A few simple feng shui tips can make a huge impact on you, your space and your mood. Last year, we had feng shui master Dana Claudat come to our offices for a quick energetic clear-out. We were completely impressed with the simple changes she helped us make to shift the vibe in our environment big time.
Our new Facebook group, The Chat, recently asked for more insights about feng shui and we knew Dana was the woman who could deliver. Below are our favorite learnings from our live chat (see the full video here).
14 Feng Shui Tips Everyone Should KnowWork with nature. Feng shui originally means wind and water, and the fundamental idea is to work with nature to create an optimal space for you to thrive in. Work in your natural flow.
Home As A Vision Board. Dana’s approach to feng shui sees the home as a vision board for your whole life. Design your space so that everywhere you look you see your intention; so everything you do supports your intentions, and everything in your home is a mirror of those intentions.
There’s No Wrong Way. Feng shui is an ancient practice, but it’s also an adaptable one. Nothing is bad or wrong, unless you have structural damage (if you have a broken window, a hole in the ceiling, or door that doesn’t lock), having something face south when it’s “not supposed to” won’t disrupt the energy of the space. You can create balance from wherever you are, nothing is going to cause bad things to happen to you.
Observe How You Feel. Walk into your house and imagine your natural flow. See how you feel in each room, observe the energy flowing. Do you feel inspired, uplifted, stagnant, or stuck? Do you want to race through certain rooms because there is clutter or because there is a mess or there is discord? Observe how the energy flows and you’ll get a sense of which areas need to shift — you can shift them in really simple ways.
Everything Is Connected. Dana told us “where energy flows is where your attention goes. Where your attention goes energy flows.” Where your energy is flowing in your home is a mirror of where your energy is flowing within you. All of the energy in your life is interrelated. What do you notice when you walk into your home: spaces of clutter? Where do you feel like you’re getting stuck in your day? Where do you feel like you can’t welcome people in? If your kitchen is cluttered and a mess, does it stop you from feeding yourself well? Does it block a level of self-care? There is not a right or wrong answer, feel it out, get a sense of how you’re connected to your space and how the energy is flowing and make adjustments as needed.
Decluttering Is Self-Care. Decluttering can actually amplify your sense of well-being and your prosperity. Where energy is flowing you have more abundance, you have more love, you have more high vibes — you have more of all the things that you want. These energetic shifts don’t just affect your home, but floods into your life because you’re creating space for them and experiencing them all the time.
Live In Your Inspiration. You should feel inspired by every room. Energy flow has everything to do with inspiration. If you walk into a room and it just feels ‘okay’ that means there is room to improve; you should love each room. You should love the things in each room. If you don’t, that doesn’t mean you have to get more things, it means you have an opportunity to moving things around, or get some plants, or get rid of some things.
Define How Home Feels. How at home do you feel in your home? How can you make it feel more like home? Think about when you were a kid, and ask yourself where did you first feel at home? It might not be your house, it might be your grandma’s house or your friend’s house or a classroom in your school. Where did you feel most connected? Most nourished? What did it look like, smell like, feel like? When you think of that feeling of being at home, what do you see in your space? What are the things that are really vibrant in your sensory memory?
Bring Home Home. After you ask yourself the questions above, take a close look at your home now — does it have these attributes? Does it have those feelings that you first felt at home with? Can you bring some of them into your space? How can you bring it in simply? Are there things that you have that you can integrate into your space? Can you bring in objects from your former home like family photos, or a certain smell or flower that brings you back to that feeling at home? What makes you feel connected? If you’re not sure, give yourself time to get back to it — journal about it or meditate on it, you might have an instinctual flash that gives you the answer.
Clear The Energy. A sense of clutter indicates that there is some stagnant energy that needs clearing. Clutter is an outward manifestation, but the root of clutter is often energetic. Sometimes we’ll clear out space and it feels like seconds later there is more clutter — the reason for that is there is a little energy in the air that needs clearing. Clearing space on an energetic level can help you not accumulate as much clutter and can help to keep your space higher, lighter and freer. Before you do anything else, open some windows to get fresh air/energy into your space. Energetic space clearing can also be done with burning sage, burning palo santo, or burning some salt (this a very effective energetic space clearing technique, one of the most powerful tools, but it’s also a little dramatic so might not be for everyone).
Clap In Corners. Corners collect energy. Maybe the strangest feng shui tip ever is this: clap in the corners to clear stagnant energy. If you don’t have the ability to burn sage you can clap to get a flow going. Clap in the corners until you feel energy flowing. If you have a sound bowl, you can ring it in all the corners instead.
Let The Light In. Let in more natural sunlight to help clear stuck energy. If you have curtains or blinds open them up and let some sunshine in; natural light is really uplifting. If you’re in an office, get up and take breaks outside and absorb actual natural light, it really helps to recharge your system. This might not feel like a major feng shui ti, but the energetic impact can be immense.
Tidy Up. One of the most important feng shui tips is to literally clear clutter — there are so many ways to approach it. Try implementing a regular clearing practice rather than doing it all at once so it is less overwhelming. If you don’t have 2 hours to clear out a closet, simply spend 15 minutes clearing out stuff and put it in a pile and schedule time to deal with it. Break it down slowly if it helps you make it more possible.
Cultivate Balance. Your space mirrors your life. As this map shows, each area of your home represents an area of your life: money (wealth and self empowerment in all senses, how you value yourself), fame (power, how you’re seen in the world, how you’re acknowledged), love (for self, relationships, passion), legacy (what you are leaving behind, your creative legacy, your family, your ancestors), health (in the center of every home), creativity (how everything is created), love, wisdom (all the lessons you’ve learned in life), self (your mission in the world) and helpful people (all the people who help you). All of these areas exist in your space as well as in your life.
Feng shui is not about focusing on one specific area and piling all of your attention on to one place; there needs to be a balance otherwise you lose sight of all these other important areas of your life and they crumble. You can’t just focus on one area of your life and expect everything else to take care of itself. Every element is equally important. Ask yourself: are you putting your energy and attention into just one thing? Do you need to spread it out a little to create more balance so you stay full of energy and stay in your flow and feeling really good? When you feel good it becomes easier to make things happen.
Grab a few more simple but effective feng shui tips from Dana here.
