Entryways
Bringing good energy into our homes and ourselves
Season: Winter
Element: Water
Moon: Quarter
Sense: Hearing (Ears)
External Work: Bedrooms
Internal Work: Fear (Imbalance) & Calmness (Balance)
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I will also be hosting my second Substack Live on Thursday, February 26 2026, from 1:00pm - 1:30pm EST for a Qi Gong Practice. The 30 minute practice will consist of a relaxing yet energizing set of movements focused on the fire and heart energies. I will also be putting the video up for FREE that evening for those of you who are not able to make it in the afternoon. The video will go into the paid feed the following day, so don’t miss out by becoming a paid subscriber:
Tomorrow is the first quarter in the feng shui element of water and the season of winter here in the Northern Hemisphere. First quarter moons are all about balance, focusing, and boundaries. It is part of the waxing phase of the moon, which is the time when the illuminated portion of the moon is growing or increasing, occurring in the two weeks between the New Moon (which we just had in Aquarius) and the Full Moon (the next one being the Full Worm Moon on March 3rd). We are still in the transition energy of Chinese New Year until the beginning of March, so this is a great time to focus the energy towards us. If you need some help, consider joining my Qi Gong Practice on Thursday from 1:00pm - 1:30pm on Substack Live or watch the replay that evening.
I just finished a feng shui and qi gong workshop with Lee Holden and Marie Diamond yesterday called The Phoenix Rising that had some interesting information about welcoming the energy of 2026. One easy practice that they recommended, and that I have also written about before, is focusing attention to the entryways of the home. The front door is the most important, but carefully examining all entry and exit points in the home (outer doors and windows) is also important. To attract positive energy or qi, the entries of the home need to be both welcoming and attention grabbing. The following simple steps can aid in the attraction:
Wipe down your front door to remove stagnant energy. A mixture of water and sea salt is good for this.
Make sure there is no clutter 3 to 6 feet from the door and make sure to declutter the threshold of leaves and/or cobwebs.
Sweep your entry thoughtfully and shake off your entry mat to clear blocked energy. If your entry mat is old, replace it. Blue entry mats are not recommended this year because they are like water and extinguish the energy of fire.
Fix any squeaky hinges or peeling paint.
Clean the doorknob (again, a mixture of water and sea salt is good for this) and ring the doorbell to symbolically open your home to abundance.
If there are lights around the entry doors, make sure they are in good repair and cast a nice glow.
Consider putting candles, lanterns, or red, purple, or gold accents at the entryway to create visibility and welcome the energy of fire and/or wealth.
Stand at the front door and speak a clear intention into your space.
Blow cinnamon into your front door to call in prosperity for the month ahead.
Make a habit of opening the front door daily and do a short meditation there to bring the positive energy.
The color red that is associated with Chinese New Year and fire conveys a sense of confidence and invites in the energy of yang. When I work with clients on the fronts of their homes, we talk a lot about the color of their front doors. If it works with the exterior finishes, I always recommend my clients paint their front doors in a red color. Red is the most auspicious color in feng shui and a powerful color for protection and the transformation of negative energy. By making the front door red, it becomes visible allowing energy and opportunities to find their way to the house and the people inside. To me, the red door symbolizes luck that good energy is on the way.
At our house in Nova Scotia, we were able to paint the front and back doors red. I love the pop of color and the front door is so striking when looking at the house from the road. Some times my clients are not able to change their doors, so instead I recommend adding a beautiful red floral wreath, wind chimes, or planters and flowers in red to bring the auspicious power of red to their front entries. If you are interested in changing your door color but do not think red will work, there are many other color options from a feng shui perspective that you can try:
Black for Positive Energy - black absorbs, attracts, and brings in positive energy.
Yellow for Support - yellow is connected to the earth element which brings balance and grounding.
Green for Growth - green is related to growth since it the color of the wood element.
Blue for Wisdom - blue is often associated with the wisdom gua of the bagua map.
Gray for Helpful People - gray is the metal color connected with the helpful people gua.
Purple for Abundance - purple was considered to be a color universally associated with wealth and power in ancient China.
To read more about door colors, you can check out these articles from The Spruce and Real Simple.
An entryway is defined as a way in to somewhere or something; an entrance. We also have entryways into ourselves. Physically, our ears allow sound, eyes images, mouth food and tastes, nose smells, and skin touch but also the absorption of specific substances. We need to take care of all these physical entryways, paying close attention to what we interact with and absorb. Take some time to consider what you allow entry into your body via these entryways and if they are creating positive or negative energy. Over the last few years, I have been very conscientious about what I let enter my body — from no longer drinking alcohol or caffeine, wearing perfume, or watching the news constantly to making my own face oil for my sensitive skin and nutritious, homemade food like the dishes I share with you in these Substack posts. Remember, our bodies are temples so keep the entryways purified and prepared for what is coming in.
Rest Reading
Check out all of the rest reading recommendations in Resources on my Substack page.
Rest Recipe
This week Green Wagon Farm had cabbage, celeriac, and turnips, so I was keen to make Jamie Oliver’s Winter Veg Coleslaw again to use all these lovely ingredients at once. I’ve been eyeing this Hot Honey Chicken recipe also from New York Times Cooking, so I thought it would be the perfect pairing with the coleslaw. It was indeed so give it a try! I modified Jamie’s recipe slightly so here are my tweaks on Winter Veg Coleslaw:
1 red cabbage
2 carrots
2 turnips*
1 small celeriac*
1 red onion*
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
1 handful of fresh soft herbs (mint, fennel, dill, parsley, or chervil)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Trim the ends and peel the carrots and celeriac. Shred the carrots, turnips, celeriac, cabbage, and onions on a mandolin (use the guard), or use the julienne slicer in your food processor. In a large bowl, mix the lemon juice, olive oil, yogurt, and mustard. Pick the herb leaves and chop, then stir into the dressing. Add the shredded veg to the bowl and mix well to coat everything. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
*Other veggies can be used if these are not available, such as beets, fennel, radishes, and shallots. Both celeriac and turnips have high magnesium content, which helps relax the body and is good for sleep.
Rest Ritual
Since winter is the time of the ears in Traditional Chinese Medicine, I wanted to explore some healthy ear hygiene. Here are some tips I liked from the American Medical Association’s article What Doctors Wish Patients Knew About Proper Ear Care:
Protect your ears from nose - you can download this free NIOSH Sound Level Meter App to check decibel levels. Try to keep below 70 decibels and if it is over consider wearing hearing protection (ear plugs, headphones, etc.).
Ears are self cleaning - for most people, the ear canals do a great job of cleaning themselves. You can consider it like a self-cleaning oven. I need to keep this in mind, since I am a daily Q-Tip user and this apparently is a no-no. Just for fun, check out this BBC article In China, Chengdu’s Peculiar Ear-Cleaning Custom for some wild ear-cleaning techniques and tools.
It’s ok to pop your ears - popping your ears is generally safe when done gently and in moderation using recommended techniques to equalize pressure in the middle ear. Try swallowing, yawning, chewing gum, sucking lozenges, wiggling your jaw, or (my favorite) using the Valsalva maneuver. This maneuver involves pinching your nose shut, closing your mouth, and gently attempting to breathe out through your nose, as if you were blowing your nose. Be sure to do this gently, or you can cause an ear infection or perforate your eardrum.
It is also important to consider what we put in our ears. Yes, probably no Q-Tips like I mentioned above, but also consider any piercings. When I got my ears pierced as a kid, my ears got super infected and ever since I have been very careful when choosing earrings. For many years I didn’t wear any, since they either infected my ears or were a bother to put in and take out. Now, I have switched to wearing Maison Miru’s nap earrings, which I love and can keep in 24/7. I wear hearts to remember to lead with love, lighting bolts to bring the positive energy, and evil eyes to ward off negativity. I also ask my acupuncturist to needle the Ear Shen Men during each visit. This is a point used to calm the mind, ease stress, and restore balance between body and spirit. It can also be stimulated by acupressure or ear seeds if needles are not your jam.
Finally, ear massage offers great benefits to the ears and body by reducing stress, anxiety, and pain by stimulating nerve endings and releasing endorphins. This focused massage can also promote relaxation, improve circulation, and support lymphatic drainage to reduce facial puffiness. Here is a video from Holden Qi Gong that gives a nice massage and brings healing energy to the ears:
Please pass this Substack onto a friend or family member to broaden this amazing CRC community and to give the gift of rest to those who need it. As Tricia Hersey writes in her aptly named book, Rest is Resistance.
If you would like to hold a Rest Curation in your local community, please email me at abby@cascadefengshui.com for the script and music information. Or email me if you would like to organize a private pop-up Rest Curation for friends, family, or colleagues.
And if you are interested in my feng shui and interior design services, please see my website at www.cascadefengshui.com and contact me at abby@cascadefengshui.com.