Increasing the Positive Energy of Your Home .... A Little Bit of Feng Shui

Every spring I do a Feng Shui re-assessment of my home and business.  I like to make sure that over the year I have not created any energy problems and I like to try to add in a few more things to bring an even more positive flow.

Feng Shui is a method for helping the energy of your space to flow in a most positive, balanced way.  There are some great books out there to help you understand Feng Shui and I really love this article from About.com, but here are a few notes I have made for myself to help me each year.

BAGUA AREAS

Feng Shui assigns an area of your life (bagua) to each area of your house with your front door being somewhere on bottom plane of the chart below.  

MONEY	REPUTATION	LOVE
FAMILY/HEALTH	CENTER	CHILDREN/CREATIVITY
PERSONAL GROWTH	CAREER	HELPFUL PEOPLE/BLESSINGS

ELEMENTS SUPPORTING BAGUA AREAS

Each of these areas is supported by an element .. earth, wood, water, fire or metal.  In the area, you want to give as much support to that element as you can.  You can do this by incorporating the colors and items that are related to that element.  You can also incorporate colors and items from the element that feeds the element in your area and you can remove colors and items from the element that destroys the element in your area.

MONEY Wood  (water+, metal-)	REPUTATION Fire (wood+, water-)	LOVE Earth (fire+, wood-)
FAMILY/HEALTH Wood (water+, metal-)	CENTER Earth  (fire+, wood-)	CHILDREN/CREATIVITY Metal (earth+, fire-)
PERSONAL GROWTH Earth  (fire+, wood-)	CAREER Water (metal+, earth-)	HELPFUL PEOPLE/BLESSINGS Metal (earth+, fire-)

Feeds

Water -->Wood--> Fire--> Earth--> Metal

Destroys

Wood -->Earth--> Water--> Fire--> Metal

COLORS AND ELEMENTS SUPPORTING ELEMENTS

The colors and items that support each element are as follows ....

Wood: Green/Brown/Purple'Gold, plants, wood items

Fire: Red/orange/purple/pink/yellow, candles, lighting, leather, animal items

Earth: light yellow/sand. crystals and rocks, pottery

Metal: white/gray, metal

Water: blue/black, water, mirrors, images of water, glass

INSPIRATIONAL ITEMS SUPPORTING BAGUA AREAS

You can also add in items that support the energy of the bagua areas by picking things that inspire you in that area of your life ... family photos in Family/Heath, a jar of pennies in Money, etc.  You can select items that speak to you are can search around for some of the traditional items that supports each section.  This article discusses some of the traditional elements.

CLUTTER

One of the most useful things to do to support the positive energy of your home is to remove the clutter!  Energy cannot flow if it is all blocked up by stacks of papers and piles of laundry.

STRUCTURAL ISSUES

Another big part of Feng Shui is looking at the flow of energy around the furniture and structural items, like windows, of your home.  This article talks about some of the most common energy flow problems.

While I am not an expert in Feng Shui, I have implemented a lot of these small tips and have found them to make a positive impact on the energy in my home.  

Space Clearing ... Uplifting the Energy in Your Home

I can remember "spring cleaning" as one of my earliest memories. Perhaps because it was a family affair whereas weekly cleaning was something my mom did while we were at school or outside playing. But since it is one of those special childhood memories, it is a tradition I have kept up with my own home and family. But I have added the tradition of space clearing.

Space clearing is basically revitalizing the energy of a space through a ritual.

I learned about space clearing in the book Sacred Space: Clearing and Enhancing the Energy of Your Home by Denise Linn. And from the book I developed my own ritual for space clearing my home after I have finished my spring cleaning.

I set an intention for the year for my home and those who dwell in it.

I assemble a tray of items I will use to clear the energy in each room ... salt (or a flower or herbs) for Earth, water mixed with essential oils for Water, candles (or incense) for Light and a bell for Air.

Then I move from room to room with my tray and in each room I leave a little glass of salt, light candle, mist the room and ring the bell. Then I ask for the energy of the room to be clean and positive.

A while later I blow out the candles. And a week or so later, I remove the salt.

The ritual is quite simple and when I have finished I have such a lovely feeling in my home! But I am a firm believer that you are free to create your own ritual, the important thing is that you are expressing your intention to have positive energy flowing through your home.

(I also repeat the ritual throughout the year if there has been significant negativity or illness in a particular room or the house.)

Discovering the Perfect Way to Spend the Day ... By Picturing It Is Your Last

I did an exercise where I imagined how I would like to spend my last day on earth.

I decided I would ...

- stay in my pajamas

- read books in bed to my kids

- drink champagne 

- snuggle on the couch with my kids and watch a movie

- cook something with my kids

- give something special of mine to each of my kids

-hug and kiss my kids

- look at old photos

- sew something

- eat sushi

- have a slumber party with my kids

The day looked perfect to me.  And I decided I should not save a perfect day for my last on earth.  So I have promised to have at least one of these days each year!  I can't wait for my first "last day"!