Tag Archives: Spirit

Feng Shui Matters To Your Heart

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“If light is in your heart, you will find your way home.”
– Rumi

If you are like me you may be feeling an ache in your heart for Orlando, the LGBTQ community and their families. After the Bataclan attack last year I wrote “How To Manifest Peace”. These tragedies and the ones preceding, Aurora, Newtown, Roseburg…, could conceivably keep our spirits rattled for some time which may settle into a despairing belief that peace is not possible in our communities. I believe we have options. We can begin to repair when we understand how these events have placed stress on our hearts. Making a shift to focus on kindness, our communities’s purpose and the influence our home has on our heart’s well-being can be healthy antidotes to combat despair. I compiled “Feng Shui Matters To Your Heart”, a list of design details that cause conflict. I have seen time and again when we modify stress in the walls that surround us, we don’t just keep the healing to ourselves, the empowerment goes out to our loved ones and our communities.

The ancient Chinese scholars identified the Heart as the director of all the other functions of the body primarily because of its leadership quality, its ‘shen’ or ‘spirit’. “In The Yellow Emperor’s Chinese Classic–the oldest text in Chinese medicine–the strength of the shen is essential for good health: ‘If shen is strong, the body will be strong; if we lose shen, the body will perish.’ ” – Epoch Times

So we see something more than a regulator of blood circulation as western medicine would indicate. The Heart is an organ of consciousness. It is the spark that moves the body in rhythm with a love song; stirs the pulse when hearing a rousing poem; ignites passion when seeing a powerful speaker; the soul of the pen that radiates an uplifting letter. It is the Heart that guides our intellect, studies the world, gives us a sense of mindfulness…it is the supreme governor that directs our purpose everyday, fulfilling our ‘why’. 

“The shen likes peace and calm.” It is a balanced state for the Heart. When you experience shen disturbances such as anxiety, insomnia, sadness, obsession, stress, heart palpitations, heart disease, depression or an inability to speak clearly, these symptoms are revealing some truth about your situation. The imbalances caused by the environment, either in your body or the landscape that surrounds you, can be a catalyst to explore not only conventional and Chinese medicine, but also an opportunity to inquire what in your home may be creating an unsettled spirit in you. 

I believe we are in the midst of extraordinary transformation. What is prompting the change are extreme, sometimes tragic, but always heart-opening experiences and our response to transmute these into positive events is clearly in the early stages of evolution. There is no better time than now to focus on aligning the Feng Shui in your environment to support your emotional well-being. This design detail conflict indicator is a tool to help you examine what is going on in your home especially if you or a family member is experiencing emotional distress, high blood pressure or heart disease.

Front Door Disadvantages A spiral staircase near the front door. A spiral staircase acts like a screw that burrows down into the house affecting your heart.

A stairway out the door can create illness along the midline which includes the heart. A nuance is there may be conflict locked in of the heart of the inhabitants. These emotions can deplete the heart/shen from functioning in its natural capacity of joy.

Difficult interior doors Biting doors are doors that face each other and are misaligned. This creates the trauma of a split. Chaos is created. It can create conflict for the inhabitants which can lead to divorce, career downturn or difficult bankruptcy. When they are misaligned by exactly one half there may be verbal and physical fighting. If they are misaligned in a child’s room they may encourage bullying behavior.

A Contrary door is a door that opens to the wall instead of the large part of the room. You may feel you are working hard for little gain. There may be back issues as the back slumps over the lungs and heart, this positioning creates respiratory and heart disease.

Piercing Heart Doors are three or more doors through which you could walk in a straight line. They create an invisible obstacle which creates obstacles between family members. As the crevasse widens over time, it becomes more and more challenging to touch the heart of another.

Hollow unhappiness Health is the center of the Ba-gua. A stairway in the center creates a lack of stability that can lead to worry and restlessness. You may feel depleted of hope and peace. Ch’i may escape from the everywhere in the home and from its inhabitants. Your health maybe particularly affected.

An elevator and air shaft are in this category of a hollow center for they create a void.

Center conflict A kitchen in the center of the house. The function of the stove is to create a flame that heats your food. It may overheat the emotions in your heart.

Inoperative operating systems If there are problems associated with the air conditioning system or the heating system, those are connected to the heart functioning well.

Slants, edges and blocks blues Slanted ceilings can be particularly uncomfortable if you have low blood pressure.

A knife-edge that comes at the bed will affect your heart, especially if you have an irregular heartbeat.

A blocking wall will make your stomach feel squeezed, pushing your breath back up to your lungs and putting pressure on your heart.

A slanted hallway especially if it leads to the bedroom over time depletes your joy.

Bed distress A lack of commanding position of the bed in the bedroom can cause, but not limited to the following: restless sleep including insomnia, illness along the midline, anxiety, phobias and heart trouble, including arrhythmia and murmur.

If you want to receive a cure for any one of these design features, I will ask you to honor the red envelope tradition.

In 1999, when I started my practice, I chose the name, Shén Mén Feng Shui because our home has a spirit and by linking our spirit to our home’s spirit, I believe we become self-realized beings.

Have you decided this will be your year? ”Boldness has genius”…start with one hour of Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

Sacred Space: Incubate Your Dreams In 2016

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“Sacred space is an absolute necessity for anybody today. You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.”
– Joseph Campbell

Contrary to belief that winter is a season of sleep, there is evidence it is a transformative time. While plants and wildlife slumber in dormant bliss, celestial events conspire to help us prepare for the deep well of opportunities coming this year. Winter Solstice the light returns to the Northern hemisphere. The days lengthen and swell with the increasing light. January 1, our inner light is ignited with the entrance of the a new year. Midpoint between Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox, February 4, “Lichun”, the light of Spring arrives. Bursting through the frost, the hearty, winter plum blossom exemplifies forging ahead and so we tackle our plans. The timed cues between Heaven and Earth remind our spirit to renew our vow to ourself and the year ahead. 

Our spirit is the mystical, intangible part of our nature and important because it knows precisely when to act and what makes us happy. If we fail to recognize its value, joy remains beyond our grasp. This is reason alone to honor its place within us and create a space of its own. The highly respected Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth, says of sacred space, “To live in a sacred space is to live in a symbolic environment where spiritual life is possible, where everything around you speaks of the exaltation of the spirit….This is the place of creative incubation…Your sacred space is where you find yourself again and again.”

If you’ve always written out your resolutions it might time to blend them with a spatial solution. Here are some basics to help you create a sacred space that will give you the support you need to incubate your dreams in 2016. You want it to be comfortable and away from noise. It can be a bedroom, study, workspace, a corner of a room, chair or your backyard. Keep in mind it is an intentional space that quiets your mind, frees you from stress and provides peace and healing. 

Create an altar or area where you can place special items to heightened your awareness of withdrawing from the world and honoring time alone. You may place fresh cut flowers, life force such as a plant or plants, an aquarium or a water fountain. Sights and sounds should be pleasing and meaningful. Scent is also a powerful tool to follow a path of awakening. A diffuser or dish of orange or lemon essential oil bring clarity or place a bowl of nine oranges. These add color and good fortune. Burning incense is a form of prayer. These methods engage your five senses and enhance the purification of your mind. If your space only has room for a table with a candle, add natural elements such as a shell from a favorite beach, a rock from a lakeshore or a special piece of wood that you picked up from the mountains. If there is a deity that is near to your heart, a statue or a painting is appropriate. If it is a Buddha statue like Quan Yin, Green Tara or Amitabha Buddha honor it with water offerings, food offerings, incense and candles that are placed on a tier below. Devote 5-30 minutes a day to meditate, journal, read or draw. At first you might feel resistance to getting started but if you select a time each day you can commit to, the demands of the world will vanish as you fall in love with this quiet, still time in your day. And when you leave give gratitude to your space for giving you sustenance and joy.

Have questions about your home? Want to feel more vitality and joy?. There are tried and true Feng Shui design principles that my clients share have garnered them success. I want you too to receive the same opportunity so I created Feng Shui A La Carte to get you there.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.