The Ox – Patient, Responsible, Quiet

Last updated on February 16, 2021

Hibernation ends for me with the advent of the Chinese New Year celebrated this year Feb 11 – 16.

I fell in love with many of the  ancient Chinese practices & beliefs while working as a real estate professional.  One of my most memorable experiences was the year I was a featured speaker at the state convention for the North Carolina Board of Realtors.  It was held in South Carolina, and so many of the attendees were from New Jersey.

The room was packed with many waiting outside and we quickly arranged for a second session.  My topic was Feng Shui & Real Estate, and I was ‘in my glory’.  Selling and listing and managing and administrating never brought me the delight that I experienced when speaking and teaching to a group on integrating ancient wisdom with modern-day sales.  I was a pioneer here and I loved it.

About 10 years after that convention my attention drifted from the far east to the nearer east as my yoga practice evolved into teaching.  The Hindu/Buddhist culture of India took hold as I immersed myself in vedanta, yoga & ayurveda. Vaastu Shastra is the vedic complement to Feng Shui . Both ask us to pay attention to our environments.  Coming from different parts of the globe, with different climates and cultures, they both developed a systematic way of looking at our spaces and bringing more consciousness to what we see/hear/feel/touch.  Seeing the connection between what is in the environment to what is in the body usually goes beyond our conscious awareness.  It takes discipline and training to *really see things as they are*.

Within our homes, we all have things we don’t want to see. Some of those things are hanging on our walls in plain sight.  Other things are tucked into the way back of drawers and closets.  But, according to the feng shui masters, out of sight is NOT out of mind. We still *know* it’s there and can feel the emotional pull of it’s ‘story’.  Addressing clutter is the first step to improving the chi/prana in your environment. Defining what is and what is not clutter may take some professional help? Long before Marie Kondo came on the scene teachers like myself were encouraging the public to clean up their space.

Astrology is also a major part of far east philosophies.  Both China & Tibet use a system 12-year repeating cycles.  Each cycle is an animal, which is then divided into 5 categories representing the five elements.  It’s unlike any other astrological system that came out of Babylonia, Greece, or India.  And, I don’t know much about it.  This year, 2021 is the year of the Ox and that’s me!  I was born an Ox, and if you were born in: 1937, 1949, 1961,1973,1985,1997,2009 or 2021 then you, too, are an Ox.   It’s possible that I’ll still be around for the next ox year,  2032, but I know not to count on that. So I am encouraged to celebrate myself for this whole year and live every day as best I can.

I’ll be incorporating these topics into our weekly classes and more specifically into this month’s workshop:

Inquire Within

Feb 21, 2021  1-4 pm

Hold the date.  Details to follow.  All Welcome.