HARMONIZING OUR HOMES WITH YOGA: While yoga can restore the flow of Chi through our bodies, the same yogic practices of meditation, sacred movement, sound, and ceremony can also create balance, flow, prosperity and peace in our homes. Thousands of years ago, people knew that meditation, ritual and ceremony were an essential part of keeping the harmony between humanity and nature in balance. While this is a tradition lost to most of us in our modern culture, yoga holds a key to its revival.

Clear the Clutter: One of the first steps in any yogic practice is to clear and still the mind. This allows us to align us with the Source of our Being. Similarly, when we clear our homes of external clutter, we allow the vibrations of a natural order to permeate our surroundings.

Breath: Perhaps one of the most powerful tools in yoga is the use of the breath to align us with the divine cosmic breath. This cosmic breath is the rhythm of life itself. The cycles of the seasons represent the inhale and exhale of all life. In the winter, when the force of life is receding, it is not a good time to start new activities, but to dissolve old attachments and connections, to go within In the spring, when life is bursting forth with abundance, it is a time for new projects and activities. By synchronizing our home activities with the cycles of nature, we align ourselves with the natural pulsation of Life.

Balance: Achieving balance of mind, body and spirit is a core aim of any yogic practice. In our homes, this is achieved by paying attention to the five elements: earth (body), water (emotions), air (mind), fire (spirit), ether (prana or sound). Become mindful that your home has a balanced representation of each of the elements. A home that is predominantly governed by one of these elements over the others will bring its inhabitants out of balance . Movement: In yoga, certain movements of the body can stimulate the production of certain hormones, and restore the flow of Chi in the body. Likewise, homes that incorporate aspects of sacred movement will rejuvenate the environment. For instance, in properties containing labyrinths, there is a curious absence of negative earth energy currents. Similarly, rituals such as sacred dance, like the twirling of the Sufi dances, when done with awareness and intention, can transform negative vibrational energies in an environment.

Sound: Nada Yoga means "union through sound." It is the ancient spiritual art and science of inner transformation through sound and tone. Russill Paul, author of The Yoga of Sound, states, Through Nada Yoga, we can fine-tune our bodies and our minds to resonate with the harmony in all of creation, from atoms and cells to flowers and planets. Throughout the world, temples have employed sound to vibrate heaven into the sacred meridians of the earth.

The Vedas state that mantras chanted continually have the power to purify and rejuvenated the environment. When we offer sound as vibrational medicine for our homes, the result is a harmonizing of our environment with that music of the spheres.

Form: The asanas of yoga were first devised to mirror the forms in nature. In so doing, our bodies and minds were put into tune with that natural order. The same is true of architecture that patterns the harmonics found in Nature. Nature does not have straight angles, it flows in curves and spirals, and so when we see examples of spirals, like a winding staircase, or the flow of water in a waterfall, we feel an instant harmony in environments that pattern Nature. Certain mathematical harmonics attuned to Nature achieve similar results. The architectural harmonizing with nature has been a main focus in the building of cathedrals and temples throughout the world.

Ceremony: In yoga, the yajnas, or fire sacrifices, are a ceremonial bridge between the inner and outer worlds, between human and the divine. Fire transforms all things into their most subtle essence. Whether applying the spiritual fire of spiritual practice (tapas) or the actual fire of a candle flame, fire transmutes and refines both our inner and outer environments. The ritual of placing a problem at the fire of a candle each night relieves the mind of the problem. Rituals dedicated to the divine fire, are known to purify the environment on physical as well as subtle levels.

Now is the perfect time to make our homes our temples--places where the sacred vibrations radiate out to heal our families and communities. While our modern times have created more complex problems, they have also created different solutions to the same age-old quest: creating sacred space on earth. By harmonizing the vibrations of our space, and creating sacredness among the mundane, we can transform our homes into sanctuaries of harmony.