The Restorative Benefits of Feng Shui

In life, we can’t always control what is happening around us, but during stressful times, applying Feng Shui principles to your environment gives you a sense of control within your home. It gives you a peaceful space to process and release your emotions, which inevitably helps to cultivate greater harmony and well-being.

The purpose of Feng Shui is to bring peace, harmony and a sense of serenity, and restfulness to you, your home, and your life. The serenity you create in your home has a great deal of influence on your outlook.

When we create a home that feels good, instead of one filled with anxiety, poor memories of the past, or clutter, it radiates throughout our entire lives and impacts how we show up for ourselves and others.

To that end, think of how you feel after you do a purge of your closet or after your home has been professionally cleaned. It may feel like there is literally more room to breathe. Our environment affects our mental, emotional, and even physical health. By creating harmonious living spaces, we cultivate balance and alignment within ourselves and our environment. 

                                   

Practicing Feng Shui, clearing the clutter, and adding beauty to your home helps you in so many ways:

1. It helps you release emotional baggage and clear mental clutter, because physical clutter creates mental clutter.

2. It allows you to get in touch with yourself by making you feel present in safe, pleasant spaces.

3. It can improve your relationships, because when you experience a feeling of calmness, and control you have fewer disagreements with others. When you are emotionally connected with others, you have less chance of feeling depressed, 

4. It helps you live a more intentional life, by creating space for stillness, meditation and inner Feng Shui.

5. It enhances creativity and intuition by finding ways to enhance your home. Every time you make an enhancement you “move the Ch’i” (the life force energy that flows through your home.)

To achieve all this, I believe that all  it takes are  for you to “remove” and “replenish.” 

First take time to remove any items from your home that clutter your and a stress to your life. For instance, remove all books, equipment, projects and materials from your bedroom that relate to other areas of your life. If you keep objects and equipment that remind you of work or other areas of your life in your bedroom, they can distract you from your intention of enjoying a fulfilling love relationship and relaxing in a nurturing calming environment. Move them to other more appropriate locations in your home. Take time to also remove piles, and objects that you no longer need. Create a decluttered, peaceful environment which nurtures you.

Next replenish yourself by surrounding yourself with items, people and/or experiences which you relish. Flowers, for instance, are a fantastic vehicle to self-care. They represent life, love, beauty, joy, possibility, abundance and transformation. In Feng Shui they represent good health and are particularly enhancing in the Health, Friends and Family area (middle left) of your home.

                                     

There are areas in your home that lend themselves nicely to peace and rest; the left front section of the structure is particularly related to stillness, while the middle left side is related to health and healthy relationships.  

In the Feng Shui Bagua , represented  as a grid of nine sectors, these areas  referred to as the “Knowledge and Self Cultivation Area”, and “Health Family and Friends.” They operate under the premise that good health and clarity of mind come from acquiring a peaceful lifestyle.  This can be accomplished through meditation, contemplation, and introspection.  Knowledge is viewed as the seed of wisdom, therefore when we spend time resting, our field of knowledge will be lush and productive.

There are numerous ways to enhance your home. The most common Feng Shui Ch’i enhancers are: Colors, art, mirrors, crystals, sound makers, natural objects, animals, flowers, lighting, plants, sound makers, water features and wind dancers.

Of all of these, I always feel that colors make the most difference in a person’s environment. Color is a power which directly influences the soul.

The colors in these two areas, are of course the calming colors, shades of blues and greens. The beauty of adding color to your home is that it can be done in a myriad of ways. Painting walls, replacing carpeting and new furniture is the most powerful and striking, but can also be the most expensive solution. If these options are prohibitive now, accents of colors can be introduced through flowers, candles, fabrics, and art. Your choices are endless!  Consider your home a blank canvas and you the artist.

                                 

Why green and blue?

Green - Some scientists believe that our eyes are at the peak of perception to detect the wavelengths corresponding to green, the shade then calms us down. With less strain to perceive the colors, our nervous system can relax.  It also symbolizes nature and attracts harmonious feelings that can diffuse anxiety. It has been proven that walking in a green environment can induce a significant reduction in heart rate. 

                                               

Blue – Psychologists believe that blue is the color of the mind and is essentially soothing.  It is known to lower blood pressure, slow down heart rate, and believe to have a cooling and astringent effect.

                                    

In the Knowledge and Self Cultivation area consider blues, greens, and art representing calm wooded scenes. Remember the calming effect nature has on you. 

In the Health/Family/Friends area use blues, greens and bring in art representing floral scenes, or add fresh cut flowers, or flowering plants in all colors. Flowers have a healing property. 

During these stressful social times, when you feel life is out of your control, removing clutter to free yourself from stress, and surrounding yourself with experiences you relish will keep your spirits up, sustain you and replenish you.

Free yourself from clutter and surround yourself with beauty and feel a shift in how you view life.

                                       

Breathe!

The Importance of Feng Shui Ch’i (Qi)

In Feng Shui, Ch’i or Qi, (either used interchangeably) is the flow of vital life force energy that exists in, and around everything. It is the fundamental concept that governs the flow of energy throughout space. It is energy that permeates everything in the universe, from the earth to living beings. A dynamic force that is constantly moving and interacting. 

It's believed that Qi can influence the health, well-being, and overall harmony of individuals within an environment. Feng Shui aims to enhance the flow of positive Qi by optimizing the placement and arrangement of objects and spaces.  

Feng Shui uses the nine-sector grid called the Bagua, a compass-like tool used to analyze the flow of Qi in different areas of a home or property.  The Ch’i enters from the front door, which is called “The Mouth of Ch’i.” It then flows in a counterclockwise direction following the natural nourishing cycle of the five Feng Shui elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water) Water feeds wood, wood feeds fire, fire makes earth, earth makes metal, and metal holds water.

                    

The goal of Feng Shui is to keep the Ch’i flowing without obstructions, such as clutter,  flowing out of staircases leading out the front door, or shooting directly from the front door out a back door or window. These can cause  the Qi  to have negative affects. Because Feng Shui’s goal is to improve our well-being, it aims to control the flow of Qi by using furniture placements, spatial designs, and other material placements so that Qi is redirected in a way that only improves our quality of life.

Understanding Qi can help individuals create a more balanced and harmonious living environment. This can involve rearranging furniture, decluttering, or even adjusting the placement of plants to promote positive Qi flow. 

                                                    

The goal of Feng Shui is to avoid negative Ch’i. 

You can actually feel the negative Qi forces such as clutter, or anything else that bothers our five senses of sight, taste, touch, sound, and smell will affect your wellbeing. When you feel stressed, or unhealthy, you are probably experiencing negative Ch'i in your environment.

Touch is about contacts to your skin with non-physical entities. Some examples are wind, heat waves, humidity, static, electric currents, and other types of energy that you can feel with your skin, muscles, and nerves.

It tells us how to regulate the temperature of our home. We can make proper adjustments to keep us warm, or cooler such as making more use of windows for fresh air.

Another example is living under high voltage electric lines. Feng shui tells us that electricity brings negative Qi that affects both our physical and mental health. Researchers are studying how electric currents produce an electro-magnetic field that damages our DNA and cells. 

It is the kind of invisible pressure you feel when you’re right next to a bigger object or within a narrow space. Low ceilings, low hanging chandeliers, and huge furniture also tend to give off this form of Qi, but you will feel it only when you’re right under these objects or very close to it.

To avoid this Qi, Feng Shui suggests that we use higher ceilings and avoid placing big furniture right next to our bed. The goal is to give us more comfort where we live.

In a home where proper Feng Shui was applied, you will not be affected by negative Qi that impacts  your mental and physical health. Instead, you will be surrounded with other types of Qi that stimulate your senses in a positive way, such as clean air, sunshine, flowers, beautiful art, or other objects you use to keep your spirits up.

                                                     

When you’re healthy, and light spirited people will enjoy your company, your work productivity will increase, and the overall quality of your life will be better. It’s like how employers are improving office design to achieve higher employee productivity.

Enjoy the positive results of surrounding yourself with positive life force energy.

                                                                            

Blessings

Feng Shui Tips for Patios and Decks

While enhancing the interior of your home, using Feng Shui principles, remember that the exterior is also considered part of your home, and needs a harmonious Feng Shui set up that will continue to enhance your home’s aesthetic and energy flow.

                          

Covered decks and patios become part of the Bagua and take on the attributes of that area. An uncovered patio just becomes an extension of the adjacent Bagua area.

In Feng Shui, the flow of Ch’i, or life force energy, is most important, therefore decks and patios can serve as pivotal points for positive energy when arranged correctly.

Begin by identifying the Bagua area which the patio or deck is located, then treating it as a room in your home, and enhancing it in ways that will nourish your energy. Choose the appropriate colors, fabrics that reflect the area, be mindful of placement, create a sense of enclosure, incorporate natural elements, maintain clutter-free spaces, and enhance with symbolic imagery. Examples are listed below:

                           

 Career Area

• Ensure that your front walk is clutter free and that there are no dead or dying plants. 
• Use black, or very dark colors, and grey or white.
• Activate the Water element by installing a water feature, such as a fountain with water flowing toward the house, to keep the energy flowing inward, or install a 360-degree bubbling fountain close by. A fountain with the water flowing away from the house symbolizes the Ch’i flowing out. This is also a good place for a small pond if it is kept clean and circulating.
• Use wind chimes to invite the Ch’i to enter, plant colorful healthy flowers along the path (curved if possible) to your door.

                         

 Knowledge and Self-Cultivation Area

• Showcase lush plants and trees.
• Create a seating area with wooden or wicker furniture and green or blue cushions for quiet reflection. This is a great place to accentuate with a fountain containing water that flows toward the house.
• Display statues of spiritual guides and blue or green gazing balls.
• Create a peaceful, serene entrance that will invite in the Ch’i.

                      

 Health, Family, and Friends Area

• Make sure the area is clutter free and that there are no dead or dying plants.
• Enhance with lush, healthy flowering plants.
• Accent with wood seating and planters and blue and green tones.

                    

.Wealth and Prosperity Area

• Continue enhancing with the colors purple, red, and blue in flowers, pots, cushions, umbrellas.
• Add a water feature flowing toward the home or business. (Waterfalls or 360-degree bubbling fountains work well here in letting prosperity flow.)
• Call in the Ch’i by adding flags, whirligigs, mobiles, or wind chimes.

                         

 Fame and Reputation Area

• Continue enhancing with the red color spectrum in flowers, pots, cushions, umbrellas. Decorate with representations of suns, stars.
• Add up lighting and twinkle lights.
• Install a fire pit and/or barbecue grill.

                           

 Love, Marriage, and Relationships Area

• Continue with the red, pink, and white color spectrum in flowers, pots, cushions, umbrellas.
• Display garden art in pairs.
• If you have room, add a bistro table with two chairs.

                    

 Children and Creativity Area

•  Continue with the pastel and white color spectrum in flowers, pots, cushions, umbrellas.
•  Display metal or whimsical garden art.
• Install a children’s play structure, swings, sandbox, or a children’s garden. 
• Enhance with a metal seating arrangement, bringing in circular and arched shapes.
• Decorate with natural stones.

                    

.Helpful People and Travel Area

• Add items and flowers in the color white and round or curved shapes.
• Enhance with garden art representing spiritual guides (angels, saints, Buddhas, etc.).
• Decorate with rocks and stones in grey and white.

                    

 Center Area

• This is a perfect spot for an interior courtyard, or atrium.
• Use items, flowers, plants in the yellow, earth tone spectrum.
• Ceramic garden art such as tiles, statuary, fountains, pots, and benches
• Use square or rectangular shapes

                    

 As you explore the many choices of enhancements remember the importance of creating a serene and inviting outdoor retreat, that harmonizes with the Feng Shui principles of your living environment. Create a tranquil haven for relaxation, and rejuvenation and watch as your deck, or patio transform into harmonious space where positive energy flows freely.

The Outside of Your Home Can Create a Feng Shui Enhancement

Did you know that the outside of your home is as important as the inside in helping you create positive Feng Shui energy?  In this hectic world, I have learned the importance of having a space that is calm and healing – your garden can be just that space. The recent rains, with following sunshine, have blessed my garden with lush leaves and a multitude of beautiful flowers, an intoxicating fragrance and an explosion of color. It’s important to have an outlet where the brain can breathe, and your garden can be this natural outlet. 

When my mother passed away years ago, a friend gave me a beautiful statue of a cherub. I placed it in the front of my house in my Knowledge and Self Cultivation area and keep it surrounded with flowers. Right now, a multitude of red tulips bless the space, and help escort nourishing Ch’i to my front door. Being at my entrance they help nourish me with beauty, and positive memories each time I return home. 

There are so many things you can do to enhance your home’s outer space, whether you have a garden, a patio or beautiful pots and vases at home you can use the power of plants, flowers, fountains, and garden art to enhance your life. Some suggestions are:

Sow flower seeds to attract bees and beautiful birds, plant a vegetable garden, pull weeds, clean, organize and refresh your yard, or patio. If you have children, you can teach them gardening skills and love for nature. Cut your own beautiful fresh flowers and arrange them in stunning floral art, then take pictures of your beautiful arrangements, or just enjoy your garden by strolling through it, taking a nap, meditating or sitting on a favorite bench. Inhale the fragrance and breathe the stress away. 

                               

Feng Shui, which has been practiced for over 3,000 years in China, is the enhancement of health, prosperity, and happiness through a connection with your environment. Your vitality, resources, and loving connections flourish and grow best in harmonious environments. Flowers, with their various shapes and colors, represent all of the five Feng Shui Elements. When in balance, these five elements help to calm and energize you at the same time.                                        

If your home is considered the "heart" of your property, the garden is considered the "aura". Your garden is your personal passport into nature. Whether you plant a flower or vegetable garden, the beauty in your outdoor environment attracts vibrant Ch’i into your home. 

Basic Feng Shui principles can help you nurture and strengthen your energy and yourself in all aspects of your life. You can surround yourself with flowers in your home or use some of these suggestions for creating a Bagua in your garden. 

Gardens and the Bagua:

The Feng Shui  Bagua (Ba-gua) Map, is represented  as a grid of nine sectors.  The Bagua comes from the Chinese philosophy, “The I Ching,” and literally means “eight trigrams”, with the center for grounding and centering.  Each sector of the Bagua is represented by one of the elements, which can be associated by the shapes and colors of plants and garden art.    

Apply the Bagua map on your landscape footprint, using the driveway as the entrance. This may not be in the same direction as your front door. Depending on where your driveway is you will be entering your property from Knowledge, Career or Helpful People.  Enhancing the entrance to your home and garden with healthy plants, water features, greeters and curving walkways is one of the most important things you can do to invite energizing Ch’i to your life.  Gardens should take on the qualities of the Bagua area they reside in. Here are some examples of using the Bagua to enhance your garden:

Enhancements in Career Area

• Soft colorful plants, reds are particularly auspicious, water features such as 360-degree bubbling fountains or with water flowing toward the house, pots in shiny dark colors, wind chimes, and curved paths or asymmetrical lines

                                                  

Enhancements in Knowledge and Self Cultivation Area

•  Colors of blues, greens, wooden benches, symbols of mountains or large rocks, statues representing spiritual guides, healthy plants with rounded soft leaves, gazing balls, and items that create a quiet meditative feeling
  
                                           

Enhancements in Health/Family/Friends Area

• An abundance of healthy flowers in any color with upright growth (blooming flowers represent perfect health), sitting areas for entertainment, symbols of family, vegetable gardens, herbs, orchard

Enhancements in Wealth Area

•  Plants in the purple color spectrum, fountains or waterfalls flowing toward the home, flags or whirligigs

Enhancements in Fame Area

• Plants in colors red, up lighting or twinkle lights, BBQs, fire pits, garden art representing suns, stars, triangles and sculptures of people or animals
  
                                          

Enhancements in Love and Marriage Area

• Pairs of items depicting romance, including bistro tables with two chairs, two lounge chairs, loveseat or sculptures in pairs (avoid single or lonely items), plants in colors of reds, pinks and white
                                           

Enhancements in Children and Creativity Area

• Items in metal and plants in colors of white and pastels, whimsical garden art, children’s playground or personal garden, workbench, garden bench, fairies, butterflies, nature spirit
  
                                  
  
  

Enhancements in Helpful People and Travel Area

• Garden art representing spiritual guides, or desired travel locations (We have a colorful pole with signs pointing to all the places we’ve traveled), birds, sundials
• Items in metal and white plants 

Enhancements in Center Area

•  Houses usually occupy the center of the landscape Bagua, but if they don't this is an auspicious area for ceramics, plants in the color yellow, earth tones, rectangle shapes, patios, bricks/pavers, table and chairs

Because the home and garden are so connected, Feng Shui practitioners usually recommend enhancements for both.  

1) Make the entry beautiful and clutter free

2) Place water features in the Career and Wealth areas 

3) Remove dead plants quickly

4) Balance the Yin/Yang of your garden with opposites (short/tall plants, hot/soft colors, etc.)

5) Keep all systems working (i.e. watering, lighting – nothing should be broken)

                                      

Remember that the outside of your home also reflects your personal energy.  Enhance it to help you relieve stress and help you create a peaceful welcoming  space.    

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.