Season’s Beatings

Are you feeling worked over by the holidays? Get in the spirit of the season by following these guidelines and de-stressing your home of disruptive energy

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: The holidays are right around the corner and I’m starting to feel stressed thinking about all the additional work I’ll have to do. Do you have any good suggestions for how to better manage my stress?

Anxiety often escalates around the holidays as the already frantic pace of our lives shifts into overdrive. If you feel that you have too much to do and too little time, you are a candidate for headaches, muscle tension, insomnia and irritability, not what you want, especially when we want to feel festive and joyful!

Because your home’s feng shui mirrors your health, tending to a few things before the busy season may make this month’s additional duties easier to manage.

Survey your surroundings

Take a look around. Do you see visible clutter, chaos and scattered items? If so, plan to remove them immediately because a cluttered visible landscape contributes to and triggers stressful thoughts and feelings, especially over the holidays.

Get a few cardboard or plastic storage boxes and label them according to the room you are clearing (i.e., “living room,” “dining room,” or “home office”). Go room by room, placing in the box the items you won’t need during the holidays. Once the boxes are full, place them in a storage room or out of sight. This simple maneuver will help dismantle the anxiety that clutter supports, while providing you the energetic relief that you need. You can sort through the boxes afterward as part of your year-end cleanup.

Check the electrical

Electricity runs through the wires in your home in the same way that your energy runs through the meridians of your body. Anytime something electric in your home breaks down, it interferes with your energy flow and ability to stay focused and calm. Repairing or changing broken light bulbs and faulty outlets, and removing appliances that don’t work can avoid energy clogs or leaks.

Calm your bedroom

A calm bedroom helps you wind down at night and get a fresh start every morning. If you don’t sleep well as a general rule because of disruptive energy in your bedroom, chances are you’ll sleep even worse during the holidays and wake up feeling more stressed.

The bedroom is meant for renewal, rejuvenation and intimacy. De-stress the energy of your bedroom by removing, or at least covering electrical sources such as TVs and computers when you sleep. Remove any exercise or “work” equipment such as ironing boards and irons.

Add color

Many homes I see lack vibrancy. White or pale decor deflects life force and supports the avoidance of one’s own feelings — the very thing that can lead to anxiety. Putting color in the home invokes a connection to the home and helps those who live there be more in touch with their feelings, a necessary part of being balanced.

Check out your entrance

The entrance is where energy comes into your home, and it is vital for energy to flow. Stand at your entrance and check for sharp design features as you walk in. Anything sharp creates jabbing energy, not conducive to calmness. Help smooth out the energy as it enters your home by removing spiky plants, hard angles and items that are pointy, and exchanging them for curved items.

Clear out your kitchen and pantry

Over the holidays we often receive food items that we may or may not want to keep. Adding them to an already full pantry can cause overwhelm. Prepare for the holidays by going through your pantry now and taking out items that are still good but that you have had for a long time and are unlikely to eat in the near future. Set these items aside and take them to a local food bank.

Next, go through your refrigerator and rid yourself of all expired food items. You won’t eat them anyway and, by removing them, you will free up space for all the holiday goodies.

Prepare for this holiday season

In less than an hour or two you can create a monumental difference in your home that will help you to feel better as you enter the holiday season. Use your home as a source of support rather than an instigator of stress. Don’t delay. Mark your calendar now and make a stress-free date with yourself.

Alice Inoue is a life guide at Alice Inoue Life Guidance LLC, a company committed to assisting people in living empowered lives. Alice shares her wisdom as a professional speaker and personal consultant, and offers a series of instructional DVDs and books on feng shui, happiness and spiritual life wisdom. Visit www.aliceinspired.com.