2021 Feng Shui for Women

If you haven't already, please read the first blog in the 2021 Feng Shui for Family series, 2021 Feng Shui for Men.

Women

Mothers & Wives, Couples (Marriage & Partnerships)

Last year, women enjoyed wealth and prosperity, that was especially beneficial for female entrepreneurs. Women who were able to pivot in their business or launch an online business, may have done quite well financially, even amidst a very challenging year.

The Soft Wood energy, visiting the house of women in 2020, kept us going. It's the "persistent wind" that never let us sit still or rest. Overnight, many women became homeschool moms and started working online and from home. We had a lot of hats to wear, all while being stuck in our homes, many of us with our husbands and/or children and isolated or socially distanced from our friends, colleagues and extended family.

This energy may have influenced some women to resort to using mood altering substances, resulting in addictions. The high highs and low lows of the Soft Wood energy, may have caused mood swings from emotional outbursts and hysterical episodes to staying in bed or on the couch a lot and sinking into deep depressions.

While many women tend to feel entitled to self-righteously admonish, correct and shame people to get them to submit to authority, obey and conform, this highly emotionally charged energy emboldened the "coronaKarens" that roam the aisles of supermarkets and stores.

Adversity is not meant to destroy you.  It is that part of your journey you can’t skip, and it is there for your own well being.  It is meant to grow you.  It is meant to awaken you.  Don’t resist.  Embrace.

~ Spiritual Vision

In 2021, the Hard Wood energy will ask women to face even more challenges. This year, they are related to their health, relationships and emotional wellbeing.

Women will feel tired and cranky. They might feel frustrated and angry. Confused, they might become indecisive and lack the motivation to take action.

The temptation to gossip about others or argue with them may cause interpersonal relationship issues. Because the default setting of this energy is to whine and complain, it's important for women to gain clarity on what they need to be balanced and enjoy personal wellbeing.

This energy combination is particularly harmful to women's health and relationships. There is a greater potential for accidents and miscarriages. It may affect proper digestion and reproductive health, disrupt hormone balance, cause disfunction in the thyroid and create critical conditions of the liver and gallbladder, as well as, problems with the feet and ankles.

The third party energy also brings the potential for infidelity and extramarital affairs. Lockdown with your significant other may have uncovered some well hidden issues and forced you to look at and see where you might have grown apart, lost affinity or fallen out of resonance.

I think you should stay and we should fight.

~ Pam Beasley

Hard Wood elements make the effort to work it out. They have the strength to stay and fight, instead of staying silent or walking away. It's ok to let go of relationships that have expired and deny access to people who have betrayed you. But, for the people you love, and who you know care about you, it's worth it to do the hard thing and have the difficult conversations.

Co-dependency, dysfunctional relationships and enmeshed family dynamics may also be brought into focus, for healing this year.

Lawsuits or legal issues may arise. I recommend getting a pre-paid legal subscription service like LegalZoom. It will provide some comfort in knowing that you can call an attorney with questions and get the help you need. Protect yourself, your property, your work and your business.

Middle-aged women will win at life this year. They will be provided with opportunities for increased "Career & Cash Flow" luck. They should take advantage of this auspicious energy to get on their life path, if they're not already. Claim victory over the things that have been holding them back from their professional or personal goals. Let the multiple streams of income fill their cup to the brim and overflow into their life.

Anger is the dominant emotion for this visiting element's energy. If angry feelings are felt and expressed often, they can get stored and turn into resentment and then bitterness and begin to have damaging effects on our bodies. This year is the perfect time to feel the emotions and learn how to process them in healthy ways, clear the stored emotions and gain some clarity on what lies beneath the anger. Then, choose to forgive and heal.

Hard Wood is The Healer. This is a great year to learn a self-healing modality. Or, find some healers to help you heal your body, clear the emotions, release the negative or low vibe energy and restore your wellbeing.

I recommend Katie Brindle's Yang Sheng The Art of Chinese Self-Healing

How Women Can Help Themselves

1) Honor Your Needs

The first step toward honoring your needs is to know what your needs are. Depending on your unique expression of your personal element, they might be very different from your mother, sister or best friend. Spend some time thinking, feeling into and journaling about your needs.

A need is something that you can be, do or have that allows you to maintain your balance and provides wellbeing. Most women, especially mothers, live way below a "fine" state of being, most of the time, for most of their lives.

You are fully responsible for your personal wellbeing and getting your needs met.

Determine the needs you can meet yourself and commit to honoring them. Then, have a Needs Conversation with your partner or others about needs that might include or involve them. For more on this, schedule a 30 minute coaching session or read Honoring Your Needs. (A new blog coming soon!)

2) Master Self Care

2021 will ask YOU to genuinely care about yourself. Put yourself on the list and make your self-care a priority. As women, we tend to take care of all the people in our lives, from our children to our partner to our aging parents to the people we work with. Seldom is that care ever reciprocated in kind.

The truth is: it's up to you to honor your needs. No one else can do it for you. And only you know what you need. Only you can care for yourself the way you need to be cared for.

If you need some help with mastering self-care, you can download a copy of my 2021 Self Care Guide for Women.

Self Care Essentials

1) Rest. I'm serious when I say the energy is going to make us feel tired this year. In the transformative cycle, Wood pierces the Earth. This Hard Wood energy sending its roots down into our fertile Mother Earth soil is going to feel depleting.

Press pause on your life each day. Take naps. Master the art of doing nothing. Read. Honor a decent bedtime. Sleep. Let your body clock wake you up in the morning. Take it easy.

2) Listen to your body. Do a wellbeing check every day. Ask you body, "What do you need today?" Muscle test to confirm your intuitive awareness. Then, honor your body's needs.

3) Have a routine. Hard Wood elements like to be on a schedule. Create daily rituals and morning and evening routines that provide some structure between the work flows and give you moments to look forward to.

Although Hard Wood elements like to get up with the sun, the exact time each morning is not as important as having a consistent bedtime and waking time.

For example, my most inspired and creative time is late at night. It always has been.

In the colder and darker winter months it may be hard to wake up early to complete a longer morning routine. So, if waking up earlier is an intention for you this year, but you are struggling, try again come Spring or early Summer.

3) Grow

Hard Wood energy is all about growth. Wood is the first element in the cycle of the Five Elements. It's the birth of a new life. And the fast growth, progressing through the life cycle, from a seed and back to the soil.

If a tree or plant is not growing, it's dying.

So, GROW! Grow as a person. Grow in your relationships. Grow your business. Learn new skills. Develop new abilities.

Unlike the always moving and persistent wind of the Soft Wood, Hard Wood energy moves slowly and deliberately. The seed that's planted, patiently waits for the cold hard earth of winter to soften and the snow and ice to thaw. The moist soil of Spring activates the seeds' germination, facilitating the strong push upward from the dark and into the light.

They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds.

~ Mexican Proverb

Unlike the evergreen Soft Wood, Hard Wood goes through many changes with the four seasons. Spring buds and blossoms. Summer blooms and fruit. Autumn harvest and Fall leaves. Winter snows and bare branches.

Be like a tree.

Stay grounded.

Connect with your roots.

Turn over a new leaf.

Bend before you break.

Enjoy your unique natural beauty.

Keep growing.

~ Joanne Raptis

Read. Hard Wood elements value education and are lifelong learners. If reading is not a daily habit for you, challenge yourself to read at least a book a month. If you lack the time or ability to concentrate, listen to an audiobook while you walk or drive.

Think. It's a Hard Metal year, which is very mentally stimulating. Sit down and have yourself a little think. Allow what you are reading to inspire your thinking sessions. Or, consider cognitive journaling. Create a thoughtful spot in your home and carve out some time in your day for thinking. Thinking your own thoughts. Thinking for yourself.

BONUS: Feng Shui Tip

The best way to reduce the effect of this Hard Wood energy, that has taken root in the Southwest, is to place some Fire elements in this area of your home and office. Fire reduces the Hard Wood element and supports the Mother Earth element.

For many months of the year, Fire elements will remedy this energy for us. Lighting two red candles once a day for an hour will help with burning off some of the whining, complaining and arguing energy. And adding some red decor like two red hearts will help to strengthen our marriage or partnership.

However, February is a perfect example of having a visiting Earth energy that we don't want to activate with open flames or fiery red colors. Instead, we want to use some soft lighting. One way is to place a Himalayan salt lamp or turn on a night light in this area. Or, get a crystal lamp to keep on all of the time. My kitchen is in the SW, so I keep the under the cabinet lights on. Or, make yourself a feng shui Fire remedy by placing some fairy lights in a clear glass vase or mason jar.

How We Can Help the Women in Our Lives

1) Facilitate Energy Shifts

Women will lead with their complaints, even more so this year. When they complain, help them shift their focus to what they need, instead of what they don't have or don't like. Ask, "What do you need?" You don't have to be able or willing to provide what they need. The purpose of this is to help them get clear on what is is they need. Then, they can honor their own needs by making a different choice or asking for help.

2) Show Compassion

Be gentle. Kind. And patient. Be thoughtful. And find ways to show that you genuinely care about them.

3) Do Wellbeing Checks

Reach out. Text your mother, sisters and friends to check on them. Have weekly talk time over the phone or video chat. Ask them how they REALLY are and listen. Or, if you can meet for coffee, a lunch date or afternoon tea.

For more specific guidance, read the 2021 Annual Personal Energy Guide for your personal feng shui element.

For more insight into the effect of the annual energy on women, based on birth order, read 2021 Feng Shui for Children. 

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