Take the day off.  In her book Simple Pleasures for the Holidays, Susannah Sutton offers several appealing ways to celebrate the New Year.  This is the way I spend New Year's so I'm in full agreement with her.  And in the spirit of feng shui, this is a perfect balance cure.  "I love New Year's Day because it is the one day of the year that I do absolutely nothing. It feels so good after all the rushing around of the holiday season. I stay in bed as long as I can, reading the novel I've been wanting to get to all year, but never had time for. Sometimes I forage out to the refrigerator and bring back cheddar cheese, crackers, and pickles to my bed. If the weather is good, I might venture out in the afternoon for a quiet walk. In the evening, after another scavenged meal, I sit by the fire and finish up my book. It's wonderful because it feels so self-indulgent. If the holiday falls on a Saturday, I do the same on Sunday as well. Then it's doubly delicious."  Of course if you have small children, this isn't practical, but perhaps you could pull them into bed with you and teach them early why this is a special treat and have them read on their own or read to them.   

New Year's Blessing Soup.  No pickles, cheese, and crackers for me.  I make our traditional blessing soup in the crock pot, letting it cook and fill our home with wonderful fragrances all day so we can enjoy and savor it for dinner.  Purchase a bag of 15-bean and ham (or chicken) dry bean soup mix.  Wash and soak beans overnight.  Rinse and add water to cover, 1 can tomatoes, a ham hock (or not; make it a vegetable bean soup with carrots and celery and pour over rice if you like), one chopped onion, a clove of garlic, the juice of one lemon, one teaspoon chili powder and salt and pepper to taste.  After all the festivities and party foods, what better way to balance New Year's Day than with a simple meal like soup.

Making the day meaningful.  This is always the day when I make time, between chapters of my favorite book, to journal.  I jot down all the "Highlights of 2013" and make a list of what I'd like to do in the New Year.  This is a great way to put intention into the upcoming year: Where intention goes, energy flows.  And Susannah Seton offers the following:

• Write on a piece of paper what you want to let go of and burn it. Then write what you want to take hold of and put it in a safe place. (I would recommend a glass bowl as the water element gives it the energy of life journey and new beginnings.)
• Create a question for the year and consult some divination tool: tarot, angel cards, feng shui cards, animal wisdom cards-and write down what it says.  (Add it to your glass bowl.)
• Talk to your family or friends about a quality you'd like to work on and ways you might go about achieving it.

Whether you're skiing, reading in bed, or taking care of family, choose one thing you can do for yourself that will shift the energy and move the chi you want to experience forward into 2014.