Nurture Your Feng Shui by Bringing Nature into Your Home

Winter storms have brought much needed water to our environment, but the rains are keeping us inside. I’m looking at my beautiful garden, and although I can’t be outside enjoying it, I can still glean the nurturing benefits of nature by bringing nature into my home. 

One of the Feng Shui principles is that “Everything is Alive”; everything in your home is alive and either nurturing or draining you. The Feng Shui masters first looked at nature for harmonious spaces, therefore bringing a bit of nature into your home can help to uplift the energy, thereby nurturing you. Healthy plants and fresh flowers are an instant way of creating a beautiful, harmonious space. 

In Feng Shui, plants connect us to nature, bringing freshness and vitality to the home. They create calming feelings, enhance the flow of energy, and can help purify the air. 

Choosing green, vibrant plants with round, soft leaves is recommended. It’s useful to consider what plants will thrive best in your lighting conditions, and to choose ones you can easily care for.

                                

In contrast, plants with spiky or pointed leaves, such as cacti, are believed to have sharp energy, which can drain positivity from the room.

Tips for bringing nature indoors:

• Add a plant to a bare room to bring grounding energy 

• Use artificial plants if you don't have a green thumb or enough lighting

                               

Plants recommended in Feng Shui: 

• Jade plant: Symbolizes good luck and abundance

• Money tree: A good luck charm that's said to attract wealth and abundance

• Pothos: Brings wealth and prosperity

• Peace lily: Symbolizes prosperity, peace, and purity

• Chinese money plant: Believed to bring prosperity and good luck

• Citrus tree: Known to bring good luck and fortune

• Snake plant: Associated with positivity, protection, and purity

• Lucky bamboo: Brings prosperity and good luck

• Flowers of any kind: Are the greatest Ch’i enhancers, symbolizing good health

                                                   

I loved taking flower design classes. Every week I created, brought home, and displayed beautiful arrangements.  The feeling evoked by these arrangements was pure joy as I was continuously nourished by their beauty and combination of Feng Shui elements.  

Bring nature inside your home and surround yourself with its healing energy.  You will love the results! 

                                              

Establish a Morning Practice for Better Inner Feng Shui

After a restless night’s sleep, I used to wake us, pick up my phone, check email, react to social media, watch the news and busily set off on my day already feeling stressed. That was the old me. After taking a course to discover my inner journey, I learned the importance of a “Morning Practice” to set me up for a successful, calm, restorative day, and a better night's sleep.  This practice, which is closely linked to Inner Feng Shui, opens you up to inner wisdom and is a channel for creativity. Inner Feng Shui helps to calm you, bring you inner peace and strengthens your immune system by lightening your behavior load. 

          

A Morning Practice need only take 15-20 minutes a day.

I set myself up by leaving a glass of water, a journal, and  some meditation music by my bedside. 

                                        

I begin by lying or sitting up in my dark room, sipping my water, and listening to music for meditation for around ten minutes. I practice breathing and close my active mind to the chatter. I just stay in my calm space.

I then turn on a light, pick up my journal and write five things I’m grateful for. This could be something small like my warm bed, or listening to my husband getting me coffee, or something big like the success of my book. 

                                          

I complete my journal entry by writing an intention for the day. After a quick stretch, I now feel set up for thriving.

Whatever you do, make it consistent and repetitive.

Other choices for morning practice could be:

Stretching and/or yoga

A longer meditation

Dancing to your favorite music

Sitting in silence

Lighting candles and creating your quiet space

Pulling a Tarot or Medicine card

Coloring

                                              

Creating a healthy morning practice is good Inner Feng Shui, which  nourishes you. Therefore, as you enter this transformation begin small; choose one behavior you want to change and write it down as a positive affirmation, for example, if you are always late the affirmation would say, “I make sure to leave enough extra time when I go somewhere to ensure I am on time.” Write the affirmation as your intent for the day as part of your morning practice.  Focus on that behavior, elicit the help of friends and reward yourself for small accomplishments.

As you let go of the stress you may feel when waking up,  fill yourself with behaviors that help transform you:

1) Show gratitude 

2) Meditate 

3) Breathe deeply 

4) Listen to music 

5) Laugh It Off

6) Exercise

7) Spend time with friends – even if it’s only by socially distancing video or phone chats

8) Help others

Take time to create a nourishing morning practice,  rejuvenate your system and watch opportunities come your way

Blessings

                                       

Creating Feng Shui Friendly Laundry Rooms

 

I love our laundry room, mainly because I enhanced it using Feng Shui principles. It happens to be in my Children and Creativity area of my home; therefore, I enhanced it with whites, pastel yellow, pictures of my daughter and grandchildren, and whimsical items.  I find it a delight to do laundry!

                                                 

Since the laundry room isn't a public space, it's easy to neglect it when decorating. Yet this room serves a very important function. It is a place of water and removing debris, the cleansing area of the home.

I recommend following a few basic Feng Shui rules, and then enhancing it according to its location on the Bagua.

 A Few Basic of a Feng Shui Rules:                                                                                                    There are a few basic rules governing the Feng Shui of a laundry room.

 Control the Water Element – The Water element can help promote wealth, but it's important you         don't let it get out of control in your laundry room, particularly where water drains out of your           house.

• Keep the lid of your washing machine always closed.
• Make sure none of the hoses are leaking. Don't let your finances flow away from you with dirty water.    

• Keep it Clean–  Remove the dryer lint regularly.

• Empty laundry trash can, wash floors.
  
  
• Keep It Maintained and Organized - Don’t allow clothes to accumulate in the laundry room.
• Don't use this room as a catch-all for storing other items.  Don't allow things to accumulate.

• Adjust Lighting - Replace burned out light bulbs.
• Provide good lighting through windows and overhead lights.

 Enhancing with the Feng Shui Bagua:                                                                                                   Make your laundry room inviting and pleasing to the eye. Give it just as much design attention as you   would other rooms in your home.

 Wherever your laundry room resides, adding a few enhancements (colors, items and shapes related to    that area will help lift the Ch’i.

                                       

 Career Area (Water Element)

·         Items in items in black or very dark colors, glass/crystal items, water features, art representing waterscapes

·         Water represents the flow of wealth.

Knowledge and Self Cultivation Area (Wood Element)

·         Items are made of wood, colors blue, green, black colors, plants and art representing still wooded scenes 

Friends/Family/Health Area (Wood Element)

·         Floral arrangements or art depicting vibrant flowers, photos of family, friends, colors blues and greens 

Wealth Area (Fire Element)

·         Opulent items in the purple color spectrum, healthy, round leaf plants 

Fame Area (Fire Element)

·         The colors red, items representing the fire element with candles and lighting, art representing celebration, success and upward movement, inspirational sayings, awards  

Love and Marriage Area (Fire Element)

·         Pairs of items, art or photos depicting romance, reds, and pinks, photos of you and significant other 

Children and Creativity Area (Metal Element)

·         Items in metal, colors of white and pastels, whimsical art, pictures of children, craft items 

Center Area:                                                                                                                                              ·    Ceramics, the colors yellow, earth tones, and rectangle shapes

Helpful People and Travel Area (Metal Element)

·         Art or figures pertaining to travel, spiritual guides, metal and colors of white, black or grey 

Sometimes there is just a laundry closet in the home. I recommend hanging a 30-millimeter round faceted glass crystal in the center to help circulate the energy, then add small enhancements based on Bagua area

Don't overdo your Feng Shui laundry room design with too many elements so as not to create a clutter. Keep good design principles in mind when creating a positive flow of Ch’i.

 

Practicing Feng Shui Kindness for Well-Being

In these stressful times, doing everything we can to be at peace and improve our well-being is so important. Feng Shui is all about balance and positive energy.  When we make Feng Shui enhancements in our home, and expect results, we must remember that these adjustments are only 1/3 of the equation. Our destiny, and our actions make up the other 2/3 of the formula. We may have little control over our destiny, but our actions are completely within our reach.  This is where acts of kindness come in. 

Practicing Inner Feng Shui begins by being kind to yourself. For example, being kind to yourself can involve saying affirming things to yourself or focusing on what you can control, such as deep breathing, meditating, enjoying nature, or changing your situation by doing a good deed each day. This will change the course of energy. A simple act of kindness can make an impact. When one does something good, solely for the benefit of another, the reality is that they both benefit.

Kindness is important for many reasons, including improving your well-being:

•  It can deepen friendships and create safety in relationships by encouraging understanding and vulnerability.  
  
                           

•    It can help create and strengthen social connections. It can help people feel a sense of belonging, make new friends, and connect with their communities. 
  
  
•   It can reduce stress, anxiety, and worry. It can also improve feelings of confidence, optimism and well-being. 

                                        

•    It can boost the immune system, lower blood pressure, and increase the production of feel-good hormones like dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin. 
  
  
•  Kindness can make the world a happier place and encourage others to be kind as well. 

      

Begin doing an act of kindness a day and watch your Feng Shui energy change for the good!

                                      

There's Joy in Moving the Feng Shui Ch'i

Did you know that every time you declutter, redecorate, remodel, or just add another piece of furniture or art you are changing the energy of your home, which will help you achieve your goals and live your best life?

Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese art of arranging your environment, is meant to bring your life peace and harmony. To do this your environment needs to bring you joy, since in Feng Shui your environment reflects your consciousness.

In Feng Shui, “Ch’i”, or “Qi” is a vital life force or energy that powers all living things.  The goal of Feng Shui is to harness Ch’i to improve life. 

Good Ch’i is meant to nourish you, while negative Ch’i, which blocks the energy, can drain you. Feng Shui is all about adjusting your environment, by correcting, enhancing, or changing items, colors, shapes based on the Feng Shui principles, and the five elements. These elements are water, wood, fire, earth, and metal. You can improve the Ch’i flow by adding, moving, or combining these elements, based on each of the nine Bagua areas. 

                                       

Each time we make a change in our home, my husband and I say we're “Moving the Ch’i.” We say this when we clean the garage, empty closets, buy new art, a piece of furniture or undertake a big remodel. My clients say they feel an energy shift, and it’s evident in their before and after pictures.

When we remodeled our kitchen, residing in the Love and Marriage area, from green to rich wood tones and red tiles we noticed a shift in romance.

                                    

When we remodeled our bathroom in the Health, Family and Friend's area from burgundy and pink to soft greens, wood,  and florals we noticed an improvement in our health.

                                     

Our daughter just redecorated our grandkid’s bedroom in the Knowledge and Self Cultivation area from overly cluttered to clean, organized, attractive bedding, beds and furniture. They both now are calmer and love to lay in their new beds and read. 

                                      

Little changes can make a big difference. A client has a blank wall in her Fame and Reputation area. I can’t wait to see how adding a large piece of red tone, celebration, upward movement, or fame art will change the Ch’i of the room and positively affect her life. 

                                                

We are about to replace our roof with a new one. I can't wait to see what affect that will have. We're excited at the prospect. 

Do You Practice Intuitive Feng Shui?

Do you practice Intuitive Feng Shui? As I enter the homes of my friends and clients, I can quickly tell that so many of them do..

Feng Shui is all about creating  a feeling.  The goal is to enter your home after a long workday, or an exhausting experience, and say “Ahhhh, I’m home to my sanctuary.”  You should feel calmed and nurtured by your home, and not even more stressed. If you feel that your home is harmonious, with a calming effect, it’s because it probably has good energy, and you’re experiencing intuitive Feng Shui. 

                                       

Are good things happening to you, opportunities opening up, and problems easily solving themselves; or do you feel that it’s just one thing after another, you’re stuck and can’t seem to get ahead?  If good things are happening to you, and life, even with its challenges, is flowing smoothly, then you’re experiencing intuitive Feng Shui.

Do you find that you sleep better in one room over another, or enjoy sitting in one area of your home better than the rest? If so, take a close look at those rooms because they exhibit intuitive Feng Shui. 

                                       

Intuitive Feng Shui is the ability to create happy, harmonious homes naturally and from our heart, without needing to use logic. You can, with very little Feng Shui training become aware of your environment and apply intuitive Feng Shui. Without even thinking too much about it, you’re intuitively arranging areas in your home to be balanced and allow the energy to flow in a positive way.  You probably have removed the clutter. You may have added plants and flowers. You have your desk, and other seating arrangements facing the front door in the power position, and have displayed art that has positive representations.  These are small things that evoke positive energy, and represent intuitive Feng Shui. 

                                                     

You can easily develop intuitive Feng Shui skills out of your experience of being in different places. Each time you go to a new place be aware of how you feel there. Is the atmosphere fast flowing, slow, intense, settled or volatile? Then look for what it is about the building, decoration and layout that you think could contribute to that energy flow, and your current mood. This creates an inner knowing or intuition. You can later draw on your experiences to create spaces in your home that reproduce the emotional responses you are looking for.

The secret is to keep connecting your mental and emotional state to the possible influence of the home or business you are in.

Feng Shui is based on three guiding principles:

1) Everything is Alive.  Everything in your home is talking at you either positively or negatively. If you listen to the chatter and quickly do something about it (discarding, clearing, replacing, repairing or redecorating) then you’re allowing your energy to be transformed and are practicing intuitive Feng Shui. If on the other hand you live with clutter and broken items your energy will be drained. 

                                               

2) Everything is Connected. When you allow changes to be made a chain reaction in energy flow occurs. You may feel you have more energy, smile more, feel healthier, want to do nice things for others. This in turn will lead to positive opportunities. By clearing a closet and bringing clothes to a consignment store I have made new friends and business opportunities. By observing and celebrating the connections your positive energy creates you are practicing intuitive Feng Shui.

                                       

3)   Everything is Constantly Changing. Life has a way of being in a constant flow; nothing remains the same. The art of Feng Shui is to steer the flow in positive directions. One opportunity can lead to another. If you allow the energy in your home to help move you forward, you are practicing intuitive Feng Shui. 

                                                      

Black Hat Feng Shui

There are two schools of thought in Feng Shui, the Compass and Form Schools. When reading about both, some of my students and clients are confused about the difference, and which they should use.  I was trained in, and practice the Form school which is known as Western Black Hat Feng Shui. Feng Shui is over three thousand years old in Eastern cultures, but it only really came to be known in the west with the introduction of "Black Hat Feng Shui."

Traditional Compass School Feng Shui masters are more interested in the type of Ch’i (positive life force energy) that enters a site and to do this they use more than just the simple Bagua. In addition, they might also use Chinese Astrology in conjunction with Feng Shui, to determine pillars of destiny, individual charts, house charts, flying stars and much more. Special attention is placed on compass readings for compass directions.

                                   

To simplify the complex rules of traditional Chinese Feng Shui, Black Hat uses the Bagua to divide a building into eight areas, meaning “Eight Trigrams” with the center for grounding.

Black Hat Feng Shui does not use a compass, and the main door is usually in only one of three sectors. The simplicity of this system means that Black Hat Feng Shui is very popular, and easily accessible. It relies on the power of visualizations and in particular, the use of decorative "enhancers" or objects that help you arrange your home to help you live your best life, and achieve your goals. They include using general Feng Shui theories, principles, philosophies, and the correct use of color, shape and natural materials such as plants and water.

Black Hat Feng Shui is known for a more simplistic use of the Bagua. This versatility of the Bagua chart makes this form of Feng Shui more accessible to individuals. Unlike Classical Feng Shui that requires extensive studying and training, the Black Hat rules are simple to follow and almost anyone can quickly utilize the Bagua for a home enhancement.

The steps in Black Hat Feng Shui are simple:

Step One: Procure or draw the layout of your home. This drawing should indicate your front door. Other exterior doors should also be added. Be sure to scale-to-size as much as possible so that each room in your home is accurately represented, including garages and attached decks.

Step Two: Superimpose the Bagua map over your layout. In Feng Shui, the bottom of the Bagua map will fall over the front side of your home layout. Your front door may fall in the left side, middle or right side of the front, and in the case of an upside-down horseshoe shaped home sometimes in the center.

                                  

Step Three: You can now use the map to help strengthen various areas of your life, such as career, money, relationships and health according to Black Hat Feng Shui principles, and enhancements including color, shapes, art and items.  You can learn how to anchor missing areas. Begin by familiarizing yourself with each sector of the Bagua and how it relates to the room(s) of your home.

If you are experiencing any negative effects in your life from one of these nine sectors, you can use Feng Shui principles and remedies to transform the inauspicious aspects, and attract auspicious Ch’i energy.

Both schools of thought have powerful, life changing results when applied and followed correctly.  Choose the one that works best for you.