A friend in Switzerland – where we were living, had broken up with her boyfriend. She asked me how she could resolve this part of her life as it was important to her. Having an interest in Feng Shui, she invited me to her apartment. Of course, the first room we entered was the relationship corner. This happened to be her spare bedroom – it had a single mattress propped against the wall and she was using the room as her ironing and laundry space. It didn’t need much discussion to figure out what she needed to do! She gave away the old mattress and moved her bed in to the relationship corner. She also unpacked two lovely Budapest lamps she had had for some time. We added bed linen that was rich in colour giving the room a sensual feel. No, she didn’t instantly get a new boyfriend but after we moved, I heard that she was finally in a stable relationship.
Often, Feng Shui is just common sense but you need another pair of eyes to view your place. When I am asked to assist with some Feng Shui, I always ask two questions; the first being, what area in your life are you wanting to activate or change? The second is – what areas in your space seem to feel odd, don’t work well, you constantly try to decorate or you shut off. Don’t panic, there is always something to work on or alter! Recently, I wanted to activate our wealth sector for a purchase. I added a lovely plant called Gold Dust and placed it in an expensive ornate ceramic pot. The pot symbolises the Earth element and the plant represents Wood. I added a small water fountain. Nothing happened except I liked the area more. I then pulled out a lovely ceramic bowl that has rich flowers painted on. It doesn’t exactly match my colour scheme but I was prepared to give it a try. The next day we got our purchase approved. The outcome of Feng Shui doesn’t always happen immediately and if it reverses, change the area quickly. Don’t forget Feng Shui translates as ‘wind and water’, essential life forces which affect our Chi – our energy. Your space matches your own Chi.
Here are some basic ideas around Feng Shui. I have even worked with friends and we have pulled the whole room out and re-organised it. It can be overwhelming but do it in steps. Sometimes it is a simple task of repainting or moving decor around.
Tips & Tricks for Common Sense Feng Shui
- Declutter – yep, you have seen me write this in most of my posts. You will find it gives you a sense of calm and being organised. The process of three piles helps, one to keep, one to donate or sell and one to throw away.
- Use the Bagua map and solve all missing sectors and wall extensions.
- Check the colours out of each Bagua section and balance them. A note; if the section says red this doesn’t mean you go crazy!
- Then look at the Element in each sector – for example, the career sector is deep blue and black and the element is Water. Yet again, don’t go overboard especially if it is a bathroom. Our bathroom is in this area so I have used grey but in the tiles.
- Then determine what you need to change and do it in stages.
Counterbalancing
Sometimes you need to balance the elements and colours. We have a lot of wooden windows and are surrounded by trees which symbolises growth and energy. It can be too much so we counterbalance with earth elements (ceramics and stone) to ‘ground’ the energy and we have reduced the amount of water to avoid encouraging further ‘growth’. A touch of red here and there for fire and metal, allows the balance of all five Elements to created inner harmony.
