Loving your home during & after Covid-19

If you are new to Feng Shui, let me tell you, there has never been a more perfect time to get started than now!  With the majority of cities, states and countries “sheltering in place”, people are working from home, homeschooling their children and basically spending every moment inside their homes.  Therefore, it is vitally important that our spaces nourish us in every way possible.  This is actually a wonderful way to define Feng Shui. When used correctly, it brings balance to disorder and chaos.  It creates stability and wholeness.   It invites and nourishes all aspects of life.  It is our not-so secret weapon to thriving and mentally surviving this pandemic.

By now, the reality that we are not getting out of here any time soon, has set in and like it or not, we are all in this together; making the best of a situation that none of us could have predicted.  Our homes can either feel like paradise or like prison.  We have a choice.  This is the time to take stock, and make the changes that need making to create a space that you love.  Feng Shui is a tool of empowerment.  In a time when so many of us feel powerless and out of control to the things happening in our world, it is one small thing that we can all do.  We start within, and expand out.

Having all this “free time” inside our homes, without the typical distractions of life, is eliminating the excuses we often tell ourselves about being too “busy” to do this or that.  As this word loses its power over us, the opportunity to stop procrastinating and take stock of the things that matter takes precedence.  Turns out that this is a great time to organize that closet, drawer(s), garage, guest bedroom, etc. that you’ve been putting off for ages.  It is also a time to take a mental and physical inventory of the things that you see every day, but stopped noticing or appreciating when life became too full of obligations.

Life can be overwhelming, and there just isn’t enough bandwidth to always give it all the attention that it needs and deserves.  When I feel overwhelmed, I find something small that I can do that will have the biggest impact. Since I don’t have a dishwasher, and I don’t wash things immediately after using them, focusing my attention on my ‘sink full of dirty dishes’ is often my favorite place to begin.  My point is, start small.

To help you get started, I am going to share a few Feng Shui pointers that are universally true, will help you feel better in your space and don’t require any previous knowledge or understanding about Feng Shui.

The first thing that you see when you enter your home, has the biggest impact on how you feel while you are there.  From the front door, the ideal room to see is the living room.  We want to invite the chi, which is just an Eastern word for energy, to chill out and get cozy. . . . to relax.   If the room you see does not make you want to relax and unwind,  it may be creating a form of anxiety and restlessness.

Homework #1 – Walk into your home through your front door.  What do you see?  How does it make you feel? Do you feel overwhelmed?  Do you feel calm and relaxed? What can you change?  Are you willing to make changes to feel more productive and focused?  If yes, keep reading.

Homework #2 – I want you to walk around your house and look for doors that hit each other.  Now, in case you aren’t sure, let me explain.   Are there any doors in your home that either hit or have the potential to bang into each other?  It’s more common than you might think. This happens most frequently between a closet door and a bedroom door.  These are called “fighting doors” and they create an on-going, but low-level type of tension.  There are two ways to combat this, but that is something better addressed in a private consultation.

And speaking of doors, it’s best that they be allowed to open fully.  By this, I mean there should not be any furniture, shoes, or toys preventing them from opening, nor should there be any items permanently stored behind them.  This door problem is similar to doors that bang, but it is easier to fix. Homework #3 – if you have something blocking a door from opening fully, find a new place for it, or get rid of it.

There is a rule in Feng Shui called the “command position”.  This means that when you are working at your desk, lying in bed, cooking or even lounging on the couch, you can see the main door to that room.  This is a huge thing in Feng Shui.  I like to compare this rule to the Vito Corleone character in The Godfather.  He would NEVER be caught sitting with his back to any door.  Being in command position demands respect.  It creates a feeling of safety, security and support.  It is so important on so many levels, that I can’t emphasize it enough.  Homework #4 – are you in command position when you are working, sleeping, cooking and lounging? How does it make you feel? Is it possible to move your furniture or yourself in order to be in command?  Are you willing to try it?  If you absolutely hate the way it feels to be in a commanding position, you can always move your furniture back.  Why not give it a try? It’s not like you have anything better to do now that you get to stay home all day and all night.

And lastly, let’s take a look at your stove.  Do all the burners work?  Do you use all the burners?  Is it clean?  The stove, in Feng Shui, is symbolic of abundance and prosperity.  If it is dirty, or if some part of it isn’t working correctly, that will have an impact on the flow of finances. 

I do realize that these tips and homework may bring more questions than answers, but the first step is awareness.  The next step is action.  Since I cannot do in-home consultations right now, I am offering remote consultations at a discounted rate.  If you are interested in learning more or feel like you are stuck, give me a call, text or respond to this post.  I’d love to help.

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Fighting Foreclosure with Feng Shui

“All things are vibrating energy fields in ceaseless motion” – Eckhart Tolle

In recent years, foreclosure has become more commonplace then ever before. Foreclosure is everywhere and probably coming to a neighborhood near you. There is one thing that foreclosures often have in common; they are in a state of disgrace. If they have been empty for long, they usually look dilapidated. When families are forced out of a home, it is not uncommon for them to destroy the property in retaliation.  Foreclosed homes that stay empty too long, have a tendency to lower the property value of homes around them by virtue of their poor energy.

Ideally, an investor looking for a sweet deal will swoop in, pay cash, give it a makeover, and sell it for a fat profit.  In fact, entire cable programs have grown up around this concept.  There is just one problem with this scenario.  If the structural problems and predecessor energy that contributed to the home’s demise are not addressed, there is a strong probability that the new owners will have the same or similar issues.

If the problem with a foreclosed home was simply ugly carpet or paint, then replacing those items would eliminate the pattern.  However, ugly carpet does not in and of itself cause foreclosure.  In order to understand structural foreclosure causes, we must look to some of the age-old Feng Shui rules for an explanation and creative solutions.

I am going to share a few Feng Shui design flaws that may contribute to a home’s  potential to an unstable financial flow.  Our homes are a mirror to our lives, so when one begins to deteriorate, it is probable that the other will follow.

1. The front door aligns perfectly with a back door – While this design is not enough to create foreclosure all by itself, it does often lead to money coming in and going out too quickly.  Ideally, energy enters a home, meanders around and nourishes its surroundings.  However, with this design, there is no meandering, thus, there is very little energy retainage.  Now, let’s replace the word “energy” with money.  They are synonymous.
2. The front door opens up to a set of stairs – There are many variables that impact this design with the main one being the distance between the stairs and the door.  The closer the stairs are to the door, the worse it is.  The type of stairs also matters.  Stairs that have a landing, can cause less issues than the kind that cascade straight down.
3. A bathroom is located in one of the commanding areas – If you are familiar with a Feng Shui bagua, then you know that the commanding areas of any home are typically in the back of the house.  These areas correspond with the bagua sections of Abundance, Fame and Relationships.

The nice thing about Feng Shui is that by working with the elements of Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, as well as the colors and shapes that represent these elements, we can nullify negative architectural designs.  By learning to rehabilitate homes that have been devastated by the ignorance of improper home design, and using the tools we have been given within the system of Feng Shui, we can create homes that are healed.  As we heal our homes, we heal ourselves, and we create a planet that allows all life to thrive and prosper.

If you know someone that is facing foreclosure, share this article with them.  I’d love to help them prevent that potential outcome.  I can be reached at fengshuidesignconcepts@gmail.com, logynnbnorthrhip@gmail.com or at 512-496-9232.