Spring Aready?!

Wow, I can't believe I have not written anything on these pages for over 3 months. Clearly I can not call myself a serious blogger : ) The Mayan calendar time is becoming more condensed, making everything seems so much quicker and I, for one, certainly feel like it has just passed so quickly! I am almost embarrassed.

The time since Christmas has just flown as my partners and I have been busy creating our upcoming BTB Certification courses, both for Red Deer College and for our on site courses here in Calgary, Alberta. We are working on creating a fantastic class which will give students a great foundation in feng shui as well as teaching, as best we can, the theories brought to life by our former teacher Professor Lin Yun.

I have to go now, so I can get the manual finished in time but I will try not to let the time between posts drag on so long. If you are interested in receiving my newsletter, which I do manage to write each and every month, do sign up at this page!

The Advent of Yin Day 16: Silent

"Silent night, holy night; all is calm, all is bright"....Yin, yang, yin, yang. The Christmas story, and likely every story can be a study in the movement of yin and yang.

It is notable that in this most yin part of the year we celebrate the story of the birth of Christ. Heaven come down upon the earth. A bright star punctuated the blackened sky to announce the birth of Jesus. It is a visual not unlike the most full black part of the tai chi symbol and it's symbolism is shared amongst many traditions besides Christianity. Within the deepest of yin, there is a seed of yang. Within the darkest part of humanity's soul resides the light.

Allow yourself the luxury to turn off the Christmas clatter and enjoy a silent night.

Silent is my final yin word, as the solstice is upon us.

The Advent of Yin Day 15: fear

By Jimee, Jackie, Tom & Asha

Sometimes when I am frightened it is evident to myself and to others. When scared or startled my heart pounds, my breathing rate increases and I might even scream. But often fear is a more yin emotion. It is farther from the surface, and closer to the truth behind my actions, than I might care to admit.

Fear of failure, or sometimes success, is often hidden way down deep when I chose not to follow an action which I think is probably in my best interests. Fear of rejection lurks below my radar when I say something defensive to someone I love. Fear of the unknown keeps me from pursuing a particular fork in the road. That sneaky yin word can get in the way of a lot of great potential.

However, the gift of all of the more 'negative' yin words lies in their opportunity, once discovered, for incredible growth. Maybe that will be my New Year's intention this year. To lovingly look into the actions that I am least proud of and see if underneath them I might uncover a little fear.

The Advent of Yin Day 14: Feminine

Feminine is one of the most primary yin words. It is also the one which I think subtly makes women cringe when they hear yin's associations. To have femininity associated with words like dark, below and negative seems somehow like a blow to the female ego.

What is essential to remember though is the beauty and mystery which is also associated with the feminine. As women regain their balance after the sometimes harsh feminism movement they are once again wrapping their loving arms around their basic feminine nature. The Goddess is back! We as women know that being receptive, warm, nurturing and co-creative is at the core of our beings and that we can use the patriarchal model to our advantage without embodying it. We are helping to unplug the patriarchy.

Our job now is to guide the pendulum closer to the center and resist the temptation to swing too far in either direction.

If you are in the Calgary area, author Lucia Rene will be holding a workshop for women on Feb 5 in Okotoks. Come and learn to stand in your own feminine power! www.womenstandingintheirpower.eventbrite.com

The Advent of Yin Day 13: Home

Are you going home for the holidays? Is it a place or an experience?

Photo by frumbert

There is a difference between a house and a home. But did you know that it could be defined in terms of yin and yang? A house is yang, a home belongs to the realm of yin.

A house has structure, it is concrete and somewhat permanent. A home on the other hand is built on the unseen. It is fabricated through care and attention to relationship, through love and nurturing. Home is where we go when life is difficult, or when we wish to celebrate our successes with those who matter to us. Home has a mysterious quality which draws us to it, sometimes even when our time their has, in the past, been challenging.

I once had a house burn down, vanish into smoke. But I have luckily always had a home. Not everyone is so blessed.

It is an interesting thing that the downtrodden are not called the houseless, they are called the homeless.
 
http://www.innfromthecold.org/

The Advent of Yin Day 12: Balance

Balance, balance, balance. As feng shui practitioners my colleagues and I are constantly espousing the benefits of balance. Balance is a yin word.

A true, pure balance is basically static. It implies that things on both sides of an equation are in some way equal and the same. There is no movement. Life, as we all know is not like that. Life is always changing and moving and without an inequality or imbalance nothing would happen.

So when we talk about achieving balance it is important to remember that we are talking about a sort of organic balance. A flow. Things tip one way a little too far and then we must draw them back toward the center. This is a much more accurate picture of the kind of balance that a feng shui practitioner is trying to achieve. Balance is difficult.

The Advent of Yin Day 11: Low

Low is another yin word with a somewhat depressed (excuse the pun) reputation. But how could we look at low in a different light? Low is definitely something we want our cholesterol levels to be, and our blood pressure. Low light is always more flattering. Low energy is a signal to us that we need to rest and without it we sometimes crash unexpectedly (note to self...).

The most intriguing question to me though as I am writing this is whether there might be an advantage to low as a place of reference, a place to look at things from. Those of us on a spiritual path are often thinking about seeing something from a higher place, taking the higher road, or striving for a higher plane. I wonder though, if we spend too much of our time up there, what might we be missing down here?

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite parts about Christmas was to wait until the tree was all lit and decorated and then to lie underneath the tree and look up into it. From that vantage point, it took on a whole different magic.