When Amanda Gibby Peters of Simple Shui and I first connected, we realized that we had an important opportunity to “share the Shui.” With most of us spending considerably more time at home, coupled with the range of emotions we are feeling related to and as a result of the pandemic, Amanda and I felt compelled to use our platforms to share easy self care tips through the art of mindfulness and taking control of aspects of our environment. Since, we’ve been sharing a series of easy, attainable Feng Shui and mindfulness tips here on Fab Everyday over the past few weeks. Through Amanda’s expertise in Feng Shui, we’re providing prompts so that your everyday actions (with intention) can become mindfulness rituals and a form of meditation that allows for reflection, clarity, and even managing some of the difficult and chaotic emotions we’ve felt since the pandemic hit. Today, we are trying to help you navigate one of the biggest emotional impacts from COVID-19: grief. Amanda is sharing some insight into how Feng Shui can help. As Amanda says, “our homes are sacred spaces that can support the emotional and mental recalibrations required” to move into a place of healing and acceptance amid all the turbulence and change in our lives. In today’s article, she is sharing 5 home mindfulness rituals for grief.
Feng Shui is a practice that prioritizes the energy of our surroundings in specific ways. Under its influence, we attract and hold onto chi that supports our happiness and well-being. Think of it as home improvement-meets-self empowerment! If you have wondered how to learn Feng Shui while you’ve been spending more time at home, Amanda’s new book, Simple Shui for Every Day: 365 Ways to Feng Shui Your Life is a great way to start. It includes 365 attainable, grab-and-go Feng Shui and mindfulness prompts; one for every day of the year. Amanda’s book and practice seeks to show us that when we change what’s happening around us in a positive way, we reconfigure what happens in our lives as well — one day at a time.
Using Feng Shui to Navigate Grief
By Amanda Gibby Peters
While some of our routines may return to their familiar selves, most of us probably agree this “great pause” has left us changed in subtle and profound ways. Some of the daily changes to our routines were long overdue; however, not all of them have been easy adjustments. And in many ways, we’re quietly mourning what we’re leaving behind – wondering if this “new normal” will ever feel normal.
In our culture, there is a tendency – dare I say encouragement – to avoid the process of grieving. If we’re experiencing it, we’re confronted with an implied “hurry up and move on,” as if there’s a finish line to our grieving. And if someone else is grieving, we hesitate asking about it because it feels so contagious. Either way, we are taught to avoid grief, if at all possible, as much as possible.
Except. Grief doesn’t follow orders. And without a ritual for acknowledging its company, grief will linger until we are ready to accept its presence.
For my clients, we define grief in all its forms – from missing “the” opportunity of their lives to the devastating loss of a loved one. While everyone’s heavy hangs differently, COVID has given us one shared common: an unexpected pivot in our lives. We no longer gather or travel casually – and when we do, it’s unlikely to return with the same ease as before. Our days are punctuated by news of exhausted front-line workers. We are acutely attuned to the consequences of a jolted economy. And the stories of people who have lost loved ones replenish daily. The truth is it is impossible to digest both the enormity of this viral disaster and its unknown terrain ahead. And all of this is grounds for grief.
While there are no inoculations to protect us from the overwhelm, we can be mindful in our spaces to create refuge. Our homes are sacred spaces that can support the emotional and mental recalibrations required ahead. So, if you are looking to do “the little things” that will soften the turbulence of this collective grief, here are 5 ways Feng Shui can help.
5 Feng Shui mindfulness rituals for managing grief
- Fix any leaks. Water is associated with our emotions in Feng Shui – and one of the most common culprits of lingering emotional fatigue is the everyday, no-big deal leak. Moving forward, think of it this way:
- Water leak = energy leak.
- Slow water leak = slow but steady energy leak.
- Energy leak = susceptible to low moods, exhaustion, and doubt.
Bottom line: Fix those water leaks immediately.
- Make sure your doors open fully. Specifically pay attention to what happens in and around your closets, hallways, thresholds and transitional spaces (like main doors). Remove any clutter from around these spots. Otherwise, the “congestion” will compromise your energy, making reprieve and respite feel more out of reach.
- Turn the lights up. Light perpetuates safety, comfort, and insight. Don’t want to keep the lights on? Open your space to as much natural light possible. Devote a space – for drinking your coffee or reading a book – near the windows and soak up the sun! Play with imagery or artwork of the sun rising, setting, or sitting pretty. Or, pursue pieces for your home that bask in sunshine colors!
- Light the candles. Fire represents transformation, which helps us burn through our grief so we emerge with renewed life force and understanding. Make it even more personal with a scent you LOVE. A few whiffs of the right smell can be a perfect counterbalance in today’s “weather.” Need a little guidance? Cedar is nature’s signature scent – it’s both rich and woody. Its notes root us to the earth’s grounding energy. Eucalyptus is a purifying and delightful mix of sweet and camphorous – an ideal remedy when our well-being requires a little TLC. Lavender will always reign as the tranquil peace-maker, day or night. And orange is highly recognizable – sweet, playful, and convivial. Whatever scent we fancy, the right smell can revitalize us like a spiritual deep clean.
- Clear your space energetically. With our daily comings and goings depleted, our spaces require a different rigor of maintenance right now. My suggestion is to adopt a quick space clearing – or energetic dusting – to rehab any wonky energy that’s made itself comfortable in your home. Most people are familiar with lighting incense or a sage stick, but with so many options on hand, you don’t need to always smudge. A few other options: ring a bell every morning, change the sheets (more often), spritz orange water throughout the house, chant or sing often, or open the windows. Any one of these – done with consistency – will keep your home cushioned with positive energy, cocooning you through the grief.
More Feng Shui 101 articles with Amanda Gibby Peters x Fab Everyday
- When you don’t know what else to do, sweep – Feng Shui mindfulness rituals for home health
- Feng Shui Cleaning Tips: 4 Housekeeping Tips That Will Improve Your Clarity
- Feng Shui 101: The 3 Feng Shui Power Spots in your Home
- Plants for Feng Shui – 10 reasons you want plants in your house
About Amanda Gibby Peters
Amanda Gibby Peters is the voice and founder of Simple Shui – a modern-day, mission-driven, love-based practice of Feng Shui.
She has been successfully teaching Feng Shui techniques and tips for over a decade, witnessing the amazing life transformations of readers and clients alike. Here’s what she knows for sure: “When we work with Feng Shui, it triggers opportunities, enhances our potential for success, and reconnects us with our own wisdom to influence positive change.”
Amanda has been called “the Martha Stewart of Feng Shui” – and her work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Food52, My Domaine, MindBodyGreen, and Well+Good. You can currently listen to Amanda’s shui tips on Amazon. And while you’re on Amazon, grab her new book – Simple Shui for Every Day: 365 Ways to Feng Shui Your Life.
Amanda is Dallas-based with an international clientele. She lives with her husband, twin daughters, and their rescue dog, Ruby.
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