I recently collaborated with two other Interior Alignment™ Master Educators, Deborah Redfern and Deb Swingholm regarding our desire to assist all certified Interior Alignment™ practitioners.  As educators of Interior Alignment™ we have a special stewardship regarding the ongoing education of current Interior Alignment™ practitioners, current Master Interior Alignment™ Teachers and of course future practitioners and teachers.

Deborah, Deb and I have been spending time researching and learning how to optimize our personal business websites.  We teamed up as we all have a passion for research and putting together puzzles. We are not experts in website search optimization, but I think we have tapped into a solid understanding of why website optimization is important and also the how to actually get basic optimization done.

If a feng shui practitioner has a business website, the basic reason for the website is for other people (future clients and students) to be to find you and the kind of services you provide.  We all know that the internet is a huge virtual space that takes some skill and self confidence to actually find what you are looking for.  By completing very basic website optimization a practitioner’s website ranking is vastly improved.  For instance, with some tweaking of meta tags and also title text changes both Deborah and I have moved our Google ranking up from “no where land” to second and third page ranking.

Each of us has placed a document of how to apply very basic optimization ideas on our business websites under Resources.  This document is in PDF form. Here is a link to my Resource page: http://www.two-feathers.org/documents/SEO_HowTo.pdf

Another great tool is Google Analytics.  This is a free service from Google.  They provide a code to track pages of your website so that you can determine if your money and energy is well spent. The statistics will also assist you in seeing how effective your website is by how many people visit your website, what pages are read and what key words they used to start their search that brought them to your website. This is fabulous information to help a practitioner to set clearer intentions for their website.

Another Interior Alignment™ practitioner or teacher may wonder why three Interior Alignment™ Master Educators would want to share such valuable information with possible competitors.  The short answer is we believe that we are here to serve and if you are a practicing Interior Alignment™ practitioner and teacher, we know that you made the conscious decision to be of service to others, your clients and students.  Personally I believe that competition is an illusion. 

Those who are meant to study with me or become a client are drawn to my unique vibration.By sharing the website optimization basic information we are assisting other Interior Alignment practitioners and teachers to become more visible to those who are attracted to their unique vibration.

When we, Interior Alignment practitioners and teachers, come together as an Interior Alignment community which is in service to others, we all prosper including and most importantly all our clients and students also prosper.

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

As we approach a very powerful time of year, I feel the renewed energy of growth and new beginnings. A time of exhilaration as I feel the desire to play hooky and spend time outdoors.

The Spring Equinox marks a balance point of time when energy starts to rise as experienced through tree sap rising and beginning to flow. We also see maple trees being tapped for their sap and we look forward to (okay drool) the maple syrup and candy to made.  This time of year we balance an egg on its end which is a visual of the balanced energies on the exact Equinox.  The Spring Equinox is a time of balanced male and female energies found in the changing and new beginnings.  From a feng shui perspective this can be seen as a balancing of the element of water and the element of fire.

The Spring Equinox comes from the place of the crosswinds on the Medicine Wheel.  The north-east direction celebrates the end of winter and the arrival of spring when everything comes back to life and awakens.

The Spirit, wind, of the East is the influencing wind during this time.  We can begin to feel the aliveness in the breeze and smell the aroma of Mother Earth as the cycle of rebirth begins. We can feel the faster moving energies that come with the equinoxes.

On the Medicine Wheel, the birth totem for March 21-April 19th is the Falcon. Kenneth Meadows, author of Earth Medicine, writes that Falcon people learn the life lesson of adaptability without compromising their ideals and principles.  They spread their wings as a symbol of new ideas and experiences.

Ted Andrews states in Nature Speaksthat the Spring Equinox is a timie to focus on conscious transmutation. I believe this means taking time to become aware of what needs to be changed in your life.

You may consider taking some time to sit in quietness for some time outdoors and consider if there is anything in your life that you would like to transmute, balance, birth as a new project. 

May your Spring Equinox bring you many blessings.  Neshi

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

I recently wrote a blog article for Where Energy Flows blog regarding creating an altar and space clearing my office cubicle.  I thought maybe it would be an interesting read for Between the Beats, if I shared a little bit more of that experience.

I worked in a government building with a grey concrete exterior much like most government buildings built in the 1970′s.  The last 4 or 5 months of my employment, I had many mornings where I felt like I was in the movie Joe versus the Volcano starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.  In the very beginning of the movie, Tom Hank’s character, Joe, is walking toward a big grey building in which he works.  As he gets closer to the building his steps become slower and slower.  Joe then pauses for a very long while before he actually enters the building.  I know what that actually feels like.

The building I worked in is well known for its possibilities of having the Sick Building Syndrome.  I knew that in my training from Interior Alignment™ that I had options to create a sanctuary in my cubicle.  My cubicle could be a space that could support me both physically and spiritually.

I took steps to clarify my intention for my cubicle. How did I want to feel when I was there?  How could my cubicle support me in my work?  Most importantly, how could I be a role model for my co-workers?  I wanted to live by Gandhi’s famous quote, “be the change you wish to see in the world.”

As I used feng shui principles in my cubicle such as adding color, placement of bookcases and binders, as well as placement of pictures and altars.  I also had to deal with a computer monitor that was situated in a way that had my back to the entrance, doorway, of my cubicle.  I placed a small round mirror next to my monitor that allowed me to see the reflection of someone standing behind me at my door.  Most of my co-workers thought I was using the mirror as a communication tool for phone calls.  You know, people can hear your frown or smile over the phone.

Once I had the feng shui set in my cubicle, I then performed a space clearing ceremony.  I went in much earlier than usual.  I created a very small and simple altar for the ceremony.  Since there was a rule about not having open flames, I still used a candle to symbolize fire, but didn’t light the candle.

I also used a very quiet method of space clearing called the Breath of God.  I couldn’t use my drum or bell as it would have been too big and too loud for the space as I was only clearning my cubicle and not the entire office.  Since I was not asked to perform a space clearing on the entire space, I could only take responsiblity for my own cubicle.

The results from creating a sacred space in my cubicle is that I had visitors.  My co-workers would stop by because it felt good in my cubicle.  The best example of how my space supported me and those who came to visit was 9/11.

I was at work that day.  I remember our receptionist telling a co-worker and I that she had just  heard on the radio that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.  A short time later, the receptionist came back and told us that there was a second plane that also crashed into the World Trade Center.  I remember saying to my co-worker that something was wrong and that it sounded like a terrrorist act.

As the morning wore on and our employer placed a television in our conference room, I could feel the energy shifting within the staff and office.  I went to my cubicle to be met by two co-workers sitting in my cube waiting for me.  They just wanted to be in my cubicle because they felt safe.  At one time I had 6 people in my cuble besides me.  At lunch time, I stayed and space cleared my cubicle and reset the energy.  I cleared away the released emotions from that morning.

As I look back and remember that time, I know in my heart that my cubicle was an island of comfort and safety during a time of such distress.  The intention I set for the energy of my work space is important even now as I work from my home office.

I will write a future blog article about creating an altar for space clearing.  Or, if you like, please visit http://www.wherenergyflows.com to read my articles about space clearing and feng shui that I have already written.

Thank you for reading Between the Beats.  Many Blessings.  Neshi.

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

Feng shui your front door is an invitation to Chi.   This statement means thatwhen your front door is pleasing to Chi (Life Force or Vital Force); you are attracting and inviting Chi to your home.

Take a moment and imagine standing across the street from your home.  Visualize the front of your home.  Focus in on the walk to the front door.  What does it look like? If you walked up to your front door what items do you see?

As you do this imagination you are Chi being invited to your front door.  Are you welcome and invited in?

According to my training in Interior Alignment™, instinctive feng shui, the architectural front door of a home is the “mouth of chi”.  We also have a belief that very thing contains Chi, life force, even items that may seem inanimate objects.  So, your home is just as a live as you are.  When Chi is invited to your home, it is like your own body receiving an extra boost of energy.  When this energy has a smooth and balance flow, it feels great.  When this energy moves to quickly and fast, it does not feel so good.

Why is feng shui for your front door important?  Well placed items, such as plants and lighting, encourage the flow of Chi to be smooth and balanced.  Chi loves beauty.  If you have healthy plants, and low voltage lights lighting a meandering path…Chi will flow smoothly as it is led to your front door. 

Your front door affects the energy of the entire house and creates a first impression for Chi.  Is your front door a pleasing color, is it in good healthy condition, can the door be opened easily and fully?

The ideal front door will be proportionally sized to match the overall size of the house; there is a beautiful water feature in the front of the home; the front yard feels expansive; there is a curved meandering front walk; healthy plants are along the path and near the door; there may be a wind chime near the front door; and the color of the front door matches the overall intention for the home (is your home a quiet contemplative home or is your home party central for friends); lawn ornaments and statuary are scaled to the house and gardens.

Spring is just around the corner.  Now is the time to consider what the outside of your front door looks like and ask yourself is Chi is invited to your home.  Take a picture of your front door and make a few paper copies. Take the paper copies and draw in where you would like a garden or two.  Draw in potted plants and water feature.  Play with the possibilities…dream about your ideal front door.  Then take action and decided what can be done easily.  Decide what will take some time to plan and money to complete. 

In this picture of my previous home, we took three years to plan and build the covered front porch.  This made the whole home feel much warmer and friendlier.  We were also the only family in our neighborhood with a front porch.  We met our neighbors as we sat out to read the paper.  And, when it was time to move to another home, this porch was the main selling point of that home.

All Rights Reserved, Yvette Neshi Lokotz, March 2008.

A book review for Between the Beats.  I just finished up a book called Spirit Gardens – Rekindling Our Nature Connection, by Minnie Kansman.  I personally know the author and found a pleasant surprise – I didn’t know some items about her gardens.  Minnie takes you on a journey to her own gardens and how she connected with the Spirit of the land, and how she used feng shui to lay out her gardens.  Spirit Gardens is a book for those who are beginning gardeners and advanced gardeners who have a spiritual connection to the Earth. 

Minnie is an experienced feng shui practitioner who blended this skill with her formal education of floriculture and her life long love of gardening.  Spirit Gardens is filled with Minnie’s life experiences, feng shui information and tips, as well as ceremony and meditations. 

If you are looking for a great read, have an interest in garden feng shui and ceremony, contact Minnie at www.minniekansman.com to order your book.  In fact let her know that you found her through this blog post.  She will love the fact that there is another Interior Alignment connection.   You see, both Minnie and I are Interior Alignment practitioners and Master Educators — trained by Denise Linn.  In fact Denise wrote the Forword in Spirit Gardens.

It is my honor to suggest reading Spirit Gardens to you.  Many Blessings from Two Feathers.  Neshi

All Rights Reserved.  Neshi Lokotz, 2007.

Today is a beautiful day here in Tomah Wisconsin.  This is my first Autumn Equinox ceremony done by myself.  I am usually with friends and family.  It is unusual but very serene and peaceful.  I created an Earth Medicine Wheel on my property for the ceremony.  I took my time as I selected stones from the land, listening to which would like to join the ceremony.

I love what Ted Andrews wrote in his book Nature Speak about the Autumn Equinox.  He calls the Autumn Equinox the Beginning the Hero’s Journey.  This is the time of year that is about endings and beginnings.  This is a time of new starts as we clean out the old.  We had a great harvest this year.  We had an abundant year of inner work, peace, solitude and joy.

In the past months, I have come to know what it is to Be.  I had thought I had learned how to do this Being rather than Doing, but I had only learned a layer.  Now, I have learned what it is to be quiet, still and peaceful.  Spirit led me to this new deeper way of Being.  As we begin the Hero’s Journey, I am planning gardens for the next growing season.  This is both symbolic and actual.  I am planning my courses for 2008.  I will continue to teach certification courses in Interior Alignment (instinctive feng shui and space clearing), guiding Rainbow, 12 Gifts and A Song ascension groups, teaching sacred geometry and drum making. 

My new garden to sow seeds will be adding Medicine Wheel Feng Shui and Sacred Space to my list of courses.  I am very excited about this new part of my Soul’s Journey.  It will be a time where I will blend together all that I have learned about feng shui, sacred space, sacred geometry, ceremony, drumming, Synchro Alignment with my cultural heritage. 

I will also be co-teaching with two wonderful souls, Deb Swingholm and Minnie Kansman.  We will offer a course in advanced space clearing called Beauty, Space and Balance.  This course will be offered in June 2008. 

As I stood in the middle of the Earth Medicine Wheel and drummed my prayers, I was filled with joy and excitement to begin anew.  This new year will be different than others that I have experienced as I remember how to be quiet Being yet continue to teach. 

Blessed Autumn Equinox

Neshi