What Is Feng Shui and How Can It Help You?

Feng Shui has to do with how energy flows in your home or your office. The actual definition of Feng Shui describes it as a Chinese philosophy and system of laws that govern spatial arrangement and orientation in relation to the flow of energy (qi), and whose favorable or unfavorable effects are taken into account when sitting and designing buildings and spaces.

I recently saw a post from a woman named Kerri Miller, who is a Feng Shui consultant. She was describing how your home and surroundings can impact your emotional state and well-being. She explained that if there are areas of clutter in your home, it could be impacting certain areas of your life such as relationships, health, finances, etc.

This concept peaked my attention. I thought about how I feel when I walk into a home that is clean and organized, that smells fresh and feels bright compared to walking into a home that has piles of papers, is disorganized, and has dirty dishes in the sink. To think about each of these scenarios, one feels light and peaceful and the other conjures up stress and anxiety.

As I thought about my own house, there are definitely rooms, where I walk into them and it causes me to feel anxious and stressed. We have a busy house with 5 people and a dog. There is my husband and I, and then we have 3 teenage daughters. The school work, books, handouts, artwork and mail that gets brought into our home on a daily basis always seem to pile up in certain rooms and in particular corners. It reminds me of the movie the Gremlins, the piles get bigger and multiply just by getting them wet. I may have aged myself with that quote.

Two Important Things I Learned About Feng Shui

So I hired Kerri Miller to help me. I had heard of Feng Shui, but I really did not know what it was. After only 2 sessions, I learned some powerful concepts, such as the importance of using the front door and what a Bagua Map is.

First Concept: Use the front door.

Kerri emphasized the importance of using the front door of our home and using it as much as possible. She explained that the house was originally built for the front door to be the main entrance. It is also important that the front door opens inward and does not swing outward. This welcomes and pulls Chi-energy into the home instead of pushing it out.

As I thought about our house, I realized that we rarely use our front door. We have a large driveway and it is much easier to enter our home through the side door. So, I have started to be intentional about using the front door several times a day, forgetting the mail, or taking our dog for a walk and exiting through the front door.

On the first visit, Kerri did a walk-through of my house. She explained to me that each corner of a house signifies a particular area of a person’s or family’s life. The four corners are “Wealth & Abundance”, “Relationships, Marriage & Love”, “Knowledge & Spirituality” and “Helpful People & Travel”.

Then we looked at each of these corners in my house, I realized that the Relationship corner was a very disorganized linen closet (coincidentally our wedding photo albums were in there) and my Wealth & Abundance corner definitely needed some TLC. So after the session, I amped up my Wealth & Abundance corner with some flowers, a plant, and some nice crystal bowls and then I started to spice up and organize the other three remaining corners.

2nd Concept: What Is A Bagua Map?

Above is a picture of a Bagua map. Imagine laying this map over a blueprint of your home from the viewpoint of your front door. Our home is rectangular so it was easy to map out. If yours is not, you will need to work with someone that practices Feng Shui to determine where certain areas are represented in your home. The concept that certain areas of the home represented certain areas of my life absolutely fascinated me. Especially, when I became aware of the attention we were giving to certain areas of our home to keep things organized or if we were totally neglecting an area.

As a Holistic Health Coach & Reiki Practitioner, I have learned that where I focus my attention is where my energy flows and this definitely followed the same philosophy,

“Where you place your energy, is where your energy flows.”

Dr. Joe Dispenza

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Feng Shui Has Helped Me Feel Less Anxious & Stressed

The concept of organizing and giving attention to these areas based on the Bagua map really resonated with me. It’s been several months now and I have really been able to clear out old books, clothing, etc. that we no longer have use for. It feels freeing to give stuff away that is just taking up space and draining our energy.

From a Feng Shui perspective, when you continue to keep old items that you are no longer using, these things stay energetically attached to you and block the Chi-energy from flowing. We have all heard the saying, “Let go of the old, to make way for the new.” When you let something go, the philosophy is that it will be replaced with something bigger and better.

I can honestly say that my house seems lighter and there is definitely a different energy in the rooms. I have a new awareness and I look at things differently now. Instead of seeing the clutter as such a burden and feeling so emotional about it, I now see it as something that just needs to be organized. Even taking 10 minutes to organize an area can really make a difference.

All of these little areas being decluttered really adds up. Now that I am into this groove, this past weekend, I was inspired to help one of my teenage daughters clear out, clean, and rearrange her room. Previously, she did not like being in her room because it was so disorganized and it was hard for her to do homework in it. After 2 hours of working together and getting her room organized, I am happy to say that she has been doing her homework in her clean organized room all week.

Listed below are some more details about Feng Shui and some ideas to add to your Wealth & Abundance corner:

• Article on Using a Bagua Map
• How to use Feng Shui in every room
• Understanding Feng Shui’s Meaning & Purpose
• 5 Powerful Wealth Corner Enhancers