How to Feel More at Home in Your Home

November 29, 2007
IN THIS ISSUE:

• How Hard Do You Have to Flap Your Wings to Get Where You’re Going?
• How to Feel More at Home in Your Home 
• How to Have Harmonious Holidays in 2008
• Cheryl and Lena’s New Blog Posts
• Cheryl’s Soup Kitchen

On a personal note….

When I walk along the Kansas river, I tune in to nature and into my own inner world.  I get messages.  Today the message is from the eagle and is about capitalizing on opportunities and getting where we want to go without having to work so hard. 

While walking four glorious miles along the river, I looked straight up for some reason. High above my head was a bald eagle – a rare site this time of year. 

I stopped to watched it soar across the open Kansas sky until it was completely out of site. For that great distance, it never once flapped its wings.

The eagle is a master of the open air and an opportunist. It instinctively capitalizes on the updrafts to conserve its energy and to simply enjoy the experience of soaring.  It can ride the thermals and wind borne currents with little effort, soaring for hours without flapping its wings.

How can you conserve your energy and capitalize on the updrafts in your life?  Can you recognize an updraft when you see one?  Do you look for them?

How to Feel More at Home in Your Home

Inspiring Your Inside World

Soon, those of us living in the colder climes will head inside for warmth and protection from the elements. What will you be heading inside to? Do you love your house, trailer, apartment, or dorm? Could you love it more?

Look to your senses when “fluffing” your inside world. What new sights, sounds, smells, textures and tastes would please you? I’ve listed many possibilities below. Which ones would inspire your inside world?

Sights

• Clear the clutter – always start there.
• If you really don’t like the pictures on the wall, take them down and pass them on.
• Get rid of anything that doesn’t totally please you.  If it’s a large piece of furniture and you can’t afford (yet) to get rid of it, cover it with an attractive throw.
• Create a bit of magic with glittery strings of lights – around archways, on the handrail or mantle, or threaded through your indoor plants.
• Add warmth and drama with candles and lanterns. In the winter, I hang a mini lantern from every window valance and have a show of candles and tea lights on my mantle.
• Heat up the room with color – paint the walls, hang pictures or wall hangings, or spotlight items with colored lighting.
• Wash the windows and open the curtains so you can SEE outside – without having to GO outside.  Here’s a natural recipe for the BEST window cleaner.
• Start a ritual of burning a fire – even if you think you don’t have time to sit and enjoy it. I highly recommend taking the time.
• Step outside in the evening and gaze up at the stars. Allow the enormity of the cosmos to put your life in perspective. And then step back inside, grateful for the warmth that you may sometimes take for granted.

Sounds

• Add sound to your surroundings – water fountains or chimes – many fountains  also are illuminated.
• Turn on your favorite meditative music or crank up the jazz, hip hop, or rock ‘n roll.
• Block out annoying outdoor sounds with pleasant sounds of your choosing.
• Learn to appreciate the sounds of silence (and practice turning off the TV).

Smells

• Cook! Nothing smells better than a roast in the oven or a bubbling pot of soup! 
• Burn incense. Don’t wait for a special occasion.
• Smudge your house with sage periodically to cleanse and move the energy.
• Open your doors (and windows) a couple of times a month to freshen the air– even when it’s cold outside.  This winter ritual will help you quickly move out stale air and bring in fresh air. It wastes a little bit of energy, but it helps keep you well in the winter.
• Use herbs and essential oils to heighten your enjoyment of life indoors. Avoid using chemicalized scents found at conventional grocery stores–instead, go for the real thing–herbs and essential oils. Use them in your bath, sprits your pillow before going to bed, put them in your humidifier. Spray them in the air and then walk through the mist.
• Scour your house for products that contain toxic ingredients and take them to your community hazardous waste site.  
• Clear the toxic products out of your kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, basement and garage.  Become an expert on hazardous wastes and how to avoid them.  They stink!

Touch

• Take a hot spa bath–spike it with herbs or essential oils.
• Smooth on natural oils for soft skin.  Avoid chemical-laden body and beauty products.  Find out what’s in your (your kids’) personal care products  (Skin Deep has an extensive data base). 
• Use flannel sheets and warm blankets to cut the cold.
• Consider adding a feather bed on top of your mattress.  Sink into warmth and comfort.  If you’re a night owl and resist going to bed, make your bed irresistible.
• Surround yourself with puffy pillows–on your couch, bed, floor.

Tastes

• Take a cooking class and learn to spice your food so that it’s fabulous.
• Cook!  Take out is fast but it usually doesn’t taste as good.
• Start a hot tea morning or evening ritual. 
• Feed your body and your soul by hosting a regular potluck party.
• Cook a pot of soup each weekend (check out Cheryl’s Soup Kitchen).  I had spicy coconut soup tonight.  Yum!
• Start a soup club with your co-workers or neighbors (cook and share).

Adding even a few of these sensual delights to your home environment will help to inspire your inside world.

What would you like to add to this list of sensual delights?  See the “Make a Comment” box at the very, very end…..write your comments there. 

How to Have Harmonious Holidays in 2008

Many of us struggle to enjoy the holidays.  We get stressed about the long to-do list, the extra expenses, and the overwhelm.  But it doesn’t have to be this way.  I have virtually stress-free holidays.  Last year at this time I shared my secrets about enjoying less stressful, more Harmonious Holidays.  I’ve found strategies that work for me . . . maybe they’ll help you too!   Check them out below.   

Harmonious Holidays (Part I)  I share my best secrets and include a Holiday Makeover Worksheet - here You’ll love this!

Harmonious Holidays (Part II) Do you tend to over function during the holidays?  Find out how to create a Family Job Jar Game so you can get somebody else to do the holiday dishes. The Job Jar is the cure for over functioning - here

To your healthy, happy, harmonious life!

P.S. Remember to share your sensual suggestions in the “Make a Comment” box below.  Tell us how you inspire your inner world.  What sensual delights would you add to my list?

Cheryl’s Soup Kitchen
(ebook and audio)

Soup has many virtues. You can use it as a super weight loss strategy or as a nurturing cold weather ritual. And you can dramatically improve your diet by eating soup. Soup is versatile–eat it as a snack or for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Eat it cold or hot - with friends or snuggled up on the couch after a long day.  On a cold day, soup is like a warm blanket.

Soup can be one of the most satisfying and nourishing meals you eat. But this program isn’t just about making soup. It’s about streamlining your kitchen and your preparation processes so you can make soup fast . . . and eat it slow. It’s also about healthy eating and inspiration for cooking and eating at home.

You get 2 60-minute audios, recipes for soups and sides, and a beautifully illustrated ebook.   >> more info

Fee: $19.00    Ebook and 2 60-minute audios  

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Cheryl’s and Lena’s new posts:

Combating Energy Vampires
Don’t Flush Old Medications
Eco-Cool Holidays
The Greatest Danger
Road Warrior Wellness
Dance Video (#1 video on youtube - comedian demonstrates the evolution of dance) Hilarious!
Breaking a Bad Habit
Smoking Cessation Resources

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Cheryl Miller is a wellness expert and life coach. She specializes in helping people take action to live a healthy, happy life . . . in this lifetime. Visit cherylmillerville.com and get the Healthy, Happy Living monthly newsletter and free Wellness Pack.  Signup and sample issue here: http://cherylmillerville.com/newsletter © 2007 cherylmillerville.com. All rights reserved.

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