Author Archives: Laura Benko
Launching Soon: The Holistic Home Company!
I’ve been busy making products, sourcing artisans, obtaining trademarks, creating labels and designing a website for my new company that will launch next month. (The name of my company is also the name of my upcoming book, The Holistic Home, which comes out Fall 2015.) It has been a thrilling and exhilarating process as each product makes its way from an embryonic vision to a tangible product that has been imbued with pureness and positivity and bears the Holistic Home logo.
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Spring Cleaning for the Mind, Body, Spirit & Space
Cycles are all around us. From colossal planetary cycles down to a women’s inner fertility cycle, we are constantly taking cues from sun up to sundown (yes, another cycle that guides us). That is why its so important to syncopate yourself to the rhythms of the Universe. When you do this, you innately feel better. Life seems easier. You are aligning yourself for the best to unfold, for synchronicity to sky rocket and for you to feel like you are in groove, not against it. Here are three tips you can do that will have a significant impact on your mind set and well-being.
Holistic Home Goods – Products With Meaning
It began as simply my daughter and I wanting to make gifts with a deeper meaning for friends and family this past Christmas. We started months in advance. I thought that since we made our own body scrubs and candles anyway, we’d start there. Then we decided to add a soy candle to the “deluxe gift box”.
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Feng Shui Your Computer
Over 365 million people in the world own a computer. Whether its purpose for you is research, connectivity, entertainment, functionality or work, your dependence upon it can take up a significant portion of your life. With so much time in your life dedicated to this digital machine, you are going to need effectual ways to deal with the downside of all that it comes with. Here are four different tips to immediately implement.
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It’s Official! My Book Deal Announcement For The Holistic Home!
For thirteen years I have been working on my book. It started with me taking notes after each one of my Feng Shui consultations over the years and then sharing some of these client anecdotes (with names and identifying characteristics changed) during my Feng Shui lectures. People loved these stories. Their responses were overwhelming! Feedback on the course review surveys would mention the client anecdotes as their favorite part. Some lined up after the lecture was over to tell me that that was the highlight for them or what they found the most interesting. It helped them wrap their brains around this esoteric subject and relate to it in ways that they deeply connected with.
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An Unconventional Valentines Tip
I love February solely for Valentines Day alone. While some may bitterly see it as a manufactured holiday for Hallmark and FTD to make money off of (I get it – the last thing I want my husband to come through the door with are some overpriced, ubiquitous red roses) and we certainly won’t be adding to the clichés by going out for a romantic dinner that night (the night before or the night after – yes) but I love this day of love, cupids and romance and I ardently celebrate all of my loved ones on this day! I look for anyway I can herald the message of the day. A sandwich might be cut into a heart for lunch and a meatloaf might be shaped into a heart for dinner.
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Holistic Home Manners: Six Rules of Etiquette
By now, most of you know that my vocation and passion is the Home. And I’m not just talking decorating and all things design. I love to make the deeper connections of the intimate home environments we create for ourselves to the issues in our lives. I see the connections loud and clear and I respect how it all physically manifests and reveals itself when you look beneath the surface. That is why it’s equally as important to show thoughtfulness and respect in other people’s homes. You are treading on their subconscious turf, their comfort zone and their design arena all in one intimate space. Here are my six rules of etiquette to help be a gracious host and guest:
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Sustainability: Beyond The Typical Green
Whether I am consulting for developers on a new hi-rise or hired by the management of a tropical resort, I try to take them beyond the typical, systematic recycling plan, the “right” light bulbs or expected greywater solutions. By now, we know all that. Today, an all-inclusive “green” environment is one that not only meets the utmost sustainability criteria, but also truly nourishes and supports all aspects of the greater whole of who you are –emotionally, physically and spiritually.
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My “Bad Feng Shui ” Awards
In determining which items make the list for a “Bad Feng Shui” award, they need to fulfill the requirements of following four categories: Bad Design (arguably not aesthetically pleasing on any level), Bad For The Environment (contains known carcinogens, toxins or irritants), Bad For Your Well-Being (its not efficiently designed, its poorly made or it doesn’t make your life easier/better/healthier/happier) and my personal favorite, Bad Juju (an overall, negative energetic quality). I’ll start from #5 and work up to #1.
The Feng Shui Behind Matchmaking
Many of my consultations over the years have centered on clients who are looking for love and are feeling unsuccessful. Whether it is a thriving millionaire or someone in between jobs struggling to make ends meet, I always find there are hidden themes that physically manifest in their homes that represent the real underlying cause for being single. By bringing these symbolic connections to my client’s attention, their reactions may run the gamut from a tear-filled revelation of a big “a-ha” moment to intense discomfort or denial because I am delving into and shedding light on one of their issues they’d rather keep buried. Either way, once awareness is heightened and necessary changes are implemented in their home, a shift in their relationship perspective will inevitably occur that enables them to more easily and fully embrace a healthy, balanced and loving relationship. Read on
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