My Favorite Things: 5 Back-To-School Must Haves

Welcome to My Favorite Things! Each month, we highlight products to help you create a holistic lifestyle that inspires and nurtures you, so that you can be happier and feel supported.

As summer is wrapping up, many of us are gearing up to head back to school or double down for the fall season. Of course, it's much easier to take on a busy few months if we're organized and ready for what's ahead. So this month we've curated our top recommendations for getting back into the school season swing with a clear head and a neat space. Be sure to also check out our next podcast, with Diane Lowy from New York at Home. Diane creates "apartment solutions", and she's offered our listeners tips on getting organized!

Focus Mist

Our most recent podcast features my good friend and colleague, Andrea Giordano, who is a feng shui and essential oil expert. She also helped curate the Holistic Spaces Apothecary collection, and the Focus spray is one of my favorites!

A blend of fair trade essential oils and carnelian crystal, our Focus Mist was created to provide grounding, clarity and mental focus, and it's ideal for back-to-school!

Available at: Holistic Spaces

Mini Round Boxes

In our next podcast, I chat with organizer and space designer, Diane Lowy, and ask her advice on getting organized. 

Diane was also kind enough to recommend some of her favorite organizational tools for this month's My Favorite Things, and these mini round boxes made the cut!

"These are great for pretty much anything small that's otherwise tough to find in a drawer or your bag: SIM cards, paper clips, earrings, safety pins, a pair of earplugs, Tic Tacs, Tylenol. 12 clear boxes for $2.29 makes them an easy yes."

Available at: The Container Store

Recycled Notebooks

Notebooks are great for keeping notes and lists, setting goals and even organizing your thoughts through journaling. 

I love MUJI notebooks! I use these to keep all my notes, from meditation class to client meetings. It makes it easier for me to keep things in one location, and I like to write it down rather than put it in my phone. I love that they're recycled too!

Available at: MUJI

Post-It Tape

Another of Diane's favorites is Post-It tape.

"Post-It Note Tape is a great way to make labels anywhere that just peel off without leaving a residue but stay in place for as long as you need it. It comes in white as well as highlighter colors, and you can write on it just like paper. 

Labels can be super helpful when brainstorming for layouts after a move or renovation. They are also great reminders for that first week or two after moving stuff around and are very helpful when living with roommates!"

Available at: Amazon

Saraswati Yantra Mandala for Knowledge and Creativity

I love the Saraswati mandala because it is useful in so many ways! This yantra is associated with the Knowledge area of the bagua, since Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of wisdom and the arts. 

For inspiration in these areas, place the Saraswati yantra mandala in the Knowledge area of your space. 

Saraswati can also be used to cultivate abundance! Deepak Chopra shared a story about this in his book, Creating Affluence. You can read more about it in my blog post on attracting abundance. 

Available at: Holistic Spaces

Q&A Sunday: Feng Shui for Business

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my inquiry. I am a Rooster, born on August 18, 1981. My house faces the east (my front door faces the east). My kitchen is in the NE, guest room is in the east and my son's bedroom is in the SE. Master's bedroom is in the SW, while living room/grand dining room is in the NW. In the west is our bathroom. I just started my business. However, I am having difficulty selling out my products. I am selling fashion bag charms / bag accessories. This is the first time the styles I have are sold in the U.S. I want to be a successful business owner, but I didn't expect it to be this difficult. Can you help me? What should I do?

Avvy C., Cleveland, MS

 

Hi Avvy,

Thanks for listening to the podcast and your question. First I wanted to explain that there are many schools of feng shui - dozens. The feng shui that I practice is BTB feng shui, and we do not use the compass directions in our analytics. If you’re interested in that, you can try a compass, flying star or classical feng shui consultant. My good friend, Beth Grace, may be a good option. She’s featured regularly on my new podcast mini-series “Astrology and Feng Shui”. Check out the podcast and Beth!

Otherwise, if you aren’t specifically looking for a particular school, BTB feng shui does, of course, give methods for improving your business. You did not mention an office in your home, so the first thing would probably be to look at the feng shui of your office. If you don’t have an office, that could be an issue. 

You also mention that you are selling something that is new to the U.S. When I work with a client, I ask a lot of questions at this point to pinpoint what the issue is. For instance, is the problem that you can’t get the business off the ground? Are there money issues? Are the products desirable; are they made well? Is it that people know about the product but don't want to buy? Or if only they knew about the product they would buy? And of course there are a slew of other questions; these are just a few.

In general, I would make sure you have an office space with a dedicated desk. Please make sure your desk is located in command of your space. There’s information in these articles about the command position. I also have a feeling that you need to work on the Recognition and Fame area, so that people know about your product. You can place something like a new green living plant in the Recognition area of your desk and home to add some fuel to fire up your recognition.

Hope that helps! Let us know and good luck with your new business!

by Anjie Cho

Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday".  We will be answering questions submitted by our readers. Click here to submit any Feng Shui or Green Design questions!

The Feng Shui Home Cleanse That Will Bring Your Intentions To Life

featured this week on MindBodyGreen

Whether you're an entrepreneur or work for a company, most of us have offices in our homes. Home offices can be a whole room, a desk at the end of the hall, or even sometimes the dining room table. In many cases, I've found that a home office comes with all sorts of challenges. The predicament that I hear most often as an interior architect and feng shui expert is "I can't get anything done! I get too distracted."

Well, there are things we can do to help with that. In feng shui, your home office is an important space, as it is a symbol of your career and affects how you succeed in the world. I'm so happy to share a few simple feng shui tips to create the perfect home office and transform how effective you are!

Location, location, location!

It's really quite important to have a spot for your home office away from the bedroom(s) and toward the front of the home. The bedroom area is about rest and relaxation. If you have trouble with focus in your home office, it's best to move the office out of the bedroom and closer to the front door. The rear of the home is more insular and more "yin," quiet and inward, whereas the front of the home is closer to the world and more "yang," outward and active. It's better to be alert and awake when you're working, especially when you have deadlines or need some motivation.

...read full article

by Anjie Cho