Where Energy Flows

The kitchen is the heart of many homes. This high energy room of the home symbolizes success, sharing, community and celebration. The nourishment created here with love aids in health and healing and teaches our children about creativity, sharing and generosity. The eating habits we learn here and the memories around food and family last a lifetime. The smells of our favorite foods can quickly take us back decades. What does Feng Shui tell us about creating a balanced kitchen?

• this yang or active environment requires good lighting
• rounded edges of counter tops keeps cutting energy minimized as does putting knives into the cupboards and off of the counter top
• keep work surfaces clutter free and doorways clear to allow chi to flow easily
• take the “command position” for food preparation by standing where you can easily see who is entering the room
• there is plenty of fire and water elements from the stove and sink/dishwasher/fridge. Wood elements can come from wood flooring and cupboards. Earth elements can be introduced with marble, granite or slate. Metal small appliances are found in most kitchens.
• kitchen colors? White and cream create a clean look. Yellow, green or blue tones bring in light, healing or calm. Try bright, dark accents of red or orange.

Love in the kitchen? Food prepared with love in a happy environment is good Feng Shui. Make a date with your kitchen to clear clutter on counters and behind cupboard doors and drawers. Renew the fire in the heart of your home!

© Brenda Rosenberg, 2008. All rights reserved.

The nine areas of the bagua map can be applied to any room in the house. When applying it to an infant’s room we soften the intentions, making them age appropriate with a loving influence. As you gently energize all areas of the room you encourage your baby to grow in a well balanced way. Keeping the room and closets clutter free and child safe is most important. Keep colors soft and the content of all pictures or art loving and positive. Most of the time your infant will be sleeping in this room so remember to keep the themes of toys, art and wallpaper non-moving and restful. If you have items you wish to display in the room think of the following suggestions:

Prosperity. Intentions here support a wealth of unconditional love for your baby. A good spot to put a special piggy bank.

Fame or recognition. Help your baby to feel recognized for who they are as individuals and family members by placing items representing firsts for them.

Relationships. Baby’s first relationships are with family. This could be where Mom and baby sit for feeding time.

Family. Place family photos here that were taken when everyone was happy or items that represent your culture that are warm, friendly and infant appropriate.

Health. Try to keep this area open so that chi can move freely. Remove obstacles to growing up strong and healthy.

Creativity. This would make an excellent play area. Store a small number of toys here that are favorites and rotate new toys in that are at the next challenging level.

Self knowledge. This area can display books or be arranged as a reading corner to foster an early love for learning.

Career. Your baby’s job is to learn about themselves and their world. Educational toys that are age appropriate and safe could be stored here.

Helpful People. Gifts from god-parents, babysitters or items from anyone with a special supportive role in your child’s growth and development could be placed here.

Copyright 2008  Brenda Rosenberg  All rights reserved. 

This is the time of year for resolutions.  How can you motivate yourself to follow through on resolved activities such as exercise or applying Feng Shui principles to your homes in order to improve your life?  As you prepare to act on your resolved activity, how do you feel?  Do you hit a wall or are you pulled back into another activity, diversion or habit?  At this point, if you tune into your body you may very well feel tension, notice shallow breathing or other signs of anxiety.  In order to move forward you may need closure on the past.

We seek closure or an ending to our relationships, friendships, disagreements, past actions.  With closure we can physically, mentally and energetically move forward.  It feels good.  Clutter clearing is one method of finding closure. When you clear clutter you revisit the past and decide if you are ready to consider closure on that part of your life, that habit,  or that relationship with yourself or another.  Letting go of that object makes you feel good and releases serotonin in your brain creating a relaxed, clear state of mind.  If you have resistance to letting go of the object, you will feel those old feelings of anxiety.  You may need to ask yourself if it is too soon after the event to find closure or is there another reason that you are unable to cut the ties that are holding you in the past instead of in the moment.

New beginnings……as you resolve to create new beginnings in 2008 ask yourself……

• is this resolution a should do or are you creating the life you are passionate about?
• Is the resolution a necessary stepping stone to prepare you to pursue your dreams?
• Can you see yourself acting on this resolution?
• Do you need to release old ties or remove walls before you can move forward?

Copyright 2008  Brenda Rosenberg   All rights reserved.

As I watched a new yoga student who knows nothing about yoga try to move with mindfulness for the first time it encouraged me ask myself the question: “what good is strength without flexibility?”  and “how does this relate to Feng Shui principles”?  Feng  Shui was developed way back when survival meant having a home that was protected from behind with mountains, a view of who was approaching in front as well as slow moving water without which life was not possible.    The strength of the mountain and flexibility of the water provided a balance between safety from severe weather or attack and the availability of food.

A home can have strong bones, strong colors, hold strong memories, have strong placement in the neighborhood or community, or a strong history.  These are all positive attributes.  A home can have flexible uses, flexible room arrangements, and flexible owners.

But what about our bodies?  The more strength we develop, if it is not balanced with flexibility, the more rigid we become.   We restrict our breathing, oxygen exchange, make our hearts work harder and limit our options to move in different ways and ultimately our ability to embrace change.  As our bodies become rigid do our minds follow or is it the other way around?

Can our homes reflect our rigid thinking and attitudes?  Look around your home.  Does that feeling of being comfortable cover a more basic feeling of being unwilling or unable to change?  Did your strength of ideas at some point become rigid and unyielding?  Small changes in the home can begin to open up many changes in our lives.  Encouraging  our bodies to be flexible and strong can help free us to embrace options and be prepared for when life throws us curves that force us to change whether we are ready for it or not.

So, to answer my own question “what good is strength without flexibility”  I would have to say that both qualities are important but without balance we may have trouble weathering a storm.

Copyright 2007.  Brenda Rosenberg  All rights reserved.

In the previous post, Neshi spoke of a  process in Interior Alignment™ of assessing  your home by noting what feels good and what does not.  Some problem items are obvious such as broken items, things that do not work well or areas that are cluttered such that they impede traffic flow.   But, what about the subtle things that you have lived with so long that they have slipped below your “don’t feel good” radar?  And when we speak of making you feel good or not can you look at your feelings in an objective way?  Are you ready for change?

In order to gauge your feelings you need to have a baseline.  One way to do this is to use your breath.  Sit quietly with your spine long yet relaxed.  Watch how your breath moves in and out of your lungs.  Which part of your lungs does the air move into.  Does your belly move with your breath, do your ribs move out to the sides and do your collar bones rise as you breath?  What is the quality of the breath-smooth, shallow, or ratchety?  Does your in breath last as long as the out breath and how long are the pauses at the top of the in breath and after the out breath?  Watch your breath a few minutes without trying to change it to get a baseline.

As you go through your home place your attention on the aspect you are considering. Check in with your breath for a couple of minutes.  This quiets your mind.  Then focus on an item such as a chesterfield, or hold the item such as a vase and recheck your breathing.

Your body can block unpleasant or intense feelings in two ways.  The first is to tense up and resist the feeling, clutching on the in breath.  The second is to become passive and limp to avoid the feelings, collapsing on our out breath.  What you are experiencing in your body you are also experiencing in your mind.  Check in with your breathing, noting any changes and consider where that feeling is coming from.  Is it worth keeping this item?

Are you ready to look at your home objectively?  There are no bad homes, they all have lessons for us to learn.  Feng Shui can help when times are difficult but when in a crisis it is hard to be objective about yourself.  Waiting for a crisis to call in help may not be the best use of a Feng Shui practitioner.  Recognizing that you may need assistance to prevent a crisis may help to avert that crisis.  Frequent clutter clearing whilst checking in with your home and your self and putting in place some enhancements  is pretty good life/home maintenance.

Copyright 2007  Brenda Rosenberg  All rights reserved. 

“Trying to understand is like straining through muddy water.  Be still and allow the mud to settle.”  Lao Tzu

The gua concerned with self knowledge and study lies in the near left corner of your home as you enter the front door.  This gua and its benefits are not as immediately evident as others, say abundance or career.  But how can you enhance any of the other guas without first knowing yourself?  Self awareness enhances all of your relationships, whether they be with family or career, love relationships, creativity, knowing how to attain and retain abundance or how to accept help from others. 

Use this gua for self cultivation and reflection.  Find your passion and set the intention to know yourself through it and commit to seeing the process through to fulfillment.  The cultivation of self reflection can be found through writing, painting, meditation, music……..the form does not matter.  Gather what you need, things such as books or other study elements, journals or create a meditation corner.  Enhance this area using greens, blues and black.  Invite in the wisdom of elders, mentors or respected teachers.  Visit regularly, taking a few moments to let go of controlling your life to sit and let the mud settle.  Perhaps one day you will see the big picture.

“Three passions have governed my life:
The longings for love, the search for knowledge,
And unbearable pity for the suffering of [humankind].

Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness.
In the union of love I have seen
In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision
Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge.
I have wished to understand the hearts of [people].
I have wished to know why the stars shine.

Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens,
But always pity brought me back to earth;
Cries of pain reverberated in my heart
Of children in famine, of victims tortured
And of old people left helpless.

I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot,
And I too suffer.
This has been my life; I found it worth living.”

Bertrund Russell
 

Copyright 2007  Brenda Rosenberg  All rights reserved 

Many ancient practices have principles that are similar.  One can align the practice of yoga and feng shui in many ways.  Here is one.  The bagua map has eight sections or guas that surround the central health gua.  In yoga there are eight limbs connected to that central practice.   Yamas and Niyamas are one limb.  They are ten ethical precepts that allow us to be at peace with ourselves, our family and our community.Let’s look at one of the Niyamas-Shaucha or living purely.  The word pure is used to describe that which is clean, clear and free from extraneous elements.  Living purely involves creating an environment that supports a clean body and mind.

”Saucha is a testament to the positive power of association. …. Practicing Saucha, meaning “that and nothing else,” involves making choices about what you want and don’t want in your life.  Far from self-deprivation or dry piety, the practice of shaucha allows you to experience life more vividly.”  Donna Fahri  in Yoga, Mind, Body and Spirit

Clutter clearing allows you an opportunity to free yourself from extraneous “things” or parts of yourselves that you do not “need”.   This in itself can support change in other areas of your life because you have taken the time to make a clear choice and act upon it.  To free yourself from the weight of yesterday’s projects and the collection of  “I may need it tomorrows” can be best done when you are centered, relaxed and objective - in the present moment.

Yoga changes you little by little over time.  One day you realise that something has changed in your body, breath or mind.  Feng Shui is also a process.  Perhaps begin by clearing clutter in some small way by sitting down with the junk drawer, your purse, the glove compartment of your car or even your sock drawer…………….

Copyright 2007  Brenda Rosenberg  All Rights Reserved