11 Feng Shui Strategies To Reduce Stress For The Holidays

Does the thought of gathering with your family for the holidays make you stressed, overwhelmed, or cranky?  The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy, love, and happy families. However, for many people, loneliness, obligation, and stress surface as the holiday season begins. IThis article will help you reduce holiday stress.

I have talked with several people who are feeling overwhelmed by preparing for the holidays and family gatherings this year. They are worried about having time to get everything done. The biggest worry seems to be bringing the family together in one place at one time.

Recently, a client asked me for advice on Feng Shui to make her holidays with family more enjoyable and less stressful.

Even though many of her family members live in the same town, they only see one another during the holidays.

Many arrive at her home in a pleasant mood. However, opinions differ, and silent judgments begin, witnessed by sharp glares and piercing looks in their eyes.

At first, critical comments are spoken softly, almost in a whisper, as if no one were listening. Soon, the tension builds, the glares get a voice, the volume escalates, and people begin positioning themselves for protection or battle.  A new level of discomfort fills the room.

The fighters, visibly angry, are looking for an argument. Those seeking protection begin to avoid talking to anyone. This is not the happy holiday you wanted.

My client wants to use Feng Shui principles to create a peaceful and cooperative environment in her home.

Your home tells a story about you. What you experience is visible in your home when you look with Feng Shui eyes.

Here is what you need to know to reduce family stress during the holidays.

The Family

One way to reduce family stress during the holidays is to evaluate your home's “family” area.

An area of the Feng Shui Bagua (Feng Shui energy map) is devoted to family. This area includes current and future family members, family health, family harmony, ancestors, and unresolved family issues.  Let’s look at that area in your home.

The family area is in the middle, on the left side of your home. The items in this area influence your current and future family experiences. It is worth a good look around this area.

What do you see there?  Is it your favorite armchair, a healthy plant, beautiful art, the extra room that is a catch-all for clutter, or your Feng Shui Vision Board?  What do you feel in that area, happy, tired, depressed, inspired? Whatever you see and feel in that space is part of your family Feng Shui story.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself. What clues do the items in that area tell you about your family:

• Peace
• Harmony
•  Health
• Cooperation
• Communication
• Fun

Look closely at what you see and feel, and evaluate yourself honestly.

Even one small change, such as clearing clutter, makes a difference. It can be what gets the energy moving to transform everything.

My Holiday Story

My husband started storing his fishing gear outside against the wall of the house. That location was in our home's “Family” area (according to the bagua). A change I did not know happened. 

On Christmas Eve, our family arrived for our traditional celebration. Christmas music was playing as people arrived. An array of cheeses, fruits, olives, and hot apple cider awaited them. I could see the excitement in the grandchildren's faces as they gazed at the presents under the tree. They knew that we would go into the living room after dinner, turn off the lights, and sing Christmas carols. Santa Claus would secretly arrive and leave each of them a present during our singing.

One of our sons got agitated and began arguing with my husband about something unrelated to the evening. The arguing escalated until my husband told him, “This is not the time or place for this conversation.” The incident made all of us uneasy and dampened the spirit of the evening.

The outburst was unusual and unexpected.

The next day, I was outside and noticed the fishing gear stacked against the side of the house. It was not organized but scattered about. You could say it was cluttered.

That's when I tapped into my Feng Shui wisdom. Clutter in the family area creates stagnant energy in family communication, which is a clue to what contributed to the outburst. Stagnant energy does not flow and contributes to negativity.

The remedy is to clear the clutter and check the “family” area inside the house for more clues.

Your Intentions

What you think as you anticipate your family gathering influences what you experience because your thoughts set your focus point. Your focus point determines how you see the situation.

As you think about your holidays, what do you think will happen? Do you have a feeling of family togetherness? Is there open communication between family members? Is there a history of holiday chaos?

And the big question, “What do you want?”

Take a few minutes to imagine your family gathering just how you would like it to be and then visualize it happening that way. This is a decisive first step in creating what you want.

Your intention sets the stage for your experience.  Your visualization of that intention happening helps support your vision.

Once in the situation, you choose based on your focus point and expectations for the gathering.

11 Feng Shui Strategies For More Peace Of Mind During The Holidays

This holiday season holds great potential because you can create wonderful memories, have fun, heal old wounds, and feel appreciation for your family.

1. Decide what you want in as much detail as possible.
2. Set an intention, see it happening, and feel it as if it has already happened.
3. Clear any clutter from your home, especially the ” family ” area in the bagua. If you only take one action from this list, clearing clutter is the most important. Clutter is the most draining force in any area of your home.  Wherever I see clutter, I know there is a problem in one or more areas of life.
4. Do one good deed each day.
5. Take time to fill yourself up. Your giving is much fuller when you give from the place of fullness. What makes you feel recharged? A walk in nature, listening to music, taking a hot bath, talking to a friend, reading a good book, meditating, going to the gym, or meeting with your Feng Shui Coach.
6. Decorate the entrance to your home with lights and live plants. Lights and plants uplift energy and make for a happy entrance.
7. Decorate the inside of your home, especially the “family” area, with lights, shiny decorations, live plants, and candles. If you have a Christmas tree, the “family” area is an excellent place to put it.
8. Use scents of the season, like evergreen boughs, mulled cider, frankincense and myrrh, spices, peppermint, and others you like.
9. Energize the house before people arrive by burning incense, offering blessings and prayers, saying your intentions out loud in the room, playing uplifting music, or hiring a Feng Shui Consultant to do a house blessing ceremony.
10. Celebrate and treat yourself to a hot bath, a soothing massage, or a cup of tea. Congratulations on a job well done.
11. After everyone leaves to release any tension left behind by your guests, schedule a Space Clearing with a Feng Shui Consultant to release the energy of the holiday and uplift the space for the new year, bringing you peace of mind, radiant health, and prosperity.

Implementing these Feng Shui strategies can reduce holiday stress and give you more peace of mind during the holiday season.

You might also enjoy this article: “Peaceful Holidays: 12 Stress-Free Strategies.“

Do you want more peace? Claim your free Mini-Course: A Simple Solution to Regain Inner Peace.

Nancy Dadami is an Inner Peace Guide, Medicine Painting Mentor, and Feng Shui Specialist. She helps inspire leaders, writers, artists, and entrepreneurs called to growth, learning, service, and freedom so they can create a life of abundance, self-awareness, purpose, and inner peace. Learn more here Linktr.ee/nancydadami