Wind & Water — How I Marie Kondo’d My Personal Wellness Philosophy

THE WATER METHOD TO WELLNESS

Splash of the Week

Wind & Water — How I Marie Kondo’d My Wellness Philosophy

Recently, someone reminded me of Marie Kondo’s famous rule: only keep things that spark joy. This got me to pick up a book on Feng Shui the other day —and right on page one, I was struck by an obvious point: these words literally mean wind and water.

In Feng Shui, these two natural forces represent energy—Chi—flowing through the world around us.

Water, especially moving water — like a flowing river or the water in your body—is powerful because it attracts and circulates this life energy. When Chi flows freely, it brings health, prosperity, and balance. When it’s blocked, things get stuck and stagnant.

Wind and water are deeply connected to good fortune and health. Like the Māori word Waiora meaning life force through water, many cultures express these principles of water wellness in their ancient wisdom.

This resonated with me as I’ve been passionate about sharing with more of you:

Hydration isn’t how much you drink, but how you live!

People keep asking me what Water Wellness really is.

“Should I drink 3 litres a day?”

“Is it about electrolytes?”

You can drink all the water and still feel disconnected and depleted.

What most people don’t say when it comes to hydration guidance:

We aren’t dehydrated just because we don’t drink enough water. It’s because we live sedentary indoor lives. Our internal irrigation system—our lymph—has no pump.

We need to move to move water into our cells for optimal hydration.

We need to eat more water-rich foods instead of ultra-processed dry food.

We need to stop pouring harsh chemicals and endocrine-disrupting skincare down the drain and into our watersheds to be “cleaner” at home, while simultaneously demanding “clean” drinking water being delivered to us from the same watershed.

We all need to splash and play more, to find joy in a daily state of flow.

So it’s no surprise that I believe it’s time to shift our attention and remember what we’ve always known.

Living with effortless simplicity and returning to nature’s rhythm is what we truly need.

Not more products.

Water is both the metaphor and the method that helps us do that.

Start living a Blue Mind Life

This idea of flow and balance is exactly what I’m exploring through my own Blue Mind journey. Every year, from May 26th to September 2nd, we’re invited to spend 100 days in, on, and near water—to reconnect, recharge, and reset.

During my 2024 water wellness sabbatical, many of you reached out saying how much you missed my daily meadow photos and wanted to know more about what a Blue Mind Life really means.

“Blue Mind” is a term coined by Wallace J. Nichols in his 2014 book. It describes the peaceful, mildly meditative state our brains enter when we’re near water. MRI studies show that being close to water lowers stress and anxiety, boosts creativity, and connects us—to nature, to ourselves, and to each other.

Sadly, Wallace passed away last June. But his message is more relevant than ever: water isn’t just a resource for your hydration - it’s a powerful source of wellness and connection.

That’s why I created my Water Method to Wellness, inspired by many principles: Feng Shui’s wind and water, Howard Murad’s Water Secret, Viktor Schauberger’s Living Water, Gerald Pollack’s research on the fourth phase of water, plus your questions about filters, bottled water, water retreats, seeing water as a source of inspiration, not just a resource to be managed —and my own PhD research looking at how we balance our demands for clean drinking water with the rise in product consumption that pollutes our watersheds.

Feng Shui teaches us that when we create spaces that flow with wind and water, we invite positive energy into our lives.

Likewise, when we honour the water within and around us, we open the door to greater wellness and connection.

So this beautiful summer season, let’s make room for flow—inside and out. Let’s move like water.

— Clouds

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, hit reply and let me know! We’ll have some water workshops and retreats coming up. Will share more information on how to sign up very soon.

The Essentials

YOUR HYDRATION EDIT

Each edition, we handpick stories, trends, and insights that connect with our Water Method to Wellness philosophy. From the source of your water to how you move, restore, and live around it—plus the latest in wellness (tourism; culture & real estate, the fastest-growing sector in the wellness world).

Visionary Voices

MY 4-STEP BEGINNER GUIDE

Source
Know your water. Where does it come from? Drink it just as nature intended. Bonus: the best hydration comes from water-rich, plant-based foods. In other words, eat your water.

Filter
Let go of what doesn’t serve you—both in your life and your water. Create effortless simplicity with the right home filtration system (this is what you ask me about the most) and budget-friendly practices (The 4-hour rule & water-friendly skincare and cleaning agents).

Elevate
Infuse your water with intention and attention. Hydration is movement, too—think sunlight, sauna, grounding, thermal journeys. Minerals, consciousness, mindset, watershed health — all flow together.

Appreciate
Splash, play, reconnect. Dive into Blue Mind living through nature, water retreats, and joyful moments by the shore. We are happier and healthier when in nature.

FOLLOW FOR MORE DAILY INSIGHTS →

A Final Note

NOTES FROM THE MEADOW

Until next time, Step into flow.