That said, there are some specifics that subscribe to what I’d call “good” Feng Shui. There are two ways to heat a floor—using electricity or using hot water. We prefer the latter in an effort to eliminate possible influence of electromagnets (EMFs). The water method heats up the water in a boiler and runs it through flexible tubing installed in the subfloor or on the ceiling below.

If we look at the elements involved in the water radiant system there are basically two: water and fire (the heat). Based on the Chinese 5 Elements, these two are in a destructive cycle (water controls fire), so both are energetically weak. Although we discourage people from living over moving water, this typically refers to living on stilts over a lake or having a stream run under your home, specifically under the bedroom. The small amount of water meandering under the floor would not pose a problem.

So for those of you who are suffering from cold feet this winter, go ahead—heat the floor. But do it with the heated water system.

Another consideration could be whether having the water/fire system run through areas of the house where wood or earth or metal are found might present an Element clash. In other words, if a fireplace is placed in a wood area, it compromises that area (fire destroys wood). If a fountain is installed in an earth area, there could be a challenge in the earth area (water muddies up the earth). Again, due to the fact that the heating elements are “soft” (gentle flow of water and moderate fire), there is no problem wherever this system is placed.

It’s nearly impossible to honestly consider Feng Shui as a viable way of living if you are not ready to step up to what may be holding you back.  You may change something in your environment, but, if you’re not ready to embrace what that shift entails, you will either move your space back to the way it was or try to continue living your life as though nothing has happened.  Either way, you are not stepping out—-I’d call this hiding out.

For instance, one of the hardest actions for people to take is to leave an area empty.  Not every corner of a room or every shelf has to be filled with something.  Sometimes a pause (as in music), a quiet break (as in poetry), a clearing (as in the forest) are a relief.  An empty corner is like a breath in the life of your room.  Yet, I find people struggling with having a bit of open space.  They may leave it cleared for a while but the discomfort with their feelings override the experience.  Stuff gets put back.

Feng Shui isn’t just about the physical trappings of your space although that is certainly where it all begins.  It’s also about the inner trappings. So correctly integrated, Feng Shui is about your outer and your inner space.

When a corner is left open, uncluttered, it’s asking you to breathe along with it and to expand.  It’s no longer appropriate to hide out or hide behind but to let your butterfly wings open wide—-to step out in whatever way that may mean.  It may mean taking outward action on behalf of others; it may mean moving forward with your plans; it may mean taking a risk; it may mean flying off with those new wings to great horizons.  Are you up for that?

A circuitous and synchronistic meeting with a musician inLos Angeles(Jeff Bova) has led me to another version of “conversing with your home”—-this path involves specific harmonics, rhythm, melodic contour, orchestration and sound design—-this path involves music.  As proven by the science of cymatics, your home can be influenced by the resonance of vibration or sound.  As certain sounds are emitted into the atmosphere, the vibratory properties of a space, and of the items in the space, change to align with the source of the sound.  Called entrainment, this process is often demonstrated by the use of two tuning forks.  When one tuning fork is tapped and begins to audibly vibrate, the other one does as well with the same pitch without the interference of outside forces.  Your home can absorb the vibrational impact, whether positive or negative, of harmonic progressions.

Jeff and I have been working on a project we call “Harmonics for Your Home” which acknowledges and underscores the heartbeat of a home and offers a superb method of bringing your home to ultimate balance and bliss.  The goal is that you would play the music for your home and, whether you were present or not, the balancing would take place.  Your home would be “tuned up” in order to become a better home, a better space, a better guide and protector for you.

Until our project is completed in July, here are three ways you can enliven and contact your space using harmonics and vibration:

1.  Take a bell that you love and walk through your home adjusting and aligning its energy;

2.  Use a drum rather than a bell and walk through your home, beating the drum slowly;

3.  If you have a doorbell that you love, ring it nine times pausing between each ring to let the sound get absorbed.

Be aware that after doing any of these options, you are indeed conversing with your home, enticing it to ultimate balance, an energy which you can entrain to thereby bringing about your own balance

I received an email from someone who had moved into their home a couple years ago and since then had been dealing with water issues—–leaky roof, refrigerator leaked, shower leaked, water in the lower level.  Her question was what can they do—-more specifically, is there a Feng Shui fix? 

Let’s talk about some Feng Shui theory first. Water has a direct connection to money:  the flow of water = the flow of money.  If you live by water or have water on your property, there is a greater potential of gathering money into your life than if you don’t.  Fountains are often used in Feng Shui to symbolize the flow of money in a space.  When water is inappropriately flowing/leaking/flooding, then you may be losing or spending money.  Obviously this could be reflective of the financial state of the new owners—-they just spent or committed to spending a whole bunch of money to buy a new or different home.  The new house is simply recognizing the situation and mirroring it back to them.

In my new book Conversations with Your Home, I argue that a home expresses MORE than the direct mirror concept.  Instead, your home can put forth a new thought or a new idea—-we could call that it’s way of communicating.  This communication is subtle and understandably seldom recognized or acknowledged.  But with little effort, it becomes easy to identify independent stirrings of your home as it reaches out to be in touch.  When an owner moves out of a space, perhaps there is some sadness for the changes that are occurring.  We seldom let our homes know what we’re up to—-moving may feel like abandonment to a home that’s been assuming all is going well. 

So, it expresses itself in an overt way that draws attention to the new inhabitants in an effort to get some answers.  Unfortunately, rather than compassion and understanding at its mis-guided efforts, we are irritated at the inconvenience of mopping up the leaks or investing even more money in a new water heater.  What if we had written our new home a letter letting it know how happy we were to be there?  What if we had paid attention to the adjustments those walls were trying to make on its own rather than immerse ourselves in our own giddiness at hanging new pictures and painting walls?  What if, instead of basking in our excitement to move in, we had considered how the house was having to change?  Maybe we could have found a small way to work together with the space to create an experience that would have made us all happy.  I’m just sayin’. . . .

They had four children so they needed the space for them all to spread out, hang out, and chill out.  Each of the children had their own room; they had a separate study room; and they had a rec room on the lower level.  Her husband had his own office which he used evenings and weekends to check emails and have some private time.   I asked Jill where her private space was located.  The house was mega-huge—-certainly she must have her own office?  No, she didn’t.  A craft room?  A reading room? A corner of her bedroom?  In all of the requirements for this home, making sure Jill had a space to call her own was not included.

This isn’t always the woman’s issue.  I’ve been in many homes where the male partner didn’t have anywhere to call his own.  He had a corner in the unheated garage where he stored some tools and “junk” as it was referred to.  But there was no place where he could close the door and expect that everyone else would respect his need for privacy. 

Although it isn’t always possible to designate a full room to each person in the family, each of the adults/partners should consider it a priority when planning bedroom and office arrangements.  In Jill’s case, her children had more of a place in the home than she did. Jill insisted her place was in the kitchen where she spent most of her days.  The reason that doesn’t work is that the kitchen isn’t private—-anyone, even neighbors, can walk in and interrupt what’s going on there.

A private space includes some or all of the following physical features:

1.  A space removed from the main flow of traffic.

2.  A space that has a door on it.

3.  A door that locks.

4.  A comfortable chair/lounge/rocker.

5.  Favorite colors.

More importantly, the private space should make its occupants feel:

1.  Safe

2.  Inspired and creative

3.  Special

4.  Calm

5.  Centered

One of Jill’s sons enjoyed taking his sleeping bag and camping out in his brother’s room each night. Acknowledging that her son was not enjoying being in his room by himself, she moved all his belongings in with his brother, and claimed his room for herself.  On a follow-up visit, she shared that she was off her medication for depression.  She was positive that creating her own space was instrumental in bringing her back to balance and changing her outlook on life.  Jill was able to find herself again—-she belonged in the house.