Publisher's letter S


pring is just around the corner and for many of us it’s a time to do some spring cleaning. Whenever I’m clean- ing things out or rearranging things in my home, I like to keep in mind the ancient Chinese secrets of feng shui that have been used successfully for centuries to improve health, wealth and happiness. Feng shui is the act of purposefully arranging things around you to gain positive results, from furniture to art to your toothbrush, believe it or not!


According to feng shui, everything that happens in life can be categorized into nine life situations, which are spatially represented by areas in your living quarters. This is called a bagua and it includes: prosperity, fame & reputation, relationships & love, family, health, creativity & children, skills & knowledge, career, people & travel. The bagua is essentially layed over the frame of your house or dwelling with the main door of the house corresponding to a particular side of the bagua. This is how you determine what each corner or area of your home represents.


Next, determine which of these areas you are unsatisfi ed in currently, vs. trying


to tackle them all at once. Then, focus on those specifi c areas to shift the energy in your home and your life. You should also make a note of what is working to deter- mine if unknowingly you have already properly placed things according to feng shui principles. Then using things such as color, shapes and textures to represent the fi ve elements of fi re, metal, water, wood and earth you will be able to balance your life and have your home work for you in generating positive energy. You must also set the intention that the elements work for you in a particular area.


Just to give you some immediate insight into one of the areas, I’ll choose prosper-


ity. If you are standing at your front door looking into the house, the prosperity section is the furthest left back corner of the home. Immediate action items for bringing pros- perity into your life include: cleaning this section of the home well, removing broken items, using purple, green and gold colors, round-leaved plants. Things you would not want in your prosperity section: trash cans, toilets, dead or fake plants, fi replaces, dust or broken items.


There are many informative books on feng shui, but my favorite is “Move Your


Stuff, Change Your Life,” by Karen Rauch Carter. She takes what can be a very com- plicated subject and makes it easy to read, understand and apply. I hope this inspires you to do some spring cleaning!


In Health and Happiness, Maine O


ur mission is to provide valuable insight, information and resources that will allow our readers to maintain a healthy, active, sustainable lifestyle. Essential Living Maine contains timely in for ma tion on nat u ral health, complementary and alternative medicine, nu tri tion, fi tness, per son al growth, green liv ing, and the products and services that support good health.


PUBLISHER Dr. Diane Hayden Diane@naturalnutmeg.com


DIR. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Christopher Urso


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CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ashley Frament


layout@essentiallivingmaine.com


ADVISORY BOARD Sarah Buck, ND


Ingrid Levasseur, BA, CCT Karen St. Clair


Stephanie Walsh, MNT, CEPC, CPT Kimberly Zurich, LAc


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4 ELM™ Maine - March/April 2019


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