Every year, the Chinese New Year is about a month off from the regular, Gregorian New Year. This year is the year of the Monkey and it is going to be on February 8, while the “Spring Stand” is on February 5.

In Feng Shui, the “Spring Stand” is a particularly big deal, even more so than the Traditional New Year. This is so because February 5 is the midpoint between the Winter Solstice (December 21) and the Spring Equinox (March 21). This is the official time when the Yin-ness of winter ends and the Yang-ness of spring begins. Hence the definition: “The end of Yin, the beginning of Yang” (hence the term “Spring Stand”).

So, what does it all mean?

It means that the energy of the previous year is fully exhausted and that as of February 5, the New Year’s new, vibrant energy is going to come in, like a newborn baby.

This is why, if you have done any business with Hong Kong or Asia, you have noticed that the month of January in general is not a good month to start any new business ventures—contrary to us in the West where we love to implement our New Year’s resolutions on January 1.

This is an acknowledgment that the energy globally is exhausted and so what is the point of starting something new now? You might as well just wait until after the Chinese New Year and the Spring Stand when the energy is fresh and vibrant.

But how do we prepare for it to make sure we get the very best out of this New Year’s energy?

Below I have included the 4 main things I recommend for all my clients to do. In addition, this is the perfect time to have a Feng Shui Consultation for your home or office to make sure the New Year will support your living and working environment at its best.

Also don’t forget to attend my Free, Live, 1 Hour Online Webinar for the 2016 Feng Shui Forecast, the Year of the Monkey, on February 3 at 11 AM, PST.

Here are my 4 key tips on how to prepare your house and yourself to receive the prosperous vibrancy of this New Year:

• Go through your house, garage, office, and any building you own and discard anything that is broken or unfixable. Even things you have meant to fix for a long time but have still been left sitting there forever (because you didn’t have the time); they all have to go. And I mean everything: clothing, furniture, bikes, cars, or anything that has just been sitting there collecting dust; either fix it or toss it now. For every one of these broken or unfixable items is holding back a piece of your energy if you let it continue to just sit there. However, the simple act of fixing or letting go of these items will release the quantum particle of your own energy you have left trapped in them. This is a technique to bring more of your own energy back to you.

• Ideally, this is the very best time for spring cleaning. Though you may have already done so in preparation of the holidays, this is a spring cleaning with a purpose. While you are actually dusting off, brushing up, and polishing up things, you are also removing stagnant energy from every room of the house and opening up the space for the life-force of the New Year to come in. I promise you’ll feel the difference immediately!

P.S.: This and tip 1 above are not a martyrdom exercise. You can have a professional organizer, your housekeeper, or your friends and children help out. If fact, often because they are not as attached to the items involved as you are in the process, they may help you move through it all faster and more effectively. The real point is “just get it done” however you can.

• Next, redecorate some areas based on the new Feng Shui energy. When I consult with you on your house, I will tell you where the best locations are and where the bad locations are throughout it. This way we can fix or avoid the bad spots and rearrange the furniture so you can spend more time in the good areas instead of the bad ones. In the process, we may also shift some of the furniture from room to room too, so you’ll have a house makeover in addition to an energy makeover. (You will not need to buy new furniture, unless you want to.)

• After doing all this work, take a few minutes to sit down and think about people and circumstances in your life that are broken, especially ones that upset you a bit (or a lot) over the past year. Can they be mended? Relationships are not like furniture. Most time it is easier to fix them than replace them. Can you do that? What would it take for you to do that? Holding a grudge into the New Year is a sure way to guarantee the same problem or circumstance will continue on. Could this be a good opportunity to fix what is broken with the relationships involved in your life? No matter how bad things are, if you are willing to make amends and kindly allow others to do the same with you, there is no relationship that can’t be fixed (even if fixing it means finally letting it go). This is especially true if we are late into our years in life; for if there is life, there is still hope. Don’t let it get too late. And what if they don’t want to mend the relationship with you? As long as you have honestly done all you could to mend your side of the fence then there is nothing more you can do. (Just be honest with yourself in the process and make sure you really are doing all you can.)

Why is it so important to fix all these things before the New Year starts? Because the newly arriving energy of the year can either be supportive for you or not supportive. If you are stuck for a whole year with unsupportive energy all things that are precarious in your life—physically, health-wise, and in your relationships—will come back to haunt you. You can bet on that! And there’s nothing better than preventing the drama from happening just by doing these 4 tips.

And don’t forget to attend our 1 hour, Live Online Webinar on the 2016 Feng Shui Forecast, the Year of the Monkey, on February 3 at 11 AM, PST.

Let me know when you’d like to schedule your consultation for the New Year. Since you are cleaning and decluttering your space, you might as well let me tell you how to rearrange your furniture now too for maximum benefit for this New Year! Call me at 310-860-8989 to schedule an appointment. See you soon!

For more Feng Shui Classes and Courses, please visit our Feng Shui Training Center Here.

For personalized Feng Shui Consultations for your house or business, find more information here.