Opening Spaces - by: Jane Kifer

When my car overheated on the 405 coming from the eye doctor who understands special prisms and vision in the Valley, en route to picking up my daughter in time and then my son, and then to go teach my advanced student painting class to then rush off and make my son's Japanese play, I would pray my car would make it. In bumper to bumper traffic, as I sat there sort of freaked out, I looked at my quarter full sippy cup of water the kids had left in the car and laughed at how much water my radiator needed and how much I did not have. A lovely "guy" stopped to try and help, but not only did he have no idea what to do and I was afraid he would loose his arm (like my ex father in law did in Spain) as he tried to take off the cap and stopped as I warned him against it. He handed me his tiny water bottle for support. Finally this car full of workers drove by at a snails pace in barely moving traffic and shouted out, "Turn on the heat full blast! It'll suck the hot air out of the engine." So I did! And it worked. There was no tow truck coming in that traffic anyway and I would never have made my schedule. In that 100 degree day, I was thankful for the tip, as I saw the temperature gauge rapidly drop to cool. I got back in the lane and drove in that 115 degree day in traffic with heat heat blaring back to the west side with bits of stuffing flying all around the car in wisps like snow, that my daughter had ripped out of my sewing kit from one of my classes. Tears were falling on my cheeks at the absurd beautiful crazy picture I was living, feeling so thankful that my car was working. I stopped and got lunch, because I also needed fuel! I accomplished everything that day thankfully, but at what price! I left for school drop off and pick up every day wondering if my car would start, and would drive. It consumed me for months. I had put $3000 in my 13 year old car in 3 months and it still needed work! I realized I would be serving the safety and my life and my family better if I made a change! I did the Math and I did something NO good Mennonite infused girl would do and I leased a car! Yes I did it. I love it! I pay $200/month, never have to fix anything and or live in fear. My insurance went up $18 but I save in using one less tank of gas per month. Before I got the new car, I had the huge realization that this broken car was taking up so much space in my life, in my day in my mind in my energy in my worry , my feelings. I had no bandwidth for healthy production of anything because I was too busy needing to deal with all this broken shit to make it through the day and it was EXHAUSTING! As hitting a wall when you open the door reflects in your subconscious, so does dealing with the stress of broken cars, bad relationships, manipulative dynamics with old friends or partners. Fix it, deal with it, move out of the stuff that consumes us and Make an opening to fill with glorious things, you will open up and free so much space for other stuff that those broken parts are taking up. Its like having an iphone full of bad apps. DELETE, prioritize, break old patterns and make changes that work for you. Good relationships, working cars, nourishing endeavors.

Boundaries And Trust - by: Jane Kifer

The yin yang symbol which for years I saw as an over used icon that people had little connection with. Ironically it is the basis for most of what we are learning. In the image there is a black thread around the yin and yang symbol as we know it. The Tai Chi which is the ying and yang comes together and the circle around binds the emptiness and everything. This earth matter boundary creates form and energy. Without earth we wouldn't exist, we would be Tao, we must have earth as transition to define. The earth balances each element as we move through the annual cycle. My teacher said " Boundaries are what create trust." This was such a huge metaphor. Of course the obvious physical reality, coupled with the resounding lesson of everything, boundaries for ourselves, with our children, with what we create in our own existence as form and reality. It's beautiful mind blowing.

The Gift Of Being Annoyed - by: Jane Kifer

I was flying to New York from La, when this elderly gentleman got frustrated at a younger guy and his bag and he started to make a scene. Finally the guy passed and the older gentleman sat there angry. He called for a flight attendant and they could see this is clearly his problem as he explained what had happened 10 min earlier while everyone was getting on the plane. As she knelt next to him and listened , he sunk his head  into his hands and said 'I'm a millionaire, I'm not even supposed to be sitting back here!'

I thought 'Oh dear, lucky you! You are getting the gift of being out of your comfort zone to grow.'  I didn't think he'd take  that so well so I just kept that thought in my head. I did, however, show him where to pull the touchscreen at a slight tilt to work it rather than rip it out of the seat wall and out of its frame as he had done. He seemed to soften after that - well that and a half of a bottle of wine.

Shit comes up and annoys us and bothers us because its screaming to be looked at! It is an opportunity to clear it, heal it, deal with it, make peace with it, unstick it.

Whether you are living life and things come up,  meditating, raising children - anything - when we are annoyed, sad, scared, angry - its an opportunity -even when it doesn't feel like it.

I read a great quote the other day,'Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.' (Neale Donald Walsch) it surely doesn't feel good and is so hard, but its worth it. It has been worth it to me anyway.

Elemental Awareness - by: Jane Kifer

The part that resonates the most, or rather how Feng Shui sits right with me, is that it encompasses so many aspects I believe in and have been drawn to in terms of modes of understanding and organizing our world- from physics, spirituality, energy in a physical form and a non tangible form, it is intellectual, it is earth based on elements and natural factors and the relationship between each. It just all makes sense. When we talk of a "better Feng Shui", it is literally discussing the relationship between the spaces and parts, how they relate. It is all based on a natural cycle of the elements as we see in the chart or map that we apply. Different areas represent different things, but the parts I find fascinating and so deeply rooted in my soul and my entire existence of growing up in nature are the elements: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood. Fire produces earth, Earth produces metal, metal produces water, water produces wood, and wood produces fire. They all relate. One feeds or gives life to the next. And the opposite is true, they can overcome each other as well. This natural cycle and base gives so much understanding to the relationships in Feng Shui. Shapes, material, color, symbols, body parts, family members and many other categories, represent each element in some way. Like white and circles represent metal, Triangles and red, fire. These representations make it really fun! In my helpful people area of my plot by my front gate of my house, I hung an off white curtain with ellipses embroidered on it, from the frame just inside the entry gate. My very guarding neighbor's dog used to hang out there and guard our home. He definitely kept people out! When he left, I didn't want a straight shot of energy from the street to my front door past my gate so I hung a curtain of sorts. Since I started studying Feng Shui, I chose one that was good in color and shapes for that "helpful people, travel" area. It was a good choice. Since doing that, things have definitely aligned for the better and goodness in this area has flooded to me easily.

Feng Shui your face - by: Jane Kifer

WHAT?!?!?!?! I have been wanting to post this for a while but I do now know enough to even consider starting the conversation, but my son just walked through the kitchen and said the funniest thing, so now I have to share it. Warning, slightly gross! So I have been wanting to say " Did you know you can Feng Shui your face? or your body?" Not kidding? I have no idea how or what that exactly means, but recently I have been reading and understanding that different guas represent different body parts. You could apply the ba kua/Feng Shui map to your face and body. And the "door" literally represents the mouth of the chi or energy. So that I get. But I am still in the dark about the application or understanding of the rest. Maybe certain ailments? and seeing which gua they are in and applying adjustments to shift the health of that part of your body and area? I am guessing here with intuition and smarts, but I am far from knowing what this all means. BUT! My son just walked through the kitchen and said, " If your poop is green does that mean your body's Feng Shui is funky?" I laughed out loud and said " Maybe, or the fake colored popsicle you ate yesterday, which in turn would make things off yeah." And I thought, "Now I have to post the face body Feng Shui thoughts." I'm thinking that if say your hip is out, that that gua would need to be adjusted in the home, a clear indicator that something is off! This may not be Feng Shui, but just plain correlative. I always think that our bodies are a physical seat for the emotional stuff that swirls around and in us. Another "house" so to speak for the energy we live- in us, around us and through us.

Yin and Yang- The complete Tao - by : Jane Kifer

HOLD ON! I know I am all about getting rid of stuff and clearing out spaces and making space to allow goodness to come. BUT the opposite side of the coin must also be embraced. I'm seeing that as I move through my house and think I should get rid of certain things, I realize I actually have an emotional attachment to certain things and use. That is good too.I say KEEP IT! Letting everything go is an imbalance without the realization that we should also hold on to parts also. There is a special blanket from a special person that I got when I was 13. My kids use it , I love it, it is special. I realized I was trying to force myself to give it away. I spent a lifetime holding on to everything afraid to let anything go because of my past, now that I allow myself to give stuff away, so much is unleashed and embraced, However, it's like the pendulum swinging in the opposite direction, slowly coming to a calmer,balanced center swing. So I am going to hold on to the blankets that maybe aren't the prettiest, but mean so much to me.

Feng Shui works!- by: Jane Kifer

Dreams do come true! I knew if I hung in there long enough and kept believing things could turn around, they would! So yes it is true! We got the house!!!!!! A M A Z I N G~ I feel lucky! Things seem to be aligning so beautifully and coming to fruition. It sort of feels like I worked for a long time to come to this point and goodness was in the eaves of my life and now it is flowing to me easily with a direct line and access to making my life better. I could say it is coincidence, and I could also say that clearing out old shit and dealing with my stuff and having intentions and doing the mantras and meditations and the work got me here. It is sort of a dreamy house of perfection and perfect for our needs right now. Thank you universe. I like physics and energy.

Feng Shui Defined - by: Jane Kifer

As my Mentor quotes an ancient Chinese poem " The Winds are mild, The sun is bright, The water is clear, The trees are lush" It represents harmony between heaven and earth. He goes on to describe that establishing such harmony in our homes and communities brings good vital energy to us, bringing more opportunities, goodness and joy. I feel the following words describe this seemingly mystical physical science best. And I quote my mentor "Feng Shui involves awareness of the many ways housing location, buildings, and environment can affect a person's daily activities and moods, and influence health, economic life and relationships. Feng Shui promotes happiness and success by adjusting the interior and surrounding environment of a home or workplace to overcome factors that oppose us and to strengthen what already benefits us." (The Modern Book of Feng Shui, by: Steve Post) Enough said really! Now that doesn't sound weird does it? That sounds totally practical realistic and great I think! And makes it all make so much more sense. Only took years of learning to get to. But thankfully I am now here.

Ironic? I don't think so!- by: Jane Kifer

I do find it interesting that the day my friends from Crump and Pal came to pick up the 20 bags of stuff, power tools, fabric, yarn, etc, neatly piled in the middle of my garage, I received a nice order and check from a t.v. show for my jewelry and found out we were top of the list for a house we are applying to live in! Like in minutes it all materialized. NICE, I like how that works! Poof, physical and energetic lines had a clearer path to get to me without all the "stuff" in the way. Keep it coming, keep it coming, what else can I get rid of lingering around in the eaves of my life and or right in front of my face? Oh that damn steel bat in the yard and the pogo stick my son uses once a year to jump rope with, NOT KIDDING. Maybe I should keep the pogo stick, this house we want has a pool and he could pogo/catapult into it! Hmmmmmm I'll keep you posted, literally.

Scents - by: Jane Kifer

I wore a Rose scent for years! Rose essence saved my life coming out of my divorce. I needed LOVE! Flowers helped, not kidding. I wore young living Rose oil, then moved on from that to Rose spray and Weleda Rose deodorant. I loved it, lived it, wore it- not over powering, but I liked it. The ritual of spraying it and the scent. For 5 years I loved it. I longed for a scent of my own. I had found it. It was perfect. Then! A couple weeks ago, I sort of felt like my energy dropped when I would put it on. I was wanting something new. My deodorant stopped working and soon I didn't even want to wear the spray. I needed a new scent. I didn't know what but something needed to shift. It worked for me so well for a time and part of me thought " You can't change this is the scent you are, you chose, you have loved!" But that's exactly the point, it was all past tense, it isn't where I am today! So I got rid of it. Moving on. I found a new deodorant that works and I love, I found a new spray scent that totally rocks my world and I am good! Just the mere expectation in myself that I should keep wearing it because it is my thing was making me feel obligated and bringing me down. That's not healthy!

All The Single Ladies! All The Single Ladies... - by: Jane Kifer

Do you know how many times I walk into a house and there are images of one, single woman all over! Especially in the bedroom and the relationship wing. Really? And why you might ask is this important? Oh I don't know, all the complaining these people do about their lack of love life, or breaking down - one sided relationship. LOOK AT THE WALLS! It reflects! It is a clear projection and reflection of a core factor being perpetuated. Keep the beautiful image, but carefully select where it goes.