Mind, Body, Home: Transform Your Life One Room at a Time (27 page)

• Have you had a shift in your beliefs about spirituality?

• Have you experienced a disappointment in an area for which you

had high expectations?

• Do you feel vulnerable or unsafe in the world?

166 Structural Components

• Do you struggle with setting boundaries?

• Is there a belief system you are still holding on to that no longer serves you?

Walls

The walls within a space are the main dictator of how energy flows

through a space. How the energy flows through your home is indicative

of how energy flows through you, physically and mentally. Walls rep-

resent boundaries. They can also signify our limitations and obstacles.

Taking out walls in our home has become an increasingly common

renovation project, particularly for those living in older homes. It is no wonder. As we evolve, we break through so many limiting thoughts

and beliefs.

Generally speaking, the older a home, the more walls it has. My

1920s bungalow had a lovely, open floor plan that easily flowed around

a central staircase. However, this was the case only because multiple

doors were completely removed thereby allowing the rooms to flow

and the energy meander. Older floor plans were designed to be more

compartmentalized. Rooms had more defined functions sometimes

even based on gender and class.

As we as a society have broken through these molds, our floor

plans reflect this change. No longer do we have servants who work in

the basement kitchen. And no longer do men have a smoking parlor.

(Although, they may still have a “man cave.”) Generally speaking, the

newer a home, the fewer walls it has. Open floor plans have not become

just a trend, but a way of life. A home with an open floor plan feels

lighter and freer. Breathing is easier. The difference is palpable just as if going from the indoors to the outdoors.

Loft apartments have the fewest walls, with usually just the bath-

room and maybe a bedroom enclosed. Not coincidentally, lofts are

located in open-minded areas within a city and generally occupied by

those of a similar mindset. For some people, the openness can feel too

overwhelming and scary, with too many options. A more closed floor

plan may be desired by someone in order to feel more in control of

their surroundings and life.

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If you are renovating your home and taking down a wall, think

about what limitations you are currently overcoming in your life. Is

there a wall in your home that you have considered removing to open

up your floor plan? If so, it may reflect a desire to open up in your life and break through old habits, beliefs, or way of thinking. Open a wall and you will open your mind.

On the contrary, have you put up or wanted to put up a wall to add

more division or privacy within your home? This is not as common,

unless you are reconstructing the floor plan and moving rooms around.

Consider where in your life you are setting new boundaries. Or is there an overall change in your way of thinking that is shifting in many

rooms, or areas, of your life. A client of mine completely renovated

their home after she and her husband remarried. She intuitively knew

that there needed to be a shift in the space. Rooms were rearranged;

walls came down; and new ones were put up.

Every house has at least one load-bearing wall. This wall is essential

to the entire structure of the house and should never be removed. The

load-bearing wall represents a foundational belief. What is the load-

bearing wall in your life? In rare cases, a natural disaster may force you to rebuild a wall. This would be equivalent to a freak accident causing an injury to the body. Like a broken bone that is rebuilt, the wall will be stronger than before.

Mind Body Home Connection:
Walls

• What is blocking you creatively?

• Where are you putting up walls in your life?

• Are you too open-minded or closed-minded?

• Do you tend to be too tunnel-visioned?

• How are you with setting boundaries? Too loose or rigid?

• Does your breath flow easily through your body or is it stuck or

strained?

• Do you feel like you are going up against obstacles or hitting a

wall?

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Stairs

The general shape of a house can create an underlying energy pattern

for the home and its occupants. Single-story homes allow its inhabitants to work on the here and the now in the present moment of their daily

life, while those in a multi-story home have the opportunity to embark

on a journey to higher awareness. Neither path is better than the other as we all end up in the home that best fits our path.

Inherent to multi-story homes is a staircase. While we think of

going
down
the stairs to the basement, we think of going
up
the stairs to reach the upper floors with the main level being the point of reference. Walking up a flight of stairs indicates ascension. Stairs or elevators are common dream symbols that represent making progress on

one’s spiritual journey. Going up stairs or elevators is like ascending to new heights; whereas going down stairs represents descending into the

subconscious mind.

It is important that stairs and stairwells are kept in a safe condition.

You don’t want anything tripping you up on your journey or getting in

your way. Tripping up the stairs can signify that you are getting tripped up on your journey, most likely out of fear and self-sabotage. Keep

stairs clear of clutter and fix any boards that are loose. Have a steady stair rail along the staircase so that you can feel supported as well.

Stairways can pose some issues in feng shui. Stairs can create a tun-

nel of rushing energy depending on where they are situated. One of the

most well-known feng shui rules is that you don’t want your front door

to open up to a staircase. This is the case because the energy rushes

up the stairs from the front door. The energy should instead meander

through the main level of the home. The energy also runs down the

stairs and out the front door. In terms of energy, think of stairs as an Olympic luge slide with energy rushing down.

If you have a staircase in your home, notice where it falls on the

Bagua Map in Chapter 4. If that area is a challenging aspect in your life, then it is advisable to seek a feng shui professional to help balance the energy around the staircase. Plants can be used at the bottom of the

staircase to help ground the space. Placing or hanging a crystal around
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or above the staircase can also be used to balance the energy. Because

stairs are transitional in nature, they can cause a great deal of transition in certain areas of your life depending on their location. It is also best to avoid a spiral staircase. The energy of a spiral staircase mirrors that of a corkscrew and can wreak havoc with the energy of its occupants,

potentially causing health problems.

Windows

Windows are one of the most sought out aspects of a home. When

I ask clients where their favorite room or part of the house is, almost inevitably everyone points to a spot where there is a window with natural light pouring in. We are naturally drawn to the outdoors. Feeling

the comforts of home while feeling the connection with nature or the

outside world is the balance to which most of us are drawn. Windows

provide this connection.

If the house were a body, then the windows would be the eyes. The

eyes are the “windows to the soul.” By looking into someone’s eyes,

you can immediately drop into their soul. It is a similar analogy with

regard to someone looking through the windows of our home. If it is

someone we don’t know, we feel violated, rightfully so, as they are peering into a very private space—our home, our soul.

Looking out through our eyes or windows opens us up and connects

us with the outside world. With our eyes closed, we can go inward.

With our eyes open, our energy naturally extends outward into the

world. So is the case with our windows at home. Windows represent

new perspectives, possibilities, and insights. If you need a new perspective or clarity in your life, then clean your windows. You will be amazed at how much better you can “see” your life and new possibilities. Things that were under your nose and you were unable to see before will magically be revealed.

Windows also symbolize our outlook on life, point of view, and

intuition. Like the eyes looking out into the world, how well can you

see? Perhaps you need more clarity. Are you looking through smudged

glasses, rose-colored glasses, or clear glasses? In the case of a broken
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window, what are you not seeing clearly? What is distorting your per-

ception? Do you need a new point of view? Are your windows always

covered up to where you are avoiding the outside world? Or why do

you not want to be “seen” by the world? On the contrary, are you com-

pletely exposed and in need of boundaries? Are you open to others’

point of view or just to your own narrow vantage point? In the event

of a broken window, what are you not seeing that is trying to get your

attention?

Mind Body Home Connection:
Windows

• Do you need more clarity on a certain area in your life?

• What are you unwilling to look at?

• What are you in denial about?

• Do you need a new perspective or viewpoint on a particular matter?

Doors

Doors represent opportunities. There are many phrases and quotes

about relate to doors and how they relate to opportunities. We even use the two words synonymously in common clichés, for example, “Waiting for the right door to open.” Doors can also represent entering a new stage in life or a new beginning. Doors can also represent a fork in the road of available choices we have in life—for example, choosing “Door

number 1 or Door number 2.”

In feng shui, the front door of the home is called the
primary mouth
of chi
. The front door is the main vessel of energy that comes into your home and therefore the most important door for allowing new opportunities and possibilities to come into your life. For this reason, it is best to create a welcoming entrance in order to invite new opportunities

into your life. Clear out any dirt or cobwebs in that area.

Make sure the front entrance is clearly marked with house numbers,

a welcome mat, a doorknocker or doorbell, and any other adornments

that bring in positive energy. Hinges should be fully operational. Do

not block any doorways with furniture or clutter. A doorbell or door-

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knocker represents messages. The phrase, “when opportunity comes

knocking,” is a common metaphor that exemplifies the symbolism. If

you have a doorbell, make sure it works properly so that you don’t miss out on the opportunities when they do come your way. If you don’t

have a doorbell, then a doorknocker will serve the same purpose.

Even if you don’t use your front door as your main entrance, it is

nonetheless the primary path of energy into your home. It is therefore

important to keep the energy welcoming and flowing through this area.

If you enter your home through the garage or back door, then use your

front door as often as possible for getting the mail, taking a walk, or simply opening up for fresh air. Think of the front door as the inhalation or in-breath of the home with the back door being the exhalation

or out-breath. It is important to keep this flow for a complete balance of the home’s energy.

When I visit clients’ homes that primarily use the garage or back

door as their main entrance, I typically find the area around the front door to be a ghost town of sorts. The foyer area is completely ignored and the energy is stagnant. They are usually lacking energy themselves.

No area of the home should go ignored, especially the front door. Add

some plants to the front porch or place your favorite piece of art in the front foyer. Bring some energy to that area and see what opportunities

come your way.

The same is true for all doors and doorways in your home. While

the front door is the primary mouth of chi, all doors allow energy to

pass through and represent opportunities or openings in our life. All

doors should open up fully into a room without bumping into furniture

or other hindrances. Avoid storing items behind doors. The area behind

doors should not be used for storage beyond that of a single robe or

coat hook. I often have clients who try to use this space to hide clutter that they don’t know what to do with. When a door cannot fully open,

it creates a block somewhere in your life.

Doors that don’t properly close indicate a misalignment in some

area of your life. This could result from a framing or foundation issue that caused the floor to shift. Doors should open and close with ease.

Any catches that prevent this should be remedied to avoid a “rubbing”

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up against things in your life. Doors with too much space or gaps should also be fixed with weatherstipping—otherwise this could lead to boundary issues in the form of allowing energy to escape. When energy in

the form of utilities escapes so does your personal energy.