Wikipedia defines hypermiling as the act of driving using techniques that maximize fuel economy. Hypermilers hold rallies where the winner is the one who gets the best mileage, based on the number of miles travelled divided by the US Environmental Protection Agency's fuel-economy rating for the vehicle they are driving. So it’s a level playing field, whether someone is driving a gas-guzzling old banger or a state of the art hybrid car.

The king of hypermilers is said to be Wayne Gerdes, who holds the record for getting 164.5 miles per gallon (about 70 km per liter) out of a Honda Insight.

Personally I like to drive fast. Hypermilers drive slowly, accelerating and braking as little as possible to save on fuel. But some of their practices are very interesting in terms of the energetic awareness they build.

For example, I hear that many hypermilers like to drive barefoot so that they can feel what's happening with the car more intimately. This creates a much more etheric relationship with it than driving with shoes on. I know, because I always drive barefoot myself for this reason.

They also have a practice known as ridge riding. Do you realize that gleefully driving your car at high speed through a big puddle of water uses up extra fuel? Hypermilers try to find all the small ridges on a road and avoid the troughs worn by other drivers’ tyres, especially the valleys filled with puddles. It takes a certain level of etheric sensitivity to find ridges like this. I bet some of them are borderline if not full-on obsessive compulsives, but if done in moderation, it’s a great way to build awareness.

I was struck by the words of one hypermiler, Jack Martin, talking about what happens when being overtaken on the road. He said, “When a vehicle goes by, you feel it initially suck on you a little bit and then push you. If you're sensitive to that, you can work it, like a porpoise riding the waves created by a boat. You start looking at it as energy around you.”

In our fast moving world it’s so easy to be swept along. I dare say that if I got stuck behind a hypermiler I’d be as frustrated with their slow pace as the next person, but on the other hand, I bet they suffer far less stress in their lives and live longer as a result.  

Copyright © Karen Kingston, 2009

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Here's an interesting question that arrived in my inbox recently:

Dear Karen, I'm curious whether you are using the vocabulary of energy and astral bodies and such metaphorically, or whether you truly believe that the previous owners of a house can imprint unpleasant energy and somehow cause the new resident to get fat?

I've been pondering this same topic of late while writing my new Space Clearing book, so the question is very timely. I've been pondering how amazing it is that walls, furniture and objects can act like a tape recorder for events that happen in a place. They are made of just ordinary materials, after all, so you wouldn't think it would be possible. But it is. I'm not talking metaphorically at all. I can actually read imprints in with my hands as clearly as I can read words in a book with my eyes, and I have trained other people how to do this too.

In fact, reading a book with one's eyes is a very good analogy for explaining how the process works. How is it that we are able to translate the tiny geometrical shapes we see printed on a page into meaningful - and sometimes highly complex - concepts just by scanning our eyes over them? Most people would not be able to explain this if asked, but we all do it just about every day of our lives. With hand sensing the principle is the same, but it's unseen energies rather geometric patterns that are being read and translated. And with practice, it can be developed to a very high level of accuracy.

Can anyone do it? Yes, to a certain extent. In my public Space Clearing workshops I include a section on hand sensing and 99% of participants report afterwards that they are able to feel the difference between energies that are stagnant or free-flowing, dense or buoyant, prickly or soft, and so on. The technique is done not by touching objects but by holding the hand a few inches/centimeters away. Being able to read energies of this type gives a very useful indication of the effect a room will have on its occupants.

To learn how to read astral imprints take a lot longer - years in most cases, and only a few people ever become very proficient at it. Etheric imprints determine the general feel of a place; astral imprints contain the precise history of what has happened there. Repetitive behaviours and traumatic events are the most deeply imprinted, and it is also possible to detect a range of information about previous occupants such as their state of health, fitness, prosperity, happiness, and so on. All the professional practitioners I train learn to be able to read both types because this is what enables them to read the energetic cause of problems in a client's home when they conduct a Space Clearing or Clutter Clearing consultation.

In feng shui terminology, the combined etheric and astral imprints are known as 'predecessor energy', meaning the energy left in a place by previous occupants, and it is a well-established fact that this energy tends to cause history to repeat itself and affect future occupants. And of course while you are living in a place you are creating imprints yourself, which will affect you while you're there and will affect future occupants after you leave. Sometimes it's just stagnant energies that accumulate on an everyday basis causing you to feel stuck, but if you've been through tough times there your own imprints will affect you in more profound ways, perpetuating the problems.

The beauty of the Space Clearing ceremony I've developed is that it safely and effectively removes these imprints in order to give people a fresh start. Other energetic techniques may move energies around but real skill is needed to be able to permenantly change spaces for the better. My advice is to be extremely wary of any professional space clearer claiming to be able to do this unless they can read energy imprints in such a way that you're sure they are not making it up. If they give you some story about previous occupants that you can't substantiate, or run around clapping, belling or waving incense about without doing energy sensing at all, then they are doing it blindly.

In the early years of training Space Clearing practitioners, many of my students gave up because they weren't prepared to do the personal work to develop their subtle body structures to be able to accurately read energies in this way. They sought out other less demanding methods such as dowsing, which can be learnt in a one-day workshop but is notoriously unreliable. Now I'm happy to report that all the professional practitioners I train are able to access deep levels of information through hand sensing, and clients find it to be one of the most interesting and insightful parts of a Space Clearing consultation. And of course the more accurately a space clearer can read imprints, the more effectively they can clear them and transform the energy of a space, which is the whole point of doing hand sensing in the first place.

Copyright © Karen Kingston, 2009

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At last! There is finally a French edition of Clear Your Clutter in print!

Simplifiez Votre Intérieur: Libérez-vous du désordre!
Published by Leducs Editions in 2009
ISBN-13: 978-2-84899-215-0

It's been translated from the original 1998 edition of the book rather than the new 2008 edition, but at least it's in print now. I've been getting requests for this for years.

The book is available online from www.amazon.fr

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Want to clutter clear your home but don’t have time?

Pick a number between 1 and 10 and write it on a large piece of paper with a thick felt-tip marker. Stick it on your wall, somewhere where you're sure to see it each morning. Before breakfast each day, clutter clear that number of objects from your home.

The items can be large or small but you make a deal with yourself that you don’t eat breakfast until it’s done. If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t eat breakfast, choose some other daily event such as before you read your email, put on your make-up, or whatever.

A good place to start is with your clothes. Suppose you've chosen the number 5. Pick out 5 items of clothing you no longer like or wear. Find a large box or bag to put them in. That's it. Now get on with your day. Do the same the next day, and the next day, and keep going until the only clothes remaining in your wardrobe (or closet if you're American) are the ones you love and wear. Be sure to clear the contents of your box at the end of each week, either by donating them to a charity shop, or letting them go in some other way.

Another good area to apply this technique to is collections of books or magazines. It also works well with the contents of your fridge, kitchen cabinets or any kind of cupboards. If you have lots of decorative objects in your home you can use it to whittle these down too.

If your problem is mess rather than quantity, then you can apply the same technique to tidying. Pick up and put away 5 objects each day (or whatever number you choose).

30 days x 5 objects per day = 150 objects per month.
30 days x 10 objects per day = 300 objects per month.
It soon adds up.

The reason this technique is so effective is because you are more focused on the counting than on the objects themselves, so it makes it easier not to get emotionally involved in the process. And because it’s a low number, it feels so much more achievable than attempting to clutter clear dozens of items in one go. It's a tortoise rather than a hare kind of approach, but we all know who got there in the end!

Copyright © Karen Kingston, 2008

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An article in the International Herald Tribune recently caught my attention. Titled Picking up garbage to help change a country, it described how a group of Pakistani students from elite private schools, fed up with hearing their families complain about the government, decided to take matters into their own hands by the unusual route of shoveling up trash from the streets. About 40 of them turned out in the 32 Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) heat and set to work in an inner city area.

The article explained that years of weak government and military coups has left poor areas of Pakistan with little or no funding for education, water, electricity, health or refuse services. There aren’t even any garbage bins in the streets. So these middle class students, instead of spending Sunday afternoon watching TV in their air-conditioned homes, decided to spend a few hours cleaning up garbage instead. One passerby, asked by the reporter what he thought, said it was good idea beause it showed that people care.

My perception is that in the same way as clutter clearing raises the level of energy in a person’s home, clearing the litter from streets significantly raises the level of an entire area. Intuitively these students seem to know this.

A study led by Kees Keizer at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands in 2008 confirmed that there is a clear link between litter and crime in an area. Keizer set out to prove or disprove what is called the ‘broken window’ theory, which states that broken windows in a house cause a degrading of the surrounding neighbourhood and can lead to an increase in social disorder. In one of his experiments he left a €5 note sticking out of an envelope posted in a public mailbox and then watched to see what would happen. In an area with no litter or graffiti, only 13% of passerby were tempted to steal the money. But when the mailbox was surrounded by litter, the number of thefts increased to 25%."It's quite shocking that the mere presence of litter doubled the number of people stealing," he said. 

Copyright © Karen Kingston, 2009

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Arriving home from a trip is one of the best times to do clutter clearing, especially if you've been away for at least a couple of weeks, and even more so if you have been abroad and spent time in a culture that is different to your own. You see your home in a fresh light. Things that have become clutter stand out and are so much more obvious than before, when you saw them every day but didn’t really 'see' them.

It's a good idea to give yourself at least 24 hours at home after such a trip, rather than rushing back to work the next day or doing whatever it is you do. Give yourself the time to review your life and make changes you want to make. This is when clutter clearing truly becomes a treat rather than a chore.

Start in any room and look around it with new eyes. Which objects no longer fit with your life or with where you want to be headed?

Perhaps you have some pieces of furniture you no longer use or like, but you've become so used to them you no longer notice them?  

Maybe you have some decorative objects that fitted perfectly with your life when you first brought them home but you've moved on now and they have not?

Having too many objects like this keeps you anchored in the past and makes it difficult to create a better tomorrow.

What about your clothes? This is a good time to weed out the ones you realize you no longer like or wear.

Look at your bookshelves. Take out the books that are no longer interesting to you.

Arriving home from a trip is also a good time to sort through any photos you took while you were away. Look through them all, and then keep the best and delete the rest right then and there before they even become clutter.

If you share your home with others and they went away with you on the same trip, they are likely to be able to see things more objectively too, so you can invite them to be involved in the process. If they stayed home while you went away they may not see things the way you are seeing them, so proceed gently, focusing on your own stuff and not even mentioning any of theirs. When you do your own clutter clearing simply because you want to, it has a way of rubbing off on people close to you if you just get on with it and say nothing at all.

And in case you're wondering, yes, I've just arrived home from a trip, and yes, I'm clutter clearing today. Not only that but while I was writing this my husband, Richard, without me saying a thing, clutter cleared an entire cupboard we share that I was planning to do later myself and no longer need to!

Copyright © Karen Kingston, 2009

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During my recent visit to Japan, I had my first (and I'm sure, last) ever experience of a pachinko parlour.

At one end of a shopping mall there was an intriguingly massive windowless brick building all by itself, painted garish bright pink. Entering inquisitively through the front doors I walked innocently into such an assault on my senses that I will never forget it. The perfectly insulated building gave no clue as to the cacophony of light and sound within generated by hundreds of crazily blinking boards, millions of clattering metal balls and continual high volume public announcements urging people to continue playing. The constant 100 decibel level, equivalent to a fleet of chain saws or pneumatic drills, hit me full in the face like a slap with an iron fist. It's the ultimate noise clutter experience!

I paused for a moment, considering whether to turn and run, but my curiosity got the better of me. I walked down the central aisle and saw rows and rows of players sitting intently at machines, oblivious to the flash of my camera. My American friend pointed out the little trays some of the men had on the floor behind their seats, full of tiny balls they had won that could be cashed in for money or (more usually) pumped back into the machines.

Pachinko machines are the most popular form of gaming in Japan. Standing upright like a pokey machine but more closely resembling a pinball machine in the way they work, they are highly addictive. With an estimated 30 million players currently (nearly a quarter of Japan's population), this US $250 billion a year industry is worth more than Japan's entire auto trade. Gambling is strictly illegal, but apparently Pachinko is classed as only a game, so it's OK.

The studies of sociology professor, Hidetoshi Kato, give some insights into the Japanese enthrallment with this pastime. He points out that Japan is such an overcrowded, group-oriented society that playing Pachinko is one of the rare situations in which a Japanese person can be alone. The sheer level of noise combined with the concentration needed to play the game makes communication with others impossible.

To me it says a lot about the state of Japanese society today that so many people flock to such a noisy, cigarette smoke-filled, machine-oriented environment to find some escape. It's a long way from the calming, etherically revitalizing effect of a stroll in the countryside that previous generations would have enjoyed. 

More information about pachinko parlours

Pachinko nation

Copyright © Karen Kingston, 2009

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An unusual feature of the venue I recently taught in Okinawa is that it didn't have fluorescent lighting. Or rather it did have some, but it had enough other types of lighting that we didn't have to use it. Conducting a workshop in a venue with fluorescent lighting is an uphill struggle because it's so tiring for everyone to be exposed to the flicker, hum and magnetic fields for long periods, not to mention the depressing quality of light produced in the room.

Japan may well have the largest number of fluorescent lights per capita in the world. I've heard speculation that they have embraced bright lighting because traditionally they used to live in such dark houses, but this argument doesn't really wash. I think their addiction to fluorescent lighting is actually indicative of the level of spiritual disconnection Japanese society as a whole is experiencing at the present time. Many city streets are so well illuminated that they are just as bright at night as during daylight hours. The image shown here of bare fluorescent lights illuminating rows of plastic orchids in an Okinawan supermarket is also a typical indoor scene.

It will be interesting to see in coming years if the more aware Japanese, who are actively seeking a better quality of life, start to develop awareness of and aversion to fluorescent lighting, at least in their homes. This would be a very healthy and encouraging sign.

Only in Japan: Dramatic video of fluorescent light destruction by a man using his face

Copyright © Karen Kingston, 2009

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When I teach in different countries around the world, I like to tailor the information so that it is of the most use to the situation of the people I am teaching. In Japan, the topic of toilets always comes up.

Toshiba is a household name around the globe for electrical appliances and motor vehicles, but in Japan they also make toilets. I'm told the invention started due to concern about the number of elderly people dying of heart attacks while on the toilet, thought to be caused by their bathrooms being so cold. Instead of installing heating in bathrooms, the Japanese hit upon the novel idea of introducing heated toilet seats, and being so enamoured of hygiene, they also added extra buttons for nozzles and water sprays to clean, massage and dry your undercarriage in a variety of ways.

Since all the buttons are labelled in Japanese, this can lead to hours of exploratory fun and unusual genital experiences for the visiting westerner! There are many designs, from basic to seductively luxurious, and you can find these electric toilets wherever you go. For a culture that doesn't openly talk about bodily functions, it's fascinating to see how much the Japanese love them!

When the novelty wears off, however, you realize that every time you sit on one of these contraptions, it affects your energy in quite dramatic ways. You soon become constipated, and worse.

The human immune system can function quite well in electric fields of up to 5 volts per meter.
Between 5-10 V/m, you may start experiencing niggly health complaints.
When exposed for long periods to fields of 10-20 V/m, you may get more serious health complaints.
Over 20 V/m, you are likely to develop degenerative diseases, or even cancer.

The Japanese toilet in the hotel we stayed in had an electric field of 140 volts per meter! That's 28 times what I consider to be a safe level. And other toilets I've measured around Japan give similar readings or even higher. There are a many factors involved in the plummeting birth rate in Japan, but knowing how continual exposure to electromagnetic fields has been shown in many studies to interfere with fertility, the first thing I would recommend to any Japanese woman trying to conceive would be to turn her toilet off. Fortunately this is simple to do. It can be unplugged from the mains and can still be flushed manually, however archaic that may feel (many Japanese toilets are designed to auto-flush when you stand up).

Copyright © Karen Kingston, 2009

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Okinawa is a sub-tropical island located about 2.5 hours south of Tokyo. It's generally warm and sunny, and in some respects reminded me of a Japanese version of Hawaii. Okinwans have a reputation for being friendly and relaxed, and I'm told that many Japanese people are moving there, looking for a better quality of life.

The workshops Richard and I flew there to teach this month filled immediately within 3 weeks of being announced, with about 10% of the participants travelling from other parts of Japan to take the course and the rest from the Okinawa area. There were 96 people in the group, all eager to learn about Clutter Clearing and Space Clearing.

We received a wonderful warm welcome, and the workshop venue was one of the best we've taught in outside of Bali for a long time, with lots of space, fresh air, good land energies, great views of Okinawa all the way to the ocean, and a lovely hotel nearby for us to stay in (the Costa Vista) that has excellent organic food.

Kiyo did a marvellous job of organizing. Nothing was too much trouble. He and his enthusiastic team of assistants took it all in their stride.

The five days of workshops were a great success. Japanese people are very communicative with their feedback after an event like this, and I hear they've sent many emails to say how much they enjoyed it and got value from it. The emails are all in Japanese so I'm waiting for them to be translated before I can read them myself and publish some of them here.

The highpoint of the course was the last day when we did a Mandala Ceremony. I was impressed by how respectful and receptive the participants were, and very touched to see that many of them were so moved by the experience that they openly wept tears of joy. 

Copyright © Karen Kingston, 2009

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