Photo by Don Pierce
Unnecessary suffering often arises from neglecting the space around us—our personal environments and how they interact with our energy and well-being. An ancient practice called Feng Shui (pronounced “feng shway”) offers guidance on arranging your surroundings to promote positive energy flow, health, and success. While a full exploration of Feng Shui is beyond this article’s scope, understanding its basic principles can help you create a more harmonious living or working space.
For those interested in deeper study, the works of Mitchell (2002) and Too (1999) provide excellent resources.
To Embracing a Positive Self-Concept Through Nature…
HumaNatureConnect Activity
If today isn’t ideal for unstructured time in nature, try this guided exercise:
Start-up Protocol:
Read this text attentively, engaging your literary, mental, and reasoning senses to guide you toward happiness and sustainability.
Activate your natural senses by spending time outdoors, moving toward Gladandgreen Junction.
Attractive Natural Being:
With pen and journal in hand, find a natural being that draws your attention.
Appreciation and Gratefulness:
While observing this being, breathe in appreciation and breathe out gratitude.
Consent:
After focusing on this being for at least ten seconds, consider your sustained attraction as consent to connect deeply, fostering your optimal functioning.
The Natural Senses:
Use a variety of senses—radiation, feeling, chemical, and mental—to broaden your perception and enrich your experience.
HumaNatureConnect Activity:
With heightened awareness, engage in the activity and any follow-up components you choose.
Mindful Attention to Your Environment
Reflect on whether your environment aligns with basic Feng Shui principles by completing the right column below. Indicate if you comply or not, and note any plans to improve your home, garden, or office setting.
Examine the Bagua diagram, which uses three-lined trigrams from the ancient I Ching to represent life zones. To enhance areas like creativity or family, incorporate the associated colors into corresponding rooms or garden sections.
This will become clearer as you use the table below.
Soon, you’ll use the Bagua to decide where to place Dream Council figures. A favored spot is the Self Wisdom and Knowledge zone, located in the lower left of the Bagua.
Reflective Journaling and Sharing
Natural Systems Reflection Process
For best results, journal your impressions of this activity, using any of the following prompts, and share your insights with others.
Journal Components:
General Description: Describe how you did the activity and what occurred.
Freeform: Write freely about what attracted you to your natural being.
Three Qualities: List three qualities you found most appealing.
Three Learnings: Note three things you learned.
Self-esteem & Trust: Reflect on any changes in your self-esteem or trust in Nature.
Changes To Self: Describe any personal changes resulting from the activity.
Honor Yourself: Praise your commitment to progressing along the Heartwood Path.
I’m A Person Who...: Write three “G/G Statements” starting with “This connection experience tells me that I am a person who...”
Feelings If Activity Taken: Write how you’d feel if you lost this connection ability.
Nature Compared To Self: Compose two sentences: “I love this [natural being] because it is [qualities],” and “I love myself because I am [same qualities].” This is a powerful prompt for quick insight and group discussion.
Ride The Green Wave: Review the Ten Green Wave Validation Statements, marking plus (+) or minus (-) in your journal to indicate agreement or disagreement.
Two-Word Summary: Summarize your response to this activity in two words.
Connect and Share
Share your ideas, impressions, photos, and news with others:
Post impressions and photos in the Comments below.
Engage with others in your Heartwood Path course or salon.
Create your own salon online, by phone, or in person.
Discuss impressions with trusted family and friends.
Post in the EartHeart Networking Forum.
Share on our Facebook Page and broader social media using #heartwoodpath and #waypoint2.79.
Nocturnal Pilgrimage
Dream Council Creation: Preparing for the Next Step
Use your imagination to create Dream Council figures, incorporating natural objects like stones, feathers, twigs, nuts, leaves, bones, or shells. Arrange them simply, and map your Dream Council with names for each figure.
Decide where to place your Dream Council figures at home, guided by the Bagua and Feng Shui principles. The lower left section of the Bagua is a favored spot.
After placement, proceed to the next waypoint: “Discernment.”
Remember to spend time outdoors on natural ground—grass or earth—to benefit from nature’s tonic.
