Linda Varone | Nurturing Spaces Feng Shui

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Create Your Own Feng Shui Cures to Enhance Your Chi

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Feng Shui is about Chi energy: universal Chi and personal Chi. Feng Shui seeks to balance the Chi of your home or office with your own Chi (5 Element Feng Shui).

When I work with Feng Shui clients I encourage them to display meaningful personal treasures and mementos to lift their personal Chi and enhance the Chi of the space. Personal is the keyword here and nothing is more personal than hand-made art either by a local artist or a loved one (or even yourself). Manufactured items that are not emotionally connected to a beloved person, place or event have no soul and no Chi.

The best way to bring soul and Chi into your home is with hand-made or hand-crafted items. I have a needlepoint pillow on my sofa. I originally made it as a gift for my mother. Every time I look at it I see its flaws (missed stitches and a twist in the decorative binding), but more important it also has a soft handworked feel to the tapestry and I remember how it had pride of place on my mother’s sofa.

If you don’t have the time or inclination for a needlepoint pillow then how about a quick craft project?

sand art mandalas, personalized feng shui cures
Sand Art party mandalas. Creative fun becomes personalized feng shui cures

Last week I had the pleasure of being part of a sand art party at ArtBeat.  We gathered around a table and in an hour (including brief instructions) we had created beautiful designs with colored sand and adhesive cards. We sprinkled and patted and etched our way to bliss.  As we were working on our projects, we were “in the zone.” Time stood still, we were relaxed and totally focused. And we could have kept going a lot longer on our projects if we had the time.

Not only did we create something lovely, but we experienced the joy of un-pressured creativity. It was a peak-flow experience that stayed with us for the rest of the evening.

Check out your local craft store/craft studio for projects for your kids, for your family or for yourself.  I am very lucky ArtBeat is nearby. If looking for crafts find those things that fill the creative zone between a blank canvas (which can be intimidating) and connect-the-dots (which allows for little originality and is boring).  Also avoid things with media character connections – they are limiting, people simply reproduce what they have already seen.

Take a little time to tap into your creativity. It will expand your mind, relax you and bring good Chi to you and to your home.

My next project? A decoupage folding screen/vision board [link], inspired by ArtBeat, to decorate my home and hide my home office desk.  I am amazed how quickly I get into “the zone” when I am sitting on my sofa and cutting out the pictures for my screen. Lots of enjoyable quick little steps toward the bigger result.

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

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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.

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 and No More Anonymous Art

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I encourage my Feng Shui clients to use art and personal treasures as cures. But “anonymous” or generic art does not have the energetic impact of art and photos with personal meaning.

When I was a college student I was invited by a friend to her birthday party, hosted by poet Donald Hall in his home. At that time I was clueless about Donald Hall and his work. As I rang the doorbell I glanced into the foyer and spied a Last Supper on black velvet painting on the wall. With all of my youthful superiority I thought: “what bad taste!”  I was warmly welcomed in by a very gracious Professor Hall. During the party I noticed a Roy Lichtenstein pop art silk screen on the wall and a small Henry Moore sculpture on the coffee table. When I mentioned them he smiled and modestly related the personal story attached to each. What I learned was the importance of art with personal meaning. And… the “good taste police” should have a sense of humor.

best feng shui cures, child's drawing
Homemade art, candid photographs and personal treasures make the best Feng Shui cures.

Recently I have worked with several Feng Shui clients who have filled their walls with “anonymous art.” The kind of framed wall decorations you can find at Home Goods or Target. This is not bad art, it just generic art lacking any life to it or personal meaning. 

One client had nothing representing her family or special someone.  I mentioned this to her and she said she had lots of photos, but they were on her computer. Does this sound familiar? When she showed me her pictures I was bowled over: Great snapshots of the two of them and beautiful photos of a trip to Europe. She had never thought of the treasures she had hidden on her computer. She selected her favorite photos to have printed and framed, and remind her of the people, places and events she loves best.

What heart-warming photos do you have buried in your computer? Pick out your favorites and have them made into prints. You can burn the photo files onto a disc or zip drive (your 11 year old can show you) and take them to your local drugstore or photo shop. Or upload them to one of the online photo services. If you want to fine tune your pictures you can edit them on free photo software like Picasa. I found it great for cropping out parked cars in the foreground of my London vacation pictures, or to zoom in on a people picture for a close-up (no one’s knees are that attractive. 😉 )  For professional quality developing check out photopipe.com.

If none of your photos are frame-worthy, then look at online art and photograph sites like Art.com, iStockphoto or National Geographic for something that speaks to you.

You deserve better than empty walls or anonymous space fillers. Just do it!

My own to-do: enlarge and frame a snapshot from my mother’s 80th birthday hot air balloon ride!

Update: I had the enlargement printed and framed. It greets me every morning as I wake-up and reminds me of the true treasures of my life.

photo by The Paessels