Gina Speed
Practicing Feng Shui (pronounced “fung shway”) is like turning your home into a living, breathing inspiration board. Not sure how to decorate, or where to put things? Feng Shui works as a handy-dandy guide that gets you moving in the right direction. In my early 20’s, I moved into my first home and felt the need for some interior decorating. I had great furniture and fun décor, but alas, was a little spatially challenged in those younger years. Feng Shui came to the rescue!
Feng Shui Your Life
Do you believe in the spiritual force of nature? My friend Tracy (who is always turning me onto the next thing) gave me a book called Feng Shui Your Life. As I read it, I was immediately enamored with the idea of “chi”. Basically, chi is energy that flows all around you and through your home. A few calculated adjustments can channel this energy to affect your mental state in the way you want it to go. I am a strong believer in the power we possess within our own minds to heal our bodies and create our destinies. Your surroundings can help you keep focus on what you are trying to accomplish in your life.
Make Your Home a Vision Board
Your home is a vision board on a grander scale. It can work to uplift you and get you moving towards achieving your goals. Inspiration/ vision boards are collages designed to inspire creators, or motivate achievers. For example, if you use Pinterest (here’s a link to ours!), you’re kind of creating vision boards for yourself and others with the collage of images you choose to share. What inspires you? Music? Travel? Keeping physical images around you will slowly get you moving in those directions. You’d be surprised. Make your home a work of art!
Bagua Blueprint
Most people have heard of Feng Shui, but are unfamiliar with the bagua. The bagua is a map or tool signifying 9 specific areas of your life that are connected to your living environment. First, lay the bagua chart over the floor plan of your home (or any room). Place the Knowledge/ Career/ Helpful People section over the main entrance. Then, analyze the space as it relates to the map. Is a section missing? You may want to add a few easy enhancements, such as a mirror or plant to compensate.
Use a Compass
Shutterfly also has an easy step-by-step guide that walks you through the discovery phase using a compass. The article includes more tips focusing on the bedroom specifically, so check it out! Once you get the idea of which center you’d like to enhance, you can start to learn more about incorporating decor elements. The Shutterfly guide also does a very nice job of breaking down each of the five elements and teaching you how they work together.
Enhance a Center
What areas in your life would you like to see improve? The answer will change as you go through different experiences and have different needs. Anytime your desires change, enhance that particular area in your home for inspiration or encouragement. When you walk into a candlelit room or a bright room filled with greenery an impact is made. You can’t deny this has an effect on your mood and mental state. Create an environment that nurtures you and motivates you in the right direction.
You Have Too Much Already
Unfortunately, our society has fostered tendencies to constantly compare what we have to what our neighbors have. Too many of us feel we don’t have enough and yet are borderline hoarders. Stop! Take a breath and get ready to clean up and get organized. Look around yourself and see the abundance you already possess. My grandmother used to say, “a clean kitchen is a happy kitchen”. And it affects the cook!
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20 Years of Practice
I’ve been implementing Feng Shui principles into my home for 20 years now and I love the serenity I feel when I walk in the door. I’ll be working to create a few articles that talk about each individual section of the bagua. Learn how you can direct some positive energy towards the centers that have most meaning to you. Get rid of the clutter! Feel more open and positive towards the possibilities in life. The objects you surround yourself with have a powerful impact on your subconscious (a greatly undervalued asset in life). Start taking note of what you love and what is just taking up space.
Step 1:
Give yourself a creative outlet and make your own vision board! Grab a couple of magazines and make a collage of anything you see that inspires you. It will give you some direction as you start putting that Feng Shui to work! I guarantee, you will start to love your home and you will find renewed joy in what you already possess. If you are in a shopping mood, it will also help you buy things in a more meaningful way. Maybe you’ll eventually become Feng Shui-insane like me (where you walk into any room and immediately start gauging the chi). One can only hope! ;p To learn more about Feng Shui, simply click the main menu at the top of the page and select “Feng Shui”, or click here.