Most of the time, you will not be consciously aware of the connections and symbolism because you are so used to seeing them. This is why having a feng shui practitioner is helpful — even feng shui practitioners often need the eyes of another practitioner to help them truly ’see’. But for today, try this exercise. It is a simple but powerful one that will help you look at the objects around you with more conscious awareness.

All you have to do is walk through your home looking at each object, much as if you have been away for a long time and have forgotten what your home is like. There are two ways you can do this and both are equally valuable and will often give you different pieces of information. You can literally walk through your home, or you can go through your home in your imagination. When I took my Interior Alignment™ training, we ‘walked’ through our homes in our imagination. It was very useful to me as I was able to access information that I knew on one level but did not realize how much it changed the way I felt about my home. 

As you walk though your home – either in person or in your imagination, take note of any memories and associations you experience as you look around and handle your belongings. It is very common for emotions to come up as you do this exercise. You might notice, for instance, that you feel really happy in some areas, while other areas feel sad or bittersweet. There may be a conversation going on inside your head, like nagging thoughts, or a to-do list. 

Make a note of what you experience. These will be your feng shui adjustments. You may want to do immediately and others over a period of time. For me, it was how our front entrance felt unwelcoming. What bothered me most was the screen door which never worked properly. It was one of the first things I did when I came home from my feng shui training!

Simple…but one of the most effective feng shui techniques you can do.

© Deborah Redfern, 2008. All rights reserved.

Simple Feng Shui is a post from: Copyright Deborah Redfern and Cre8ive 2011. All rights reserved.

Early in the week, after finishing teaching an Advanced Interior Alignment™ course, I needed a few days of down time, so out came my paints and I played very happily with that for a day. I had little piles of painting stuff scattered around the dining room and living room when I was finished and I didn’t clear up because I thought I might want to paint again the next day.

On the weekend I went to a trade show and brought back pamphlets and a few treasures…which were dumped on the kitchen table and on chairs as well. Later in the week I worked on a clayart jewellery piece. Luckily that doesn’t take up much space, but the evening I worked on my new pendant, my clayart stuff was on the dining room table, most of which was put away at the end.

This pattern continued all this week until everywhere I looked there was something needed to be picked up, thrown out or put away. Yesterday was perhaps the ‘worst’ day in a long time, production wise. My computer crashed several times in the middle of a print job and I got a headache that would not leave. Finally, enough is enough! I was experiencing a bad case of negative house vibes! Time to Space Clear.

The first step in Space Clearing is physically cleaning the house. So last night I spent several hours putting it all right again and getting the energy settled down. I had actually been [tag]clutter clearing[/tag] this week as well, and perhaps I stirred up more than I realised, and it was definitely not helped by having the art projects around.

When you are cleaning and clearing things may get temporarily worse before they get better. Some people call this a healing crisis which is why I recommend that when people clear clutter, they go slowly. Like a lot of other practitioners, I sometimes need a reminder of why I give that advice. Knowing it exists doesn’t make one immune from the effects of a healing crisis! Getting zapped is a good reminder but it is not much fun.

This morning the energy feels much better. There are still a few tiny unfinished jobs, but just seeing my dining room table totally clear with a beautiful table runner on it is very settling. When I finish tidying up the rest of the house I will do a Space Clearing to settle and transform any remaining discordant energy. Physical cleaning of your home is a necessary first step in space clearing. No matter how strong your intent or how good a space clearer you are, settling the energy is very difficult if the house is messy.

© Deborah Redfern, 2008. All rights reserved.

Space Clearing is a post from: Copyright Deborah Redfern and Cre8ive 2011. All rights reserved.

Even if someone else did the decorating, you choose that person to be in your life so the environment is still about you. When you make changes in one part of your life and you look at the big picture (your environment as well and your thoughts and actions) the impact is so much greater. It can help you grow more quickly into your ‘best self’.

Our family has gone through drastic belonging reduction – by choice - when we moved across the country, and I continue to learn more about clutter nearly every day. Here are some of the things I’ve learned about clutter.

1. Clutter clearing releases blocked energy. 
2. On its own without doing anything else, clearing clutter can change your life. 
3. Ideally clearing clutter is done slowly, one area at a time.
4. You will never be totally finished with clutter — unless you live alone and/or are extremely disciplined.
5. Once you’ve begun, clutter clearing is an ongoing process that is more about choices and mindfulness.
6. Clutter is nothing to be ashamed of. It does not make you a bad person, but  …  see #7. 
7. Clutter can keep you from moving forward in your life.
8. The things we gather have voices (ok, nothing spooky here, we are the ones who give them voice). They originally come from our own negative self talk or from the critical voices of family and friends and then become internalized and live in our subconscious minds. When we see the item the voice gets triggered. The trick is to consciously learn what the things around you are saying and whether they are supportive or a put-down.  
9. The things people say about you (or the things you tell your self) is not the whole truth. The other part is the way you interpret it. Often a criticism from someone is more about them than it is about you.
10. You don’t have to get rid of something you love that has a negative voice, if you can successfully look at the memory and change it. 

© Copyright Deborah Redfern, 2007. All rights reserved.

Ten Things I’ve Learned from my Clutter is a post from: Copyright Deborah Redfern and Cre8ive 2011. All rights reserved.