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I can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week. The year has sure flown by. I am very thankful for the opportunity to share my knowledge of feng shui and healing to help you create a better life. Later in this newsletter, I will share some opportunities to learn from me personally and some insights into food and eating (just in time for Thanksgiving). Enjoy!

CHI-UPPER

"It is difficult to know what counts in the world. Most of us count credits, honor, dollars. But at the bulging center of mid-life, I am beginning to see that the things that really matter take place not in the boardrooms, but in the kitchens of the world."
-- Gary Allen Sledge (Writer)

FREE CLASS JUST FOR YOU

As a thank you for subscribing to my newsletter, I am giving you a free 6-week feng shui class! Sent directly to your inbox each week, the class will cover easy, simple feng shui tips to transform every room in your home. You have two options available: You can simply read through each week 's class notes for your personal enjoyment, or complete each week's homework assignment and return it to us. If you do, I will send you a certificate of completion to hang in your newly-improved space. Look for your first lesson in your inbox soon. How's THAT for FUN Shui?

JUST HAVE A QUICK QUESTION? -- $50 HOLIDAY SPECIAL

Not everyone has the budget or the need for a full-house consult. If you just have a few questions, or want a taste of my services before committing to something larger, you should consider a phone consultation. A half-hour consultation (you send me the question, photos in advance) is just $50 through January 1, 2007.

Evolving Arts is offering a very special price on consultations through the new year. Go to our website http:/evolvingarts.com/consult for more information.

WE STILL NEED YOUR HELP...

Fun Shui still needs your positive energy and support! I've been blown away by the hundreds of questions being sent in, all your wonderful testimonials, and all the wonderful feedback you're sending to HGTV in support of our show. My gratitude for all that you're doing is outer-limits! Our ratings also have been great, so all of us involved with the show are excited and optimistic.

But as of now, there are no plans to renew our show for another season. But after seeing the hundreds of questions I'm receiving, it seems as if you're all wanting more information and inspiration on building a healthier and more supportive, inspiring home. So here's where we need your continued support:

Please take a quick moment to click the link below and take 2 minutes to write to the network and let them know how much you're enjoying the show, and what you're gaining by what you learn each week. And please forward this email or link to your mailing list, and encourage their support. As we all know, positive thought, energy and action can bring about amazing changes on the planet. With all of us holding the vision of "Fun Shui" continuing long into the future, and transforming peoples homes and lives, the more likely our dreams may be realized.

http://evolvingarts.com/hgtvfeedback

And regardless of outcomes, sharing positive thoughts can NEVER hurt and only adds to the joy and love on the planet. So once again, my deepest thanks in advance for all that you're doing....

THANKSGIVING STUFFING!

Well, it's that time again. The season of eating! Thanksgiving in particular is associated with stuffing - ourselves as well as the turkeys - and at a time for giving thanks, what a blessing to be surrounded by so much delicious food. But we all know the ramifications of eating more than our bodies can comfortably digest. Overeating, especially all the sugary & processed foods surrounding the holidays, can lead to blood sugar issues, mood swings, indigestion, fatigue, mental fogginess, as well as the emotional heaviness surrounding weight gain and body image.

So let's take a look at our relationship to food BEFORE the holidays begin, so we can move forward with our eyes AND our mouths open!

WHEN FOOD IS LOVE

It seems as if every woman I talk to has some sort of disconnect surrounding food. Heck, even some of my male friends seem to be affected as well. Whether thin or curvy, older or younger, food seems to have an interesting hold on many of our hearts. Also let me remind you that I write each and every one of these articles for myself and my own healing. As for food, I've dealt with my own lifelong challenges with eating and weight, and have lost about 80lbs overall, yet my weight still flucuates at times and I still have my own continuing challenges with food. So I always write what I'm learning about, right along side you. We're in this together, this dance through life. We're all teachers and students (often at the same time!).

So, back to food.... Food is always there for us. It's always comforting. And ALWAYS delicious! Yet this is only true when we eat the amounts our bodies want, when our bodies want it. Overeating seems like a good idea in the moment, but that's only in the moment. In the long run it's more like a bad boyfriend. It promises the world, only to let you down in the end. You give up everything for him... your time, your thoughts, your body, your health only to be slapped and abused by low self-image, tight clothes, debt, spiritual starvation and a slew of weight-related health issues. So is food REALLY love? Can food ever fill our spirits, or give us a full, loving, satisfying life? I think not. But how in the world can we remember this when food seems to have such a strong pull?

I believe that we can use any challenge, struggle, or addiction as a pathway to spiritual freedom. I'm using my own struggles with food as a way to powerfully connect me to God. When I can shift my focus onto my feeling of connection, and off of food, I gain something more filling than words can describe, and less pounds on the hips in return. Finding that very personal connection to God comes in different forms, down different paths. That's for you to explore on your own.

But solely in terms of food, since it's a hard vice to avoid altogether, here are 10 tips that might be just the reminder to snap you back into reality and help you once and for all break up with that no-good lover, overeating. If you're ready to break up, try on one or more of the following, and hopefully try on a smaller dress size as well:

1. Eat when you're hungry.
The body was built perfectly to desire food when it needs it, and only then. Following your internal, natural cues is the simplest way to honor yourself , your life and your family.

2. Eat whatever your body is calling for.
Allow yourself to eat what you're desiring. Deprivation only leads to binges. As Geneen Roth so wisely says "For every diet there is an equal and opposite binge". It's one of the biggest laws of the universe. Your body is wise beyond measure - if you can learn to listen to it, it will know exactly what nutrients it needs. It may take you time to differentiate between head and body hunger: one comes from all the years of deprivation, the other is softer, wiser and comes from a vast internal knowing that always directs you perfectly to balance and health. Whether it's pizza or pineapple, kale or cookies, let the wise inner voice do the choosing, and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

3. Make eating a sacred occasion.
I light a candle before my meals. I eat at the table, sometimes enjoying some relaxing music. Honor yourself and your body with a lovely environment. Creating a ritual to begin your meals, such as lighting a candle, can separate and distinguish your meals from the rest of your day, and establish a quiet sacredness to the act of eating. You deserve that!

4. Eat in silence or to soothing music.
How many of you eat in front of the TV? Or eat in frenetic, stressful home environments? Or at busy office desks? Give yourselves the gift of a pleasant, focused environment. I know for myself, this was one of the TOUGHEST ones to embrace. I was terrified to be alone with my thoughts and to be faced with the obvious disconnect I felt around food. But there's no time like the present to undo this habit, face your fears and do it anyway. Once you shine a light on your dark thoughts around food and meet them with love and understanding, they vanish in a puff of smoke. Be gentle with yourself... It's time to take a bite out of this fear of silence, and instead take a bite out of some delicious food!

5. Get the best quality available when you can.
Depending on your financial and environmental circumstances, start looking for the best quality food available to you. Last night I learned this lesson again for myself. I wanted vegetable stir-fry, but the only vegetables available were rubbery, waxy and lighter in color than normal. I could have taken the time to run in to a store around the street from my home, but I didn't. Cutting up the vegetables, I could tell they were lifeless. And once cooked, they tasted about as good as they looked. Ug. Then, to top it off, I also treated myself by buying a container of green tea ice cream. But I didn't get the brand I really wanted... something that looked decadent and rich and more expensive. I went with the simpler brand. At the end of my meal, I took a spoonful of ice cream and almost did a spit-take across the dining room table.

Before, I would have eaten it, regardless of how badly it tasted, and my desire to save money ended up costing me a pint of green tea ice cream sitting upside down in my trashcan. But now I'm enjoying buying less, but buying better quality foods. I enjoy good dark chocolate. I enjoy gourmet cheeses. I enjoy fresh-baked breads. I enjoy locally grown foods. They say we are what we eat, and I find this to be true. Does it feel good eating meats that come from sad and unhealthy animals who spend tortured lives in small cages? Can we tell the difference between canned vegetables vs. a beautiful green bouquet of fresh collard greens? It's not to say that we should spend more than we have. But within our limits, what's the best, most delicious choice we can make?

6. Chew.
Remember, your stomach can't taste anything -- only your tongue has taste buds. So why not savor the flavor of what you're eating? Let the food melt and fill your entire mouth. When you're eating what your body's calling for, and eating when you're hungry, everything will taste so much better. And there's a side benefit to chewing. When you chew your food, it mixes with the saliva in your mouth, helping your stomach to better break down the contents of your meal. If you chew, and chew well, you'll get tons more energy from the food itself, pull out lots of vital vitamins and minerals, experience less digestive troubles and eat much less. When you take the time to slow down and chew, your body gets the time it needs to begin the digestive process and give your body the signal that it's filling up. This process takes about 20 minutes. So if your tendency is to overeat, slowing down gives you the time to listen to your own internal fullness signal. It also helps stretch out a delicious meal so you've got more time to savor the flavors!

7. Have Gratitude.
If we have issues surrounding food and eating, it stems from our disconnect from God and a deep self-hatred. Turning our attentions toward our connection to the Universe and all that's magical sets a very different tone than our normal focus on food. Experiencing gratitude throughout our lives, especially with food, is an amazing experience. It helps us to enjoy the food, but not worship it. This fixation and worship of food in the past has gotten us nothing but pain. But if we can shit our fixation and worship to something much greater, we'll feel full in a way that we may have never known. And then food can take it's place in our life... simply as something to be enjoyed and fuel our bodies, but nothing more. Some of us have given our power over to food. But at your next meal, how about approaching the plate with humble gratitude? How amazing a gift to have such great food, a roof over our heads, and air to breath. The basics of life, and we've go 'em! Appreciating and honoring the simple things in our lives can expand our hearts, allowing more and more magic to flood in. Now THAT'S yummy!

8. Have fun!
Watch a child eat. Just watch them! They touch, rub, smush, mash, swirl and twirl their food. When's the last time YOU did this? When's the last time you lost all etiquette and juggled grapes or made smiley faces in your mashed potatoes? How did eating get so serious for us adults? Couldn't this world, in all areas, use a little lightening up? Imagine what the world might be like if George Bush played "airplane" with his green beans... and just imagine how things would be if all our world leaders built tee pees with their pancakes... Today, promise me that you will be silly. Downright childish. Life's too short to take something like food so seriously!

9. Share with a friend.
Throughout the centuries, food has been a focal point when coming together with one's we love. Celebrate your relationships by sharing a meal. People in our lives are precious. And food is precious. So bring two yummy things together and cherish all life's abundance with a good friend and a good meal.

10. Stop when you're full.
Yes, that's right... STOP. And that's the tough part, which is why I saved it for last. I've spent a lifetime on this piece of the puzzle, and it can be a challenge for sure. But there's nothing more satisfying (no pun intended) than to walk away from a meal feeling comfortably full and energized. Honor your body and all it's done for you by not stuffing it to the gills. Never you fear - you'll be hungry again in no time, and you can enjoy another meal of whatever foods you desire. Fill yourself up with love, passion and a deepening spiritual life.

And if you find that all the above suggestions fall flat for you, or seem to be insurmountable obstacles, try looking into The Work of Byron Katie (www.thework.org) which can help you deal with the beliefs that come up that are getting in the way of your success. Once these blocks in your belief system are moved aside, you can more easily move forward and make positive shifts in your life.

If you need more individual help, I offer personal coaching on weight loss issues. I'm offering a special discount until January. Check out my website for more information.

Here's to your heart's true nourishment!

FUN SHUI (Friday Nights at 9:30pm ET - check local listings!)

This week, I help a couple who has had a long run of bad luck. So we take a look at their home, and especially their dark and depressing bedroom, to find out if their home environment might just be the culprit.

Can I turn their luck around? Will my redesign be the lucky trick they're needing? Tune in to find out!

In this episode, you'll also learn:

1. How to fill in missing areas of your feng shui floor plan (when your home ISN'T a perfect square or rectangular shape!)

2. The importance of lighting

3. The effects of unused rooms in your home

4. Lucky tips for your own home and luck

AFTER THE SHOW

After Friday's show, tune in to my blog at http://evolvingarts.com/blog to learn more about other interesting issues going on in their home that we didn't have time to cover in the episode, and ways you too can adjust these situations in your own home.

Here is what people had to say about last week's episode:

"I really like this show and Stephanie has such a positive upbeat attitude. It is refreshing and fun!"

"I can't believe how she uses color, it really works. At first I thought that there was no way the colors she chose on tonights episode would work, but WOW! I would never have been able to put those colors together and make them look so good."

"Everything she says about flow and energy just makes sense. I don't think I ever really thought about how our surroundings can impact our lives. Now, I'm looking at everything around me and thinking of how it relates to my energy and attitude."

"I think that it is great to have a show that not only addresses design, but also how design can make a difference in peoples lives."

FENG SHUI Q&A

Joy, one of our subscribers, asks:
Q: "I am confused. When you enter a room, you say place the bed opposite the door but I didn't think your feet should point to the door??"

A: What a perfectly timely question, Joy. If you watch this week's episode, we have that exact scenario. This couple has a bed that you simply can't place anywhere else. Take a look at the "fix" I provide for their specific situation, style and room size.

TIP: This taboo of sleeping with your feet facing out toward the door comes from ancient Chinese culture. This is the direction people were taken out of a room when they died: feet first. But I'm not Chinese, and however much I honor and respect their amazing culture, their beliefs don't fit in with my modern, Western belief system. But at the same time I see how this taboo gained it's footing in Chinese lore. If you have a bed that does lie in the path of the door (with or without your feet facing the door), step away from your computer for a minute and go lie on the bed. FEEL the experience. Then try another location and imagine if the bed were in this new position. How would THAT feel? Lying in the pathway of the door can feel a bit unnerving and intense, as I've said several times on "Fun Shui". In most situations, it feels less safe and less protected than other placement possibilities.

I also believe that we have sensitive energy centers on the bottoms of our feet, the palms of our hands and the tops of our heads. We like to keep these safe and feeling protected. So lying with your feet directly in line with the door can, over time, potentially wear on your body's energy system. Some people's bodies are built tougher, and can handle this scenario just fine. Other are more sensitive, and can feel the effects through disturbed sleep patterns and health issues. So if you have this particular situation, and are experiencing its negative effects, consider the following suggestions:

� Put a bookshelf or some sort of make-shift divider wall between the door and the bed to slow the energy coming in from the door

� Add a tall, lush plant between the door and the bed

� Put a bench or chest at the end of the bed to add a layer of protection (make sure the edges are rounded or softened, or simply small enough so you don't bump into it in the night)

� Hang a faceted leaded crystal from the ceiling directly over the foot of the bed (doing this with the intention of safety and protection - never underestimate the power of intention!)

� If the energy is incredibly extreme and intense for some reason, you might want to consider putting a solid, protective footboard on the bed (this is on a case-by-case basis. Usually I encourage people to REMOVE their footboards, and this fix would most likely only be used in situations where nothing else seemed to do the trick).

Keep in mind, feng shui is like medicine for the home. So many complex, intertwined issues come into play with our physical health, and the same goes for our homes. It's important to learn the foundational principles and "rules" of feng shui. But once you've done so, you then need to learn to deeply FEEL your home and begin to tune in to how your body reacts to different furniture, placement, locations and arrangements. This intuitive information usually far outweighs any written feng shui rules or guidelines because, simply put: no book can cover the complex combination of information that lies within your unique home and unique personality. Why, I find myself "breaking the rules" all the time, on a case-by-case basis, and my results get better and better and I do so. When you learn to make choices for your home from that wise, inner, intuitive voice and make adjustments from that powerful place, you create a safer, more grounded and uplifting environment for you and your family.

READING RECOMMENDATIONS

I've been emailed several times about what feng shui books are good to start with if you're wanting to learn more. I also just noticed people asking this question on the HGTV online community. Here's my thoughts:

Go pick up either:

The Western Guide to Feng Shui
The Western Guide to Feng Shui, Room by Room

These are both by Terah Kathryn Collins, and are wonderful primers. They follow the form-school of Feng Shui, which is very practical and easily understood by our western minds and lifestyles. The Western Guide was the first book I ever ready, and is what inspired me to move forward with my current career. So I hope you enjoy!

Once you've ready those two, try the following more advanced texts:

Feng Shui: Harmony By Design by Nancy SantoPietro
Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston
nterior Design with Feng Shui by Sarah Rossbach

These are some of my all time favorite books, and I still continue to refer to them...They all are very practical, easy to understand and are loaded with powerful feng shui insights.

Keep your fantastic questions...AND PHOTOS...coming! We're receiving lots of amazing questions, and look forward to the chance to include YOURS in our next newsletter - so keep 'em comin! We're also adding something new to the mix... So many of your questions are about very specific challenges you face in your home. Please feel free to email photos of your space along with your questions to questions@evolvingarts.com or go to www.EvolvingArts.com to type in your question.

LETTERS FROM SANTA

Santa now has his own website. Go to http://cart.mail-bysanta.com/ to ask Santa to write a personalized letter to you child!

Well, it's that time again. Time to head off into another amazing week....
Cheers and good chi, everyone!

With much love,

Stephanie

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� 2007 Stephanie McWilliams LLC