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West Meets East© By Caroline Patrick BorNei Worry and Guilt Can Cause Imbalances in the Home and Body
Today while giving a phone session on Feng Shui to a mentoring student, I realized she was giving me a clue to one of her habits. Being a very busy woman with a home, job and family, she mentioned worrying about this and that during every phone consultation. I offered her a “cure” given to me by my Master Feng Shui Teacher. Although she is one of the best students I have ever had, her perfectionism of taking care of everyone is causing the age-old “sin” of filling her mind with problems. The extreme or overindulgence of anything can be classified as a “sin.” This is an early teaching of many religions.
As a child my mother lectured me on the consequences of drinking or eating anything too hot or too cold. It could be detrimental to your body and cause sickness. Baptism was approaching along with my 9th birthday, and so instruction on these topics was interjected at any convenient moment. These lessons filled me with hope and guilt as the day of the big event came closer. Worry became a constant companion. My “sins” seemed to outweigh the good deeds by day’s end. I wanted to be good and please God and those he ordained to taunt me with my misconducts. Mother continued to lecture me about the rewards of heaven, especially when in the confines of a moving automobile. Her fervor increased in the 50-mile-per-hour zones and decreased in the 20-something zones. I knew God was on my side when Mama would spot the new Dairy Queen signpost in the distance. Against her will the car made an automatic left turn into her own “sin city.”
A double-dip vanilla cone was the perfect thing to realign my Mother’s Chi! She smiled as the Fire Energy of her preaching was brought quickly back into balance with the cold, soothing ice cream. The serene mood didn’t last long, as she quickly remembered her religious instruction about the extremes of food temperature's harming effects on the body! Now worry and guilt filled her face as we quietly drove home. I felt her pain and now my stomach hurt for her. Yikes…
Though there is truth to the cold-and-hot theory, when worry and guilty are added, these negative thought patterns send toxins flooding through the mind, body and spirit. Much later in life while studying with an Indian Shaman, a friend opened her kitchen cabinets to reveal a large box of Twinkies. Turning to our Shaman, she asked, “Are you eating these?” “Yes,” she said very seriously with a no-guilt expression. My colleague continued to stare at the Navajo medicine woman as she worked at the table with her fresh picked herbs, waiting for a reply. We had come to this mystical land to learn secrets of healing. These tempting sugar-laden delights were not what we expected in her larder. Silence filled the rustic room, and the clock ticked loudly as we took in her comment. Hopefully waiting for an insightful explanation, we were rewarded by this reply. “Bless them before you eat them,” she said, with no guilt and a look of awe at her fledging students. Some of us giggled at her supposed humor. But looking closely at her expression, I could see the wise woman was serious.
She didn’t overindulge. She loved every bite, I assume. She balanced it out with bitters, such as dandelion greens, maybe some dock and poke, or she was advanced enough to transform the “sugar bomb” into another form. I am certainly not asking you to try this at home! It probably will only add inches to your guilt-ridden body, but just think, if we could give up the anger, blame, judgment, guilt and worry, our minds, bodies and spirits could be free to really live and transform and transcend. Ego is at the center of all of these evils. Eight years ago I began to understand the depth of Feng Shui and its real meaning. I want to share a translation from an ancient poem about the environment, which is really a description of how to bring peace into the home and our bodies. It applies to the Elements of a healthy existence. If you can create these, your life will be blessed. The Wind is Mild. The Sun is Warm. The Water is Clear. The Vegetation is Lush.
Caroline will be coming to the Benicia area April 27th to May 11th; call (360) 420-5096 for more details. If you want an early bird price for our September 14th Trip to the Middle Kingdom of Tibet, please contact me before March 31st. We will start in China and cross over into Tibet mid-trip. This is a lifetime wish and it has manifested! Caroline Patrick BorNei is a certified Feng Shui Practitioner and a Red Ribbon Professional of The International Feng Shui Guild. Her abilities as a consultant and artist are widely known in the US and abroad. Caroline has completed over 5000 consultations for individuals, large and small businesses. Return clients appreciate the value of her suggestions both mundane and transcendental, providing support on multiple levels. As a college art instructor for many years, Caroline understands the power of color; its symbolism and the visual effect images have on individuals in their surroundings. Her home base is Portland, OR where she continues to write, teach, paint, do illustrations and give herbal medicine making classes. She is available for Feng Shui consultations; Feng Shui art consultant, advises builders, architects and mentors a few serious students. Call (503) 208-2960 or email caroline@fengshuiartistry.com. Any suggestions given in this column are only for entertainment. Please contact your physician for any medical or herbal advice or diagnosis. Caroline Patrick is not responsible for any misuse of her advice or suggestions. Caroline’s “West Meets East” weekly newspaper column can be read from archives on her website www.fengshuiartistry.com.
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