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Activate Your Intentions with Feng Shui!

by Melody LeBaron, Home and Workspace Expert

©Melody LeBaron 2018

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How to Set Your Intentions in a Powerful Way What is the best way to set intentions? Start by imagining or “feeling into” what we want to create—in our careers, our finances, our health, our relationship with each other and our relationships with our siblings, children, friends, and spiritual community. And then, write an intention for each staging area of our life. For those who need it, here are some tips on why and how to turn your goals or resolutions into intentions: HOW IS AN INTENTION DIFFERENT FROM A GOAL OR RESOLUTION? An intention is a bit different than a goal or a resolution. • A goal is the purpose toward which your effort is directed, like “I’m going to

lose 10 pounds.” • A resolution is a firm decree or formal statement, like “I’m going to be a size 8

in 6 months.” • An intention feels more all-encompassing, specific, and powerful than a

resolution. An intention is focused on the benefit, to you, in present time, of the specific life-style changes you choose. “I enjoy eating well and playing lots of tennis because I love being healthy and strong” is an intention.

I think of an intention as a goal or resolution with forward momentum. Intentions move our attention toward the benefit of what we prefer to create, allowing us to create what we prefer with more ease and grace! HOW DO I TURN A GOAL OR RESOLUTION INTO AN INTENTION? If you usually set goals or resolutions, you can empower them by turning them into intentions. To do that, ask yourself the following questions for each resolution: • What are the specific life-style changes I need to make to achieve my goal? • What will I enjoy having, doing, or being when I’ve achieved that goal? • How can I phrase that benefit in present time, so instead of creating the

feeling of wanting or desiring the benefit, I’m creating the feeling of enjoyment NOW, during the process?

This allows us to access the satisfaction of the benefit we are working toward as we are moving toward it, not just after we’ve achieved the final result.

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Here are some tips on how to Power-Up your Intentions. HOW DO I POWER-UP MY INTENTIONS? Here are the levels of power we can give our Intentions:

1. Pondering/Imagining: When we know that something in our life needs to change, it can help to start in the imaginal realm, and allow ourselves to envision what change might look like. This is the first level of power, and if our intentions exist only in this realm, they will quickly fade away.

2. Thinking/Determining: Once we know the specific change we need to make, we can power up our intention with our will and determination. This next level of power involves creating a clear mental image and a body sense of what it is you want to create, and holding that image as possible for you. (NOTE: Don’t fall into the trap of believing that your determination alone will be all the power you need. Remember to allow all the support you will need to flow to you, and to appreciate that support!)

3. Speaking/Sharing: Speaking your intentions out loud empowers them and you! Formulating our goals into words gives them creational power. Naming what we want to create graduates your intention out of the mental domain and is the first ACTION step to creating it. Share your intentions only with those you trust to support those intentions. Mastermind partners (one or more colleagues who meet weekly by phone to share their own intentions and support their partners’ intentions) report greater success than if they’d just spoken their intentions out loud to themselves.

4. Writing/Accountability: Put your intentions in writing and you add even more creational power to them. This is why accountability journals are effective. Accountability partners write and share their weekly or monthly intentions with their partner; they hold each other accountable for progress. When we know we will be accountable to a coach or colleague/s, we work harder to achieve our intentions.

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5. Setting Your Intentions/Releasing Attachment to Outcome: I have a specific ritual that I use when I set my yearly or monthly intentions. Part of that ritual includes a process that allows me to release any attachment I have to specific outcomes or deadlines, so that I’m creating from the realm the yogis call “Neutral Mind” rather than “Positive Mind” (trying to make something happen) or “Negative Mind” (resisting something I don’t want). When we live in Neutral Mind, it’s SO much easier to create what we prefer!!

6. Activating Your Intentions: Our intentions are like seeds, which must be nurtured in order to grow. We nurture intentions with our attention. Which is why creating Feng Shui Altars is the BEST way to activate your Intentions. An altar is anything that alters your mood or energy level; an altar directs your attention to something that uplifts you. Creating a Feng Shui Altar is like opening a portal, or access point, to the Divine. Your Feng Shui Altar, as it holds and embodies your intention and calls down the powers of heaven, is a way to direct your daily attention to what you are choosing to create!

How Can Feng Shui Help You? A REVIEW OF FENG SHUI Feng Shui, although new to the West, is an ancient indigenous Chinese form of life-space design and has been practiced as an integral part of their culture for over 5000 years. The name Feng Shui is literally translated as “wind and water.” The ancient Chinese studied those forces like wind and water, which have the power to shape the landscape. They developed the Five Element Theory, which gave rise to Chinese Medicine, Accupuncture, Reflexology, which are systems for balancing the human body, and Feng Shui, which is a system for balancing the “outer body” of the spaces we live and work in. The Feng Shui Bagua is, for homes, the same kind of energy grid that a reflexology chart is for the body. Both show us how to activate areas of our physical domain.

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UNDERSTANDING THE FENG SHUI BAGUA Here’s what you need to know about the Bagua:

1. The Bagua is superimposed over your floor plan, with your Front Door along the bottom.

2. The Bagua can be widened or elongated to fit the dimensions of your space.

3. Each square represents a Gua, or area of the Bagua. 4. Each Gua wants to support a certain part of your life. 5. Each Gua needs a certain element in order to activate it’s potential to

support you. 6. If you have a 2 story home, you’ll have 2 areas to activate each Gua, one

upstairs and one downstairs. You superimpose the Bagua over the 2nd story the same way you do the first floor.

7. Each Gua has either a yin (feminine) or yang (masculine) quality, except the center, which is the perfect balance of both feminine and masculine.

Think of the Bagua as The Board of Directors of Your Life. Each Gua is a Board Member whose job is to give certain gifts to you. And each Gua must have what it needs to do its job well; it needs to be activated with the right element.

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The Feng Shui Bagua = The Board of Directors of Your Life I recommend you treat each gua, or area, of the Bagua as if it’s a member of the Board of Directors of your Life, as if it wants to help you active your intentions.

Intentions (Job Descriptions!) for each Gua

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Imagine each Gua is a Member of your Board of Directors. I’ve bolded their Job Titles, and the following affirmations are what each Board Member/Gua is working to help you achieve. Gua 1: Career/Life Path I enjoy my work, it enables me to share my talents in the world in a powerful way. I am on-line with what I choose to do in life; I am following my heart, my guidance. I am abundantly rewarded for all I give in life and in my career. Gua 2: Love/Marriage/Partnership I lovingly partner with everyone in my life to co-create harmony and joy and support. I release all patterns that keep me from feeling safe, trusting, open and intimate. I experience the perfect balance of my own (and my partner's) male and female energy. Gua 3: Ancestral and Spiritual Family ** This Gua represents your Past I feel supported and secure in all staging areas of my life. My sex life is fulfilling and wonderful; I release all old negative programming about sex. My emotional, mental, and physical health and stamina is improving. Gua 4: Abundance/Prosperity ** This Gua is “President of the Board,” in charge of Manifesting I feel immense gratitude; I enjoy prosperity in every staging area of my life, including financial. I share my gifts in the world in a powerful way, receiving abundant compensation. My stable income allows me to enjoy fulfilling ALL the intentions I’m willing to achieve!! Gua 5: Health/Unity I enjoy vibrant good health; my body and countenance radiate energy and vitality. I feel centered, grounded, and "on my right path" in life. My life demonstrates unity of body/mind/spirit. Gua 6: Helpful Friends/Travel I am treated fairly and honestly and I receive all the support I need. Wonderful mentors show up to teach, help, and support me. I am "in the flow," showing up at the right time and place to meet good fortune. My intuition and divine guidance are easily available to me. Gua 7: Children/Creativity ** This Gua represents your Future If I am choosing to conceive and bear a child, this process will unfold perfectly. I love my own inner child, and have a joyful, respectful relationship with the children in my life. My beliefs and body and life are vibrant and youthful, no matter what my age. Gua 8: Knowledge/Wisdom/Self-Improvement I am able to tap into my inner wisdom and attract perfect guidance and opportunity. I am creative and flexible, staying "in the flow" as I work toward my goals. I take joy in achieving excellence. Gua 9: Fame/Reputation I totally accept myself and I now have the courage to do what I have always wanted to do. I have the respect of my family, friends, coworkers, and strangers. Others see me as valuable and protect my good reputation.

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As you look at the Bagua, you will see arrows that connect pairs of Guas. Eight of the Guas partner with another to help you create the successes you desire. The center Gua, Health and Unity, holds all of the other energies together.

The most powerful Gua, Prosperity and Abundance, is in the top left corner. I call this Gua “The President of the Board” because of her power to help you manifest your goals.* She partners with the Helpful Friends Gua because he is able to activate friends to network for you and support your endeavors. And the more support you have, the more financial success you have... and the more financial success you have the more you can share with your friends and your causes, and travel to your favorite destinations. So, you’ll want to create altars** in these 2 Guas with similar intentions. In the top right hand corner of the Bagua, you’ll see the Relationship Gua. She rules the domain of your love relationship and she needs to partner with the Knowledge, Wisdom, Self-Improvement Gua who supports your capacity for self-improvement. The wiser and more mature you are, the better partner you make... and the more supported you feel in your partnership, the more energy you have available for self improvement. So, these 2 Guas will hold altars which have some similarities. And you can see that they are both earth element areas, so we’d use altar items that invoke the earth element, like rocks or pottery or a lovely landscape. If you are only going to set up one Altar in your home (see below for more on altars) to help you achieve your intentions, it should be in the far left corner of your home, in the Abundance Gua. Note: An Altar is any grouping of items that directs your attention and alters your mood and energy level. More on this below. The center area on the left side of your home, Family and Community, represents your family of origin and your social or spiritual community. It

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represents the foundation you were given in life; it refers to your past. Directly across, in the center of the right side of your home, is the Children, Projects, Creativity area that represents your future and can be activated, with metallic items, to support your children, your own inner child, your projects and creativity. The center of the front of your home is called Career/Life Path and it represents who you came here to BE. It’s a water element area, so it’s the best place in your home for a water feature. It partners with the center of the back of your home, the Fame and Reputation Gua, which governs what you are known for DOing, which is the fire element area and is the best place in your home for a fireplace or candles.

THERE ARE 2 WAYS TO ACTIVATE YOUR INTENTIONS WITH FENG SHUI 1. The Quick and Easy Method: This method involves less time for you, and it

gives the “President of the Board” the direction she needs to work with you. All you have to do is place your whole list of your yearly intentions on your Abundance Altar.

2. The Complete Version: This method takes a bit more time (and some expert guidance, which is why I’m offering the playshop to help you do this!), but it activates all the Guas, so they are ALL working together in alignment with your intentions. This sets up a powerful energetic grid in your home and opens up 9 portals, or divine access points. You’ll set up 9 Altars in the 9 Guas, and put your written intentions for each, along with some items that represent those intentions, on each Altar.

Method #1: Activating Your Abundance Gua

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WHAT IS AN ALTAR? Most of us have seen altars in churches and temples. Without needing to be told, we somehow know that the items on the altar are visible symbols of our connection with the divine.

Most westerners did not grow up with the tradition of creating home altars or shrines, but most of us have created what one of my teachers, Denise Linn, calls the “subliminal altar:” an artful grouping of photos, a deliberate arrangement of items on a dresser, desk, coffee table or end table. An altar can also be something you hang on the wall. WHAT CAN A HOME ALTAR DO FOR ME? A home altar is where we can visibly express our beliefs, our values, our joys, and our intentions. We can use our altar to: o celebrate holidays and the passing of the seasons o honor life’s transitions (births, baptisms, graduations, weddings, deaths) o memorialize our ancestors o celebrate the children in our lives o remind us of our connection to the divine, to nature, to all of life o anchor our intentions for our future growth o create a haven of safety and protection o give gratitude for our blessings o serve as a focal point for healing energy

WHERE CAN I CREATE AN ALTAR? Any space can be made into an altar: a fireplace hearth, a shelf, the top of a table, desk, or dresser, a wall. I have frequently seen a shelf in a closet turned

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into a lovely altar. An altar to activate your intentions can be created anyplace you choose, but the most powerful place to create an altar is in the Abundance area of your home (the far left corner).

This Abundance Altar in my workspace contains: • A wooden altar piece created by a talented artist friend; it represents the Tree

of Life. • Around it I’ve hung some beads from Peru given to me by a dear friend. • In front of it sits a crystal box holding the bark offered to me by 3 very special

trees. • Sitting on top of the bark is a star with the names of everyone currently in my

online group program. Putting their names on my Altar is one way I hold powerful intention for those in my care, as I pray for them.

CHOOSING ITEMS FOR YOUR ABUNDANCE ALTAR You’ll need 3 things for each Feng Shui Altar you create:

1. something that invokes the wood element for the Abundance Gua 2. an image that gives you the body-sense of manifesting your intention (this

activates the right hemisphere of the brain) 3. your written or printed intention (this activates the logical left hemisphere

of the brain) Since the Abundance Gua is a wood element area, make sure that you have something wooden (a picture frame, a wooden bowl or box) on your altar. Depictions of trees empower this gua even more.

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Choose a powerful image for your altar, one that gives you the body-sense of having… being… doing… and enjoying the process of achieving your intentions. I chose the Tree of Life because my work with clients allows them a deeper, more nourishing relationship with Mother Earth, the land they live on, the homes they live in, those they live with, and with themselves. Place on your Abundance Altar the written intentions you are now working to manifest. Once you have your Altar set up, use a ritual that allows you to access the mental state the yogis call Neutral Mind to active your intentions. (See below.)

Method #2: Activating ALL of the Guas

This method uses the Feng Shui Bagua to place altars in ALL of the Guas, or areas of the Bagua, that will up-level your health, relationships, finances, career, education/wisdom, reputation, travel, and your relationships with children and parents/siblings. Once you have your Altar set up, use a ritual that allows you to access the mental state the yogis call Neutral Mind to active your intentions.

Ritual for Setting Intentions that Activates “Neutral Mind”

Once your images and intentions are placed on your Altar, it is time to activate your intentions.

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You will want to use a ritual to activate your intentions that allows you to embody the powerful state of moving forward toward your Intention—without activating what the yogis call Positive Mind (in which you are forcing or contolling to make it happen) or Negative Mind (in which you are actively resisting what you don’t want). WHY IS NEUTRAL MIND THE MOST POWERFUL MENTAL STATE? Both Positive and Negative Minds are mental states that help us live with choice and discernment. But both of them have their drawbacks. Negative Mind: We are in Negative Mind when we are aware of what we don’t prefer, what isn’t working. We need Negative Mind (even though it sounds like a bummer) when we are trying to discern if something is good for us or not. But we don’t want to get stuck in this mindset. Because we’re all moving towards whatever we have the biggest “emotional charge” on, good or bad. If we are holding onto an old negative story, it’s likely we’ll re-create it on some level. Positive Mind: We’re in Positive Mind when we are aware of what we choose to create, what is working, what we want to attract. This is an easier mental state to be in than Negative Mind, but it is not the most powerful state. While we’re in Positive Mind, we’re “working” mentally -- thinking, figuring, planning, second-guessing. We’re also very attached to outcome. It’s HARD to create what you prefer in this state, because you feel you have to WORK to make it happen, instead of playfully allowing it to happen. Also, attachment to outcome is the root of all suffering. Positive Mind often leads to Negative Mind... and, if we avoid depression, back again. Neutral Mind: This is that powerful place where we drop into Oneness with All That Is. This mental state happens when we surrender to both what we don’t want (Negative Mind) and what we do want (Positive Mind). We accept WHAT IS. We Allow. We Appreciate.

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In this state, our hearts are open and aligned with our minds. In this state, the mind is the servant of the heart. No over-analyzing here. No words at all. Just total connection to the Possibilities in each breath, each moment.

STEPS TO SETTING A POWERFUL NEUTRAL-MIND INTENTION The thoughts and emotions you have as you arrange your altars will reverberate in your space, and will affect you every time you see it. As you assemble the Altar: 1. Place fresh cut flowers or a potted orchid on your altar. Flowers add

freshness and beauty, which up-levels the power of the altar. 2. Breathe deeply and allow your mind to become peaceful and calm. Come

fully present into THIS moment.

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3. As you arrange your altar, really look at your assembled items. See how the images you’ve chosen represent your intentions.

4. Re-read your intentions and feel the power of your desire, as if it’s a fuel that can move you forward.

5. Now, allow yourself to enjoy the body-sense of how it will feel to manifest your intention. Use your imagination and relax into the joy of already having what it is you are choosing to create. Allow yourself the privilege of believing that this joyful body-sense will be present for you during the process of creating your desires, not just at the end of the process.

Once your altar is assembled: 1. Speak your intentions aloud with the full body-sense of manifesting your

intention. Call on whatever divine assistance you feel you’ll need to create that reality. Acknowledge whatever action steps you will be taking.

2. Feel your trust and faith that what you intend is coming to you; visualize your intention, see it happening in your minds eye. Get all your senses involved: what will you hear/touch/smell/taste/feel inside when you finally manifest what you intend?

3. After you feel it in every cell of your body, then send your intention up to the Universe like a prayer. You may want to speak a prayer to the Divine, ending the prayer with “I choose THIS, or something better!” This acknowledges a Power greater than yourself, and activates your trust in the power of Life.

4. Now, actively surrender your attachment to when and how your intentions manifest. Commit to keep working toward your intentions with equanimity, allowing Life to guide and instruct and inform you along your way.

After you’ve created your altar, and surrendered your intention to the Divine, rest in the state of knowing that your intention is coming to you. You go about your business, taking aligned action, without worrying about when or how your intention will manifest.

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You trust that your success is coming, and every time you look at your altar, it will evoke the state of excitement, gratitude, and joy. As you see your altars on a daily basis, allow them to alter and up-level your mood... they are reminding you of your future!!

Creating your Altars opens a portal, an access point, to the Divine that will call down the unseen powers of heaven and call forth all forms of support. You may find yourself receiving dreams or flashes of intuition that point you in a direction. You may meet people who can help you. Be aware of and grateful for all synchronicity. You’ll want to call on what I call your Spiritual Support Team (your Guardian Angel and Spirit Guides, the Goddesses and Archetypes you are working with) for their assistance. You will also want to set monthly and weekly goals that move you toward creating your intentions. I recommend that you find an Accountability Partner; email your weekly goals to her on Monday and be accountable with a progress report on Friday of each week. And every time you see your Altar/s, allow yourself to know that your home is partnering with you, the Guas are “holding the space,” holding the divine portal open, for unseen support to flow to you.

To keep your Altars working for you, you need to attend to them at least monthly. This means directing your attention to them, remembering the

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intentions they are holding, and renewing your body-sense of activating those intentions.

Monthly New Moon Ritual

Each month, on the New Moon, pay special attention to your Altars. • Mist them with a room mist to invoke the Water Element • Place a pinch of sea salt on them to invoke the Earth Element • Light a candle to invoke the Fire Element • Burn some sage or incense to invoke the Air Element

As you do this, speak your intentions aloud to the Divine. Ask for support from the Spirit of Your Home, giving thanks for its ability to partner with you as you create the life you prefer.

Putting Feng Shui Altars in Context It’s been my joy to share this Guide with you. This is the process I’ve used with great success in my own home, and with my clients. But to use it most effectively, you’ll want to know that setting up and activating your Feng Shui Gua Altars is just one step of 5 in using Feng Shui to create the life you prefer. WHAT ARE THE STEPS TO USING FENG SHUI EFFECTIVELY? There are 5 steps to using Feng Shui effectively to up-level the 9 staging areas of your life. They are: 1. De-ClutterandOrganizeYourHomeFirst2.ReceiveaSpaceClearingtoreleaseadverseenergy3.Supportthe9GuastoworktogethertoManifestYourIntentions4.UseYearly,Seasonal,andNewMoonAltarstoActivateIntentions

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5.AlignwithYourBirthdateFengShuitoensureyoustayinBalance Please contact me at melody@transformingspace.com if you have comments, questions, musings, and want to explore the possibility of working together privately. We’ll schedule a half hour to explore your goals, where you are stuck or struggling and find out the exact support you need to move you forward! I love being in service to your success!

Melody LeBaron