reasons to celebrate: Lunar New Year

I say CELEBRATE, always celebrate.

Join all celebrations from all around the world and #createnewfamilytraditions . 

Why celebrate? 

Celebrating is the practice of GRATITUDE;

Celebrating raises your vibration, in other words it creates more JOY in our lives;

Celebrating helps you to CONNECT to the present moment;

Celebrating is a way to LOVE yourself and HONOR every step of your path... 

And so much more! It connects people and it helps to MANIFEST your deep desires, have you thought of that? Cause we often celebrate the beginnings, we welcome Spring for instance, even before it arrives, and this is the right vibration for manifestation!

Celebrate the summer, the love, the sunrise and the sunset (I am looking for a sunset ritual for myself, cause it's just a time of the day I feel so... Vulnerable. Does this makes sense? do you have one?)

And take this opportunity to re-start. Every new moon, a new beginning. Every New year a new beginning... Tomorrow all of Southeast Asia celebrates de Lunar (or Chinese) New Year, also called the Spring Festival.

We welcome the Year of the Goat/ sheep and it is all about:

Creativity

Gentleness

Compassion

This festival is 15 days long and on the second day it's "dog day", celebrating the birthday of all dogs. It's time to give your dog a special treat!

Decorate your house with red lanterns.

Prepare special meal to share with loved ones. Your kids love pasta? Make Chinese noodles and use chop sticks, my son loves them and it's just great motor skills practice ;-)). 

At midnight open all windows and doors: for the old year to leave.

Dress up in Red, this symbolizes fire and... scares the demons away.

Get a haircut - so the spirits from the old year cannot recognize and follow you into the new year.

Play with fireworks to drive away the evil (It is believed that the person who launched the first firework of the New Year will obtain good luck).

Be noisy. Yes, apparently this also helps to scare those feared demons, so take those drums out and have a drum circle with your children.

Chinese Zodiac story telling, you start, they continue:

"Once upon a time in a land far, far away lived an emperor, one day he decided to call all the animals for a race, and then..." I will not spoil the end for you, let's just say the Rat came first so them figure out how was that possible!

Give away oranges: did you know the word "orange" in mandarin sounds like "luck"? That's why it's an auspicious gift.

Buy gold, dance with the dragons (symbol of power and strength); make peace with old friends; give away money inside red envelopes (doesn't matter how much, the symbol is from the red color, sending good wishes and luck) ...

Oh and remember the "don't" list on the new year day: no cleaning, no washing hair, no crying, no borrow, no scissors... why? Cause you might, accidentally, cut, sweep, wash away... The good luck!

Gung Hei Fat Choi everyone!