Beginning the Week with Intention

The start of the week is an opportunity to renew and revitalize your energy.

In ways, the beginning of the week is a kind of rebirth of your sense of self, resolutions, dreams, and responsibilities. Cultivating a drive to revive your inspiration and stimulate your creative forces can be done simply through formulating a ritual.

Whether you commute to your place of employment, or work from home, begin your week by taking 30 minutes to an hour to fully dedicate to setting an intention, and engaging in a form of mindfulness practice.

Photograph Courtesy of Pinterest

Mindfulness Practice

Meditation is not an easy practice for a busy mind, but it can do wonders for the health of your mind and body. You can begin meditation with a simple breathing exercise using your hands, creating a space for concentration and grounding.

Photograph Courtesy of Endeavour Bookstore

Begin by taking a seat somewhere peaceful. Light a candle, or burn some palo santo, create an environment that makes you feel warm and comfortable. Cross one leg over the other, and begin to align your spine. Imagine each vertebrae perfectly stacked on top of one another, keeping a long neck, slightly dropping the chin, and lifting tall through the crown of your head.

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Hand Counting Pranayama is an ancient Indian ritual used to engage the mind in meditation. Closing your eyes, stack your hands together on your lap, with the dominant hand on top. With an open palm, and use your thumb to draw a spiral, counting each joint of your fingers until you have completed 12 deep, rhythmic breaths. If you break concentration and lose count, begin again. Bring your mind’s awareness entirely to the 12 cycle spiral of breath.

Inhale deeply through your nose, opening the back of the throat to a point of making a course, audible breath. Envision the air flowing into your body and circulating like blood does within your veins. Exhale through your nose, until all the air has been expended fully. Repeat these deep cycles of breath while completing the 12 count spiral on your hand, as many times as it takes to feel completely relaxed and centered. Become completely still and aware of the present moment.

Photograph Courtesy of Pinterest

Once you feel really connected to your breath, and have quietness of the mind, you can begin visualizing all that you wish to transcend or achieve in the following week. Maintaining your lightness of being, keep your mind away from negative thoughts and energy. Only allow your focus to be on tangible, positive notions.

Photograph courtesy of Pinterest

Find Your Flow

Formulate positive affirmations to support the success of all that you do. After reflection, begin writing your affirmations and revelations in a journal. Carry confidence with you to your next task, and next meal. Make each household chore a time for quiet contemplation, each movement becoming a motion of zen. The next time you eat, concentrate fully on each bite of food you take, chewing slowing, savoring every flavor, and feeling gratitude for the nutrients you are taking into your body.

Release all resistance to the natural flow of the day. This means being gentle and patient with yourself, listening to your body and its needs, and releasing control over matters that are not directly within your grasp to navigate. Take care of tasks that are your responsibility to complete, and allow anything else to flow towards you. Remember that what you seek, is seeking you. The positive things that are of real necessity in your life will inevitable cross your path. Walk with openness and lightness of being!

Photograph courtesy of Pinterest

Create a sacred space, learn some ways to Improve the Vibes of Your Home!

Enlightened Designers Outside Living

Poolside Collection by Bunglo

Just in time for summer, our luxurious Poolside Collection was inspired by long, lavish days spent by the pool at the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.

The dreamy “Pink Palace” is the ultimate beacon of timeless allure in Los Angeles, and has been the place to see and be seen for over a century. With an unforgettable fusion of vintage glamour and modern luxury, we hope to sweep you away with the same soft hues. Adorn your outdoor spaces with elegance and style, make every area of your environment inviting. Surround yourself with fresh fruit and flowers, modern bohemian patterns, and a dreamy summer color palette. Setting your table and outdoor spaces with intention will ensure you’re sent into the season with panache.

Enjoy taking a tour through our new summer collection, and feel inspired to create your outdoor oasis this summer!

Nakuru

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Merlo

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Emerald

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Poolside Dreams

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Check out some of our other Summer Favorites!

Get Organized Organization

Inside a Lady’s Handbag

A lady’s purse is her mysterious source of power, and one could never presume to guess the contents.

A common assumption would be that a woman’s purse only contains cosmetics, but I tend to keep an array of items that will keep me prepared for any number of adventures! Here are some of the items you will often find in my handbag on any given day!

Therapeutic Oils

Young Living Breathe Again is a pure distilled essential oil blend containing four types of Eucalyptus oils, Rose Hip oil, Peppermint oil, Blue Cypress oil, Copaiba oil, and Myrtle oil. You may roll the oil on your face, neck, and chest, or simply hold beneath your nose and inhale. Not only does the blissful aroma leave you feeling clear and refreshed, it has immense medicinal effects, supporting respiratory health and lung function. This oil blend is a must-have if you live in an area with allergens like mold or pollen are prominent.

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Digestive Enzymes

Papaya Enzymes promote healthy digestion and help your body absorb the nutrients from the food you consume. Chlorophyll is an antioxidant superfood that fights cancer, improves liver detoxification, speeds up wound healing, improves digestion and weight control, and maintains healthy complexion! This yummy chewable supplement will keep you looking and feeling great, and is wonderful to have on hand if you find yourself often eating exotic cuisine.

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Adventure Binoculars

My Bushnell Legacy Binoculars are basically my best friend. I don’t often leave home without them. If you’re a bird lady like me, or simply enjoying site-seeing, you should consider keeping a pair of travel size binoculars in your handbag! If you can’t always bring your camera along, holding your mobile phone lens up to the lens of the binoculars will do a fine job of capturing far off wonders!

The Rare Resplendent Quetzal, Coban, Guatemala

(I took these photos with my iPhone and binoculars!)

Phone Tripod

The Joby Phone Tripod helps me take amazing videos and pictures wherever I go! Whether I want to film a yoga sequence, or am backpacking alone and don’t have a companion to snap a photograph, the Joby easily clips in my iPhone for great footage! This little tripod is small, flexible, and lightweight, hugging onto nearly any surface.

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128GB Flash Drive Keychain

As a writer, photographer, designer, and absolute music and film fanatic, it’s essential for me to have a way to transfer data at all times! For conducting business this keychain flash drive is key, but it can also come in handy if you meet a new friend at a coffeeshop and want to exchange some tunes or films!

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Store it All!

Teysha Tulum Clutch — This gorgeous Tulum clutch by Teysha is wonderful to store my passport, cash, coins, and any other small items I want to keep safe!

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MountainFlowersPouch — The Chambray pencil and accessory case by Bunglo, lined with Mountain Flower fabric, detailed with vintage gold ribbon.

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Jasmine Oil Perfume

Nemat Indian Jasmine Oil is my favorite fragrance to wear. Jasmine is sweet, spicy, earthy, and sensual. When used in aromatherapy, jasmine has an incredible array of medicinal benefits such as acting as an antidepressant, antiseptic, aphrodisiac, antispasmodic, sedative, and aids in reducing anxiety.

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Aromatic Air Purifier

Palo Santo emits resonant aromas of citrusy sweet, earthy tones, making it a sublime enhancement for any environment. Native to Mexico, Central and South America, Palo Santo has been utilized ceremonially for ritual cleansing, purifying, prayer, and healing for thousands of years.

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Tinted Moisturizing Sunscreen

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 30 is essential to my daily beauty routine if I find myself out and about under the sun. I often wear a sun hat, but this amazing lightweight cream will protect the delicate skin on your face, and give it a warm glow! I find that most sunscreens clog the pores on my face making me breakout if left on my skin for several hours. That makes it quite difficult to choose between protecting my skin from harmful UV rays, or keeping my skin free and clear of oils and chemicals that will cause blemishes. This NARS product is very mild, and has had no adverse effects on my face so far!

Lip Balm

“Unicorn Pee” in Exquisite Mint Cupcake. Sooth your lips with sweet tingling natural ingredients including cocoa butter, jojoba oil, organic coconut oil, organic peppermint, organic sunflower oil, beeswax, and organic vanilla flavor.

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Multifunctional Adventure Tool

A tool for every need! You never know when you need to repair, toggle, inspect, or dissect something along your path!

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Extra Long Phone Charger

This extra long, braided rope iPhone charger is really a life saver. When working remotely from a cafe, you can’t always find a seat located close to a power outlet. Additionally, in most bedrooms, you will often find the position of the bed is not conveniently located in relation to a power source. Having the extra long, durable cable gives you freedom and flexibility to keep your mobile device nearby while charging.

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Appointment Planner

Ever since my beloved Grandmother first bought me a Smithsonian Appointment Book, I haven’t found another that I enjoy more! The Smithsonian Appointment Book gives you daily, monthly, and yearly details for capturing your plans, and features photographs of fine art, world maps, and many other useful tools for connoisseurs of travel and culture.

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A Handbag for All Occasions

This smooth, dreamy handbag was handcrafted by artisans in Panajachel, a village alongside Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. It is both feminine, and subtle, versatile enough for business, travel, and casual outings. It’s spacious enough to fit your laptop, books, and all of your daily needs!

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What do you keep in your purse? Send us links to your favorite items!

Destinations Travel

Midweek Wanderlust, Destination: Austin Texas

Austin, the capital of Texas since 1839, is the fasted growing city in the United States. An urban zone immersed in natural beauty, Austin sits amidst lush rolling hills, and numerous lakes and rivers. The culture is thriving with a diverse range of music, performing arts, film, technology, fine foods, and athleticism.

Despite widespread stereotypes of Texas, Austin is in the heart of the hill country, with rich landscapes of forests and waterways. Downtown Austin is perched alongside Lady Bird Lake, a reservoir on the Colorado River that runs through Central Texas. There is a 15 mile hike and bike trail that traces the lengths of the reservoir and some adjacent roads and parks, inspiring an athletically abundant culture of jogging, biking, and dog walking throughout each day. With delightful weather most of the year, you will not often see Lady Bird lake empty of kayakers, paddle boarders, and the local rowing club. You can even catch local bands playing a concert atop the water from rafts, canoes, or tubes for the Midsummer Serenade Series.

You will find natural monuments such as the renowned Barton Springs Pool, an enclosed bit of natural spring that attracts thousands each week. The 3-acre lake is spring fed, and the water averages 68 degrees Fahrenheit year round. There is an 8 mile stretch of protected land along Barton Creek with hiking trails, waterfalls, swimming holes, rock climbing routes, and pristine wilderness that begins in Zilker Park near downtown, heading into Westlake Hills.

Photograph Courtesy of The Crazy Tourist

Photograph Courtesy of The Crazy Tourist

Photograph Courtesy of Travis County Parks

Lost Creek Waterfalls, Barton Creek Greenbelt

Photograph by Caitlin Tracy

Austin is home to a large population of musicians, some known around the world. With an international reputation for being the “Live Music Capital of the World,” there wont be a day or night in Austin without a vast number concerts in an array of genres. Most restaurants and nearly all the bars in Austin have the capacity to be a live music venue at some capacity.

There are now a good number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Austin, and since the influx of technology and developmental companies in the 1990s, this high-tech town has been recently nicknamed the “Silicon Hills.” Conventions and festivals such as South by Southwest bring millions of techies to Austin for events and seminars each year.

There is a rapidly growing foodie culture in Austin that has made it a hotspot for innovative and delectable selections of cuisine. Chefs from every corner of the world have created their dream kitchens that attract appetites from far and wide.

A long standing local motto, “Keep Austin Weird,” refers to the movement and desire to protect small, unique, and local businesses from being overrun by large corporations. The eclectic aesthetic of Austin manifests in its restaurants, cafes, and hotels. From the classically eccentric old-Austin flavor, to the newer sleek and modern tastes, you wont find a corner of Austin that doesn’t catch your eye.

Check out some of our favorite selections of places to stay, and spots to eat!

Photograph by Caitlin Tracy

WHERE TO STAY

The Austin Motel

Photograph Courtesy of Urdesign Mag

Photograph Courtesy of Dezeen

Photograph Courtesy of Urdesign Mag

Photograph Courtesy of Dezeen

Photograph Courtesy of Dezeen

Photograph Courtesy of Dezeen

Photograph Courtesy of Dezeen

Photograph Courtesy of Dezeen

Photograph Courtesy of Dezeen

Native Hostel, Bar & Kitchen

Photograph Courtesy of Dwell

Photograph Courtesy of Urdesign Mag

Photograph Courtesy of Urdesign Mag

Photograph Courtesy of Urdesign Mag

Photograph Courtesy of Urdesign Mag

Photograph Courtesy of Urdesign Mag

Photograph Courtesy of Urdesign Mag

Photograph Courtesy of Urdesign Mag

Photograph Courtesy of Urdesign Mag

Hotel Saint Cecilia

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WHERE TO EAT

Sway

Photograph Courtesy of Urdesign Mag

Photograph Courtesy of Pinterest

Photograph Courtesy of Identity Design

Photograph Courtesy of KUT

Photograph Courtesy of AIA Los Angeles

Licha’s Cantina

Photography Courtesy of 6street

Photography Courtesy of Social Hub

The Lupita, a Jalapeño and Watermelon Infused Tequila Cocktail

Photograph Courtesy of Trip Advisor

Photograph Courtesy of Trip Advisor

Perla’s

Photograph Courtesy of 365 Things Austin

Photograph Courtesy of 365 Things Austin

Photograph Courtesy of 365 Things Austin

Check out some more amazing Austin Recommendations from our friends at So Much Life!

And keep following us for more Wanderlust Destinations like Chiang Mai, Thailand!

Travel Travel Guides

Midweek Wanderlust, Destination: Santorini

Santorini, or classically known in Greece as Thira, is situated in the stunning Aegean Sea amongst the 6 thousand other Greek Islands.

The island of Santorini is part of a circular archipelago in the the metamorphic complex of the Cyclades islands group. This group is a remnant of a volcanic caldera, or sinkhole formed by a collapse following the evacuation of magma. Essentially, Santorini is the result of an enormous volcanic eruption that destroyed what was once previously one larger island, creating the current geological formation. It is one of the biggest highlights for tourism in the Aegean Sea, and a world mecca for volcanologists.

Photograph courtesy of Tomas Marek

Photograph courtesy of My Toronto, My World

The main stretch of Santorini curves around a 32 square mile lagoon with three edges consisting of cliffs towering nearly a thousand feet above the water. The rest of the island slopes smoothly down into the Aegean Sea, with white, black, and red sandy beaches, and rocky reefs adorned with colorful coral and aquatic life.

Santorini remains the home of a small, but flourishing wine industry, based on the indigenous Assyrtiko grape variety. White varieties also include Athiri and Aidani, whereas red varieties include mavrotragano and mandilaria.

Assyrtiko is famed to be the Grecian island’s essence in a bottle, and is renowned throughout Europe. During the rule of the Venetians between the 14th and 16th century, Santorini wine was some of the most valuable and sought after in all of Europe.

Photograph courtesy of Decantor

While visiting vineyards in Santorini, you will notice the extraordinary and unusual way the vines grow. In contrast to the majority of grape vines around the world that grow along trellises, in Santorini, the vines grow in tight bunches almost like tumbleweeds. Woven closely to the earth along the rocks, their growth is tightly bound, seeking shelter from the powerful gusts of sea air. The fresh oceanic breeze, along with the rich volcanic soil, imparts the refreshing acidity for which the wine has become so well known.

Photograph courtesy of Vine Pair

Santorini’s whitewashed villages, blue cupolas, flawless beaches, exquisite Grecian food and wine, and breathtaking sunsets make it a destination for millions from across the Earth every year. Take a peek at some of these stunning captures of the island’s magic!

What to See

Photograph courtesy of Touropia

Photograph courtesy of Touropia

Visit the Castle!

Photograph courtesy of The Sunday Chapter

Photograph courtesy of Touropia

Photograph courtesy of Pinterest

Photograph courtesy of Pinterest

Photograph courtesy of Glo Holiday

Photograph courtesy of My Toronto, My World

Photograph courtesy of Enjoy Family Travel

Photograph courtesy of My Toronto, My World

Photograph courtesy of Touropia

Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia

Photograph courtesy of My Toronto, My World

Photograph courtesy of The Sunday Chapter

Photograph courtesy of The Sunday Chapter

Photograph courtesy of One Day in a City

Photograph courtesy of It’s All Bee

Photograph courtesy of Carmen’s Luxury Travel

Photograph courtesy of The Sunday Chapter

Photograph courtesy of My Toronto, My World

Greek Food!

Photograph courtesy of My Toronto My World

Photograph courtesy of Hand Luggage Only

Photograph courtesy of Hand Luggage Only

Photograph courtesy of Hand Luggage Only

Photograph courtesy of Hand Luggage Only

10981074_10153109932234784_2930013193824161221_o — Keftes

Photograph courtesy of Hand Luggage Only

Photograph courtesy of Hand Luggage Only

Photograph courtesy of Hand Luggage Only

iStock-517796913-1472x1472 — Souvlaki and Gyros

Photograph courtesy of Hand Luggage Only

Photograph courtesy of Hand Luggage Only

Boutique Hotels

Stay Here!

Photograph courtesy of Design Rulz

Photograph courtesy of Enjoy Family Travel

Photograph courtesy of Pinterest

Photograph courtesy of Glo Holiday

Photograph courtesy of Hand Luggage Only

Get in the Mood!

Check out our another Destination Wanderlust, where we’ll transport you to some dreamy Brazilian vacation homes!

Eco Homes Enlightened Architecture

Epic Bathrooms

Your bathroom is a place of cleansing and renewal, and you should feel an immense sense of peace upon entering and leaving. It is where you prepare for your day, and where you spend your last moments of self-care before sleeping.

Treat yourself to the experience of a serene spa retreat, right inside your own home. Fill your bathroom environment with greenery, rich with fresh aromas of flowers and essential oils. Keep the area tidy and organized, hang artwork, or make a mosaic of tilework. Ideally, you want your bathroom to be illuminated with natural light, but you can also play with mirrors to reflect light from wall to wall. You want to feel like spending hours in your bathroom, a personal place of zen and luxury.

We love these selections of luxurious bathrooms, where your cleansing ritual becomes a space of escape and quietude.

Photograph courtesy of Frame

Photograph courtesy of My Domaine

Photograph courtesy of AD Mexico

Photograph courtesy of Architecture & Design

Photograph courtesy of Pinterest

Photograph courtesy of Home Designing

Photograph courtesy of Apartment Therapy

Photograph courtesy of Architecture Art Designs

Photograph courtesy of Contemporist

Photograph courtesy of Architecture Art Designs

Photograph courtesy of Bathroom Remodeling Guide

Photograph courtesy of Home Designing

Photograph courtesy of EUMOLP

Photograph courtesy of Conde Nast Traveller

Photograph courtesy of Home Designing

Photograph courtesy of Home Designing

Photograph courtesy of Home Designing

Photograph courtesy of Conde Nast Traveller

Photograph courtesy of Conde Nast Traveller

Photograph courtesy of Pinterest

Photograph courtesy of Pinterest

Can’t get enough? Check out some these Outstanding Outdoor Bathrooms for more inspiration!

Get Organized Organization

Taking Steps Towards a Life of Minimalism

Decluttering your home and work area can greatly increase mental clarity and inner peace. Your surrounding environment has a profound effect on the way you perform simple daily tasks, the way you process information, and the manor in which you exchange energy with others.

Having less around you will give the possessions that you do have more meaning. You will have less to clean up and organize around your home, and less to transport if you are moving or traveling. To live with lightness of Being begins with lightening your load.

De-cluttering can be extremely overwhelming. Where to start? It is immensely helpful to begin by tackling categories instead of trying to start with an entire room. Begin with clothing, then books, then beauty products, then kitchen items, etc.

Treat your belongings as if they had feelings; would you want to be thrown on the floor, messily shoved into a drawer, or chaotically crammed into the back of a closet? Give your things space to breathe, thus making them easy to locate and access.

Step 1: Make a mental inventory of everything you own, then compartmentalize.

Do you have to spend hours searching for a particular item? Do you spend even more hours organizing and reorganizing what you own just to keep it in a maintainable order? Do you have several versions or colors of the same items or articles of clothing? If you answered yes to any of these questions, it is time to downsize. Let go of guilt associated with buying or receiving a gift of something that you end up never using or wearing; just get rid of it!

Photograph courtesy of Flickr

Check out this awesome de-cluttering flow chart by MakeSpace!

Once you have purged an adequate number of things, find some simple storage containers to help keep your belongings neat and separated.

Photograph courtesy of One Kings Lane

Step 2: Be extremely mindful with future purchases.

Before you rush to the sale rack and start piling everything with a 50% off tag into your cart, ask yourself if you really need any of those items. Will the items prove to be completely useful? Will they bring you more joy than clutter? Do you already have another version or color of the item, or are the items you already own in need of replacing? Make sure that if you do buy something, that it is of the highest quality to your standards. This will ensure its longevity, and the likelihood that you wont tire of it after a short period of time.

Instead of buying new items, host a clothing swap or household item swap with your close friends, make it an evening of wine and exchanging gifts! You will discard so many items that need to go, and probably end up with some amazing and meaningful treasures in return!

Regularly practice expressing gratitude for every item that you own. Hold each item in your hand, and observe whether it sparks happiness, and whether it serves as a valuable tool in your daily routine. The more conscious and grateful you are of the belongings that you own, the less you will desire to own more.

You will save money by restricting your urge to purchase new items, and prevent the buildup of clutter. Save room in your life for spontaneity, gifts, and give yourself a budget for traveling instead! Life is about experiences, not possessions. It’s time to make scarcity of belongings turn into prosperity of living.

Step 3: Evolve beyond your nostalgia!

Do you have drawers of old concert or movie ticket stubs and wristbands? Maps and brochures from hotels and destinations you have visited? Notebooks full of recipes and notes, hand-written letters, or stacks of magazines you saved for one particular article? It’s time to let all that stuff go. Unless you are going to dedicate the time for making an organized scrapbook or other creative way to display your collection of memories, there is no use having such things lying around taking up space and making your environment appear cluttered.

Go through all those drawers and shoeboxes and decide what really holds value and use to you in this point of your life and your future.

Photograph courtesy of Pinterest

Photograph courtesy of Custom Made

Need somewhere to start? Try this 30 day Minimalism Challenge courtesy of The Culture Trip.

Create A Sanctuary Enlightened Decor

Reading Chairs To Spend Hours In

Whether you are marathoning through a fantasy series, hitting the textbooks for a class or exam, or reading the daily news, designating an area of your home to create a comfortable reading area will change the flow of your home for the better.

Choose a quiet, peaceful place in your bedroom, dining room, or living area to place your comfy chair. Let it be nestled amongst plants, near to the natural light of a window, with bookshelves full of your next readings and a coffee table to compliment the arrangement. Let it be long enough so that you may naturally recline, or be accompanied by a matching ottoman to prop up your legs. Cover it with decorative throw pillows and cozy blankets, or keep it bare and sophisticated for a setting for more concentration.

We have selected this styles to inspire you to acquire a reading chair specific to your needs or the current design of your home, or to simply rearrange your current interior to give yourself an environment dedicated to your readings.

Photograph courtesy of Book Hub

Photograph courtesy of Book Hub

Photograph courtesy of Straight Away Design

Photograph courtesy of Pinterest

Photograph courtesy of Pinterest

Photograph courtesy of Melissa Darnell

Photograph courtesy of Design Listicle

Photograph courtesy of Design Listicle

Photograph courtesy of Melissa Darnell

Photograph courtesy of Melissa Darnell

Photograph courtesy of Project Nursery

Photograph courtesy of My Ideal Home

Photograph courtesy of Book Hub

Photograph courtesy of Book Hub

Photograph courtesy of Book Hub

Photograph courtesy of Book Hub

Photograph courtesy of Book Hub

Photograph courtesy of Book Hub

Check out these Attic Lofts for more inspiration on how to make your modern home comfortable and cozy!

Color Therapy Create A Sanctuary

Luminous White Rooms

There is something ethereal and elegant about surfaces bathed in white.

The pure and clean essence of white gently washes over us with grace and sophistication. We are reminded of far off islands like Santorini, Sardinia, or Mykonos, where one can walk on white pathways under bright white cupolas. One will feel as if they are spending their days in a spa, with a calming and serene sensations transmitted by the interior elements of their own home.

White allows your living space to be a blank canvas to feature accents of artwork, plant life, or colorful woven textiles. A room with a bright and neutral color palette can make a smaller space appear much larger and create a mood of openness. Windowless rooms can become seemingly airy instead of stifling. A palette of whites will make a space seem naturally cleaner and tidier, so even an unmade bed can appear intentional. With white, you can fluidly feature other patterns, textures, and colors without the risk of making the area appear cluttered.

Stroll through these lavish white interiors, and take a deep breath of the lively freshness that they invoke.

Photograph courtesy of Style Caster

Photograph courtesy of Home DIT

Photograph courtesy of Homey Oh My

Photograph courtesy of The Home Scene

Photograph courtesy of Domain

Photograph courtesy of Architecture Art Designs

Photograph courtesy of Alabaster Trader

Photograph courtesy of Pinterest

Photograph courtesy of Loom Brand

Photograph courtesy of Decoholic

Photograph courtesy of One Kind Design

Photograph courtesy of Scandinavian Home Designs

Photograph courtesy of Decoholic

Photograph courtesy of Feed Puzzle

Photograph courtesy of Pinterest

Photograph courtesy of Blog Lovin

See how these Scandinavian Homes utilize bright white palettes for more modern home decor inspiration!

Bring Nature Inside Create A Sanctuary Crystals Natural Healing

Healing Stones for Your Modern Home

For thousands of years in folklore and traditional medicine, stones have been used for healing, protection, and stimulating or moving energies.

All crystals and gemstones are living organisms, and contain a life energy of their own. They are evolving entities, growing in clusters that can take thousands of years to fully mature. Each stone vibrates at its own individual frequency, and each unique vibration that they emit are said to affect us in a vast array of ways.

Many crystals and gemstones are as old as our planet itself, and some even originate from unknown sources in our cosmos, such as moldavite, which was found inside and partially formed within the crater of a meteor that struck in Southern Germany about 15 million years ago.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the use of stones provides the most profound and permanent effects to treat the most difficult of diseases. Ancient healers contend that the density and solidity of stones represents a stabilizing effect. Wearing specifically prescribed stones near your body over a length of time is said to promote the healing of a chronic health condition, or promote evolutionary changes and development. Stones can be used in combination for a synergistic effect, just as the process of combining herbs when formulating an an elixir or tonic. Preparing stones through cleansing, clearing, and recharging is imperative. One can purify stones and crystals by submersion in salt water, smudging with Palo Santo or Sage, and soaking beneath sunlight and moonlight.

Obsidian

Protection + Grounding + Peace + Severing Negative Emotional Bonds

Originally discovered in Ethiopia, obsidian is a dark volcanic glass formed by the rapid solidification of lava without crystallization. It has been used for thousands of years for ritual ceremonies, pottery, and weapons. Place Obsidian near your entryway in a planter or on a table or altar to ward off anything negative from entering your home. “Wash” yourself on every length of your limbs and up and down your energy centers while concentrating on affirmations to free yourself of emotional attachments that are no longer serving you. Hold the obsidian near your heart center during breathwork and meditation to create an energy of grounded stability and peace.

Rose Quartz

Manifesting Love + Compassion + Tranquility + Balance

Rose quartz is most commonly found in Brazil, India, South Africa, and Madagascar. It has a blush tint due to its contents of titanium, iron, manganese and an aluminum boro-silicate called dumortierite. Traditionally, it is said to dissolve emotional wounds, fears, and resentments, promoting loving energy to circulate throughout your body and essence. Rose quartz can induce receptivity to beauty of all kinds, attracting love and restoring trust and harmony in existing relationships. Place rose quartz in the Southwest corner of your bedroom to attract abundance of love and balance existing relationships. Wear a rose quartz pendant in level with your heart energy center to create a flow of peaceful, loving energy in your life.

Citrine

Spiritual Rejuvenation + Manifesting Prosperity & Abundance + Dispelling Negativity

Citrine is formed when amethyst undergoes extreme heat exposure. Rio Grande do Sol in Brazil is the world’s largest supplier of natural citrine, but other mines can be found in the USA, Russia, Madagascar, England, France, Scotland, Spain, Brazil, and South Africa. Citrine will aid in increasing confidence, therefore making it a fluid path to manifesting wealth and abundance of all things. Set an intention of that which you wish to manifest, and hold a citrine near your solar plexus energy center. Place a genuine citrine in the Southeast corner of your living room and office, preferably both on a wooden surface and near a water fixture like a fountain or water vessel.

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What stones do you use in your home or wear as jewelry?