My education and passion is in design, specifically interior design. I attended FIDM in Los Angeles in Interior Design and later became Feng Shui Certified in the Black Hat Sect Feng Shui school which is a simplified, more individualized form of Feng Shui. It allows your own style and intentions to be incorporated into your adjustments.
So, what is Feng Shui?
To basically explain a very complex practice, Feng Shui is using personal intention to arrange your environment to support your goals and objectives in life, and more importantly, to create harmony and balance using chi. Chi is basically energy. You possess it and the items and your home itself possesses it. It’s about creating a perfect balance for the chi to continually flow which results in a healthier outlook in life. If you have blockages of chi such as clutter, an arrangement of furniture or dark corners, then your life will have blockages.
Have you ever entered a home or an office where you felt comfortable and you found yourself wanting to linger? The chairs seemed to relieve your stress, the ambiance was intriguing and you breathed easier? On the other hand, have you ever entered a home or space and felt incredibly uncomfortable, closed in, unhappy and all you wanted to do was leave? You've experienced Feng Shui and chi.
There are four different aspects that I focus on. Before any consultation I give some life assessment questions that help you to evaluate where you are in life. We evaluate whether you are yin or yang, what element you are and what you most want from your home. I enjoy these because it really forces you to ponder about your situation and what you want your future to entail. It's a simple assessment of your life's goals and purposes.
Yin/Yang balancing. Each one of us is predominantly yin
(sensitive, quiet, slow, light, safe) or Yang (busy, fast, risk takers, social).
With yin./yang balancing you arrange your home to balance yourself. For
example, if you are yin you would make you home more yang and vice versa. Of course, this is a delicate balance
and all depends on how predominant the yin or yang is in your body.
Chi Flow. Chi flow is just how it sounds. How well does the chi flow in your home? I like to think of chi as a breeze. You open your front door, which is your main source of chi, and the breeze enters. Where does it go? Is it stopped by poorly placed furniture? Is it trapped in corners or does it speed up in empty hallways or stairs? Are there places in your home that aren't used because they feel uncomfortable?
5 Element Theory. There are five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water. There is a cycle that creates life such as Wood feeding Fire, Fire's ashes creating Earth, Earth creating Metal, Metal's condensation creating Water, and Water feeding Wood. There is also a destructive cycle. Metal chops down wood, Wood grows out of control in Earth. Earth dictates where water can go, Water puts out fire, and fire melts Metal. Now, you yourself have an element that is predominant in you. For example, I am earth. The characteristics of earth are nurturing. Jon is Wood which is very intense, outgoing and succeeds easily in complex business situations. Metal people are very strict rule followers and like things a certain way. As in anything, you can have too much or too little of something. Sometimes our environment does not support our element and can actually aggravate it. Let's take Jon. He is wood but after studying Feng Shui I found out that our room was also wood mainly because our room was painted green which is a wood color. This added to his wood element which created an inability for him to sleep since wood fuels thought and decisions. He would lie in bed and analyze different aspects of his life at night and not be able to fall asleep. So, I painted our room a steel blue which is a metal. This will help to "chop" up some of his wood energy, or reduce that energy, so that he can relax.
Chi Flow. Chi flow is just how it sounds. How well does the chi flow in your home? I like to think of chi as a breeze. You open your front door, which is your main source of chi, and the breeze enters. Where does it go? Is it stopped by poorly placed furniture? Is it trapped in corners or does it speed up in empty hallways or stairs? Are there places in your home that aren't used because they feel uncomfortable?
5 Element Theory. There are five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water. There is a cycle that creates life such as Wood feeding Fire, Fire's ashes creating Earth, Earth creating Metal, Metal's condensation creating Water, and Water feeding Wood. There is also a destructive cycle. Metal chops down wood, Wood grows out of control in Earth. Earth dictates where water can go, Water puts out fire, and fire melts Metal. Now, you yourself have an element that is predominant in you. For example, I am earth. The characteristics of earth are nurturing. Jon is Wood which is very intense, outgoing and succeeds easily in complex business situations. Metal people are very strict rule followers and like things a certain way. As in anything, you can have too much or too little of something. Sometimes our environment does not support our element and can actually aggravate it. Let's take Jon. He is wood but after studying Feng Shui I found out that our room was also wood mainly because our room was painted green which is a wood color. This added to his wood element which created an inability for him to sleep since wood fuels thought and decisions. He would lie in bed and analyze different aspects of his life at night and not be able to fall asleep. So, I painted our room a steel blue which is a metal. This will help to "chop" up some of his wood energy, or reduce that energy, so that he can relax.
BaGua Mapping. This is the most complicated of all so I am just going to barely skim the surface. BaGua mapping is a map that you place on top of your current floor plan. It consists of nine equal sectors. Each sector represents something different. You have Self Knowledge, Journey, Helpful people, Creative Offspring, Intimate Relationship, Fame and Recognition, Abundance, Family Heritage and Health. Each of these sectors has one of the five elements associated with it. I take your goals and objectives and use these sectors to assist you in achieving those goals and objectives. Basically it is using your home as a gigantic "motivation board." For example, if you are having problems being recognized for achievements that you have made then we activate your Fame and Recognition sector. If you need more time for yourself then we activate your Self Knowledge sector.
Objectives. Your objectives are very important in your Feng Shui journey. These are basically written goals that you would like your environment to support you in. Coming up with a few objectives can be quite challenging. You want to meditate through every aspect of your life and evaluate areas that need improvement. Be sure to only start with a few objectives. Once your initial objectives have been resolved, you can move onto others. It is very important that you are very specific in your objectives in order to allow your intentions to be clear and concise. Here are some examples.
Increase
my income to be able to support our lifestyle and build an eight month savings
($10,000).
Find
a career position that will be secure and provide for our needs as a nurse
practitioner in a private clinic.
Be
recognized within my company for my contributions and assets such as team
player, self motivator, and trustworthy.
Find
more time for myself to write my novel.
Find
more time to spend with my significant other throughout the week.
Improve
my intimate relationship with my spouse in every aspect.
Improve
communication about sensitive issues with my spouse.
Improve
my relationship with my teenage daughter into one of friendship and trust.
Improve
my health by lowering my blood pressure and losing weight.
Improve
my health by overcoming my addiction to sweets.
Take
a cruise to the Bahamas
Take
the family to Italy
Through
all the different aspects of Feng Shui, we can create a healthy, calm and
pleasant atmosphere that supports you.
Here’s to the journey ahead!
