Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. Mine included plenty of good weather, friends, food, a college graduation, and a hike in a regional park. I am fortunate enough to not have any family members currently serving in the military OR any lost family soldiers to mourn over, but my heart and thoughts go out to those who do.

For those of you who are still tending to the wounds of mourning, just know that there’s a powerful energy inside both ritual and the grieving process - one that grows, transforms, and builds character in those who choose to engage in its unusual, yet inescapable game. Yield to the process - trust the process. Carefully observe your emotions as you allow them to run their course. In time, you will come out the other side mended. Although never the same as before, this new you will most likely have a new empathy, a new depth, and perhaps even an upgraded, renewed sense of humor... you never know. :)

I’m up and running on Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter, and would love to connect with you through these amazing online community portals. There, I will be talking about all the new and exciting ideas, products, trainings and services we are creating, as well as....who knows what else — that’s what’s so fun about these sites! Here are the links to find me:

Facebook: Facebook - Life With Zing

Twitter: Twitter - Life With Zing

Linked In: Linked In - Life With Zing

Question:

I have been hit by this recession and, while I know I’m not the only one, I’d like some of your advice as to how to deal with the sadness of it all. It saddens me to think that I’ve worked so hard to "get a life" and now it seems that I’ve really gotten nowhere. It saddens me to know that I’m not really in charge of my life - and that I’m held captive by bankers and bosses out there. I just can’t get over that pit-in-the-stomach feeling that I’ve got. Is this depression?

Answer:

There’s not a lot to go on, but luckily for me, the feng shui system has everything in it somewhere, and emotions are inside the five element portion. So let me go over the five elements and their positive and negative emotions and work out from there.

The five elements are Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal. And here’s a chart of how they stack up against the emotional range that you are talking about:

Element Positive Emotion Negative Emotion

Water Good Insights, Playful Fear

Wood Sense of Humor Anger, Irritability

Fire Joy, Cheerfulness Sadness

Earth Empathy, Compassion Blame, Guilt, Worry

Metal Positive Outlook Depressed Outlook

As you can see, sadness is a weakness of the fire element and "depressed," as in your depressed outlook with regard to bosses, banks and your life, is a weakness in metal. So, with this very little to go on, I would take a wild stab at questioning the balance of metal and fire elements in your living spaces. Perhaps you have an overabundance of cold white color or actual metal furnishings, or perhaps nothing fiery at all - thus keeping you from joy and cheerfulness. I’m showing you what might be going on in my head in hopes that you can take this and run with it in order to balance your spaces. I hope this helps you and anyone else who is stuck inside some emotional mindset.

If I were to apply the yin and yang principles to this situation, I’d say that you might be slightly too abundantly over "yinned." Yin is darker, cooler, more moist, more feminine, softer, cushier, smaller, curvier, slower, quieter, more textured, more mental. Yang is lighter, hotter, dryer, harder, smoother, straighter, larger, more masculine, faster, bolder, more physical. Take a look at these descriptions and see if you could add yang to the spaces that are reading too yin.

I’d also suggest retraining your brain to focus your attention on positive states and behaviors and strategies that can turn your thinking around. Perhaps starting a gratitude journal might be a good way to start to retrain your brain towards the positive. I find that getting in TOUCH with nature helps, too. If you don’t already, I’d suggest meditating (start with a book or simple guided visualization CD) and getting some coaching with regard to disengaging from the sadness and depression "hamster wheel" that you’re on. There are many ways to coach your way out of this - from scrambling the strategy that you are currently running to destroying the unresourceful decisions that you currently believe you must live by.

So, start with working your feng shui and journaling items first, and if you need coaching with the mindset shifts, give me a ring. I hope this helps.

Have you ever thought you’d like to make a difference in the world but are not sure how? Are you wondering how to reinvent yourself during "these tough economic times"? Are you ready to help make the world a better place - AND make money doing it?

Well, now’s your chance! We’re finally ready to accept students for the next online feng shui training class!

The beta test inaugural group is coming down the home stretch towards their certificates. They have about 6 weeks to go before they start their journey as professional feng shui consultants. We’re so proud of them!

We learned a lot from this group, and have tweaked the course in ways that we think you’ll appreciate.

- The first tweak was to shorten the length of the course. It went from 36 weeks to just 25 weeks without losing any meaningful content, which not only allows you to receive your certificates sooner, but also allows us to lower the price by half!!!!!

- This complete course was $4997, and is NOW ONLY $2497! And guess what? If you sign up before July 10th, you’ll receive an additional $200 early bird discount, making the entire training - materials included - ONLY $2297! (Payment options are available.

Here’s what one student said about the course:

Dear Karen,

For more information on this course, click on this video"

. Feng Shui Palace Certification Video

To Register, please contact us at (714)508-9935 OR email us at . classes@fengshuipalace.com

Hurry! Class is starting the week of August 17th!

Summertime is nearly here and that means poison ivy is, too. A home remedy that many swear by is to crush a stem of jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) and rub the juice of it on the contact site - hopefully as soon as you come in contact with the poison ivy. A study of 115 showed that 108 saw dramatic results with their dermatitis gone in 2 to 3 days. (Annals of Allerty 1958;16:526-527).

Another jewelweed remedy is to drink a tea concoction. For the tea, boil 4 cups of water and one handful of chopped jewelweed and let simmer for 20 minutes. Drink the tea, freeze it as ice cubes for future use, or even bath in it.

Check them all out at: ! Feng Shui Product Specials

When I’m not traveling or writing, I am available for on-site commercial or residential consultations. Call (714)508-9935 to check availability and to book an appointment time.

With intentions of being of service,

Karen