Master Jenny Liu shares more spiritual insight gained from her ongoing sabbatical:

“When our energy flows freely, we are filled with light, become enlightened and evolve.”

Cultivating our spirit is one of the greatest things we can accomplish in our lifetime. This entails looking deep within ourselves and always learning to acquire more awareness of life. To do that, we must listen to our body, mind and soul, and connect with higher powers through meditation. Only through attaining complete internal silence in thinking about nothing, can you begin to discern universal energy and hear the music of your soul.

When I meditate, I try to find myself and evolve. But it is not as simple as it sounds! Having functioned in a certain way for many years, my habits to multi-task and care about too many things have made my mind weary.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, I recommend taking a good look at how to really simplify your daily life. What I do is separate myself from sources of distraction and immerse myself in nature. I am very blessed to have the Huntington Botanical Gardens within minutes of my home. Taking daily walks here is like soaking in a bath – embraced by the waters of nature’s peace and puts me in a state of mental calm and introspection.

Another one of the methods I use to connect even deeper with my soul is hypnosis. Hypnosis is a powerful guided meditation, especially when done by an expert. In one of my sessions, I saw myself as a tree connected to our mother earth, our father sun, and to each other, our cosmic brothers and sisters. We were connected through our roots, branches, seeds and fruits.

My hypnotherapist is Christine Zirbel. Since Christine worked with me for many years before she became a certified hypnotherapist, I feel very comfortable that she is familiar with how I function, so calling upon her this year was only natural.

“I am learning that before I can begin the practice of new patterns, I have to find ways to release my old ones.”

Through guided meditation, I am able to journey into my body and soul. I can identify old patterns that no longer serve me. Some of these old patterns are habits and thought processes deeply ingrained into my being. It is through repeated sessions and continued meditation practice over the course of this year that I am “erasing” these old grooves and renewing my spirit. As I make peace with trapped emotions and heal myself in ways I had not realized needed healing, I am tilling fresh soil in which to plant new seeds for new patterns.

A shift is occurring and I have already adjusted many aspects of my life. From my morning routine, diet, exercise, feng shui, and household products, to my relationships, self-image, education, entertainment and my work... my whole lifestyle and outlook is changing to a whole new level.

As I reconnect with myself, I realize more and more that self-cultivation takes time, effort, consistent practice and expert guidance. I have been discussing new ideas with our Liu Feng Shui team. We are excited to start implementing meaningful ways of addressing your unique needs and to do feng shui more effectively.

How to Simplify Routines

Routines are the things we need to do everyday, such as getting ready for work, eating, cleaning up and settling down for the night. Master Jenny Liu finds that a good morning routine makes a huge difference to the rest of her day. Here are some of her tips!

Take time to examine all the things you do daily and ask yourself how you can streamline the number of tasks, number of items you use to accomplish these tasks and look at how much time you spend and the results you get. For example, Jenny says, "Cutting my hair short and reducing my facial products to half has given me more time to exercise and prepare a wholesome breakfast in the morning."

Can you reduce the number of items in your skincare routine? Jenny finds that using organic raw materials feed and nourish her skin better than a complete line of commercial facial products. Here are lists of what Jenny used in the past and what she uses today:

BEFORE
Face wash
Toner
Serum
Moisturizer
Sunblock
Foundation
Face powder
Eye shadow
Eyebrow pencil
Mascara
Blush
Lipstick
Hair serum
Flat iron
Jewelry
Contacts and solutions

NOW
Organic raw honey (face wash)
Aloe vera (toner and moisturizer)
Vitamin E oil (serum)
Sunblock
Eyebrow pencil
Lipstick as lip and blush color
Hair wax
Glasses