The first full moon of the Year of the Goat is upon us! This full moon is an exciting and auspicious time of culmination, intensity, and celebration. In China it is celebrated with a lantern festival where millions of lanterns are released into the sky for good luck, abundance and happiness in the New Year. What wishes would you send your good luck lantern off into the sky with? Whether or not you actually send off a lantern, this is an important time to investigate your deepest wishes and take action to help align yourself with what you desire for your life. One important way to do this is to clean and organize the home. The feeling we create in our homes helps us align with the greater forces of the universe to bring a sense a spaciousness, peace, and clarity to our hearts and minds. By clearing out old, forgotten things, we make more room for harmony, abundance and joy in our lives. Doing this at the beginning of the Chinese New Year helps set the stage for a year of happiness and abundance. So get a head start on spring-cleaning and align yourself with the positivity you wish to bring into your life.

 A few simple ways to create a sense of peace in the home:

• As Japanese home organization specialist Marie Kondo says in her delightful book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” get rid of everything that does not “spark joy.” This is a remarkably simple yet profound practice that can dramatically diminish the number of unnecessary and stagnant possessions in the home.
• Decorate your home with jade, crystals and easy to care for plants like succulents to increase the life force in your home.
• Discard personal and cleaning products with artificial fragrances and start using natural products scented with essential oils. You can also use a diffuser to fill your home with healing properties of essential oils.

We wish you a peaceful and joyous year!

   Wei