Summer is here! OK, not officially, but as kids do you
remember marking your summer by the Solstice? Me neither, and my daughters are
no different. They see summer starting in less than two weeks when the last
school bell rings (although to be honest, I don’t even know if they have bells
anymore, maybe it’s more of a buzz), and I think even our dog is feeling it.
In the adult realm of our house, we’re less excited about
the speed with which summer approaches. It’s not that we don’t have great plans
for the next few months; it’s that we have SO MANY great plans. The big trip is
to Costa Rica for 10 days in July, but up until then we have a trip to Dallas
for a long weekend, a trip to Colorado for a tae kwon do competition, a trip to
my Dad’s where I’ll be driving a U-Haul back from Massachusetts and various
other local events we’ll be attending, not the least of which is a 10-day Feng Shui certification course I’ll be leading starting in late August and a 2-day
body, mind, spirit seminar for which I need to prepare to lead a half-day
session in September.
Meanwhile, we have about 70 seedlings sprouting in our
living room that need to get planted along with all the other yard work that
keeps taunting us.
So our girls’ excitement for the best summer ever is quickly
becoming our panic that there’s no way we’ll be able to get everything done.
International trips, cross-country trips, local trips,
family, friends, classes, seminar, yard work – all while maintaining some
semblance of sanity. Ahhhh! And then we breathe.
That last part there, that’s the key. Breathing. I tell my
clients, friends and families all the time, it’s about breathing. It’s the
simplest thing to do but makes all the difference in the world. It allows us to
center ourselves because we actually feel our body moving in and out, up and
down. When we focus on our body it forces us to step outside of our mindset in
the moment, and that moment can be exactly what you need to step back for a
minute and take another look. A more objective look, and even a grateful look.
As I step back, I can realize how fortunate I am to be able
to have such a packed summer. I can be grateful for my nine to five job that
has allowed me to afford these things. I can be thankful for all the people in
my life that care enough for me to want me to visit or travel with them. I can
acknowledge all the great things in my life. And that’s why I breathe.
You may wonder what this has to do with Feng Shui. Translated,
Feng Shui means wind and water. And if the goal of Feng Shui is to create a
space that flows like wind or water, what better way to start do this than by
internalizing this flow, breathing in this flow, and making it a part of you
each day.
We’ll talk about water another day.
