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3 Tips for Powerful Feng Shui Intentions: Intention is Faith plus Action

“The attempt must be made; the outcome is irrelevant. Right action is a pale material reflection of the divine, but reflection it is, nonetheless. Define your goal and exert reason to accomplish it by virtuous action; success or failure is secondary..” – Iain Pears, The Dream of Scipio

Feng Shui without intention is just moving stuff around.

Arranging things is important to enhancing and balancing the chi energy in your home or workspace. But to get the best results you must add an intention.

What is an intention? A wish, a dream, a goal, a prayer? It is all of these. But to make your intention come true you must include action to make your goal happen. No passive wishing. You must add your own energy into the mix. With your intention, think of the steps you need to take to make your dream come true. And then start doing them.

Intentions are faith plus action plus letting go. Writing down your intention is one step.

If you want to meet your Prince or Princess Charming, you are not going to find him or her sitting at home. (Unless you have a crush on your UPS person.)

Get out and meet people,
Get involved in organizations,
Do things you enjoy.

I can’t think of a better romance attraction magnet than enjoying yourself.

If your intention is about business or career success:

What steps do you need to take to make it happen?
What do you need to learn?
Who do you need to meet?

Get out there make your dream come true, then you will bump into Good Luck.

I teach my clients a beautiful intention ritual to help them clarify their goals, the steps toward that goal and how to offer this to God/The Universe.

The essence of this ritual is:

Have faith in your intention,
Be active in making it happen – use your energy to create more energy
Let go of the outcome – this is easier said than done, but important

Do your best. Live and act in the moment. Trust that what you need will come to you.

And be mindful of your blessings with gratitude. Read this post about The Seed of Happiness.

If you want help visualizing the changes and blessing you want, here is a post about a powerful way to use Vision Boards.

If you want a Feng Shui consultation to improve the energy in your home or workspace, improve the energy in your life, and activate your intentions, please contact me at 781-643-8697.

photo by julie jordan scott

How to Have The Best Feng Shui: Express Yourself and Raise Your Chi

I say this to my Feng Shui clients: The best kind of home is one that expresses who you are and what you love. And as a bonus, when you personalize the decoration of your home, you raise your Chi – whether you are Feng Shui-ing your home or not.

“I see it every day: People trying to create a home that somebody else tells them they should have….if it doesn’t represent you, you’re not going to be happy. Take a beat and say ’Is this something I want to live with, or am I just buying it because I saw it on a TV show?’ ” – Nate Berkus, interior designer, television host and author.

“… your home should not be a presentation to your friends. Surroundings should relate to who you are, what you love, and to what you deem important in life.” – George Lois , mass media expert and advertising provocateur – just don’t say he is the original Don Draper of Mad Men.

Contemporary Living Room design by San Francisco Architect House + House Architects

Is your home decorated or staged? Feng Shui uses home decoration/interior design as a vehicle to enhance and balance Chi. But if you are looking for inspiration to create a home with warmth on television, in magazines or online you will be challenged. Two clients I worked with recently were using what they saw in the media, unedited, as the template for the decoration of their living rooms. One followed a theme décor right down to the objects on her coffee table. It was beautiful, but none of it expressed who she was. Another client was inspired by a photo to have deep teal walls. It was beautiful in the photo, but would not work with the rug she wanted to use in her living room. Both clients were open to my suggestions: one to personalize her space and the second about why the teal wall worked in the photo but not in her living room, and what alternative she could use to compliment her rug and get a similar effect as in the photo.

What you see in the media are staged rooms. Not rooms for people to live in. Take time to look at the entire photo and see what elements are working together. Then figure out if it will work for you:

Does the room that inspires you have higher ceilings than yours?
How big are the windows in relation to the size of the room?
Do the colors work with the colors of your rug or sofa (unless you will be getting new everything)?
Be aware that a bold color on the screen or the page will look and feel very different when room-size.
Where can you place or display your personal treasures? Will they work with the photo décor?
Is the lighting adequate for how you want to use the space?
Could you really live in the space in the picture or does it represent a dream lifestyle that is not yours?

Trust your instincts and take the inspirations you see and adapt them to make them your own.

When I work with a client, I like to use their personal treasures as Feng Shui cures whenever possible. When I see a photo, painting, or memento I ask them “Please, tell me about this.” When I see their face light up as they describe where they got it, who gave it to them or who or what it reminds them of, then I am literally seeing their personal Chi rise. This response indicates that this object is a very powerful cure. I then collaborate with them about where is the best place to put this cure, relating to the theme of the picture or the emotional association of the object.

Sometimes I work with a client who has few or no personal treasures in their home. Sometimes they will say that a piece of art is a “place saver.” Life is too short to surround yourself with anonymous art. If you don’t have an emotional connection to something, at least have something that makes you catch your breath when you first see it – that you love for the sheer beauty of it. (This sudden inhale is also a sign of rising personal Chi.)

This rise in personal Chi occurs even if you are not consciously seeing or connecting with this memento of the people, places and events that have positive and nourishing meaning to your life.

Have you decorated your home according to someone else’s idea of “good taste” or the “latest trend”? If so, it is not your home, it is their home. Express yourself through your treasures. Re-claim your home.

If you doubt your taste or instincts remember: If you are happy with your home, your guests will be happy. Personalize your space.

What have you displayed in your home to help you remember the people, places and events that warm your heart? I would love to hear from you. Share them as a comment, below.

Feng Shui Bedroom: When NOT to Position Your Bed to Face Your Door

One of the first things you learned about Feng Shui was to position your bed to see the door of your bedroom. Why? So you could see if someone was trying to invade your bedroom and attack you.

Does this reasoning apply to your home in today’s world?

Positioning your bed with the head against a window looks dramatic, but feels ungrounded and exposed.

You also learned what Feng Shui discovered two thousand years ago, and modern social psychology discovered fifty years ago: People do not feel comfortable when their back is exposed. You are hardwired to be hyper-vigilant when you back is to a door or open space, because you cannot see if a saber-tooth tiger, or other danger, is approaching from behind. This is a protective, survival response that reasoning cannot turn off.

What happens when these two ideas clash?

What do you do when the wall opposite your bedroom door, where you would put your bed, is filled with windows? Do you position your bed against/under winders so you can see any potential intruders in your doorway, even though you feel sub-consciously vigilant and have difficulty sleeping? Or do you position your bed against another wall and lose your direct view of the door?

I discovered two interesting facts about Chinese history and culture that contribute to Feng Shui:

Until the twentieth century there were no banks in China. If your family had wealth (cash) they hid it in their home – maybe under the mattress.
When poor farmers where thrown off their land because they couldn’t pay the oppressive taxes, they would band together and steal from the rich to feed their families – like Robin Hood.

Therefore, in old China, having a bandit break into your home to steal your family’s wealth was a real danger. But is this your reality today? You feel secure in your home. Your money is in a bank. There are no marauding bandits roaming your neighborhood.

When I am working with a client and the wall opposite the door is ungrounded and exposed by windows, I recommend they position the head of their bed against a solid wall. This will help to ground them when they sleep and will support more restful sleep (the hyper-vigilance response is not triggered).

If there is more than one spacious, grounded position for their bed then I use their Lo Shu number (lucky directions) as a tie-breaker in deciding where to position their bed.

How do you position your bed? How does it affect your ability to sleep? Do you have a challenging bedroom set-up? Share your experiences and thoughts in the comments below. I love to hear from you.

How to Keep Your Home Cooler: Smart Window Treatments Save You Money and Energy

With summer giving us blasts of hot weather, keeping cool is a real challenge. Recently I have been in several homes that had been unnecessarily hot, simply because their owners did not know a few old tricks.

With almost universal air conditioning we have become habituated to flick a switch for instant cool. But this can become expensive and uses a lot of our natural resources.

diagram of greenhouse effect in a home. Sun and heat rays — The Greenhouse Effect: How windows trap heat inside your home.

You know about the Greenhouse Effect and its impact on Global Warming. But do you know about the Greenhouse Effect in your own home? Sunlight enters your home through your windows, bringing light energy and heat energy. Part of the heat energy cannot exit through the glass and is trapped in your home, making it hotter and hotter. This can be delightful on a cold winter’s day, but during the hot days of summer, it can be a killer. Either your air conditioning goes into overdrive or the space stays hot. (The all-glass modern houses of the 50’s and 60’s were designed when fuel was cheap.)

This is where smart window treatments come in. This taps into what our grandparents did to keep cool(er) and what is still done in Europe. For part of the day you want to block out sunlight – and heat- from your home. I have written about window treatments which open your views and connect you with nature You can have both, using the right window treatments.

There are 4 reasons for window treatments:

Protection from sunglare and heat.
Protection from winter cold.
Protection from unattractive views
Protection from nosey neighbors.

View of palm tree against blue sky, through partially opened plantation shutter — In hot climes plantation shutters are used to filter out light and allow cooling breezes to enter.

Learn how to use window treatments to keep your home cool.

Before the day heats-up, early morning, close your windows and draw your drapes, blinds and shutters, especially in bedrooms and unused rooms. (Some of the older houses on Beacon Hill have interior shutters for just this purpose.) If you have skylights consider adding adjustable shades to them for the hot days. Are your drapes lined to keep out sunlight, heat and cold? Are your shades room-darkening? You may want to close out the heat in all the windows of your home, or maybe just the rooms facing the sun. As the day gets cooler open your window treatments. If it is a cool evening, open the windows to catch the cooling breezes. If the night is cool, leave your windows open and sleep with the cool air from outdoors, moved by a fan placed in or by the window. I personally prefer to sleep in an air-cooled bedroom, than in an air-conditioned bedroom.

Experiment with this and see what works best for you. If you don’t like to feel closed-in, then try solar shades. These are mounted like window shades, but are made of several densities of heavy plastic mesh that blocks out different degrees of light (and heat) while allowing a veiled view of the out-of-doors.

Air conditioning makes life easier during the hot months, but we don’t have to use it exclusively to keep cool. Re-claim some of the wisdom of your ancestors. Stay cool and save money and energy at the same time.

greenhouse image by realscience dot org dot uk

plantation shutter photo by simonsimages

Feng Shui: Private Intentions are More Powerful Intentions

Intentions are an important aspect of Feng Shui cures. The physical object or cure is simply a vehicle for your intention. I have written about how to make your intentions more powerful. Check this out.

When novelists are asked what they are working on, some say they don’t like to talk about current projects. They have a deep awareness of intention and the creative process: “you can either talk about it, or you can do it.” Note: any intention is a creative process.

Modern psychology has recently documented that private intentions are more likely to be achieved and the thinking behind this phenomenon. A recent article in Lifehacker describes how your brain handles intentions. Please note: when I am talking about intentions, I mean active (not passive) plans to reach your goals. When you talk about your intention with others your brain processes this talk the same way it does action, the result is a “premature sense of completeness.” Your brain can’t tell the difference in the “identity symbols” that make up your self-image between talk and action. Your brain is satisfied and you don’t act, or need to act, on your goals.

We have all heard about the self-styled writer who has spent a lifetime talking about his/her great novel, but hasn’t sat down and written it. Another example is talking about going on a diet, rather than simply doing it.

It feels counter-intuitive to keep intentions and goals to ourselves – we are encouraged to seek and share support – but staying quiet about your intentions and focusing on the actions that will reach your goal will allow your brain to support you rather than sabotage you.

Private intentions are successful intentions. As the slogan says: “Just do it.”

PS – It’s OK to ask for help with specific steps toward your goal as your work to achieve them. Just don’t get caught in the trap of thinking about it, talking about it and not doing it.

photo by ClaraDon

What are your thoughts on and experiences with intentions? Share your comments below. Thanks!

Feng Shui, Light and Human Consciousness

“The energy of human consciousness may share an affinity with light that we do not yet understand. Turning toward that light, we might find it the source of all our inspiration and creativity.” – Tarthang Tulku, Knowledge of Freedom

I came upon this quote years ago. I confess I don’t completely understand it, but is has inspired some thoughts on how light applies to Feng Shui.

sun rising behind clouds with rays of light shining outward — Light and human consciousness

The sun is the primal fire of our solar system.
Fire is the element of Fame and Reputation of the Feng Shui ba-gua – being in the spotlight.
Yin and Yang: dark and light. We would not know what light is if we did not have the dark.
In northern China the Feng Shui for entrances to ancient homes were oriented to face south. This provided heat and light to the interior of the house from the sun.
Navaho hogans (homes) are oriented with the door facing the east, so they can greet the morning sun with prayers.
Ancient Chinese sages and Feng Shui practitioners knew that sunlight was a form of energy.
Modern physicists have demonstrated that light is sub-atomic photonic energy.
Light is a metaphor for seeing reality clearly and moving beyond illusions and confusion.
Eco-psychologists note the importance of connection with nature, sunlight and fresh air by calling it “Vitamin G”.

How do you make the most of light and chi in your home and in your life?

Do you have a special outdoors place for relaxation and reflection?
Do you have beautiful window views of nature and make the most of them with an inviting chair nearby?
Do you bring nature indoors with plants in your home and/or workplace?
Do you have appropriate lighting for nighttime and overcast days?

There is something nourishing – just as chi energy is nourishing – about sunlight. Maybe someday science will identify it. In the meantime connect to the energy of sunlight and nature every day.

How do you experience the nourishing energy of light? Share in the comment box below.

Photo by Sean MacEntee

Feng Shui Lighting: Going Green Shouldn’t Leave You Looking Green

The right compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) can make the difference between a warm, welcoming room and a home that looks like a cheap discount store. A number of my green conscious clients complain their CFL’s make a stark unattractive light. They miss the warmth of incandescent (Edison) light bulbs. (I admit that I exaggerated a little – no one looks green, but the wrong CFL’s will make you look a bit pale and sickly.)

compact fluroescnet light bulb — The right compact fluorescent light bulb makes your home or workplace warm and welcoming

The remedy to this is “warm white” or “soft white” CFL’s with a color temperature between 2700 K to 3000 K, which approximates the warm light of 2400K incandescent light bulbs.

“Bright white” CFL’s have a color temperature of 3500 K. These are best for situations where you need bright light – such as craft work. Please note that CFL’s labeled “sunlight” or “daylight” are cool white fluorescent and only suitable for precision work areas.

Unfortunately light bulb manufacturers do not offer color temperature or Kelvin information on their packaging. You will either have to trust the “warm white” or “soft white” labels or go online and double check the color temperature ratings of specific bulbs. Sparsam™ CFL’s (available only at IKEA stores) provide the warm light of incandescent bulbs.

Hint: I find that I need more wattage than the conversion factor listed on the label. If you want to get 75 watts of illumination you will do better with an 18 watt CFL than a 15 Watt CFL.

Update: Warm Lighting is Now Widely Available – If You Know What to Look For

Light bulb manufacturers have listened to consumers and warm CFL bulbs are easy to find.

The newer LED light bulbs are more energy efficient than CFLs, and after years of development can be found in a warm formulation. (Unaltered, LED bulbs have a distinctly cool blue light.)

Standard light bulb information label. — Standard lightbulb information label.

Light bulbs now have standardized information labels similar to nutrition labels. These list: lux, lumens and lifespan. There is also a horizontal scale line that tells you how warm or cool the bulbs light is, in degrees Kelvin. You want to choose light bulbs where the arrow on the scale is near the left end of the scale – 2700 degrees Kelvin.This is the warm CFL or LED you want to buy.

Another hint: CFL’s contain mercury, so dispose of them at special recycling places, or see if your retailer will accept them for safe disposal.

Take a look around your home and see if you have lighting in the right places and if your light bulbs give you the warmth that makes your space inviting, relaxing and user-friendly.

Decluttering is NOT Feng Shui: Towards a Spiritual Approach to Feng Shui

More often than not, when I meet someone new and they hear I am a Feng Shui consultant the response is “I really need someone to organize my _________ (fill in the blank).” As if Feng Shui consultants are mystical professional organizers. This is an understandable mistake, because of the emphasis on decluttering in so many Feng Shui books and blogs – including this one.

Balance and harmonize yourself by connection with Nature.

Decluttering is NOT part of traditional Feng Shui. I have been studying Feng Shui since 1989 and the earliest books and lectures on the subject by Asian teachers never mentioned clutter, decluttering or organizing. Why? Clutter is not a problem in Asia. But when the first Chinese teachers brought Feng Shui to America they realized that Americans were drowning in clutter. This had to be addressed because the best Feng Shui interventions are ineffective when clutter is clogging the Chi of a space and a person.

More than twenty years later, we get it. Clutter is not good.

Let’s take a spiritual look at Feng Shui. Feng Shui is about living in balance and harmony with Nature. Ancient Taoist sages viewed Nature as a reflection of the macrocosm, the Universe, and the microcosm, Humankind. To live in harmony with Nature is to live in harmony with the Cosmos and with ourselves.

How can you live in harmony with Nature?

Live more simply – think twice before you buy something. Is this what I need? Is this what the planet needs?
Be mindful to consume less: goods, energy and the time it takes to care for your possessions.
Practice gratitude for what you have – both material and non-material – your true blessings.
Shift to a level of simplicity that is comfortable for you.
Connect with Nature itself.

You know that Nature balances you. When you are frazzled, taking a walk calms you; when you feel down, time in Nature lifts your spirits.

Time in Nature opens your eyes and your senses to the wonder that surrounds you.
Being with Nature teaches you about the cycles of life, lessons honored by the ancient Chinese, but overlooked by us.
Set up your home to make the most of your connection with Nature.

Read these articles on how to set up your home to connect with Nature:

Are your window treatments getting between you and Nature?

Bring the power of Nature into your home

Declutter your outdoor life too (Mea Culpa)

What is your favorite way to connect with Nature? How does connection with Nature help you? I would love to see your thoughts in the comments below.

photo by coloredby

Feng Shui Cures: 3 Factors for Success & the Myth of the One Best Cure

Sometimes people ask me “what Feng Shui cure should I use in my – romance area?, – wealth area?, – career area?” The short answer is there is no short answer. Some Feng Shui books make very specific recommendations; I call this “cookie-cutter Feng Shui”. In the best Feng Shui one cure does not fit all situations.

Three factors determine the best Feng Shui cures for you:

Starbucks Japan: A caffeinated place for caffeinated people?

The energy of the space or room,
The energy of the cure,
The energy of the people or person using the room.

1. The Energy of the Space

Some rooms feel “calm”, some feel “upbeat”, some feel “chaotic”, and some feel “heavy.” Calm rooms are usually uncluttered and well-organized with simple decoration. Upbeat rooms are also well-organized and are abundant with decoration. “Chaotic” rooms are frequently cluttered and disorganized. “Heavy” rooms are usually crowded with unused/unloved things.

Start with de-cluttering if the room needs it. The best Feng Shui cures in the world are less effective in a cluttered or disorganized space. Then decide if you want to create a calm or energized room depending on what you want to do in that space. A bedroom should be calmer than a family room. A home office is usually calmer than a creative studio space.

2. The Energy of the Cure

starbucks amsterdam — Starbucks Amsterdam - Quieter space for quieter people

Some Feng Shui books tell you to use a specific cure for a particular part of the ba-gua or compass direction. This is not wrong, but is overly literal and limiting. An unlit purple candle in the Wealth area (correct Ba-Gua color) has less energy than a healthy plant or a crystal in a sunlit window in that same Wealth area.

Chi is energy. You want to use cures that have their own energy: light, color, sound, movement and living things that bring their energy into the room. Personal mementos that remind you of the people, places and events that you love most work as cures by lifting your own energy, consciously or unconsciously.

3. The Energy of the People who use the Space – and What They Plan to Do There.

One way you can figure out your personal energy level is to note what kind of coffee shop you like to hang out in. Do you like to enjoy your latte in a café with a pulsing sound system and a lot of background noise? Or do you gravitate to a coffee shop with softer music and lighting and acoustics that dampen background noise?

Some people are very high-energy, others are mellow. Match the energy of the space to the energy of the person.

A quiet room may be experienced by a high-energy person as boring and they will become restless, while a quieter person will feel comfortable. A room with lots of stimulation (light, colors, sound, and movement) will be a great match for a high-energy person, but will be overwhelming and fatiguing for a quieter person causing them to “shut-down.”

When you are seeking to balance the energy of someone, individualized fine-tuning is necessary to create rooms to help your personal energizer bunny chill out, or motivate and activate your laid-back introvert.

Choose one of the Nine Cures which is the right fit for you and your space. Tune into your intuition to guide you. Try out a cure and see how the room and you feel. If it is not quite right, try another cure.

The bottom line: there is no one “right” cure. What may work for your best friend or the author of a book may not be the best solution for you and your space.

What kind of space works best for you?

Japan photo by Kengo Kuma and Associates. Amsterdam photo by Rien Meulma

The Kitchen Altar: An Old Tradition for Your Busy Modern Life

In Chinese folk religions, one of the roots of Feng Shui, the most important domestic god is the Kitchen God, Zao Jun. It is believed at special times of the year he goes to heaven and reports to the Jade Emperor (chief deity) on the activities of the family. Based on what Zao Jun says the Jade Emperor gives the family rewards or punishments for the coming year. Traditionally a plaque of the Kitchen God and his wife would be above the stove. To ensure good luck, offerings of food and incense are made to them.

Magnolia blossom in sun face vase with angel figurine — A simple kitchen altar

Some of my Feng Shui clients ask me to help them find a place for a personal altar as part of their spiritual practice. These altars are usually in the bedroom to support private meditation. Create a special place for spiritual centering where you can see it more often during your busy day. Borrow the Chinese tradition of a kitchen altar or spiritual reminder.

Your altar could be:

An image or figure of a divinity or special teacher
A written prayer or blessing
A plant or flower

You could place your devotional object:

By the sink to have something pleasant to meditate on while doing the dishes
By the stove to remind yourself of your gratitude for having food to cook
By the window to remind yourself of the blessings of Nature

Do you have a kitchen altar or something similar? Share your ideas and experience in a comment, below.

photo by Nieve44/Luz