Did you know that every room in your home is a reflection of your life? Feng shui is about designing your environment – home or office – to help facilitate bringing in more of what you want in life, whether it is to be happier, healthier or more prosperous.

Feng means wind and shui means water in Chinese. Wind and water are about movement or energy. When energy (qi in Chinese) is blocked, the energy can’t move and you remain stuck. This can be evidenced with clutter, such as a cluttered desk or mounds of paperwork. Clear those piles and you will help clear your mind.

Are there places in your life where you feel stuck? For example, do you ever feel that your money is going down the drain as quickly you make it? You may have a leak in your plumbing or maybe one of your toilets is leaking. Check your toilets, faucets and showerheads and even your water bill. Then call the plumber.

There are two major schools of feng shui: the Form School and the Compass School. The former uses the bagua, which consists of eight trigrams that represent the different areas of meaning in your life. If you overlay the bagua on your floor plan, you can see the meaning of each area of your home. You align the side that has Wisdom, Career and Helpful People along your main entrance. The Compass School uses the luo pang (pronounced “low pan”), which is a geomancer’s compass and involves elements of astrology.

Typically, the Chinese nobles used the bagua to determine the most auspicious location for building their homes or businesses but today that’s not practical as most neighborhoods are already built. How can you use feng shui practically without tearing down your home and costing a lot of money? Let’s look at two of the areas on the bagua – ‘Love and Marriage’ and ‘Fame and Reputation’ – as examples.

LOVE AND MARRIAGE

Do you want to reignite the spark in your relationship?

As an example, a woman reported that her and her husband had lost the intimacy in their relationship. One glance at their bedroom, which is located in the Love and Marriage area of the home, told the story. The walls were covered in artwork by their children. The fireplace mantel had photos of their children and there were two chairs on opposite sides of the room. The curio cabinet – housed in the love and marriage corner of the room – was filled with feminine mementos, a stuffed animal and photos of their children.

The first step was to remove the children’s artwork and photos from the mantel and replace them with a small landscape painting from another room, a silver box that her husband had given her as a gift, and photos of the two of them as a couple. The kid-focused memorabilia from the curio cabinet was cleared out and like items were paired together. In feng shui, pairing like or similar items is symbolic of being a couple. Finally, the two facing chairs were moved side by side to create another pairing. Now the room was about the two of them as a couple, not just about her and their children.

FAME AND REPUTATION

How do you manage a job shift when you are in the midst of moving?

According to the Holmes-Rahe Stress Inventory, changing jobs and moving are two of life’s major stressors. As an example, a woman wanted to change jobs and move in the same year that she was becoming an empty nester. Her goals for changing her son’s study room into a home office included the desire for a quiet retreat. Completely paneled in wood, her son’s dark and masculine study room was located in the Fame and Reputation area of her home. Because of the pending sale, it was decide to skip the expense of painting the paneling.

Fame is represented by red in feng shui and is the color of fire, which was lacking in this “wooded” room. She didn’t like red so a cream and hot pink-colored rug was chosen for the floor to lighten the heaviness of the space and to bring in the fire element. A comfortable feminine thinking chair was purchased to soften the space, and mementos of her career were placed on her bookshelf, candles on an end table and inspirational sayings on the walls. Finally, several lamps were added for the dark corners. Just a few months later she made a thrilling job shift and, not long after that, she sold her home.

Catherine Avery delivers peace, comfort and productivity through interior design of home and office environments with a focus on feng shui, space clearing and personal branding. Learn more and connect at Resovate.com.

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Simple Feng Shui Strategies You Can Implement Now

Go outside and come in the front door as though it’s not your home. What do you notice first? Walk through your entire home taking notes on what you love and the areas for improvement. This is an old real estate trick, so if you are getting ready to sell your home do this now.

• Declutter, declutter. Think how great you feel when your home has just been cleaned – lighter, fresher, more clear. Decluttering is overwhelming for most people; it’s best to take one corner at a time and set a timer for 10 minutes.

• Want to attract a partner into your life? Make space in your closet and empty at least one drawer in your dresser to symbolically hold space for that person. The bedroom should be cozy and romantic, not too frilly or child-oriented. Place similar items in pairs to help bring in the partner energy.

• Ideally, you will have a view of the door from your bed or desk. For the bedroom, you want to feel safe, protected and aware of your surroundings. For the desk, this is the power position.

• When designing your living room, choose your furniture more for comfort and safety than for aesthetics. There is no point in having a gorgeous uncomfortable chair that your guests are afraid to sit in. Make sure that you and your significant other try sitting in the chair you plan to buy.

• Add plants to your bathroom. The wood element helps to offset the water element. If you don’t have a green thumb, a piece of driftwood will work.