Have you ever wondered what you are suppose to being doing with your life? What contribution are you suppose to give to the world?  This is how I began my journey to becoming a feng shui and space clearing professional.  It was back in 1994 that I began asking myself these questions. 

I believe that the Universe answered my questions as I found a very small article in a a Glamour magazine on feng shui. I had not heard of that phrase. Within a 2 week time frame the phrase feng shui found its way into my life. I decided to check out what the Internet had to offer. I found page after page of feng shui related items.  I noticed that there was nothing offered in the Midwest at that time, which was 1995.  I was in a bookstore some months later and found a book on feng shui, Feng Shui-Arranging your Home to Change Your Life by Kirsten M. Lagatree. There was only 3 books available at that time and I chose Kirsten’s book.  I must have read that book at least 4 times.  I started to move my furniture around and our life began to change. Paul received a new duty station in Madison along with a promotion. I was hired by the state to be a policy analyst (a nice raise to boot).  So, we moved to a small town near Madison in 1996.

Do you feel a draw or pull toward feng shui or toward space clearing and not know why? I believe that at a soul level we already know so many things. It is when we make a conscious decision to find out more or to take another kind of action that we begin to consciously step onto that part of our Life Journey, our path, to be of assistance to others. This is what feng shui and space clearing are about, being of service, at least from an Interior Alignment™ perspective. 

There are two distinct areas for consideration. The first area is on the physical or worldly level.  Does something like feng shui or space clearing interest you as a profession. Are you already an interior designer or real estate person who can add this on to the services you already provide to others. It is a business decision.  The second area of concern is in the spiritual world.  Do you feel or have a sense like you have done feng shui or space clearing before?  Do you feel a sense of joy and excitement when you read information about feng shui and space clearing?  This is your soul telling you to follow your heart.  This is a spiritual decision. 

The first time I assisted a friend to move her furniture around, I felt so elated when she felt the change in the room. Or, when my very first paying client sent me flowers to say thank you for their “new home”. The feeling of assisting others to realize their goals, their dreams, their intentions was so way better than I ever felt drafting state law.

I have been practicing space clearing most of my life. I watched my mother and my aunties clear their homes and when I was old enough, I assisted my mother.  When I read Sacred Space by Denise Linn is when I found my heart’s work. Space Clearing to me is like breathing, natural.  When you are drawn to space clearing you also are drawn to a deeper connection to Spirit as we work with the formless. The shifts in energy are not seen but felt, felt at a soul level. When a client describe their home after a space clearing they talk about how they can breath more fully, how it feels lighter or how it feels to comfortable for the first time in their home. They speak about feeling rather than seeing.

If you are interested in becoming a professional feng shui and space clearing practitioner, you may find yourself asking yourself, “why do I want to become a practitioner?” Doing what you love is a big part of the answer, being of service to others, and getting paid for assisting others in realizing their intentions may just be your answer.  I believe that the world needs more space clearing and feng shui practitioners. As people begin to awaken to their soul’s work, to their life journey, they will need assistance to create an environment that will support their endeavors to reach their goals. They will need a home that will offer them a place of peace to unwind and relax at the end of the day. Just think, or imagine that could be you assisting them. 

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

My journey to New Mexico began about 2 years ago.  I had just finished teaching a practitioner certification of Interior Alignment. I was spending the next couple of days cleaning and putting aware the space clearing tools and such.  As I worked, I could hear
whispers of the name Albuquerque.  My husband and I went out to dinner and as we waited for our table, we sat chatting about our day.  As I was listening to Paul, I heard another voice say in a rather loud conversational tone — Albuquerque.  I had no clue as to why or what this all meant.  Paul teased me and said that I couldn’t go there until I knew how to spell Albuquerque.  I began my research and interest in Albuquerque. 

It was almost 2 years later in September 2007 that I received an email regarding the course, The Way of the Shaman, being taught by Sandra Ingerman in Santa Fe, New Mexico in March of 2008. I loved Sandra Ingerman’s style of writing and had heard such praise for her style of teaching.  I decided the day I received the email message that I would attend this course with Sandra. I wrote out a check for the entire course fee and
mailed it off. 

I shared my decision with my good friend and fellow Interior Alignment™ Master teacher, Deb Swingholm, that I would be attending The Way of the Shaman course.
I sent Deb the class information and she too decided to attend the same course.  I still had no idea why I had to go to New Mexico, just that there was a very strong pull to go to Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

New Mexico is a beautiful state that has many different ecosystems.  We spent our first full day visiting ancient petroglyph sites at the Petroglyph National Monument Park in Albuquerque. My favorite site was the Piedras Marcadas Canyon (Canyon of the Dark Rocks).  This is the home of the densest concentration of petroglyphs along the 17 mile escarpment with 5,000 images.  Most of the images were created between 400 and 700 years ago by the ancestors of today’s Pueblo Nations. This area and the petroglyph carvings were thought to be used to conduct sacred ceremony.

Science shows that 150,000 years ago a series of volcanic eruptions flowed to create the mesa and the dark basaltic rock that were used to carve the petroglyphs. The petroglyphs contained both animal and human forms.  As we approached the trail head of the Canyon, I did a tobacco giving ceremony to ask for permission to pass into a sacred place.  I was given permission and called granddaughter. We hiked some distance, stopping occasionally to take pictures and to tune into the energy of this sacred place.

One petroglyph in particular caught my attention. The image of a woman, a female shaman, at the very back part of the canyon.  This particular carving was different from other shaman carvings as it was plain to see that this shaman had a dress on. Other shaman carvings was shown in stick person form. As I closed my eyes to feel the energy here, I felt compelled to turn and look in the opposite direction.  The view was looking down the canyon to see where it narrowed and then opened up to the valley which Albuquerque is located.  The shape of this canyon reminded me of a womb and birth canal. The female shaman petroglyph was at the very back of the womb.  She held a stick in one hand and a corn stalk in the other. I could hear drumming and women singing as I imagined what it might have been like to be there in ceremony.

As I stood in the center of the womb, giving thanks for the opportunity to experience the energy of this sacred place, I could felt in my heart that this is the reason, the
female shaman, that I was to make the sacred journey to Albuquerque. A special thanks to Ed and Yvonne Boudreaux for being such great hosts and tour guides.

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

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

This post is from my most favorite book on Space Clearing, Sacred Space by my teacher Denise Linn.

There are three basic tenets that are the foundation of all space clearing techniques:

• Everything is composed of constantly changing energy.
• You are not separate from the world around you.
• Everything has consciousness.

“Your home is an evolving being much as you are an evolving being.  You home’s Beingness is one that you may communicate with, it provides protection and healing”, Denise Linn.  Learning how to communicate with your home can help you to create a life that is balanced and in harmony with life (nature).

The Sacred Spacebook is the basis for the professional Interior Alignment™ certification course and most of the workshops I hold for the general public. 

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

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. 

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