Mind, Body, Home: Transform Your Life One Room at a Time (28 page)

The
key lock
is another component of a door that is laced with

symbolism. Usually this pertains to the front door specifically, but could apply to any doors with locks. Problems unlocking a door or getting a

key stuck indicates anxiety pertaining to a situation occurring within

the home. It’s as if you subconsciously don’t want to come home due

to a situation within the home.

The
doorknob
holds significance as well. It is the resource you need to make necessary connections. In other words, the door and the opportunities it brings are useless without the doorknob. Problems with

doorknobs or door handles indicate whether you have a “handle” on

things in your life. Or, does life seem out of control to the point where you need to “get a handle on things” or “get a grip”?

Have you ever turned a doorknob to find it in your hand? When I

moved into my home, the renovators had put a cheap doorknob on a

beautiful 1900-era door. The knob did not fit the door properly and was always loose, to the point where it would come off in your hand when

using it. We replaced it with the most beautiful, solid brass, heavy knob we could find. What a difference it made entering the house. There was

a renewed confidence in stepping through the threshold and into the

home that set a positive tone each time I entered.

Mind Body Home Connection:
Doors

• Are you blocking opportunities that are coming your way?

• Are you open to new opportunities or is fear getting in the way?

• Are you fearful of change?

• Do you feel closed off from the world?

• Are you overwhelmed with the choices being presented?

Structural Components 173

Fireplace

The fireplace symbolizes family, warmth, and traditional values. The

fireplace has been a central focus of homes for centuries—a place

where families have traditionally gathered. Stockings are hung on the

fireplace, along with family heirlooms placed on the mantle and family

pictures hung above it. The fireplace is almost always the focal point

of any room in which it is located. In cases of natural disasters such as a tornado, the fireplace is often the only part of the home still standing. It provides a strong grounding for the entire home. It gives a home the feeling of safety, dependability, and warmth. That being said, if not properly utilized it can be a source of energy escaping. The chimney

flue is a common area that allows energy to escape and/or unwanted

energy to enter the home.

C h a p t e r 1 0

Rooms:

Our Many Parts and Personas

I think when you invite people to your home, you invite them to yourself

—oprah winfrey



• Bathroom

• Bedroom

• Closet

• Den (or Living Room)

• Garage

• Transitional Spaces

• Kitchen

You’re walking through your home, down a hall, and you notice a door.

For some reason you’ve never noticed this door before and decide to

open it. You step through and discover a part of your home that you

never knew existed. You can’t figure out why you never knew of this

room or perhaps even an entire wing of the house until now. You walk

through with eyes wide open. The room may feel spacious and open.

175

176 Rooms

Or perhaps it has a unique characteristic about it. Maybe it is a room

with a giant piano in it, a stage, or some other message. This is a common dream scenario in which you are discovering a new aspect of your-

self—a new room. While it’s been with you all along, you are just now

noticing it.

As we grow, expand, and evolve, we reclaim parts of ourselves that

we may have abandoned long ago. We pull back parts of ourselves like

a superhero taking back his or her superpowers. Perhaps it is a talent

in music, speaking, or the arts that you had denied. As we become

more of ourself, we add tools to our toolbox. These new aspects could

come through a new relationship with each person we meet bringing

in a new aspect of ourself. Or it could be an entire new career path or skill set. Each room of the house represents an aspect of ourself, or our psyche, in some way.

This is also the case on a more literal level in our waking life as well.

As we build an addition to our home, we are adding a new aspect of

ourself. As we move into a larger home with more rooms, we have the

opportunity to access new aspects of ourself. However, the abruptness

can sometimes be too much and lead to problems down the road. You

most likely have witnessed or had the experience yourself. Just as a couple moves into a new larger home, suddenly they start to have problems

with their relationship. They are expanding in too many directions and

grow apart instead of together. On the contrary, moving to a smaller

space may give you the opportunity to hone in and focus on more spe-

cifics aspects of one’s self. Think of it as a recalibration of one’s essential self.

In spaces with fewer rooms, such as a loft apartment or dorm room,

life is not as compartmentalized. As a result, the lines may blur as to the functions of the room. While this may be liberating at times, it can also be confusing. Functions become mixed as you eat on the bed, work on

the couch, and sleep in your living room. Creating divisions of space

is helpful in creating “rooms” energetically. Rugs make great dividers.

Curtain dividers can be added and furniture can be arranged to create a division of space, thereby creating rooms without walls.

Rooms 177

Rooms are individualized spaces that are inherently compartmen-

talized. Similar to our brain, certain areas of our home are responsible for certain tasks or ways of thinking and operating. For example, the

bedroom is for sleeping; the bathroom is for cleansing; the kitchen is

for nurturing, and so forth. Each of these functions represents a certain aspect of ourselves that is essential to our being whole.

Let’s take a look at the most common rooms and what each repre-

sents. In doing so, consider the representation of each room in tandem

with the other sections in Part II. Think of the rooms as the stage on which the other messages play out. For example, if you have a water

leak, in which room does it show up? If there is a faulty door, into

which room does it lead? For any ancillary repair or maintenance that

arises in your home, in which room does it reveal itself ? This will indicate to which area of your life the message is pertaining.

Bathroom

The bathroom is the room that naturally requires the most privacy. Re-

gardless of size, it is always an enclosed space and the place where we demand privacy. Not coincidentally, the bathroom is a common dream

symbol relating to exposure. Almost everyone has had a dream where

they are in the bathroom with the door open representing exposure of

something in your life that is private to you. In feng shui, the bathroom is considered to be an inauspicious room. Because water represents

money in feng shui, the draining and flushing facilities in a bathroom

wash benevolent chi out of the home. Hence, the phrase, “flushing

money down the drain.”

In our collective consciousness, the bathroom most directly relates

to letting go, releasing, and detoxifying. Before modern plumbing was

introduced, toilets were located outside the home in an outhouse so

that the toxins would not infiltrate the fresh water. Since then, the function of the bathroom has evolved. Now bathrooms can be as elaborate

as a spa-like setting with renewal, purification, and self-care being the focus. In effect, there is a constant renewal process that takes place in the bathroom with each step being as important as the other. As impor-178 Rooms

tant as it is to cleanse ourselves, it is equally important to take care of and even pamper ourselves.

The primary theme of a bathroom is water. Without water a bath-

room clearly has no function. It is water that drains, flows, flushes,

cleans, and rinses us.
Water
represents emotions. Water is a common dream symbol that shows up in a myriad of ways in our dreams—a

boat, a wave, an ocean, a lake, a leak, a river, a canoe. Regardless, it relates to emotions that have not reached the conscious level. The state of the water is always significant in determining the level or quality of emotion being experienced.

When unconscious emotions are manifested through the home,

they often show up in plumbing problems. Plumbing will be discussed

in more detail in Chapter 11 and should be considered in tandem with

this section. When plumbing problems arise in the bathroom, it gen-

erally relates to difficulties in releasing and expressing one’s emotions.

This is particularly the case with problems relating to the toilet. The
toilet
represents our “shit”—the toxic stuff that we don’t want anyone else knowing about or being exposed to. It can also relate to anything

toxic in our life that needs to be purged or released, but continues to hang on, such as toxic relationships, toxic diets, or toxic habits.

The
toilet seat
is an integral component of a toilet and represents taking a seat or taking the time in which to release toxic emotions. I

once owned two homes at the same time. I was overwhelmed with ev-

erything that had to be done in a short amount of time. For random

reasons, I had to replace three toilet seats within a couple of weeks.

Before that, I had never purchased a toilet seat. Upon going to the hard-ware store once again for a toilet seat, I realized there was a deeper

meaning for me. The
toilet handle
or flusher is a common plumbing repair. Similar to the doorknob on a door, it facilitates the act of flushing. When in disrepair, it represents hesitancy or fear in releasing emotions.

Also consider the bathroom fixtures that relate to cleansing in

general, such as the
shower
,
sink
, and
bathtub
. With these, the flow of water is more steady and gentle and therefore relates to the daily

cleansing of emotions necessary to maintain a healthy balance. When

Rooms 179

these fixtures are in need of repair, then self-care should be considered.

Are you taking care of yourself ? Are you crying out for more self-care, more alone time, or outlets for release?

Bedroom

The bedroom signifies the most intimate aspects of ourself. It is the

personal sanctuary of the home where we sleep, dream, make love,

and transcend the physical plane. Second only to a meditation or prayer room, it connects us with the spiritual realm. The bedroom is an intimate space that we generally keep private. When entertaining, we

often close the door to this room to maintain our sense of privacy or

redirect traffic accordingly.

The bedroom should only contain those items related to sleep, re-

laxation, and intimacy. By no means should you have exercise equip-

ment in the bedroom. The bedroom should maintain a quiet, yin

energy conducive to relaxation, sleeping, and rejuvenation. Keep books

and other energetic objects to a minimum. Look around your bedroom

and notice what you are having a relationship with. Is it the TV, com-

puter, your children (photos), or your books?

In my observations as a feng shui consultant, people often uncon-

sciously set up blocks or barriers in their bedroom to ward off intimate relationships. For couples with marital issues, disharmony is always reflected in their bedroom. For chronically single people, the block can

always be found in their bedroom as well. Here’s how to avoid those

pitfalls and instead amp things up in your love life.

Nightstands

Nothing tells me more about the state of a relationship than the

nightstands. I have had couples’ relationships shift dramatically simply by changing or adding nightstands. It represents the equality (or lack

thereof ) in the relationship. It is important to have a nightstand on

each side of the bed. Secondly, you want the nightstands to be of equal weight. While they don’t have to match, they need to be approximately

the same height and density. Third, the lamps on the nightstands should
180 Rooms

also be of the same height and density. In other words, you don’t want

a tall lamp on one side and a small reader clip on the other. Of course, this speaks to aesthetics as well.

Even Numbers

Numbers are our oldest symbols and therefore very impressionable to

our collective subconscious mind. For that reason, it is important to

have objects placed in pairs. If you have a candle in the room, make it two. If you have pillows on the bed, make it two, four, or six. Resist the urge to have that single decorative pillow beaming out at you each night as you pull the covers down. You want to avoid the
number one
, even including items that are shaped like the number one. I was recently in a

client’s bedroom where there was a picture of a single, lonely bird and a tall decorative candle sconce that looked like a gigantic number one

across from her bed. For couples, avoid the
number three
to avoid a third party entering the relationship. These numbers could show up in artwork, accessories, or bedding.

Mirrors

Speaking of threes, do not place a mirror across from the bed as it is said to bring a third party into the relationship. If you have to have a mirror in the bedroom, have it on a sidewall, or better yet, inside a