I’ve been a fascinated by the principles of Feng Shui for a while. It’s about bringing balance into your living spaces and optimizing the energy…what could be more uplifting and positive? And I wanted to learn how to bring these principles into my own home.
Serendipitously, I connected with a lovely woman named Kristi Stangeland. Kristi has a fascinating mix of expertises that spoke to me instantly. For nearly 20 years, she has helped women create opportunities for professional success and personal fulfillment through self-development programs including meditation, personal development and wellness retreats. She is a Gene Keys guide and an author of two lovely mindfulness books. Find her at My ParaVita
And she is also a Feng Shui expert and so I was excited to have a very insightful consultation with her to boost the positive energy of my home and to learn how Feng Shui could help me to support my intentions. After our consultation, I quickly felt a shift in the energy, and good things are happening.
And I asked her…can we use Feng Shui to empower our meditation and yoga spaces and to create an abundance of positive energy?
Yes!
First… What exactly is Feng Shui? Feng Shui is a mystical practice combining ancient Chinese wisdom and tradition that has been used in the Chinese culture since the 4th century BCE. While it may be based on ancient wisdom, Feng Shui is now well know and much used, not only in China but also in our modern Western world.
Feng Shui is about optimizing energy to help us to get the most satisfaction from all areas of our lives. It teaches us that our homes, work spaces and practice spaces all have energy fields and energy lines, and that the flow of the energy (chi or qi in the Chinese culture) can have a profound effect on all aspects of our lives, from our health to our happiness and even to our personal wealth. The energy of our spaces can be created and/or adjusted by the way we place our furniture and objects in our living spaces. Feng Shui can guide us to place our furniture and to choose objects in an auspicious manner to create harmony and balance.
But, as Kristi says, it’s not just about rearranging the furniture, it’s about focusing on your own energy first. And meditation is the key to tuning into your own energy.
As a way to get grounded and centred in your practice space, and to tune into your own energy, Kristi suggests chanting or listening to the heart sutra: GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA. Kristi says it is a wonderful Sanskrit mantra for quieting the mind, releasing negative emotions before meditation. It balances your energy. It has been recited by Tibetan Monks for thousand of years so it must resonate some powerfully beautiful energy! Try it, Kristi has shared a heart sutra chant for us to listen to HERE.
To learn more about how we can empower our practice spaces with the principles of Feng Shui, I asked Kristi some questions.
Sarah: Can you explain more about how we can adjust the energy of a space according to Feng Shui in order to create harmony and balance?
Kristi: Objects and spaces hold energy. You may have noticed when you walk into a sacred space or into someone’s home where you feel totally at ease or when you haven’t felt quite right in a space. There are many reasons why this may be and Feng Shui addresses that. It might be the objects holding positive or negative energy or an event that occurred in the space.
Sarah: Can we use Feng Shui principles to help us choose the location of our practice space in our homes, so that we can create the best energy and the best environment, whether we have an entire room or the corner of a room?
Kristi: Yes! You can use the bagua map to decide the best spot in your sanctuary to sit in meditation or to practice yoga. You place the map at door of the room and orient, then choose the location that best matches your goal or intention. Or you can place the map on the layout of your entire house to chose the best room for practice. I would suggest that people use the lower right area of the map (knowledge/earth) as the best area if possible. I intuitively sat in this area of my house before I knew Feng Shui. This area represents earth which is mother energy and helps us feel secure and grounded. The aspect of knowledge is deepening your knowledge into wisdom through meditation. It is represented by a mountain which is perfect since we always think of the wise gurus on the mountain!
(Kristi has kindly provided us with a bagua map, download it HERE)
Sarah: Can you explain the bagua map to us?
Kristi: The bagua map is an energy map that can be called a “magic square”. (Magic squares have a long history, dating back to at least 190 BCE in China and are magic because the numbers going across, down and vertical will always add to the same number.) For Feng Shui, each square represents as aspect of life and analyzes the energy of the space.
Sarah: The idea of where to sit for meditation, the direction to face while you practice seems important, especially if it improves the energy of the space. How does Feng Shui guide us on this?
Kristi: The location of the door to your practice space is important. We want to be able to see it. If you can’t see the door from where you practice (ie if you have your back to it), you can adjust this by using a mirror to see the door from where you sit. Also, you don’t want to be sitting in the doorway.
Sarah: Are there any other things to watch out for that can create negative energy in a space?
Kristi: As mentioned above, objects can hold energy. I would suggest looking around the space with “fresh eyes” or take pictures of the space. Review the space with the questions: Does this object feel right in this space? Does it support me? Make me feel calm? If not, move the object to another room, discard, or donate.
Sarah: Many of us have an altar in our practice spaces. Do you have suggestions on how to best place our practice altar within our sanctuary?
Kristi: Having the altar against a wall is best practice since it has the wall to support it. Also, I would make sure it is not in direct line with the door as you don’t want the energy entering to come directly at it.
Sarah: Do colours matter in Feng Shui to create the energy you want?
Kristi: Yes! Colours can affect the energy of a space and your personal energy. Red and orange have a very high vibration and can be great for a morning practice. The colour red (red is highest vibration of the colours and represents abundance, joy and protection) is a nice accent to have in your practice space. I would use calmer blues for evening practice and to create a restful atmosphere.
Sarah: What other tips can you give us to create the right energy for our practice space?
Kristi: Setting the space with scent – essential oil diffuser. At this point, I buy a candle for each season. Scent so important for the visceral memory. It will signal that it is time to drop in. Also, everything has a vibration and what a great idea to use your HUM meditation cushions to contribute to the positive vibe!
Thank you Kristi!
In Part 2, Kristi and I discuss how to empower our practice altar and support our intentions with the power of Feng Shui.
If you’d like to connect with Kristi Stangeland and learn more about Feng Shui and meditation, please visit her website, My ParaVita, where she has some really unique offerings to support your journey.
She is an international retreat leader, author, lecturer and private meditation coach for busy women. She is the founder of the My ParaVita Circle, an online meditation membership program designed to help busy women find balance, wellness and contentment in their daily lives. For nearly 20 years, she has helped women create opportunities for professional success and personal fulfillment through self-development programs including meditation, personal development and wellness retreats, and Feng Shui. Kristi is a certified Gene Keys Guide and Miracle Choice Facilitator for guiding personal transformations.
And see the beautiful series of small but powerful books about mindfulness practices, for each day and each season.
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