This sacred garden just inspires me….Deep breath here…

Ok, so today and actually a good part of last week, I’ve been pulling weeds in my garden…and I have to admit, it feels really good. Anybody know what I mean? One of my feng shui teachers once told me, “When you want to shift your ch’i (energy), go to your garden and start pulling weeds.” Sage words I say. I listened and let me tell you….it works. That coupled with the coming of Spring and the birds singing, aaahhh deep sigh…

These cherry blossoms are popping up all over town lately and they whisper sweet pitter patter sounds of love in my ear. Any Portland dwellers out there know what I’m talking about? It’s one of those of times of the year when I am so grateful to be living here. My shoulders are relaxing now…

Daffodils just like these are blooming in my garden as I write this….

Ok, so back to the therapeutic qualities of pulling weeds. It falls under the important category of self-care which as we all know, is incredibly eco-chic. It’s easy to do. No instruction required. Just know what a weed looks like and get your hands in the dirt and start pulling. There is something about it that just soothes the soul in ways that logic cannot explain. In feng shui, the symbology of removing our “external weeds” is akin to removing our internal blocks…Try it and see what I mean…

Next up…planting vegetables and flowers for summer and fall. I’ll keep you updated. One last thing. Got any suggestions for me? Leave them here and I will name you honorary citizen of the planet… pinkngreen that is….

Happy Tuesday!

Cheryl

Benjamin Moore Aura Paint Color Blue Echo AF-505…Peaceful and calm.

Yummy, divine and perfectly aligned in eco-chic harmony, Benjamin Moore Aura Paint Colors are the Gods and Goddesses of green design. Besides being rich and easy to apply, the quality ranks as one of the highest with the lowest amount of VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) on the market….

What colorful joy….Sweet little girl’s room, huh?

So hear’s the deal…. Benjamin Moore spent over two years to create the most earth friendly paint formula on the market today in the form of their Aura paint line. Any color you choose in their palette does not exceed 50 vocs (volatile organic compounds) and all paints are water based. You can read more about their Color Lock system here.

That’s pretty awesome considering that all paints (when color is added) usually go up past 100 vocs. That’s still very good considering the 1970’s paint level vocs at about 45o. Hey…that’ a pretty substantial improvement.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are carbon containing chemical -compounds that readily evaporate into the atmosphere, damaging the ozone layer and have been known to cause health related problems.

…Aura baby, you currently eco-rock my world! I hear there are many who are following your lead. Thanks for being a corporate maverick with a concern for sustainability and the environment. We appreciate it!…

Find your inner animal (in my case she’s the lioness)…and speak your truth!

So I was talking to my friend Robyn the other day about speaking one’s truth and she said, “You know….speaking your truth is very sexy.” I totally agree with you sister woman.

It’s empowering and frees us up from holding on to negative energy like anger and/or resentment. That definitely falls into the eco-chic category here at Pinkngreen, soon to be Planet PinknGreen….more on that later.

Speaking one’s truth also holds a powerful place in the extreme self-care arena in that it leads to a healthier sense of well being. For those of you who have practiced this…you know what I’m talking about.

A friend of mine once told me a very powerful story about this very subject and I never forgot it. Here it is:

My friend, let’s call her Katie managed a very important high end retail store in Santa Monica, California. Her boss gave her specific instructions to open the store in the morning for a very important client….Well, that morning, Katie and her husband were making hot, passionate love and…well, time went by…you know how it is…. and about three hours later she finally realized how late she was and ran off to work. Well as you can imagine, her boss was beyond furious and Katie knew she was about to be fired. When Katie arrived, her boss asked her what happened. Instead of making up a story to save her ass, she simply told the truth…Her boss’s reaction was totally unexpected. She sat there for a minute with a shocked look on her face and suddenly….she burst out laughing and gave Katie the biggest hug…..

What’ya know. The truth actually works. Set yourself free baby!

A powerful meditation. Just staring into the flame is very calming.

Last night I went to Lisa Mae Osborne’s yoga class at The Bhaktishop Yoga Studio here in Portland, Oregon, honoring Winter Solstice which this year falls on December 22, the shortest day of the year and the longest night. It was a powerful practice for me as I was able to go deep inside and embrace the darkness with love. I highly recommend it.

The class took place in the above studio, however, all the lights were turned off and only candles were lit. Actually…Lisa Mae lovingly suggested to keep our eyes closed (as much as possible) through the entire class. Have you ever tried that? It’s really challenging. I could barely stand in tree pose….

Lisa Mae played the harmonium as we all sang to Kali, the Hindu Goddess who represents the Mother and the destroyer of illusion to make way for a rebirth….Hmmm….

At the end of the class, we each sat on our mats staring into our individual candles lit in front of us. Lisa Mae led us through a guided meditation–describing in detail all the colors in that small flame of light and how we are all connected to it and it to us. It brought me to another level of awareness….

I went home, wrapped myself in a warm, fuzzy blanket and lit my own fire…staring deeply into it…

Happy Winter Solstice.

Introducing the fabulous eco-chic Herman Miller Aeron chair designed by Don Chadwick and Bill Stumpf.

Sitting in this sexy, supportive, ergonomic and totally eco-chic chair from Herman Miller feels like the mountain behind me lending me all the strength of the earth running along my spine….feels soooo good! With that kind of strength, who knows what I can accomplish…plus, it’s really good Feng Shui.

Ok, so as you may have guessed, I just purchased this chair for my new office space and it’s definitely one of the best investments I’ve made. It falls under the category of extreme self-care…..Check out yesterday’s blog for an update on my remodel.

My darling friend and Organizing Consultant extraordinaire, Elsa Jewett with All In Good Order, LLC is coming to Portland tonight from Denver to help me organize my office and get my s*** together. I am so grateful! We are going to work all Saturday and Sunday to create a fabulous earth friendly office system! By Monday, I’ll be ready…..So stay tuned, since I will share it all here.

Look at this amazing lower back support. Herman Miller, I love you!

Not only is this chair sleek and supportive but it is also totally earth friendly. Herman Miller cares about the environment as is reflected in every product they manufacture. Actually they’ve been doing it way before the word green or eco-chic caught on.

The Aeron Chair is comprised of 62% recycled materials including re-used coke bottles. Yeah baby!

As stated in their literature, “The recycled content breaks down to 41 percent post-consumer and 21 percent pre-consumer content. Aeron’s raw material selection and sourcing process emphasizes environmental friendliness, with a preference for renewable, sustainable and recycled source materials including recycled pop bottles.” Gotta love that!

Sitting in this chair reminds me of something one of my feng shui teachers (Terah Kathyrn Collins) once shared about the harmonious placement of a home. The strong, ergonomic chair is like sitting in the belly of the dragon—with a mountain at your back and sides for support, and the ocean in front….

My body thanks you Herman, darling.