No Bull
Desktops and drinks for better energy
Season: Spring
Element: Wood
Moon: New
Sense: Sight (Eyes)
External Work: Office / Workout Areas
Internal Work: Anger (Imbalance) & Patience (Balance)
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I will also be hosting a Substack Live on Thursday, May 7, 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 balance. 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:
Finally, I will be hosting a feng shui workshop at The Leslie Studio, 4290 Cascade Rd. SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546, on Saturday, June 20, 2026 from 10am - 11:30am. The workshop will feature the five elements and tips and tricks on how to apply them in your space and life. We will also be celebrating the summer solstice! Reserve a spot by contacting The Leslie Studio via phone at 616-942-9322 or their website.
Saturday is the Taurus New Moon in the feng shui element of wood and the season of spring here in the Northern Hemisphere. Taurus is a sign that I connect a lot with. My husband and daughter are both born in Taureans, I am a Taurus in Vedic astrology, and I also have Mercury and Mars in Taurus in my Western astrology. Even though I have always I identified more with my Western astrology sun sign of Gemini, I see much benefit in being influenced by the qualities of the bull. Taurus is calm and cool, slow to anger and slow to move. Taureans, like my husband and daughter, are reserved and do not like change. This can be frustrating sometimes to my changeable and adaptable Gemini nature, but often times their steady and deliberate personalities slow me down when I am going to fast. Just like yin and yang, we need balance in our lives to thrive and I find that my husband in particular balances out my impulsiveness and grounds me in careful consideration. I am grateful for it!
As I have written previously, I like to think of the spring as a good time to focus on the design of our office and workout spaces. You can read more about this topic in my Curating Our Workspaces post. Last year, I used feng shui to declutter and design my desktop based on the bagua map. If revamping your whole office sounds overwhelming, why not try to feng shui just your desktop instead. The bagua map can go as small as the top of a desk and it can help to organize where things should be placed for the best energy. Here is an example of my desktop for reference:
As you can see from the above I put the following into each gua to correspond with the matching energy and element:
Career = my keyboard and mouse live here to help produce the deliverables of my work and my passion projects.
Love = I love organization, so here is where I organize all my supplies and things I need on a daily basis.
Family = my family pictures live here.
Wealth = I keep a piggy bank I got in Costa Rica here and flowers my daughter crafted for me. I’ve actually added a Lego Money Tree here now which is adorable.
Health = my journal, positivity rock, and turtle sculpture live here to remind me to get my thoughts out, keep positive, and to take it slow.
Helpful People = The Creative Act by Rick Rubin lives here to remind me to read a thought or two a day to keep my creativity going.
Creativity = pens and paint brushes live here, as well as my business cards to remind me of my values (calm and creativity).
Wisdom = my MAT Pad has a pocket in this gua that reminds me to put my phone away. I also tuck Sheree Bliss Tilsley’s Medicine Woman’s Prayer into the pocket to come back to again and again.
Fame = this gua relates to the fire element and is a good place for lamps or candles. Since my computer screen lives here I’ve been using different computer backgrounds based on things I write about in my Substack. In winter, I had my Values Word Cloud as the background. In spring, I have my Vision Board, which I wrote about last week. In the photo above, I have Evolution # 03 by Rune Guneriussen as the background which depicts glowing table lamps along a babbling brook at dusk. It is magical and one of my favorite photographs.
It is time to revisit this desktop design, since my surface has gotten cluttered again. This week I plan to spring clean my desk and get the energy flowing! After having a couple great weeks, I felt an energetic shift last Wednesday and have just been discombobulated ever since. Time to cleanse in order to be calm but creative!
Rest Reading
Check out all of the rest reading recommendations in Resources on my Substack page.
Rest Recipe
Green Wagon Farm had lacinato kale this week, so I was in the mood for a homemade galette. If you are unfamiliar, a galette is a French term for various flat, round, or free-form crusty cakes, commonly known as a rustic, open-faced tart in the US. It consists of a pastry dough rolled out, topped with sweet or savory fillings, and folded over at the edges to hold everything together, typically baked on a sheet tray without a pan. I love savory ones, so here is the recipe for a Kale, Onion, & Walnut Galette:
PASTRY
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter
5-10 tablespoons ice water
KALE, ONION, & WALNUT FILLING
4 cups kale (I used lacinato kale)
1 red onion
1/2 cup black walnuts*
3 ounces goat cheese (I used Evergreen Lane Creamery’s plain chevre)
Avocado or olive oil
Make the filling by washing, destemming, and dicing the kale into bite size pieces and slicing the onion into rings. Sauté the onions in a sauté pan with oil until caramelized. Add the walnuts and sauté for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add the kale and sauté until just wilted. Take off the heat and let cool. Make the pastry by cutting together the first 4 pastry ingredients with a pastry blender. Add the water slowly, 1 tablespoon at a time, and toss with a fork until all of the flour mixture is moistened. Gather the pastry into a ball, kneading gently until it holds together. Roll out dough into a circle. Add the filling to the center of the circle leaving 1-1/2 inches of border uncovered. Drop spoonfuls of goat cheese on top of the filling. Lift and fold the pastry edge over the filing, pleating as necessary. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
Here also are some other great fillings to try:
BACON, GREENS, & PINE NUTS FILLING
1 package turkey bacon, cut into squares
1 bundle of kale or winter greens, cut into squares
1 leek, sliced
1 cup pine nuts
PEAR, HONEY, & ROSEMARY FILLING
2 pears, sliced
1 tablespoon honey, for drizzling
1 rosemary spring, leaves separated from spine, for sprinkling
4 ounce goat cheese, crumbled for sprinkling
*Black walnuts (and walnuts in general) improve sleep quality by acting as a natural source of melatonin, tryptophan, and magnesium.
Rest Ritual
As we get into the end of the school year and into the summer, this is a time of parties and BBQs which can mean a lot of alcohol. As I am sure you can tell from this Substack, I am obsessed with rest and sleep and over the last few years I have been learning more about how much alcohol negatively affects these. Alcohol is bad for sleep because it disrupts the natural sleep cycle, reduces REM sleep (crucial for brain function and memory), and can increase the risk of sleep apnea. While it may initially promote sleep, it later disrupts sleep stages, especially REM, leading to fragmented and poor-quality rest.
I’ve realized that alcohol just does not work for me anymore and since looking for alternatives I have been amazed by how much is out there. Many of my friends have recently inquired about alcohol alternatives, so I wanted to share again some of my favorite NA drink options:
Cordial Organics CBD Bitters - these bitters are dropped into my mocktails to calm my mind and shut off the constant ticker in my brain. I like to use them in La Croix sparkling water.
Dad Grass Leisure Drink - sparkling and refreshing sodas that are mild on the THC (3mg). They also have CBD (6mg), Lion’s Mane, L-Theanine and electrolytes to feel balanced, clear-headed, and hydrated. For those in Grand Rapids, check our More or Less, a premier bottles and beer shop, that sells amazing THC, CBD, adaptogen, and non-alcoholic beverages. Chad is very knowledge if you have no idea where to start.
Fever Tree - this sparkling and tonic water company has the cutest little glass bottles that are perfect for making a mocktail. Their pink grapefruit sparkling water and elderflower tonic water are two of my favorites and work well with the bitters referenced above.
HOPWTR - this sparkling water curated with a blend of hops, infused with L-Theanine and ashwagandha, and packed with vitamin C makes me feel like I am having a beer without giving me the awful hang over. It is a refreshing drink and I am particularly fond of the blood orange and mango flavors.
Sacred Springs Kombucha - this kombucha is the best I’ve ever had. Sacred Springs is located on Wealthy Street in Grand Rapids and proudly serves traditional mead, session mead, meaducha, kombucha beer, alongside non-alcoholic kombucha. All are infused with sound and intention. I am a huge fan of their Kalmbucha (holy basil and spirulina), Friday Morning (blueberries and lavender), and Palo Gold (palo santo) flavors but they also have seasonal brews that are amazing. Thank you, Christina, for introducing them to me!
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.