C3D Feng Shui - Transforming Color, Clutter, Ch'i and Design

“A Jedi’s strength flows from the Force.”  Yoda

Robbie, and I went vegan for seven weeks.

After signing up for the local Wellness Challenge, sponsored by the Wellness Foundation in East Hampton, New York, we agreed to eliminate from our diet animal products, including meats, fish, eggs, dairy, oils, and processed foods, while eating live, plant-based foods.  We also agreed to attend meetings once a week that included wellness lectures, discussions, cooking demonstrations and food samplings.  At the end, Robbie and I lost weight, body fat, and our blood work was dramatically better.  We, along with about fifteen other participants in our group, successfully graduated feeling healthier and more energetic.

One of the funny things about tackling the Wellness Challenge was the reaction from some friends and, yes, even a doctor or two.

“You’re doing what?” we heard.  “That’s really radical!  You don’t need to do that.  You better be careful.”  We got that often.

The reality is we never felt better.  We enjoyed abundant meals made with fresh, colorful plant-based foods, including peppers, kale, bok choy, spinach, zucchini, basil, tomatoes, avocados, mangos, cilantro and other yummy fresh ingredients. The result was feeling brighter and more alive.  For us, trying a vegan lifestyle — even just for seven weeks — made sense.

We were amazed at how good we felt after eating a plate full of colorful fresh vegetables over rice or drinking smoothies made with fresh kale, basil, mint, banana, kiwi and an apple.  It’s been known for centuries that eating an abundance of live, colorful fruits and vegetables raises your ch’i, your life force, because you are literally ingesting life, nature’s vitality.

In my work, ch’i the vital life force energy is a critical component of the C3D path (color, clutter, ch’i and design) to an abundant life.  In the Vedic tradition, ch’i is called prana, in Hawaiian culture it’s mana, and in the movie Star Wars, ch’i is referred to as “The Force.”  Ch’i includes both your personal and environmental life force energy.

You want to raise and cultivate your ch’i to feel good, to strengthen your immune system, to sleep better, to increase brain function, to be more present and alert, more loving in your relationships, to become more compassionate, to perform better in your work, to become more intuitive, to attract more abundance, and just to be abundant.

A friend of mine says, “You are either involutionary or evolutionary,” meaning, in every moment you have the choice to either feel better or feel worse, lift or lower yourself and others, to lighten or darken.

There are many ways to elevate your ch’i and eating fresh, live foods is one of them.  Here are some ways you can raise your ch’i with food:

1. Eat fresh, live foods preferably grown locally.
2. Know the ingredients in the foods you eat.
3. Eat a variety from a rainbow of lively colored, fresh fruits and vegetables.
4. Eat organic whole foods as much as possible.
5. Plan to take some extra time to lovingly prepare your meals.
6. Limit fats, processed foods, animal products and dairy.
7. Limit coffee and alcohol.
8. Become mindful when eating.  Mindlessly stuffing yourself with unhealthy foods can lead to weight gain, poor health and low ch’i.
9. Look to other cultures that have elevated mindful eating to an art form.

Other ch’i lifting questions are:

• What are my daily choices for personal care and awareness?
• What am I going to do today towards my growth and self care?
• What is the ch’i of my home and personal spaces, and what can I do to improve it?
• Am I making choices that raise or lower my spirit?

Your goal in life is to live more abundantly.  Here’s one of my mantras, and I’ll share it with you: “I am abundant.  I give and receive generously.  There is enough for everyone.”

Focus daily on the many ways to develop and lift your ch’i for more abundance, and you’ll see the results in your health, relationships, career and finances.  I send you an abundance of love and light.

So, how high is your ch’i?

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