The Chinese Lunar New Year begins at sundown on January 24th. But the “Spring Stand” (Solar New Year) begins at 5:15p on February 4th. In Feng Shui, the Li Chun (Spring Stand) is more important than the traditional Chinese New Year because it is the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox., which is literally the end of the yin and the beginning of yang energy.

The energetic significance of this is that on the Spring Stand the energy of the previous year is completely exhausted and the emerging energy of the new year is vibrant and strong. Typically in Hong Kong and Asia businesses will not begin new business until after the New Year because of this waning energy. They wait until after the New Year since there’s no point in starting new business when the global energy is exhausted, opting instead for when the energy of the New Year is fresh and vibrant.

When preparing for the New Year, keep in mind that you don’t want to bring old, broken, exhausted energy into the new year with you. Basically, that means that you’ll want to:

• Discard anything that’s broken and unfixable…and fix anything that needs repairing. Hanging onto broken, unusable items traps a part of your energy in them, which holds you back. By repairing or discarding these items, you no longer have those energetic hooks and it releases energy back to you.

• This is the perfect time for a good old fashioned Spring Cleaning. You may have already started this after the holidays, but keep going and get anything out of your house, car, and office that’s still holding stagnant energy. You know that outfit you bought a couple of years ago with the tags on it? Donate or sell it to someone who will use and appreciate it. It’s just holding you back if you think that you will somehow, after all this time, find the right time and place to wear it. Allow the energy to flow freely between you and others in a positive flow. This is also a good time to turn all your hangars backwards to track which clothes you actually wear so that at the end of next year you can easily identify the ones that are not worn.

• Organize everything, including your thoughts! Start working on a journal or planner and schedule time around the lunar cycle for revisiting your plans and goals. We often set goals at the beginning the year that are never revisited. Use a planner or calendar to schedule days to come back to these and adjust accordingly. The lunar cycle (full and new moon) is a great scheduling tool. Use the New Moon for starting over or setting new goals and the Full Moon for discarding and releasing anything that has not been useful in attaining your goals, or is otherwise holding you back from being the best version of yourself.

• Remove everything, including waste, from your home, office, and car, that is stagnant. Refresh your space with frequency-changing sound such as chimes, bells, or pleasant music to raise the vibration. If possible, let some fresh air in, if only for a few minutes. Smudge with sage or other burnt herbs/incense. Then seal with a spritz of essential oil such as rose water and add a blessing prayer or mantra. Don’t do this mindlessly. Be intentional.

• On February 3 set out your 2020 adjustments/enhancements and make any changes in the arrangement of furnishings and decor to take advantage of the auspicious energy or mitigate any sha energy that will arrive on February 4.

• Set out a bowl or bowls of oranges, tangerines or kumquats, which are a traditional symbol of wealth (by virtue of their gold color). Very often, people will roll this fruit in the door on New Year’s Day to symbolize wealth entering the building. Light candles and meditate

Another Chinese New Year tradition is the distribution of red envelopes with either Chinese coins or other money in them. I like to give each of my clients a red envelope with a dollar in it for New Years, and I like to pay for services in a red envelope. It blesses both the giver and receiver with auspicious luck.

Wishing you a prosperous and joy-filled New Year!

Please feel free to leave comments below. If you want to schedule a consultation for your home, office, or place of business, you may contact me through the “contact” form on this website or email me at: HelenKstyles@gmail.com.