by llenore | Oct 18, 2023 | Better Life, Healing Hearts, Health, Linda Lenore, Scary Times, Self Care
Let Your Light Shine (Candle), Be Grounded (Stones). Grow Gently and Bloom with the Journey (Leaves & Flower)
What is Self-Care? For each person and their situation, it can be something different.
Self-Care seems to be the new buzz word, yet women have known what they need to do intuitively. The challenge has always been, will we take the time and do the steps to take care of ourselves.
In our day-to-day life women have many roles and responsibilities. Throw in something unforeseen, especially something dealing with our health or the health of a loved one, and it can throw our lives out of balance. For many it’s hard to step out of the “caregiver” role and into self-care mode, at least it has been hard for me.
But let me share a few examples from my life in these next few posts. In some cases, I discovered I had done exactly what I needed to do “after the fact.” In others, it was somewhat planned. There are many tips for all parts of your life in these stories!
Over 25 years ago my now husband, Hilory, (then newly living together significant other) was told he had base-of-tongue cancer. (The doctor told me he had less than 2 months to live.)
Praying Groups Work!
First, I fired the doctor! Any healthcare provider who tells me a doom-and-gloom diagnosis is fired. I want a provider with a positive outlook on results and life. They need to say something like, “I’m going to do everything I can to help you get better!”
Second, I contacted everyone I knew who had a prayer group and/or did healing energy work. I got Hilory on every prayer & healing list and connected to every person I knew who did energy healing.
Hearing Bad News
A person going through a health challenge is only going to hear a fraction of the information any doctor or healthcare provider says. They are going to be in a state of shock, not ask questions, and sometimes be in denial. It’s best to be with them through it all. AND I do mean BE WITH THEM! Don’t take any excuse by the provider for not being with them 100% of the time.
I say that because at one of Hilory’s first appointments for the radiation he was strapped to the table, the developing machine didn’t work, the attendant left to go to a different building, and he was there by himself for 30 minutes – strapped down unable to move!!! He was so distraught he wasn’t going to go back. It took a hypnotherapist to reprogram his brain to have him feel comfortable and confident enough to continue.
From that point on, I told the doctor I was going to be in the room and would leave when the technicians left! Be assertive! Be obnoxious if you have to be! Be there for – and with – them!!!
These may not seem like they are “selfcare” for you, but they are. When you know you are doing your best – giving your all – you will sleep better at night.
Next post we’ll focus on a few things for you!
by llenore | Oct 15, 2023 | Beauty, Feng Shui, Healing Hearts, Health, Linda Lenore, Reflect You, Scary Times, Self Care, Uncategorized, Wellness, You are the LIGHT
Sometimes I am in a fog as to how I should handle something. I can’t see in front of me the steps I need to take.
Scary times happen in our lives. How are we supposed to include “self-care” during those times?
Scary times can include an unexpected financial expense. Maybe the loss of a job throws you into stress and scare: “How can I make it through this?” or “What next is going to happen?” Often a health issue, yours or a loved one, changes life forever.
I wish I could say I don’t know about these times, but I have. Most people I know have had these situations.
I’m going through one now. I realized I have tools to cope, yet I had forgotten them for several days at the beginning of this event.
It was then I decided to go through memories of “Scary Times” searching for tools. I gently removed protective layers the years have built to find and excavate what I’d used.
Reflecting on life, all the ripples in it, sometimes it is hard to see the reflection or the Light guiding us.
What worked in each situation? Were there common threads? Who were the people I relied upon? Who undermined me and my energy? What tidbits of knowledge did I learn? Did I use that knowledge sometimes and ignore it at other times? If I ignored it, was that a good thing or bad thing? When did I feel most empowered? Where did I go, if anyplace, to find quiet time to think – and feel – the emotions?
In disseminating this information, what protocol could I create for this scary time? How could I weave the information together to create a SafetyNet or warm, fuzzy blanket to comfort me through this journey?
And just what is self-care? Am I being selfish to think about ME during this time? Or is this exactly what my life path has taught me – that the only way I can truly help someone else is if I do take care of me with whatever “self-care” tools I have, whether longtime standbys or newly discovered.
Hence this series of articles has surfaced. It’s an archaeologically dig of my life. I am remembering memories buried deep within my mind. I’m feeling emotions I thought were healed. They aren’t, but they aren’t as painful. In fact, in many cases there is no attachment to them, just the vague memory of a time long ago.
My Feng Shui training has given me many tools to use. The masters I’ve had contributed to an awareness of energy and how to use it – and to use it ONLY FOR GOOD!
We should never interfere with another’s life. Words are powerful. “In the beginning was the Word!” Understanding I am one with the Universe – the One Mind – connects the energy fields. My hope is to raise my vibration – and yours – to a higher-level using words while sharing these stories of how I’ve navigated scary times.
by llenore | Sep 6, 2023 | Clutter, Feng Shui, Linda Lenore, Order, Scary Times, Self Care
Leading the news yesterday was a story how clutter & hoarding have increased due to COVID. I was shocked by that statement, especially since most of the people I had talked with during COVID were taking time to go through things while we were in the mist of the pandemic!
The “just incase I need it” pile
But life has changed since we are no longer “sheltered-in-place!” So has our mental outlook on life in many ways.
Underlying thoughts keep creeping in –
What if there is another major outbreak of COVID?
Will there be supply chain shortages?
Will I have to shelter-in-place again?
How will I take care of my family?
Will I have work or be able to work from home?
Can I mentally make it through another round of this?
What might I need to make it through?
These are just a few of the thoughts I’ve heard from participants in my Clutter Buster programs.
Plus, now we are as busy as ever catching up on all the things we couldn’t do for two years, yet wanted to be DOING! (We’ve forgotten we are human “BEINGS” – not human DOINGS!” Hehe!)
I was hoping the awareness we gleaned as to how the Rat Race had changed our perspective on what is important in life would last several years after the pandemic. But, alas, it only lasted a few months.
Cluttered home w/toys by AMBER LEVENTRY
Some Personal Situations that Can Create Clutter
During my life I have had numerous times where the clutter was out of control. It usually has been a major event in my life.
For instance:
- When I had emergency surgery and couldn’t get out of bed for months
- Taking care of my mother through her dementia – decisions on her things
- My son’s brain surgery and ultimate death – emotional attachments to lost dreams
- Having my home be the storage for personal belongings of friends who lost their homes
- My husband starting a business with his secretary leaving me in bankruptcy
- Working 3 part-time jobs while going to school full-time
- When I was bedridden, unable to walk for almost a year
- Completely remodeling the home myself while starting and running my business
And then the eternal tech issues when I’d lose emails and then have “recovered” files with thousands of emails including the ones that had been deleted previously.
Maybe you can picture yourself in one of these “life happens” situations.
Clutter Buster
Clutter Buster Program
Several of my participants begged me to continue with the Clutter Buster because they were making such great headway. So here it is!
I’ve scheduled something EVERY DAY – for EIGHT DAYS!!!!!
That is going to be too often for most of you. Choose 3-4 dates & times that work for you. Give yourself a break in between.
It really isn’t good for you to work that constantly on decluttering and organizing. I won’t be working on projects each day either. I’m just setting up the Zoom and creating the opportunity for you to find times that work for you.
Here are the days, dates and times. Hands-On Immersions – September 2023
Dates & Times:
- September 9 (Saturday) @ 12pm to 2pm PDT
- September 10 (Sunday) @ 12pm to 2pm PDT
- September 11 (Monday) @ 2pm to 3:30pm PDT
- September 12 (Tuesday) @ 10am to 11:30am PDT
- September 13 (Wednesday) @ 10am to 12pm PDT
- September 14 (Thursday) @ 12pm to 1:30pm PDT
- September 15 (Friday) @ 10am to 12pm PDT
- September 16 (Saturday) @ 12pm to 1:30 pm PDT
Here’s the link to purchase: http://linda.mastermind.com/masterminds/46979
Receive a $100 discount when you APPLY this Discount Code: 77CB
Let’s kick clutter to the curb!
by llenore | Aug 21, 2023 | Ba-Gua, Beauty, Clutter, Color, Feng Shui, Feng Shui Schools, Health, Interior Design, Linda Lenore, Reflect You, Self Care, Wellness, You are the LIGHT
For almost a decade grey has been a “go to” color trend creating a host of less than desirable energy – unless you are selling your house.
Charcoal grey kitchen
Then it might be just what you want since a recent Zillow survey states it might actually increase the sale price of your home. Let me explain more why you don’t want to use it.
One of the ways we create grey is by mixing black and white together. In Feng Shui, black equates to water and white equates to metal. Mixed together, they make grey; mixed together the elements of water will rust metal thus reducing the vitality of the space.
Every color has a vibration. Depending on what you want in your life, you may want to either paint specific colors or bring in area rugs or throw pillows with those colors to enhance the energy of your space.
For instance, if you want more energy, red is a great color. If you want more soothing energy, light blues might be a better choice.
Seafood green bedroom
Need a spark of creativity, yellow and orange are great stimulator colors. Green, especially in the sea foam or light moss range, gives a room the feeling it is connected to nature and is a restful color.
Paint is a rather low cost way to give your home a vibrational lift, yet it can also be more permanent than the addition of a rug or pillows. I’m a DIYer, so I do my own painting, but that’s not for everyone. Furniture needs to be moved; trim needs to be taped; flaws in the walls need to be fixed. Maybe changing out the drapes would be a quicker and easier way to jazz up the place to see if you even like the color long term.
As an additional note, all white rooms are out. The addition of bright colors to a white room is in. Also, adding wood in warm hues brings a nice contrast and earthiness to otherwise bland rooms.
Those are some current thoughts on ousting grey from the color choices and taking a risk on some tried and true design tips with color splashes!
As far as Feng Shui is concerned, most of the common sense parts of Feng Shui relate to the science of Color Psychology. This is a science I have studied for nearly 40 years starting in my early days in design school.
by llenore | Jun 28, 2023 | Balance, Beauty, Blog, Feng Shui, Good Life, Interior Design, Linda Lenore, Order, Uncategorized
WHY SHOULD I CONSIDER USING FENG SHUI?
Feng Shui includes many principles and suggestions, yet the main point is to create an environment that supports your daily life, health, aspirations or dreams, and lifestyle. Unfortunately the way I was taught Feng Shui nearly 40 years ago, it didn’t make sense to me nor was the essence of it boiled down to the main purpose or reason for doing it.
FUNCTION! BALANCE! ORDER! BEAUTY!
Heavy “weight” of the piano is balanced on the other side of the room with the cabinet – and a triangle with the large, dark coffee table distributes the weight of the pieces around the room.
Feng Shui is common sense. Make your home functional. Create rooms that feel balanced. Clear the clutter. Make it beautiful in your eyes – not your mom’s, neighbor’s, or friend’s eyes!!!
For years in my interior design and Feng Shui classes I told my students that using “Feng Shui” principles and objects is actually the last step.
FUNCTION!
First the home has to be FUNCTIONAL. If I told you to do something within your home, but in doing so it made it difficult to walk through your home or you couldn’t accomplish the necessary tasks within your home, you would be irritated with me. You might even send me “bad vibes” – intentionally or unintentionally. Use your common sense when doing anything in your home.
BALANCE!
Second, we want BALANCE in the home. There are many ways to create balance, especially when we use Feng Shui. But let’s talk about balance through the eyes of interior design.
Look at your room. Do you have all the furniture against one wall? Maybe distribute items around the room. Does one wall hold all the TALL pieces of furniture? Or maybe there are several “heavy” pieces on one wall or one side of the room. Again, move them around. Try to have some tall or big pieces on opposite sides or maybe even placed in a triangle within the room like they are in the picture above.
The same goes for low furniture, dark items, or any items that “command” attention. Balance the room in order to have pieces of furniture placed around the room, not just in one area or side. What about artwork? Is it all on one wall? Try to make arrangements that have about the same visual weight on opposite walls. This also applies to having equal weight on both sides of a piece of furniture.
Order & organization in the entry or mudroom
Have any accent colors distributed around the room. Having all the color just on a sofa or one wall throws the room out-of-balance. We want visual balance in heights, colors, accessories, and style within each room. When we add Feng Shui into the mix, we often will incorporate the Five Elements or Yin/Yang Theory.
ORDER!
Creating ORDER throughout the home brings a sense of peace into the space. CLUTTER is a big issue in many homes. Often it is because the function of the task doesn’t have the proper furniture or layout to complete the task easily. File cabinets, containers, lighting, seating, and other necessary tools are usually missing or not conveniently located to handle the situation.
Setting up a regular time schedule to work on decluttering and organizing is often a tool used to help. I block off the needed time for these tasks on my calendar. When doing the work, I set several short time segments back-to-back instead of one LONG time to accomplish things.
BEAUTY
As the phrase by Margaret Wolfe Hungerford in her 1878 novel, Molly Bawn, states: “BEAUTY is in the eye of the beholder.”
What do you consider beautiful? What style furniture do you like? Is it the comfort factor, sleek lines, or big & masculine? What colors do you like? What colors do you dislike? Do you like lots of objects on shelves and flat surfaces? Or are you a “less is more” kind of person?
This is a discovery process as we are constantly changing and growing. As we mature, are exposed to different cultures and lifestyles, and expand our consciousness in the world around us, our tastes and preferences evolve.
Creating a living room that is functional, beautiful and reflects your style is the goal in Feng Shui.
COMMON SENSE, STYLE, & REFLECTION OF YOU
The challenge with our lifestyle and way of thinking these days is we don’t use common sense. We are bombarded with advertisements and other people’s agendas to the point we often forget common sense. We have become brainwashed into thinking we “need” the latest product or device to make us happy and complete.
What’s your style? Do you even know? Many of the women I have worked with during my career as an interior designer have not a clue what style they like. They see a room display at a store or in a magazine and they try to mimic it in their home… but not quite! The cost, size (of the furniture or the room), color, or material doesn’t work for some reason. Hence, they are forced to change parts of the overall image. Bottomline, it just doesn’t work.
Why do you have the furniture you have in your home? Did you inherit it? Find it at a garage sale? Brought it from your college days? It was in your husband’s friend’s house, he didn’t want it, and told your husband to take it? These are just a few of the hundreds of “mistake” furniture my clients have had in their homes.
Ultimately with your home, using these common sense qualities of interior design – AND FENG SHUI – will improve your life. Yes, Feng Shui is the common sense aspect of interior design.
Make your home a reflection of who you are at your core essence. What are your values? What do you believe? What do you cherish? Where do you want your life journey to take you? How do you see yourself? Does your home reflect that image?
If you follow these principles, you’ll understand why considering and utilizing Feng Shui in your home will make you happier and help you achieve the life you desire.
by llenore | Jun 14, 2023 | Ba-Gua, Better Life, Feng Shui, Feng Shui Schools, Good Life, Health, Linda Lenore
WHAT IS FENG SHUI?
Feng Shui Symbols
My first formal introduction to Feng Shui was in 1985-1986 when I attended an Interior Design Conference. It was not a pleasant introduction. I tell that story in other formats. No one I knew had ever heard about Feng Shui. There were no books on it. And we didn’t have the internet back then either in order to ‘Google’ it to find out what it is or means.
The actual translation of Feng Shui is: Feng = Wind and Shui = Water. They are the two life force energies that have created the earth and are needed for us to live.
Originating in different forms throughout Asia, Feng Shui is a 4000-year-old philosophy/science/art, which examines the relationship between people and their lives and their environment. There are about a dozen different schools with many variations.
This is my definition of FENG SHUI:
“Feng Shui respects the personality and individuality of the person who occupies the dwelling—be it a home or workspace—and shares an insight into the psychological impact the environment plays on one’s life. This predominately Asian philosophy can help the Western culture learn and experience new tools to help us cope with many of our daily challenges without jeopardizing our own heritage. When understood, this information can build strong bridges to link Western businesses with their Pacific Rim clientele and the expanding global community.”
SCHOOLS OF FENG SHUI
As I stated before, there are several different schools of Feng Shui. Some focus on the geographical location. There are a few that include religious teachings, but not all of them include religion. Hence, Feng Shui can be used without jeopardizing a person’s religious belief. Still others are more ‘common sense’ based.
Schools using geographical locations might focus on the correct direction for a building to face. For instance, there are many books that will tell you you need to have your home facing South. That will make you feel good if your home is facing south. But if it doesn’t face south, there is a tendency to blame the house for things not going your way in life. Or the school might state you need to have mountains on three sides of you and face water on the fourth. Again, that’s wonderful unless you are in the flat lands or desert. Sometimes this school is called Landform, Armchair, or Four Animal Feng Shui.
Ba-Gua half image
Other schools use a ‘Ba-Gua’ Map. The word “Ba” means eight and “Gua” means sides. This map is an eight-sided image that lists the areas of life as well as the five elements, colors, and body parts. This Ba-Gua Map is used as an overlay on the building to locate those areas of life. You can then use the elements, colors, and awareness of the body locations to trouble shoot health issues and to improve your life.
As a Feng Shui Master (I became a Master in 2002), I have been taught all the different schools. I use them all at different times. Sometimes it is easier, or more practical, to use one school over another.
In future articles I’ll share more about these aspects of this intricate art, science, and philosophy.
If you have a specific question, send it to me privately and I’ll respond here.
