Archive for the Feng Shui home
I’ve got a confession to make, before today I have never looked at design blogs.
It’s true! I’ve never even searched online for one. But today my life has changed, I fell down the rabbit hole. I Googled design blogs and was amazed at the fantastic variety of information, tips, suggestions, and imagery that’s out there.
Everything you could possibly want to know about design or decorating or redecorating or even undecorating is available to you online! Design blogs can provide you with the perfect ideas and inspiration to use as you create your Feng Shui Home!
Fabulous product for windows and mirrored closet doors!
(for more visit http://www.decor8.com – one of my new favorite design blogs!)
Up until now researching different design and decorating ideas meant buying design books, magazines or going to stores and while all of those options are still viable; you also have, at your fingertips, a wealth of information online. You have online shops, websites and design blogs - it’s a plethora of information.
Too much information you ask? Never! You can never have too much information.
This is the perfect time to create your own mood board or design journal. (A design journal is a binder or notebook filled with images representing things you like for various rooms of your home.) Print or tear out images out of books or magazines, take pictures of what you see in stores, pull color samples, fabric samples, pieces of wallpaper, photos, trim samples anything that inspires you. And then put those images, those items into your design journal. Arrange them by room.
An example of a mood board I created for a client.
As you play with your journal rooms you’ll find a theme, a mood, a feeling begins to take shape and you’ll begin to become aware of your authentic self, who you are, what inspires you, what energizes you, what makes you feel like home. And from that feeling, that awareness you’ll be able to create your perfect spaces, in fact, your perfectly unperfect spaces!
The second of today’s favorite design blogs, http://www.designpublic.com
Your living spaces should continue to evolve just as you continue to evolve. Your home is a reflection of you, your inner world is reflected in your outer world.
A featured apartment from http://www.freshome.com
another fabulous design blog!
Embrace change. I think you’ll be happy you did.
Right now, I’m going back online and doing more research! Don’t forget to add Feng Shui Life and Style to your favorites.
© 2011 Harmony Life®, LLC by Laurie Bornstein
Feng Shui Lifestyle™ articles, tips and conversation http://www.fengshuilifeandstyle.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, BLOG OR WEB SITE?
You can, as long as you include the copyright and link above.
Have you heard that bathrooms are negative or bad energy? Not sure? The questions below deal with common Feng Shui bathroom recommendations.
- Do you rush around making sure all your drains are covered and toilet seats are down?
- Do you insist on keeping the doors to your bathrooms closed?
- Do your friends think your behavior is a little extreme? OK, I’m just kidding around on that one!
If you’re aware of Feng Shui, then you have also undoubtedly heard something about bathrooms being ‘energy drains’. And I agree, if your bathroom is either an outhouse or a simple hole in the ground. But, if your bathroom is situated in your home (a true modern convenience and for me a necessity), and it’s clean, well appointed and uncluttered than most likely it isn’t an energy drain.
Bathrooms are not havens of bad or malevolent energy. Their purpose is to provide a space that allows us to clean and take care of ourselves. I, for one, am a big proponent of indoor plumbing and all it entails! I think bathrooms are a great asset and enhancement to the quality of our lives.
In fact, in addition to serving our basic needs, most modern day bathrooms also provide us with a place to relax, restore and replenish ourselves – whether that’s in the shower or luxuriating in a nice and relaxing bath. And anything that relaxes, restores and replenishes us fall under the Feng Shui enhancement category, not the negative energy category.
Bathrooms have come along way and the energy associated with them thousands of years ago simply doesn’t align with the reality of our bathrooms today.
A bathroom, like any other room in your home should be clean, well lit, and organized. And it should be a place that welcomes you with warmth and comfort; a place that provides balance while accommodating your needs.
My Feng Shui advice for today’s bathrooms?
- Balance the elements. (In Feng Shui there are 5 Elements, water, wood, earth, metal and fire.)
- Enhance the Bagua area the bathroom is in.
- Make it a place that welcomes and nurtures you. (you shouldn’t cringe at the sight of your bathroom.)
- If your bathroom faces into a main room it’s best to keep the door closed as the bathroom is a private space.
- And, just to be safe, keep the toilet lid down, The toilet is after-all a drain!
© 2011 Harmony Life®, LLC by Laurie Bornstein
Feng Shui Lifestyle™ articles, tips and conversation http://www.fengshuilifeandstyle.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, BLOG OR WEB SITE?
You can, as long as you include the copyright and link above.
For this week’s blog post I’m sharing a question I was recently asked about Feng Shui and cleaning.
Do I have to clean my house before I do Feng Shui?
It is always a good idea to clean your home before you incorporate Feng Shui changes into your space. Cleaning your space removes old energy, resistence and stagnation and it makes space for the change you desire.
The energy of a place is created in part by the people who have been there, past events, past emotions, the energy patterns inherent in our style of building and of course, by the people living there now.
10 Simple ways to uplift the energy in your home
- Clean and vacuum
- Clear clutter
- Clean the windows
- Replace old, burned out light bulbs
- Open the windows; let fresh air flow into your home
- Spritz your rooms with essential oils (lemon, lavender, eucalyptus and pine are wonderful for this)
- Burn incense or use an essential oil diffuser
- Light a candle
- Add fresh flowers or a beautiful plant
- Play inspiring music
Your results are a reflection of your efforts, so get out the duster and vacuum cleaner and get started!
© 2011 Harmony Life®, LLC by Laurie Bornstein
Feng Shui Lifestyle™ articles, tips and conversation http://www.fengshuilifeandstyle.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, BLOG OR WEB SITE?
You can, as long as you include the copyright and link above.
One of the main tools used in Feng Shui is the Bagua. The Bagua is a method of mapping a space by designating that certain areas align with specific energy. These areas are known as the Bagua life areas, gua’s, and the 8 Aspirations.
The Bagua is a template that is placed over the space being evaluated. This 
could be a home, a room, an office, and property or a yard. The Bagua is comprised of 9 sections, or life areas. (Click here to download a FREE Bagua map with instructions.)
The Bagua is a symbol representing change, it shows how energy moves in the world of vibration. Because energy moves in a predictable manner we are able to ‘read’ its movement within a given space through the use of the Bagua map.
There are eight life areas in the Bagua map, each area corresponds to a particular life energy. The eight life areas are: Career, Inner Knowledge, Family & Foundation, Abundance, Fame & Reputation, Relationships, Creativity and Helpful People. Health sits in the center position.
In Feng Shui there are several different interpretations of the Bagua, the version I use is an adaptation from Black Sect Feng Shui.
How do I place the Bagua on my home?
The Bagua is almost always positioned so that the front door to your home or the door to the room being evaluated is along one of the three front areas of the Bagua. (Career, Inner Knowledge, Helpful People).
To determine where each area is located, stand at the door of your home or the door of the room you are evaluating. As you stand in the doorway you should be facing into the home or room. The center front section is Career. The left front section is Inner Knowledge. The center left section is Family & Foundation. The back left section is Abundance. The center back section is Fame & Reputation. The right back section is Relationships. The center right section is Creativity. The front right section is Helpful People. And Health is located in the center.
Each life area has attributes that are specific to it: color, shape, elemental relationship and the energy of the life area itself. Through the use of the Bagua map you are able to determine where each life area is within the space you are evaluating. And then, based on the life area and the energetic dynamic currently present in your life, you’ll be able to see if there is a correlation between what you see and what you are experiencing.
For example, let’s say that you’ve determined that your Relationship area is in your guest bedroom and this room is full of incomplete projects and clutter. How might this be reflective of your life?
- It could be that you don’t have room for relationships (clutter).
- It could be that you have lots of old unresolved issues with past relationships (unfinished projects).
- And it could be that you’re not ready for a relationship and so the clutter in this room serves as a barrier between you and any potential relationships, others can’t get through to you.
These are just a few examples of possible relationships between the energy of your living space and the quality of your life experience.
Give the Bagua a try, you might be surprised at what you ‘see’!
© 2011 Harmony Life®, LLC by Laurie Bornstein
Feng Shui Lifestyle™ articles, tips and conversation http://www.fengshuilifeandstyle.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, BLOG OR WEB SITE?
You can, as long as you include the copyright and link above.
Mirrors are a powerful tool in Feng Shui and in decorating. Mirrors are wonderful enhancements no matter how they are used. Mirrors can reflect a beautiful view, doubling the beauty. Mirrors can expand a space, making it seem larger and in this use, they are perfect for symbolically ‘pulling’ a missing Bagua area back into a home.
Mirrors can be used to push negative energy back – for instance if a home is located on the end of a ‘T’ junction a mirror can push the strong chi flowing from the street away from the home.
The reason mirrors opposite a door are thought to be negative is that the reflective value of the mirror energetically bounces the energy entering the home back out. If you have a mirror in your front entrance, this doesn’t mean you have to remove it or cover it up. If you do some of the suggestions below, your mirror will become a lovely and positive enhancement. 
If you can’t change it, recruit it!
- A mirror enlarges and expands a space. This can be great in entryways as entryways often tend to be small.
- Look at your mirror as a backdrop for a beauty. Place a large, green plant in front of it or to one side.
- If you have space, place a small 1/2 round table in front of the mirror and accent with a lamp or a flower arrangement. In this instance, the mirror doubles the beauty, creating a warm sense of welcome!
- If you already have a table or bench below the mirror, view the entire space as a composition, it’s the sum of the parts that makes the picture attractive. No one piece is independent from the rest.
- Something I love to do with big mirrors, frame them! You can get lightweight foam frames to attach to mirrors – it turns them into stunning focal points.
Mirrors represent the element of Water, so they can also be used as enhancements in support of the Bagua areas of Career, Abundance and Family/Foundation. (click here for a free Bagua map).
Mirrors are reflective surfaces that double whatever they reflect. They are fantastic to use when you are unable to see behind you, or want to bring in a lovely view. To see behind you, position your mirror so it provides full view of the space behind you when you are standing (such as at the stove), or seated (such as at a desk).
When used on the backsplash behind a stove they are being used for three possible purposes.
- To give the cook a view behind them
- To visually expand a small, narrow space
- To symbolically double and expand the wealth represented by food (stove)
This can be effective for anyone. When I’ve done it, I literally mirror the entire backsplash instead of using a small decorative mirror. This is an extremely effective way to visually expand and enlarge the space – and it looks great!
All Feng Shui enhancements should be seamless additions to the space, they should reflect the style and taste of the individual and they should always look as though they belong. The best Feng Shui isn’t the Feng Shui you see, it’s the Feng Shui you feel.
Try it yourself – incorporate a mirror into your space using some the ideas above and send me a picture. I’d love to see your photos! (Email photos to laurie@harmonylifedesign.com) I’ll even post them on my Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/fengshuilifestyle.
© 2011 Harmony Life®, LLC by Laurie Bornstein
Feng Shui Lifestyle™ articles, tips and conversation http://www.fengshuilifeandstyle.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, BLOG OR WEB SITE?
You can, as long as you include the copyright and link above.
Guess what?
We’ve decided to sell our house and move! And I’m going to share my Feng Shui Lifestyle™ process and experience with you.
I know many of you have been either trying to sell your home or perhaps you’ve been giving it some thought. The tips I’m going to share will put you and your home at the front of the pack. Preparation and commitment are critical here – you have to do the work to get the maximum benefit.
Step 1 – The basics (Feng Shui can be practical!)
- Clear clutter. If there is ever a time to release your extra stuff, this is it. Go through every room, every closet, and every cupboard and release everything you no longer use, need or love.
- Now that you’ve cleared clutter, go back through every room, every closet and every cupboard and pack up approximately 10-25% of the items in each space. (Why you ask? This is the time to literally make room for someone new, to make room you have to move some stuff out!)
- Take down and clean all curtains.
- Wipe down your baseboards, doors and all trim.
- Time for spring-cleaning, even if it isn’t spring! Move the furniture, get behind the fridge, the washer and dryer and really clean up.
- Clean your windows (You want your home to sparkle and shine – time to get the ‘girl’ ready for a show!)
- Thoroughly clean your garage – time to throw away everything you don’t want to take with you. (Believe me, you have more to throw away than you think you do!)
- Touch up walls and trim where the paint has been chipped.
- Dust all ceilings and corners for spider and dust webs.
Once your home sparkles and shines, it’s time to hire a home inspector. I know, you’re thinking that a home inspection is part of the contract process once you have a buyer and that’s true. And here’s why I recommend hiring an inspector before you put your home up for sale – you want to know everything about your home that needs fixing or correcting before you go to sell it. And once you know, make those repairs now.
Almost 2/3rds of all home sales that fall through do so because of something that comes up during inspection – if you get ahead of the process you can be assured that your home will pass inspection with flying colors!
Step 2 coming soon…
© 2011 Harmony Life®, LLC by Laurie Bornstein
Feng Shui Lifestyle™ articles, tips and conversation http://www.fengshuilifeandstyle.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, BLOG OR WEB SITE?
You can, as long as you include the copyright and link above.
Homemaking, a term that may strike many of us as something women aspired toward when there were few other options. What does Lifestyle Feng Shui™ have to do with homemaking? Everything. Lifestyle Feng Shui™ is about living a life, a lifestyle in balance and harmony with who we are.
Homemaking as I’m defining it is the art of making a house a home. We’re pretty aware of and perhaps pretty good at hanging pictures, buying into the latest decorating trends and colors and that does make a house attractive. But making a house attractive isn’t enough. Homemaking is about creating spaces that are filled with comfort and warmth: spaces that beckon you to enter and stay awhile, spaces that embrace us with a sense of belonging and security.
Sounds enchanting doesn’t it? It is.
A home is many things, it’s the way a room looks, the balance of color and light. It’s the way the furnishings are arranged, the objects we choose to surround ourselves with and where we choose to live. But most of all, it’s how personally connected we are to the spaces we inhabit.
It doesn’t matter if your house is big or small, in the city or in the country or what style of décor you prefer. What matters is that you take the time to create, a space that embraces the spirit of your home, and the essence of your true personality. When we take the time to connect to our personal spaces, and improve those spaces, we improve the quality of our life.
Connecting to your home isn’t about spending lots of money or buying a bigger house. Connecting to the spirit, the heart, of your home isn’t something you buy; it’s something you do.
As Jane Alexander states in Spirit of the Home, “Rediscovering the spirit of your home is about bringing the natural world into your space, giving play to all the elements and the life force they embody. It’s about allowing your senses full rein; filling your home with delicious sounds, and scents, textures and tastes.”
Making your house into a home takes effort. You have to be physically and mentally involved – just like you do in any relationship. For this is a relationship, and for it to work, for your house to fully embrace you and welcome you with comfort and love you must first do the same for your house. And when you do, the change will be perceptible; your house will change into a home that beckons you, that embraces you, that welcomes you.
We nurture ourselves through the choices we make. When we focus on what we love, we fashion our life around our personal sense of balance and harmony, our homes become personal sanctuaries, places that uplift and inspire us. Our homes shape us just as we shape them.
Home is the ultimate expression of who we are. And homemaking is the art of connecting to who we are through our living spaces.
© 2010 Harmony Life®, LLC by Laurie Bornstein
Feng Shui Lifestyle™ articles, tips and conversation http://www.fengshuilifeandstyle.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, BLOG OR WEB SITE?
You can, as long as you include the copyright and link above.
Lately, I’ve been asked a lot of questions about ways to sell a home, so I decided to share some practical and powerful steps that have helped me and my clients.
Planning on buying or selling or changing your home?
If so, there are several Feng Shui strategies that will ensure that the home you choose is a home that will embrace a sense of comfort and welcome. It will be a home that truly supports you as you travel the path of your journey.
Step #1 – Pay attention to first impressions. Give special attention to the condition the front door is in. Can the door be opened fully and easily? Is the entrance area well maintained? Clean? Well lit?
The front door is the key; the opening to all the home has to offer. Its appearance and functionality are paramount in importance whether you are buying or selling a home.
Step #2 – Does the home feel welcoming from the street? Or as they say in Real Estate, “does the home have curb appeal?”
What is curb appeal? When a home has curb appeal, the way the home looks and the property or landscaping combine to create a sense of welcome. The home literally looks warm and inviting.
For those of you selling a home, some of the ways to achieve this feeling of comfort and welcome is to make sure the front door is clean, well lit and easy to get to. Consider painting the front door an exciting, vibrant color, one that smiles a greeting to all who drive by. If the front door is stained, consider refreshing the stain and hardware to make that door sparkle.
Fresh flowers near the front door are a wonderful way to send a positive greeting to all who come by. Potted plants or flowers flanking the front door are lovely to look at and also convey that the home is cared for and maintained.
Step #3 – Is the path to the door easy to see and safe to walk on? Is it a long straight line or is it a meandering, curved walkway? Ideally, the pathway to our home is a path that curves from the street to the front door, at the very least it should curve from the driveway to the front door. Often our walk paths are very straight and angular, this design isn’t as welcoming as a gentler, meandering path.
Step #4 – Is the garage door more pronounced than the front door? If the garage door is a prominent feature on the front of your home (and many are), consider painting your garage door the same color as the home. This way the garage door will not compete with the front door for attention, or overpower it due to its size. While painting or staining the garage door in a contrasting color creates impact, it also makes the garage door a strong feature on the home and the only door that should be a strong feature on the home is the front door.
Step #5 – Upon entering the home, do you feel like you belong there? How do you feel when you step into the home? Does your energy rise, fall or stay the same? Do you feel a sense of comfort and welcome, an overriding sense of this as your home? Or do you find yourself going through the house noticing everything that’s wrong, taking notes on what needs improvement or change?
When incorporating the principles of Feng Shui into your home evaluations, the most important questions you must ask yourself are:
- Is there a sense of warmth, welcome and embrace when I think of this home, especially when comparing it to other available homes?
- Am I comfortable in this space?
If you can answer ‘yes’ to each of those questions, the home has good Feng Shui. It may be in need of some adjustments and improvements, but overall things are in alignment for you.
Step #6 – Does the home’s layout, the way the rooms are placed in relationship to one another, move you gently from room to room, flowing naturally and easily? Or do you find yourself hesitating before moving from one area to the next? When our homes are configured to allow gentle movement from one area to the next, we feel more comfortable, more at ease. When we have to think about how to get from one area to the next, or find that we wind up somewhere other than where we intended, the home is not configured in a way that honors the natural traffic flow.
Positioning plays an important role both in your comfort in your own home and in the sense of comfort and welcome others feel when they enter your home.
Your furniture arrangements should be positioned to provide a full view of the room and the door into the room when seated. Living room furniture should open toward you as you enter the room, almost as though it’s reaching out to give you a hug. Try not to position the sofa so it blocks entry into the room, or has its back facing the entry. When in this position, the sofa stops you from entering the room, blocking the energy in much the same manner as a wall does.
Step #7 – Change the use of your rooms to better accommodate the space and/or the general needs of a potential buyer. For example: if you have both a living room and a family room, and they are near to one another, is there a better use for one of them? Having more than two sofas or main seating areas can feel crowded. Consider alternative room usage to maximize your home’s potential.
Step #8 – Take time to lighten your load. Release anything that isn’t useful, needed or loved and then consider putting 30-50% of your things into storage (such as highly personal art, family photos, extra seating, boxed or stored items, extra accessories, off season clothing, books, etc.). The goal here is to make room for the change you desire. For someone to be able to see themselves in a new home, there has to actually be room for them. When you’re selling a home, it’s time to stop decorating and thinking of it as if it’s yours. It’s time to decorate it for the perfect new person. It’s time to make room for someone else.
Our homes are so much more than four walls. Our homes are living, breathing, vibrant places. If you want to sell your home, invest time and energy in creating a space that welcomes another. Your results are a direct reflection of your efforts, time to get busy creating the results you desire!
Helpful Tips
1. Take care of any maintenance issues. Leaky roof, dripping faucets, stuck or hard to open doors, anything broken or not working need to be fixed promptly or there will be a slow erosion of energy in the Bagua life area that corresponds with the problem. (Want to know more about the Bagua life areas? Download a free map and instructions!)
2. Make the front door inviting. Keep your entry well lit and clear of clutter. Make sure the entire entry area is swept and clean and welcoming. Fresh flowers are a wonderful enhancement for this area whenever possible. If the weather is dark and stormy, turn your porch light on.
3. Take care of yard work. Make sure your landscaping is attractive, inviting and well-kept. Remove any dead or dying plants. You don’t want ‘dead’ energy anywhere in your vibrant living space. Don’t let any plant material overgrow the walkways or obscure the front door.
© 2010 Harmony Life, LLC by Laurie Bornstein
Feng Shui Lifestyle articles, tips and conversation http://www.fengshuilifeandstyle.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, BLOG OR WEB SITE?
You can, as long as you include the copyright and link above
Green living and green design are about living in harmony with our environment. Feng Shui is about living in balance and harmony with your environment. Feng Shui has been green all along!
Feng Shui is the oldest form of holistic healing and that is healing through your environment.
What better day than today to learn more about Feng Shui and how it can help you create a living space that not only looks good, but a living space that feels good and is good for the environment. Energetically, all things are connected and through conscious choice and awareness we can improve the quality of our life and the quality of life on earth.
Today we have options and choices in all areas of our life that don’t compromise our sense of style, our sense of taste or our sense of self. We can be who we are and embrace a way of living that is more supportive and beneficial for our health and well being as well as the health and well being of the planet.
- Paint – All major paint companies now have low VOC paints, so finding one you like is easy. One of my favorite paint companies is Benjamin Moore. In addition to their low VOC line, Aura, they have introduced a no VOC line, Natura. Both lines are available in any color!
- Zar offers a broad range of waterborne stains and finishes.
- AFM offers a broad range of waterborne stain colors and finishes, caulk and other household repair products
- Titebond makes great tub & tile caulk, painter’s caulk & kitchen & bath sealant.
- AFM makes sealants for tile, concrete and floors
- Breathe Easy; this company makes low VOC cabinets. They are the perfect choice for your custom kitchen or bath.
- Cleaning products are the easiest change to make. There are so many companies and products to choose from in this category, you won’t have any trouble finding something you like at a reasonable price. It’s as easy as going to your favorite discount store or the grocery store!
- Bon Ami for scrubbing jobs (bathtubs, toilet, etc.)
- Dishwasher detergent – the best I’ve found so far is Ecover, I like the tabs.
- Dish soap – lots of choices, from Seventh Generation to many old, tried and true brands that have embraced green tenants, this is one of the easiest items to find.
- Meyer Cleaning products clean well and use natural essential oils for a fresh scent
- Shaklee products have been clean and green for ages. Effective and cost efficient.
- Clothing – You can find bamboo fiber, organic cotton and wool sweaters, tops and pants through many catalogs, at specialty shops and, of course, online.
- Green towels, rugs and drapery fabrics are now available in most of the major mail order catalogs, at the major home accessory stores and at major department stores. When you see products like these at such a diversity of retailers, you know that organic based fabric, accessories and home goods have gone mainstream.
Making sustainable or green choices is more than a popular trend; it’s about making choices that help you live a healthier lifestyle. To help you in your creation of a healthier lifestyle (let’s face it, we can all do better) see the tips below.
Top 10 Feng Shui tips for Green Living
- Bring reusable bags to the grocery store instead of using paper or plastic bags.
- Start a personal recycling program. Newspaper and boxes are an easy first step!
- Turn off the water when you’re brushing your teeth or shaving.
- Replace your old incandescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) with the newest safest energy efficient light emitting diode bulbs (LED).
- Buy locally grown fruits and vegetables (saves on fuel, packaging and more!)
- Group errands together to save fuel (one trip vs. many).
- Pay bills online – saves on paper use and fuel use.
- Use low or no VOC paint for your next painting project.
- Replace your household cleaning products with green cleaning products.
- Incorporate the principles of Feng Shui into your life and create an environment that looks and feels good – and is good for you!
In this world, we are all connected. What we do impacts not only the quality of our life; it affects the quality of life of those around us. All we have to do to change the quality of life around us, is to begin to change how we choose to live our lives.
Choose wisely.
© 2010 Harmony Life, LLC by Laurie Bornstein
Feng Shui Lifestyle articles, tips and conversation http://www.fengshuilifeandstyle.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, BLOG OR WEB SITE?
You can, as long as you include the copyright and link above
I’m often asked what attracted me to Feng Shui. My first introduction to Feng Shui was through books. The first Feng Shui books I read were; Interior Design with Feng Shui by Sarah Rossbach, Feng Shui Made Easy by William Spear and The Western Guide to Feng Shui by Terah Kathryn Collins. My interest and attraction grew steadily stronger with each book. I found that while Feng Shui was ‘new’ to me, it was also very familiar and that was intriguing. How could something I had no experience with seem so familiar? I believe that Feng Shui was familiar to me because it is a practice that resonates deeply with who I am and where I am from.
My ancestral heritage includes Chinese, Hawaiian and Native American, all cultures that practice Feng Shui – though not all methods and techniques are the same, the foundation of each practice shares a desire to live in harmony with nature and our environments. I believe it is this ancestral heritage that responded deep within me as I began to read and learn about Feng Shui.
Initially, I had no intention of studying Feng Shui but as I read more books it became clear to me that much of the practice could not be found between the lines of text and if I wanted to really learn I was going to have to train.
My first Feng Shui training was BTB, or Black Sect Feng Shui, my second, Essential Feng Shui® and my third, Interior Alignment®. Each of my trainings has provided me with a deeper understanding and appreciation of Feng Shui; its many layers and perspectives. Of all my trainings, the one that resonated the most with me was and is still Interior Alignment®.
With Interior Alignment® I felt as though I had stepped through a portal to myself, a place where I was embraced by what ‘I know to be so’, and from that place of knowing I learned additional ways of ‘seeing’, ‘feeling’ and understanding.
The beauty of Interior Alignment® is that it embraces a synergistic blend of methods and techniques from many cultures and practices: Feng Shui, Hu’na, and Native American to name a few. How it embraces them is by combining various bits from each, the core form school foundational aspects and energetics of Feng Shui, the loving connection between our consciousness and our environments from Hu’na, and some of the ceremonial aspects, beauty and power of Native American thought, technique and ceremony.
It is this unique combination that makes Interior Alignment® more than just Feng Shui. In fact, the name Interior Alignment really sums it up nicely. It’s about aligning who you are and what’s important to you with the places you inhabit, visually, energetically, and spiritually. Interior Alignment uses the energy in our homes as a tool for healing and transformation.
Studying and practicing Feng Shui has completely changed my life and my work in ways I could never have imagined when I picked up that first book back in 1995. Life still has its ups and downs, its challenges and joys – but all in all it’s a great life filled with wonderful people, experiences and opportunities. Do I think Feng Shui is responsible for all this? I think Feng Shui has helped establish a sense of balance, comfort, harmony and inspiration in my life and from that place the rest has been much easier. It’s a Feng Shui Lifestyle!
At the end of the day, when the places we live in support us energetically, visually and spiritually they stop being a house and become a home.
And home is where I want to live.
For more information about Interior Alignment training click here!
© 2010 Harmony Life, LLC by Laurie Bornstein
Feng Shui Lifestyle articles, tips and conversation http://www.fengshuilifeandstyle.com
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, BLOG OR WEB SITE?
You can, as long as you include the copyright and link above.
