Red is Best and Feng Shui

January 25, 2010 at 3:58 pm (feng shui)
Tags: , ,

Red is Best by Kathy Stinson was one of my favorite books to read to my kids when they were young. The young girl in the book knew that red made her feel good and as powerful as a young girl can be in the everyday life of mittens, boots and such – she knew something of Feng Shui.

Why did I wake up this morning thinking of red? It is a gray day, white snow is falling onto the rain soaked ground. A red cardinal just visited the bird feeder. My red Amaryllis has 6 huge red flowers.

The red which surrounded us in the malls and homes for Christmas is being replaced by the red of Valentines Day. The color red is energizing, it stimulates the appetite, it is the color of the first chakra which represents our connection to our roots and our survival. We need red in our lives.
Red nails and toenails, red underwear, and red lipstick are tools women use to spice things up as they present themselves to the world. Red cars may make men (and women) feel a bit more lively and perhaps drive just a little faster (hopefully not more likely to get a ticket0.

So, what about red in the home? The red one uses to decorate for holidays may stimulate memories of when and where the decoration was bought, who you were with, what was going on in your life at that time. Was it your first Christmas in your first home? Was it the Valentines dinner with a special someone you may regret is no longer in your life?

Here are five Feng Shui tips for using red in your home:
-if the item has bad memories associated with it consider donating it to charity or passing it on
-red is stimulating so place the item where you will see it and benefit from a little pick me up
-too much red can be overwhelming
-need a little more passion in your work? Line your desk drawers with red paper after clearing the clutter
-too much distance between you and your partner in that huge king bed? Place a large red cloth over top of the two box springs, eliminating the dividing line and bringing you together

There are only a few uses for red from a Feng Shui perspective.

This year Chinese New Year lands on Valentines Day! The year of the tiger! So if you were born in 2010, 1998, 1986, 1974, 1962, 1950, 1938, 1926, 1914……. Enjoy.

Copyright 2010. Brenda Rosenberg All rights reserved.

Comments Off

I Intend To: thought affects physical reality

January 19, 2010 at 7:05 pm (CranioSacral Therapy, feng shui, yoga)
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Intention is a large part of Feng Shui, Yoga and CranioSacral Therapy.

In Feng Shui any changes you make to your home affects you, your family, your life. Why?  Because you are purposefully changing your home by moving, adding to or taking away what is presently there with the intention of these changes affecting your future in some way.  I intend that my finances are stable, increased and sufficient for my present and future needs.  I intend that my love for exotic travel is fulfilled.  I intend that my family is growing.

Set your intention, make your changes with the intention that what you desire is already in place and renew your intention daily as you live with and observe your changes.   Or, to put it simply, make the changes that make you feel good-imagine, see, feel and believe that  what you want is already in place  and repeat this thought often.

In Yoga you set your intention for each class and each pose.   I intend to relax, release stress, increase flexibility, improve strength…….   What you are thinking during class can change your body and your mind.  You can think thoughts like “I hate this pose, I will never be able to do this, my balance is poor” and yes, you will continue to hate the pose, limit change and have poor balance.  Or, you can simply notice how you enter, stay in and release each pose.  Repeat the pose intending to to be softer, easier, more aware, more open or more stable and indeed with patience you will be.

As you lay on the treatment table for a CranioSacral Therapy treatment session your thoughts are very important.  If you continue to repeat thoughts on your past or future day, week or lifetime you will miss out on what is happening in the present moment.  What is going on in your body and your mind right here, right now?  Whatever the issues are that have brought you in for therapy, whether it is pain reduction, stress reduction, more flexibility or relief of other symptoms, you have an opportunity to check in with and change your situation.

Imagine if you did all three.  How much change could occur if you received help with your body, helped your body and self through yoga and changed your home to support your goals.  These are three ways to promote positive change and create your own reality.

Copyright 2010, Brenda Rosenberg CST, AIA, CYI .  All rights reserved.

Comments Off

The Drama of Pain

January 11, 2010 at 1:58 pm (CranioSacral Therapy, yoga)
Tags: , , , , ,

When pain occurs it certainly gets you to stop and listen.  It can be sudden and dramatic or slow and all encompassing.  It is telling you that something is out of order, out of balance.  Your focus is on the painful area, you resent its presence and how it is interfering with your usual life.  It creates worry, exaggeration, and frustration – suffering.

This sort of looking inwards is not productive or helpful.  If it goes on for a long time it can become a full time job.  We forget to be aware of the non-painful times.

Looking inward and noticing without becoming caught up in the drama is difficult when you are in the middle of the storm.  This is one reason why we practice looking in, noticing without changing, observing objectively on a regular basis.  When times get tough we are then able to observe this pain drama and perhaps just be with it and be gentle with ourselves.  Sit down with your pain and say okay, here you are, without worrying it, probing it, testing it and hating yourself for having it.

There is a wonderful on line course beginning soon on Awakening Joy.  Check it out at

http://www.awakeningjoy.info/aboutthecourse.html


Copyright 2010  Brenda Rosenberg CYI, AIA, CST.  All rights reserved.

Comments Off

Vision Seed Maps

January 4, 2010 at 6:25 pm (feng shui)
Tags: , , ,

What is your vision for  the beginning of this  new year and decade?  Keeping your goals front and centre with reminders helps to keep you on track.  Making a vision seed map can be not only fun but instrumental to helping you create a future in line with your true goals.

What are your goals?  How do they make you feel when you think about them?  Choose one goal that you  feel  you will benefit from that brings a smile to your lips when you think about it.  Is it an I should goal?  Can you reword it to be in present time and see, feel and absolutely imagine yourself with that goal realized?  For example, I would like to rework the front yard.  The front yard sets the tone for entering your home, for yourself and others.  I would like to smile and relax each time I turn the corner arriving home.  I could word this goal as:  I have a  front yard that is welcoming to all creating a feeling of relaxation.  (A note about setting intentions.  If you say X will happen it will always be in the future.  Try saying I am or I have) Your goals could be around your home, work, life plans, or any goal you would like to work with.

To make a vision seed map around this goal gather the following: a large piece of heavy paper or poster board, scissors, glue, magazines or books you don’t mind cutting, a picture of you and your household members.  If you don’t have magazines try going to your big box book store and buy remaindered books with pictures and colors you like, this can be very inexpensive.  Cut out pictures, parts of pictures, and words   that create the feeling you wish to create.  You are not trying to create the exact picture of what you want but the feeling of that goal.  So, no thinking it should be like this or this is what I want but will never have………  go for words and pictures that create a feeling you desire.  Place the household member’s  photo in the center.  Place your finished collage where you can see it often.  You can even take a picture of it to place on your computer or shrink a copy to carry on a small card.  Looking at your vision seed map often helps to set your subconscious into motion and manifest your dreams.

I learned about vision seed mapping from my Interior Alignment training.  Try visiting  www.interioralignment.com.

Let me know how this works out for you at balancecentre@gmail.com!

Copyright 2010.  Brenda Rosenberg, all rights reserved.

Comments Off

The Joy of Laying on the Floor

December 11, 2009 at 1:42 pm (yoga)
Tags: , , , ,

I feel I really must promote laying on the floor.  Once a day, twice a day or more for 5-20 minutes works wonders for your mind and body.  Why do I do it?  Sometimes I am practicing my Alexander Technique lesson, sometimes I am avoiding over fatigue and sometimes I am recovering from pushing too far.  But more often than not I find it welcoming and comforting. Remember that there is a big difference between laying on the floor and laying on a bed or sofa, the effects are not comparable.

One of the first home exercises we were asked to do in Yoga Teacher Training was to describe how we felt in different positions.  I felt very secure and safe laying on the floor, not so much in some other positions.  I had no problem exploring the effects of gravity, letting go into gravity, noticing areas of discomfort and watching my breath in this position.  I found it relaxing, rejuvenating and peaceful.  I remember laying on the floor in a warm sunny spot on a cold winter’s day as a child.

But I do realise that some people may find laying on the floor a challenge, most likely emotionally.  Whereas I find it a treat others may find it uncomfortable.  If this is the case then start slowly, a few minutes at a time, often.  Build up slowly.

Laying on the floor in a group class may not be a problem but practicing at home may feel like being lazy or too difficult to do with kids, dogs or a partner/husband with a raised eyebrow looking on.  Find a space where you can lay down a yoga mat or towel (all you need is a space 6 x 3 feet), close the door and do not feel guilty for taking 5-20 minutes to recharge.   Be sure the temperature is comfortable and that the area is relatively clear of reminders of work needed to be done like a pile of laundry.

If your neck feels strained find a paperback book to slip under your head of a height which helps your neck feel comfortable.  If your lower back hurts in this position place a pillow under your knees to start.  Eventually you can remove these props as your body lets go of tension and habits of holding on.  Your mind will learn to relax more quickly each time you take time to allow your nervous system to slow down.

There are so many things you can do in this position.

  • lay your hands on your belly and feel them move with your in and out breath
  • relax your body progressively starting at your heels and working up to your head by imagining releasing their weight into the floor
  • start with your toes and tighten then release body parts as you move from toes to face
  • imagine a beautiful color moving from your feet up to your head energizing your body as it moves
  • send a little love to the parts of you that feel good then a lot of love to the ones who are complaining
  • practice thinking of nothing, allowing thoughts that come into your mind to float by as if on a cloud or on a raft in a slow moving river
  • imagine being in a beautiful place you love and feel, see, hear and smell all the details of that place
  • do you need more?  No, pick one and stick with it for a while.  Relaxation takes a little practice.
  • don’t forget that you can also practice non-doing or doing absolutely nothing as well

Enjoy! Laying on the floor can be pure joy.


Copyright 2009.  Brenda Rosenberg CYI, APIA, CST

Comments Off

Posture, Mindfulness, Yoga

November 24, 2009 at 6:44 pm (yoga)
Tags: , , , ,

How is our posture molded?  Habits that  persist over years shape our posture.  Our attitudes and emotions shape our posture.  For example, you may go through an unhappy period during your life (this could be for a very good reason) during which you are stressed and your breathing is shallow.  Along with your shallow breathing you slouch, turning inwards.  This changes the chemistry of your fascia or connective tissues.  If this persists for a length of time even though you become free of  the unhappy event(s) then this unhappiness becomes a part of your belief system and it is held in your slouching body “I am an unhappy person”.  Our posture reflects our past and how it has been molded by our attitudes, activities, surgeries, accidents and movements.

One way to begin working with your posture is through mindfulness.  Lay on the floor and notice (without trying to fix) all the parts of your body that are in contact with the floor  beginning with your heels.  The process of noticing allows your body to begin to change.  Next, continue with some sort of movement routine, yoga for example.  At the end return to notice your body laying on the floor.  If there has been a change with more of your body being in contact and with more symmetry then your movement efforts have been successful in creating change.

The more we can stop and notice what is going on in our bodies and our breathing the more we learn about our habits. The more we reconnect with the forgotten parts of us, the more we can become aware of our posture during emotional times and then we can come to learn what we need to do to create more openness, more space in our bodies.  Think openness, space, lightness, ease of movement and effort, awareness of breath.  Think of these things when you think of posture.


Copyright 2009  Brenda Rosenberg CYI, CST, APIA

Comments Off

Pain, Let It Be

November 5, 2009 at 7:37 pm (CranioSacral Therapy)
Tags: , ,

Every once in a while you run into phrases that stick with you, waiting for you to “get it”.  During one CranioSacral Therapy training class I had a headache originating in my neck.  I struggled to pay attention in the class because of it.  I massaged the appropriate acupuncture points on my hands and fidgeted in general trying to find a way to ease my discomfort.  A teaching assistant watched me for a while and then said, “Let your headache be”.  The comment struck me at the time as making no sense.  I needed to “do” something to make it better. But, the more you test it, fiddle with it, worry over it, argue with it, curse at it or poke at it, the bigger the pain gets if only in your mind.

It is okay to tell yourself no.  No, not to do, let it be as it is.  Just observe.  Stay on the edge of the problem. Sit with it and have a cup of tea.  There will be an answer, let it be.  Paul McCartney was right.

 

Copyright 2009.  Brenda Rosenberg CST, APIA, CYI

 

 

Comments Off

The Resources of Yoga, Feng Shui and Bodywork

November 4, 2009 at 11:12 pm (CranioSacral Therapy, feng shui, yoga)
Tags: , , , , ,

The origin of the word resource is to “rise up”.  When referring to resources that can help us in times of need in our physical or emotional lives, we need to have developed individual resources from which we can call upon to rise up to help ease any troubling situation and restore balance.

Resources can be external such as healthy connections to family, friends or nature. These resources are nourishing, safe and replenishing to our nervous systems. Having professionals such as bodyworkers, therapists, physicians or councilors that you trust to listen to your needs or help you deal with your concerns are worth developing when you are feeling well so that they are familiar with you when you need them.

Your home can be a resource if it is a safe haven that supports you in your goals.  Spending time considering the Feng Shui of your home can help you to create this sanctuary.

Internal resources can be cultivated or developed through journaling, meditation, visualizing or remembering safe places or persons.  Yoga, Feldenkrais and Alexander Technique are movement resources where  practicing over a long period of time allows you are able to draw on them for support for rehabilitation of body and soul.

Our natural resources become overwhelmed during surgery, accidents or when experiencing trauma of any kind.  This results in an overloaded nervous system.  Longer term unhealthy connections such as relationships that are draining, conditional or berating, unhealthy habits and addictions lead us to lose touch with our mental and physical health resulting in pain and suffering.

Safety is a felt sense in the body and anything associated with safety and calm are resources that can be drawn upon when we feel tired, stressed, in pain, or are struggling with difficult life circumstances.

Take a moment to list your resources and think of some ways to develop them.

Copyright 2009.  Brenda Rosenberg CYI, APIA, CST

Comments Off

Yoga at the Gym

October 14, 2009 at 6:54 pm (yoga)
Tags: , , , , ,

Why do you go to the gym?  Perhaps you think you should get exercise to be healthy, reduce stress, get stronger or more shapely.  You are taught how to use the machines safely and given general guidelines as to the number of repetitions and  sets that will give you results.  I have not heard many people speak of going to the gym to become more flexible.  There may be the odd class that teaches stretching technique.

The gym offers you the opportunity to use more effort to get bigger muscles and some cardio conditioning. Yoga helps you to meet life with less effort and more flexibility.  Why not go to the gym and use some concepts from Yoga to help you get balanced, strong  muscles with less effort and maximize your cardio conditioning with the added benefit of focus?

Your body is not a thing to be manipulated into shape at all costs.  If you take the extra few moments to focus on each repetition of each exercise as if you were exploring that movement  for the first time  you may be amazed at what you discover.  Less effort means a more efficient use of oxygen by the body, more benefit to the target muscle or muscle group and a more effective workout all around.

Ask yourself these questions?

  • Am I sitting/standing on the machine in a balanced way?
  • Am I isolating the movement to the joint and muscle group that it is intended to work?
  • Am I using/tightening more muscles than are necessary to do this movement?
  • If I am using two arms or legs for the exercise am I actually using one side more than the other?
  • Could I do this movement with less effort if I was breathing in or breathing out with the movement?

Multitasking is getting a bad name for itself.  Walking on the treadmill, listening to an ipod and watching T.V. while texting  to a friend is actually a waste of time.  BE-HERE-NOW! If your goal is to become healthier and in better shape, then do that.  Actually feel what is happening to your body:  how are you breathing, where are you holding excessive tension, are you running or walking in an unbalanced way (look at the bottom of your shoes) ?  Misuse of the body adds up and eventually you will be wondering why you are so inflexible and in pain even though you go to the gym regularly.

Copyright 2009  Brenda Rosenberg CYI

Comments Off

Feng Shui and Your Ideal Environment

October 13, 2009 at 8:40 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , ,

Featured Article

My instructor for Advanced Interior Alignment, Laurie Bornstein writes a wonderful newsletter on Feng Shui.  With her permission I am inviting you to read her article and begin to think about your environment.  If your environment is supporting your efforts for improved health, flexibility, etc.  you will more likely meet with success or at least find the right people to help you find that balance you seek.  Brenda

Create Your Ideal Environment

Feng Shui Teacher and Entrepreneur Laurie Bornstein, “The Feng Shui Marketing Queen” is the author and creator of ‘Simple Feng Shui Series’, her FREE monthly ezine filled with articles and tips on how to live and work in balance, visit http://www.fengshuimarketingqueen.com to learn more.

When you enter your home, do you feel a warm welcome, and a sense of satisfaction? When you go to work, are you greeted by a desk covered with projects and things to do? If so, how does that feel? Is this an environment that welcomes and energizes you or is this an environment that drains and depletes you? Creating your ideal environment means looking honestly at what’s working and what isn’t working in your living and working environments.

Is your home or office disorganized and filled with clutter? When you’re surrounded by clutter you are literally blocked, physically and mentally. It’s impossible to be fully productive. Productive energy cannot find its way through piles of papers, remnants of unfinished projects, broken or unused furnishings, or randomly placed tools and equipment.

Go through your belongings. How much do you actually use? Are there items you’ve been holding onto that you don’t use, don’t like or don’t really have a use for? These are the types of things that create clutter in our environments, clutter that not only takes up valuable space in our physical environment, but clutter that also takes up space in the quality of our life. When space is blocked, life takes on a certain sluggishness. We may have great ideas and plans but we lack the motivation necessary to accomplish them.

Creating an environment that supports your needs means taking the time to determine how you live and who you are. A simple and powerful way to begin is to answer the following questions:

  1. What do you like most about your life right now?
  2. What are your strengths?
  3. What are your weaknesses?
  4. What is your attitude about the circumstances of your life? Your home?
  5. What is your mood when you are alone?
  6. Are there areas that you need to work on to improve the quality of your life?
  7. Is there a conflict between the way you actually spend your time and the way you’d like to spend your time?
  8. If so, what are you willing to do to change this?
  9. Are there aspects of your life, your responsiblities that someone else could do to free up time for you so you could do those things you desire?
  10. Do your relationships have the depth of intimacy you desire?
  11. Is the amount of creative expression you have in your life satisfying?
  12. What do you want to do that you aren’t doing?
  13. When you think of home, what are three symbols that embrace the spirit of home? For me they are, comfort, personality, and welcome.
  14. What room in your home do you like best? Why?
  15. Where do you like to read?
  16. Where do you like to sit?
  17. What do you like to do when you’re at home?
  18. What objects hold the most meaning for you?
  19. Which room or area of your home most captures your personality?
  20. How would you describe your home?
  21. Is it what you want it to be?

In answering the questions above (and any others that may come up for you during the exercise), be honest and truthful with yourself. When we take time to think deeply about ourselves and our spaces, we open the door to possibility. We create the energy that supports change by simply increasing our own awareness.

Review the furnishings, the colors, the lighting and all aspects of those rooms, those areas in your home that you like best. Recreate what you like in other areas of your home. Starting with your main living spaces, your bedroom, your living or family room and then work your way through the rest of your home. When you take the time to invest in your home, you are investing in yourself. Recognize your needs, understand that what you like matters, give yourself permission to create a home that embraces the spirit of your personality and you will have Created Your Ideal Environment!

Copyright © 2008 Harmony Life, LLC.  All rights reserved.

Comments Off

« Older entries