellent time to refresh or revise (update) your Feng Shui intentions. Intentions are the “secret sauce” of Feng Shui. They help you clarify for yourself what kind of good luck you want to bring into your home or office, and your life.

Feng Shui intentions are specific to particular areas of the ba-gua; the feng shui template of life energy areas:

1. Analyze your space for the best orientation of the ba-gua template.
2. Identify the three or four aspects of your life you want to energize or support, right now. Choose the part of the ba-gua each wish/intention matches.
3. Place a cure in the area of your space that aligns with the gua you are energizing. (Please note: The various charms, coins, jewelry, and figurines sold online as Feng Shui cures have no special power. I would rather see you choose an appropriate cure from what you already own that makes you happy.)
4. Ritually attach your intention to your chosen cure.

For example, Feng Shui intentions to start a new love relationship or strengthen a current one:

1. Identify the area in your space that coincides with the Romance/Marriage/Partnership area of the ba-gua.
2. Place your romance cure in that area of your space.
3. Think of your intentions for romance in your life.

You can do the same specific cures and intentions for Wealth, Health, Career, or any of the nine guas in your space.

Take some time to explore what you really want. Jot notes in a journal, go for walks to let your imagination soar.

If refreshing your feng shui intentions this week doesn’t work for you, no problem. You can start thinking about them now. Do them when you’re ready and have the quiet to focus.

Important: Before you refresh or revise your intentions, declutter and clean that space. Why? Clutter blocks beneficial Chi; your cures will be less effective in a dirty or cluttered space.

See More about Feng Shui Intentions, Romance, Cures, and the Ba-Gua

Wealth and Energy

Make Your Bedroom a Sensual Retreat

Bedrooms, Romance, Yin and Yang

Valentine’s Day is for Everyone

Myth of the One Best Cure

Ba-Gua

Trends for 2021, Year of the Metal Ox

The Ox is the diligent worker of the ba-gua. Continue work on projects you started last year. You will have success with them this year. Slow and steady wins the race. The Metal element in Traditional Chinese Medicine influences the lungs. With coronavirus still around, it is important to protect your lungs: mask-up and follow COVID precautions.

If you are interested in a personal consultation to create a Feng Shui environment to support your intentions, contact Linda here.

Winter Doldrums? Flowers are the Cure.

Winter doldrums? Flowers!

This time of year is hard. The excitement of the holidays is over and we have months of cold ahead. Days are short, overcast, and dreary. No wonder we feel tired and dispirited.

Winter Doldrums? A simple bunch of flowers is all you need!

A simple cure for winter doldrums: flowers!

No need to wait for the distant glories of Spring. Bring color, life, and beauty into your home today. A simple bouquet or bunch of flowers is all you need.

Too often we think of fresh flowers as something for special occasions only. In Europe having flowers in the home is an everyday thing. They come home with the fresh-baked bread.

Many supermarkets now have a flower department where you can grab a bunch of flowers as easily as your milk and bread.

Flowers by Anderson’s Florist, Arlington, MA

If you are lucky to have a local florist, get your flowers from them. They are fresher, handled with care, and will look beautiful longer.

You can display your flowers:

On the table where you enjoy your meals
In your bedroom, see them when you first wake-up
On the desk in your home office
By your favorite chair – comfy throw, your favorite beverage, simply add your favorite person or book.

To beat the winter doldrums, add flowers to your shopping list and enjoy some color and life this coming week.

Reminder: there are many beautiful flowers besides roses.

And the best part: flowers are calorie-free.

Click to learn about Feng shui and Nature:

Bring the Outdoors Indoors

Feng Shui for Winter Doldrums

photo – Flowers by Anderson Florist, Arlington MA

Want help bringing new life and energy into your home? Contact Linda to discuss a personal consultation.

Celebrating the Holidays During COVID: Ideas for 2020’s “New Normal”

“If you can’t always get what you want,

try sometime and you find you get what you need.”

– Rolling Stones

COVID holidays,This holiday season you deserve a beautifully set dinner table — This holiday season, more than ever, you deserve a beautifully set dinner table.

This is the year of the COVID holidays. It will be hard to have “normal” Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, or New Year’s Eve celebrations this year.

Public health experts ask us to celebrate the holidays with in-person gatherings limited to the people who are living under the same roof. For some people, this is a relief, a chance to avoid the boring pontificating relative or a houseful of screaming over-stimulated kids. For others, this loss of family connection increases feelings of isolation and boredom.

How to make the holidays feel like more than an ordinary-COVID-day

Start with the menu

You can recreate your traditional holiday dinners, modify them, or do something completely different. To avoid a hoard of leftovers,down-size your menu with a roast turkey breast instead of a whole bird. If your traditional menu doesn’t feel right this year or you are bored with the same-old dishes, this is the year to try something new. Personally, I believe Thanksgiving turkey is flavored with nostalgia. When the best compliment you can give to an entree is “it’s so moist!” something is missing. Skip the turkey and have a meal of all of your favorite side dishes. Or do lobster, BBQ, or a slow-cooked Bolognese sauce. I’m planning on making an herbed butterflied chicken with my favorite roasted vegetables (1-1 1/4 hours cooking time), an apple galette (lazy apple pie), and a nice wine.

Music, music, music

Start the day by turning off the computer and television. Fill your house with the music you love.

Setting the Table

Whatever you decide to serve, set your table with your best dinnerware and some candles. You deserve it. If empty places at your dining table are too depressing for you, enjoy your holiday meal in a sunroom or in front of the fireplace.

After Dinner…Walk

Once dinner is over and you have cleared the dishes, instead of watching a football game (which is an excuse to sink into a post-prandial stupor), go for a walk. Please realize this walk recommendation comes from someone whose happy-place is curled up on the sofa with a good book, tea, and some homemade cookies. Bundle up so you are warm and dry. Being in Nature has been documented to calm nerves, lift spirits, and aid digestion.

If you are lucky and family and friends are a walk or brief drive away consider an outdoor masked and socially-distanced front lawn or sidewalk visit (you know the drill). If family or friends can’t see you, do a Zoom-type visit or consider the more intimate connection of a simple phone call.

Reward

The reward for your brisk walk: the warm beverage of your choice and perhaps a sliver more of dessert. And the start of some new traditions.

While this year we can’t be with the ones we love, we can be grateful for the people we love and who love us.

COVID holidays

We are isolating this year so all of us can celebrate together next year.

Be safe, be happy!

If you found this article helpful, share it with a friend.

Share your own ideas and successes in the comments below

Your Quarantine Home: A Video

I am happy to share my video with you on how to create a home to help you survive the COVID pandemic.

In late June of this year, I did a Zoom webinar on how to set-up your quarantine home to survive the pandemic necessity of extended at-home time. The webinar is now available on YouTube.

The Quarantine Home video is based on the insights of interior psychology and neuroscience. It is about 46 minutes long, illustrated with many photos, examples, and contains a variety of practical ideas.
• Where and how to set up a comfortable and productive home office.
• Simple steps to create welcoming gathering spaces for family meals and relaxation.
• Create boundaries between work and personal time with simple rituals.
• How to socially distance and have fun outdoors.
• Ways to promote a good night’s sleep.

This presentation was sponsored by Plugged-In @ The Robbins (Library) and is posted on ACMI’s (Arlington Community Media Inc.) Youtube channel. The smiling woman you see on the screen at the beginning of the video is Michele Meagher, Coordinator of Plugged-In @ the Robbins. I show up at about 3:25.

To view the video, click here.

Full disclosure: This was my first Zoom presentation. I was not only camera shy but had a bit of mic-fright. So my voice is soft and slow … and I forgot to smile. You can go to the gear icon on the bottom right hand of the screen and click on “playback speed” and set it for 1.25. It speeds up the audio and the video (and makes me sound more intelligent) ;-).

I hope you enjoy the Quarantine Home video. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Planning to do more videos in the future and am working to make them better and better.

If you would like to contact me for a personal consultation or to offer this or other presentations to your group or organization please contact me here.

COVID Face Masks: Safety with Style

It looks like COVID face masks are going to be with us for a while. So far, they have been merely functional. While our current wardrobes for running errands may have devolved to baggy t-shirts and elastic-waist pants, we can still add a spark of beauty, whimsy, or simply great style with the COVID face masks we wear.

You know you feel good when you wear something you love. Get one, or some, of the creative COVID face masks offered for sale online by Peabody Essex Museum’s gift shop and Studio Hyacinth.

Peabody Essex Museum

The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem has debuted a line of face masks based on some of the artwork in their collection. The PEM is one of New England’s finest (and often overlooked museums). They are also offering COVID face masks designed by local artists Carla Fernandez and Maria Conejo.

Peabody Essex Museum mask "farmers' — Modern design depicting farmers by Fernandez and Conejo

Peabody Essex Museum COVID face mask of sailing sloop — 18th Century Sailing Sloop

Want an old sloop sailing across your face? A 19th Century witch flying over an aerial view of Salem Harbor? A reproduction of richly embroidered antique fabric? Or, a wide-eyed owl with outspread wings based on a 19th Century fan?

Click here to see more Peabody Essex Museum designs and how to order. PEM members save 10%.

Studio Hyacinth

Studio Hyacinth is the creative space of skilled local seamstress Nobuko Yoshihara. She makes beautiful custom garments, as well as doing clever alterations and repairs.

Nobuko is now making a full line of COVID face masks in sizes from toddler to large adult. She uses charming and witty fabrics to make masks in many colors and patterns. Nobuko works with Marimekko fabrics and beautiful Japanese kimono silks. She also offers cartoon character, action hero, and local sports team logo masks. New fabrics are arriving all the time.

Studio Hyacinth Merimekko masks — Studio Hyacinth Marimekko masks

Studio Hyacinth kimono silk COVID face masks — Studio Hyacinth kimono silk masks

Studio Hyacinth Halloween Dogs masks — Studio Hyacinth Halloween dogs masks

Click here to see more of Nobuko’s designs and how to order.

As with everything good these days, patience is necessary. These COVID face masks are handmade and very popular. Be assured any wait will be worth it.

Consider ordering a few as gifts for family and friends.

You will look great and feel great in these beauties. AND, you will be supporting local businesses and cultural institutions. A real Win: Win.

Please Note: I do not have any financial connection with either The Peabody Essex Museum or Studio Hyacinth. I just like what they are doing with face masks. I want to help people find a spark during the “new normal”.

Looking for a spark of fresh energy or beauty in your home or office? Contact me. We’ll discuss how to tailor a consultation to meet your needs.

Be well; be safe.

photos by Peabody Essex Museum and Nobuko Yoshihara