Have you ever prepared for a special gathering? A gathering that you just know will be full of special moments that create opportunities for personal growth. Well, that is exactly what I am in the midst of doing. I am preparing for a special gathering. This gathering is an Interior Alignment™ feng shui professional certification course.

This is the beginning of my fifth year of teaching Interior Alignment™ professional certification courses. The professional certification course is designed to certify others as professional feng shui practitioners.  I love teaching and all the preparation it takes to conduct a course.  I have a checklist of items for the course, the students, and the venue. There are a million details, but it is the details that make the time together special.

My favorite part is selecting the different meditation music. I have lots and lots of cd’s for selection. The synchro alignments that are done through out the course help students to become familiar with this unique tool of Interior Alignment. Synchro alignment is similar to a guided meditation and meant to bring together our conscious self with our higher self.

The day before the course starts it is very busy as the chef brings in the food and fills both refrigerators and both pantries. The cleaning people are in and I am working on flower arrangements for the students bedrooms, the bathrooms, and the dining room. I also put the finishing touches to the special altar for the course.

The morning of the first day of the course has the energy of anticipation. I go from room to room double checking to make sure that everything is in place. I go out to the front walk to sweep and spray it down with water as this gives the walk a fresh appearance. I make sure the fountain is running and the potted plants are watered.

Finally, the students begin to arrive. I meet them outside at the front door with a smile and hug. As they go into the house, they meet the chef who has a yummy snack and beverage waiting for them. We get comfortable in the living room to discuss bedroom assignments and go over housekeeping items.  The students then bring their luggage in and begin to settle into their rooms.

When it is time for us to reconvene in the living room, we begin the Interior Alignment™ feng shui journey. A journey that will be life changing for some of the students and an introduction to a new career as a feng shui practitioner. I am truly honored and grateful that these feng shui students chose me for their teacher and to share this part of their soul’s journey.

Blessings, Neshi.

All Rights Reserved. Copyright, Yvette Neshi Lokotz, May 2008.

How many books have you read about feng shui? If you read more than one chances are you were confused by contradictions.  You are not alone. When I first started studying feng shui I read my first book and was excited and then I bought my second book and then I was confused. When I began my study of feng shui there were not that many books available on the subject.

I can help you clear up some of your confusion. There are several main schools of feng shui and most feng shui books do not tell from what perspective the author is writing the book.  As I went along with my informal study, I came across the book Sacred Space by Denise Linn. In this book she wrote about Instinctive Feng Shui.  Sacred Space became the Interior Alignment™ system, which combines instinctive feng shui, space clearing and synchro alignment. When I read about instinctive feng shui, I felt a solar plexus connection with the information.  I chose to study this form of feng shui with Denise.

Denise wrote that we each have a deep and vast wellspring of intuitive knowledge about the power of placement.  Instinctive feng shui taps into that knowledge.  A great example is, when you move into a new home and begin to arrange your belongings or just moving furniture around in your current home.  Many times we move something then stand back to see how it “looks”.  We then decided if it “looks” good or not. If it doesn’t “look” good, we move again and again until it “looks” good. 

This “looking” good is our connecting or tapping into our intuition. We are actually “feeling” the change in the room. This “feeling good” is the basis of Instintive Feng Shui which is intuition. 

Instinctive feng shui is the blending of the best of feng shui from Black Hat feng shui, Compass feng shui and Form School feng shui.  These types of feng shui share and agree that harmony with the universe is important in feng shui.  Harmony is the balance of the flow of chi, the balance of yin and yang, and the balance of the elements.

The field of feng shui is enormous. Finding the school of feng shui that “feels” good to you is important and finding the teacher that you feel good about is just as important. Take time to investigate each school and teacher of that school, but rely on your intuition to make your final selection. 

Blessings, Neshi.

All Rights Reserved. Copyright, Yvette Neshi Lokotz, May 2008. 

Many of us have read or heard the Native American phrase, “All my Relation”. When I first began my Interior Alignment™ training, I found this same sentiment in the space clearing tenant, “You are not separate from the world around you”.  The founder of Interior Alignment™, Denise Linn, reflected on her native heritage to put the phrase “All My Relation” into her own words. I connected with her words on so many levels. I recently read an the article, All Together Now, in the May 2008 issue of the “O” Magazine, which about how we are all interconnected.

The article All Together Nowis about how Dr. George E. Vaillant brought together science and spirituality in his book Spiritual Evolution: A Scientific Defense of Faith. Dr. Vaillant describes the use of language to describe emotions, which is near impossible to find a word that accurately describes exactly what you are feeling.  The same line of thought is how we describe spiritual people, finding the words to accurately describe them leads us usually to what they do such as serving others. They are not totally focused on themselves but spend time focused on others.  This service to others is the bedrock of a community.  It is a way to describe the social doing and being.

For me this means we are not only in service to other human beings but also to the plants, animals, water…we are in service to the planet. What we do and be affects everyone and everything else - All My Relation and We Are Not Separate From the World Around You.

The other item I found fascinating in this article was Dr. Vaillant’s theory about brain’s limbic system. The limbic system is the site of positive emotions, the site of spirituality.  It is also the site where mammals know how and why to care for their young. The limbic system is also the site that makes experiences memorable and important. It is also the site in our brains that hold the neurotransmitters for addiction. Addiction is the attachment that is an out of balance attachment to something. 

This “addiction” stimulates our feel good in our brain.  We use this in balanced healthy ways too such as when we meditate, interact with someone we love and for some the runners high.  The article stated that “positive emotions work better than negative emotions in an evolutionary sense.” Positive emotions have a higher rate of survival than negative emotions.

I found this article profoundly thought provoking about how we affect others as we evolve our positive emotions and allow our negative emotions to meet their end or rather transmute to a positive emotion as they are released.  This gives rise to another layer and understanding of space clearing.
 

Migwiitch (thanks) for reading Between the Beat.  Blessings, Neshi.

All Rights Reserved.  Copyright, Yvette Neshi Lokotz, May 2008.

Spring and The Growing Time  April 20 to May 20

The Medicine Wheel holds and reflects earth energies all through the year. The Medicine Wheel is an energy map that is intricately connected to the energies of the earth. Within these earth energies are animal, plant, mineral, water and air. We walk the Medicine Wheel and experience those energies represented around the life wheel. As in Western astrology there are energies that represent a time of birth.

We are at the cardinal direction of the East. Of course each tribal nation has slight differences as to what energies are represented in each direction.  My Interior Alignment™ training and understanding of the East is that it represents the Spirit of Air.  This is also the area of mental thoughts. The East is spring time, new and rebirth.  It is a time when plants and trees are budding their leaves and spring blossoms and reminds of the color green. From my cultural understanding the East represents the Creator as this brings the sun and a new day.  The East represents the new and rebirth. The direct cardinal direction of the East represents the element of earth, a time of consolidating and the color yellow.

Understanding your birth totem and your clan totem can help you to understand how your home can support you and balance your energies. If you are born between April 20 and May 20 your energies are represented by Beaver as your birth and animal totem. The Beaver is a land mammal that can swim and stay underwater for long periods of time. The energy of Beaver is one of productivity and practical. They are an engineer and architect who can transform the environment to provide comfort and safety. The essence of Beaver is a hard worker, they are always busy with the purpose of security and contentment. Beaver people are adaptive and creative and good at constructing and reconstructing both on the physical and emotional planes. Beaver people are quick to learn and good with their hands and minds.

The Beaver’s elemental clan is Turtle and represents the earth. People of the Turtle clan feel a strong need to establish a stable base or home from which to operate from — to put down roots. The Turtle clan is persistent and tenacious when in balance they achieve great progress and establish solid achievements.

In Medicine Wheel Feng Shui an earth home is natural and organic. It is a home that honors the earth.  You might find natural fabrics, oversized cushions, Native American blankets or a drum hanging on the wall. An earth home is the most sensual home of all the elements. It is a home that satisfies all your senses (sight, hearing, smell and touch).  You may want to have a picture or statue of a beaver or turtle to honor your totems.

What part of your home resides in the East? Were you born in the Growing Time? Does your home balance your energies? These are good questions to start understanding how Medicine Wheel Feng Shui can assist you.

All Rights Reserved. Copyright, Yvette Neshi Lokotz, May 2008.