Integrating the Five Elements of Feng Shui
The following is a partial excerpt from my book, 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home (Turner Publishing 2010).
Walk into a beautifully decorated model home or even your favorite room in the house. What you will find is a natural interplay of the Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. The Five Elements are considered the basic building blocks of everything on Earth and within ourselves. It is only natural that we feel best in environments with a harmonic balance of these essential elements. This is one reason why nature feels so good to us. Nature naturally strikes a balance with the Five Elements.
Some people have a natural affinity with design and will intuitively harmonize a space using the Five Elements without even realizing it. For example, most interior designers and decorators who are not adept at Feng Shui will naturally incorporate the Five Elements into a room. With some basic knowledge of the Five Elements anyone can enhance a space. Each element has certain shapes, colors, and qualities associated with it. These aspects can be seen in everything in your home — from fabrics, artwork, and accessories to furniture, materials and appliances.
The use of each of element will naturally differ depending on what materials are readily available in certain regions. For example, in the South most new homes are brick; whereas, in the North, most homes are wood construction. In the Southwest, adobe is the material of choice due to its availability and climate adaptability. It is therefore important to find creative ways to incorporate all five elements in a space. Here are some suggestions:
Wood:
Anything made of wood, including furniture and materials
all plants and flowers, including fake plants.
Artwork depicting landscapes, flowers, trees
Most fabrics such as cotton, silk, rayon
Columnar shaped objects
Shades of green and blue
Fire:
All lighting, including artificial and natural light
People and pets
Textiles or accessories made of fur, leather, wool, feather, or bone
Triangular or cone-shaped objects
Shades of red
Artwork depicting any of the above
Water:
Glass, mirrors, crystal, reflective surfaces
Bowl-shaped, flowing, free-forms
Black or dark-toned colors
Earth:
Pottery, ceramics
Art images of the Southwest, earth landscapes, deserts
Long, flat surfaces such as squares and rectangles
Earth tones, yellow, orange, brown
Metal:
Any type of metal
All rocks, stones, and gemstones, including granite, marble, slate
Crystals and gemstones
Sculptures
Circle and oval shapes
White, light colors, and pastels
While each room should have a balance of the Five Elements, certain rooms have a predominance of one or two elements according to where it falls on the Bagua Map. My iphone app – Feng Shui Bagua Map – includes a detail of these areas along with décor enhancements.
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Tisha Morris is a certified life coach, feng shui consultant, energy healer, yoga instructor, and author of 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home (Turner Publishing). For more information, visit www.mindbodyom.com.
The Yoga of Feng Shui
With the release of my book, 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home, I’ve been talking a lot about… well, feng shui. I kept hearing myself make comparisons with feng shui and yoga, such as, ” Feng Shui is just like yoga, but for the home. It is yoga for the home.” After saying this several times, I stopped and really thought about how true this is.
Both yoga and feng shui ultimately have the same purpose: balancing and harmonizing energy.
But the similarities just begin there…
Yoga has been an integral bridge in my life and I know for so many others. If yoga was a drug, it would be marijuana – the gateway drug. It provides that gateway to another world of thinking, being, and living. It led me from the corporate world to the healing arts. Soon after I started taking yoga classes, I started to tap into the subtle world of energy and innately understood the mind-body connection unlike any book could have explained. From there, I became an energy healer. With a background in interior design, I then wanted to heal spaces just like it was a body. I soon learned just how similar the two are.
Both yoga and feng shui are about balancing yin and yang energies.
Within all of us we have a feminine (left) side and a masculine (right) side. Yoga is so much about bringing these two sides into balance physically and thus mentally. A fundamental aspect of feng shui is bringing the yin (feminine) and yang (masculine) energy into balance in spaces. This is when a space feels (and looks) the best.
Both yoga and feng shui are about the breath and flow of energy.
In yoga the breath is the vehicle that unites the mind body and spirit. Without the breath, there would be no yoga or life for that matter. And so it is with our spaces. The flow of energy is like the breath in the body. In fact, after feng shui-ing a space, you can feel your breath change.
Both yoga and feng shui create an energy portal.
As spiritual beings having a physical experience, we are at all times juggling being in two places at once: on the physical earth and the spiritual sky. Yoga helps us be that energy portal that taps us in and balances us between the physical and spiritual. Most of us tend to be too grounded or too airy. Ideally, these two should meet in the middle, right at the heart. Our homes too can be an energy portal. Similar to the same reason churches were built with steeples, our homes or any space can be this portal that connects us with heaven and earth. As it has been said, your body is a temple. And your home can be a temple as well.
Just as yoga has been a bridge into the world of energy, so can feng shui. Our home and spaces are simply mirrors of ourselves. By applying feng shui we can have a conscious daily dose of balanced energy. And as you go to bed at night, you can have an amazing svasana.
Namaste.
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If you would like to experience the essence of yoga and feng shui, join me for one of my The Yoga of Feng Shui Workshops! Check Upcoming Events or contact me about coming to your neighborhood.
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Tisha Morris is a certified life coach, feng shui consultant, energy healer, yoga instructor, and author of 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home. For more information, visit www.mindbodyom.com.
Feng Shui Workshop Series
F E N G S H U I Workshop Series
is Back!!
Beginning Tuesdays, August 10nd , 6:00-7:15p @ Center of Symmetry in Nashville
presented by Tisha Morris, author of “27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home”
DROP IN FOR $10 OR ATTEND ALL 4 FOR $30!
August 10th Feng Shui for the Workplace
Want to boost your business, get a promotion, or maybe even a new job? Or perhaps you keep getting passed over for a promotion. If so, then this is the workshop for you! Learn the best way to position your desk so that you will be in your power spot. Discover what may be blocking you and affirm a new sense of abundance. You will leave seeing your office in a whole new light.
August 17th Integrating the Five Elements of Feng Shui
The Five Elements of Feng Shui – Earth, Water, Fire, Metal, and Wood – are the cornerstones of Feng Shui. Learn how to integrate these elements in your home and find out which Elements you do and don’t want in each room. With the Five Elements you will bring a natural balance and harmony into your living spaces as well as an aesthetically pleasing environment!
August 24th Feng Shui Astrology & Numerology for Your Home
Join me for this fun and informative session! Feng Shui Astrology, known as Nine Star Ki Astrology, originated in Japan with influences from Chinese and Tibetan astrology. In this workshop, you will discover your Personal Element, Color, and auspicious Directions. Also learn the Numerology for your home to discover what energy and medicine it holds for you. You will definitely not want to miss this one!
August 31st Decluttering Your Life to Uncover Your Soul
If you missed this session earlier in the Summer or just need to hear it again, then you won’t want to miss it! Do you feel like clutter is overtaking your home or feel like stuff is weighing you down? In this workshop, you will learn the energetic components of clutter as well as just how powerful clearing clutter can be in creating change in your life. Learn the root cause of holding on to certain items, such as unwanted gifts, just-in-case items, and old pictures. You will leave with the tools and inspiration you need to declutter your life so that you can uncover your soul.
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Tisha Morris is a certified life coach, feng shui consultant, energy healer, yoga instructor, and author of 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home (Turner Publishing). For more information, visit www.mindbodyom.com.
Clearing Out Your Basement: Nashville style
You don’t have to drive very far in Nashville to see just how much STUFF we have. Like a mile-long yard sale, thousands of Nashville yards have been displaying the trash and treasures that have been stored away mostly in our basements. As a result of last week’s flood, the innards of Nashville basements have been thrown up as if the entire city just went through a bad detox.
And, in fact, the city and its inhabitants are going through a massive clearing.
In my book, 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home, Number 4 is “Clean Out Your Basement. I mention that the basement is symbolic of our subconscious mind, specifically those things that we have suppressed. If you want to know what you’re storing in your subconscious mind, then take a look at your basement. Or, in the case with Nashvillians, take a look at your yard. As I drive around and see the remnants of what people are throwing out, I notice a lot of people are getting rid of junk. Not good stuff that was flood-damaged (although there is plenty of that as well), but junk and clutter that had been stored in the basement for years, perhaps even from previous owners.
Nashvillians are cleaning out their basements, involuntarily and voluntarily. This is allowing for each of us to clear out the sludge, the trauma, the repressed emotions, and stagnant energy that has been stored in our basements and in our subconscious mind and body. This is also true for the city of Nashville as everything is connected. What the Planet experiences, so do countries, states, cities, neighborhoods and individuals on some level. And so as each Nashvillian clears their stuff, it is also benefitting the city, state, country and Planet.
Even many in Nashville who did not sustain flood damage are becoming inspired to clear out their STUFF. I have heard so many people, as they see the amount of stuff laid out, realize how little we really need and how so much stuff can just be a burden. The awareness of the weight (literally and figuratively) is at an all time high in Nashville and as the pictures float around the internet, it is affecting and inspiring people all over to clear out stuff.
Ultimately, it’s all about balance. Each of our homes, like our body, needs to maintain a healthy energetic balance. When our body is unbalanced we undergo illness or disease. This is similar to the Planet undergoing natural disasters to find balance. And when our home becomes stagnant with stuff, we must purge it. In my article The Art of Detaching From Our Stuff, I mention how our addiction to stuff began and how to get past it.
You can also read more and implement your own plan to clear out stuff in my book, 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home, where I talk about the first step to feng shu-ing your home is to clear out clutter.
The benefits of each individual who has had to clear out their stuff from the flood will reap the benefits in the years ahead as if undergoing a major detox program. And the city of Nashville as I have mentioned in previous articles will certainly rise from this flood to new heights and be an example for all cities in the future to come.
27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home
27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home
ISBN: 9781596525672
Price: $9.99
Description:
“If you want to change your life, move 27 things in your home.” This ancient Chinese proverb speaks of the powerful connection our homes have with our lives. In 27 Things To Feng Shui Your Home, Tisha Morris shows in creative, basic steps how to use the art of feng shui to create an inviting, personal atmosphere in your home that will renovate your life.
Discover how to:
- Manageably clear clutter to optimize space
- Use lighting, color, and simple objects to create good energy flow
- Space clear to promote good health
- Integrate the Five Elements into your home to create harmony
“27 Things provides readers with an easy-to-follow, knowledgeable guide to applying Feng Shui principles to your home. This guide is great for every homeowner, even if you’re a Feng Shui skeptic.” ~ At Home Tennessee
“[A] new resource for people who want the energy in their home to work for them, not against them, but perhaps feel intimidated by feng shui, or the art of space planning to promote health and prosperity.” ~ Denver Post
About the Author:
Tisha Morris is a certified life coach, energy healer, feng shui consultant, and yoga instructor. After practicing law for five years, Tisha obtained a Fine Arts degree in Interior Design. She founded Mind Body Om in 2008 to help others align with their life purpose by transforming the mind, body, and home. Tisha resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
PRE-ORDER NOW! Available April 28th at:
40-Day Challenge: Sold!
My Vision Board
For anyone who has been following my 40 Day Challenge to Sell My Home, you may have noticed a drop-off in updates. This has partly been my sitting in and understanding the energy dynamics that were underway and partly to keep on the LD (low down) as to contractual negotiations. Last Thursday a contract was signed and set to close on May 31st. Yay!!
This last month has taught me so much about the energy of our homes – from making feng shui enhancements to looking at dozens of other homes to potentially purchase. Was there any one feng shui technique that sold my house? Was the trick using the St. Joseph statute? Yes and no.
All of the energy that was put into the house over the last couple of months has been crucial to selling the house. In fact, right before the open house the house looked and felt so amazing that I started to have second thoughts on selling the house. It was in that moment when I realized the missing piece. If I didn’t love the house, then no one else was going to. And so from that day on, I started up a new love affair with my home. It was as strong as the day we met! I remembered and felt all the reasons I had first fell in love with this house. Did that mean I needed to stay there? No. I know my time is up here and I have come full circle with this house. It is time to move on.
Within a couple of weeks of this love affair, showings picked up and I knew it was just a matter of time. And it was. I had solved the riddle of selling this house. It already looked like a showplace and was feng shui-ed to the hilt. It was a matter of getting my own energy right with this house. And as soon as I did it opened the doors and I am now able and ready to let it go and move on.
27 Things in 27 Days Giveaway
I am excited to announce the release of my book, 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home (Turner
Publishing) and am offering my 27 Things in 27 Days Giveaway!
WHAT AM I GIVING AWAY?
One (1) FREE 2-hour Feng Shui Consultation
AND
Three (3) FREE copies of my book
HOW TO WIN?
It’s simple. SIMPLY COMMENT BELOW in 2-3 sentences what your biggest challenge is with your home OR what you would most like to change about your home. That’s it. The first three (3) people that leave their comment will receive a free copy of my book. I will simply email you requesting your mailing address.
At the end of the 27 Days, I will select the best Comment and that person will win a 2-hour Feng Shui Consultation with me. (If the winner does not reside in the Nashville area, then the consultation will be held over the phone in 2 one-hour sessions.)
CONTEST DATES?
April 21st through May 17th (Leave your comment anytime between these dates.)
Thanks for participating!
Due to an unusually large amount of SPAM comments I’m receiving, I have to close off the Comments. I am still taking Comments however through my email through May 17th. So please continue to enter!
Email me your comment at tisha (at) mindbodyom (dot) com.
ORDER Your Copy of 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home Here!
40-Day Challenge: Energizing Stagnant Areas
It is Week 2 of my 40-Day Challenge to Sell My Home using feng shui techniques to improve then energy in my home. Over the weekend, I decided to tackle one particular corner of my home that has always, well, bothered me. This brings me to a good point… Most all of the techniques that you would use to sell your home are things that we should do anyway to improve the energy in our home and thus in our lives.
For me, I have been wanting to get a floor lamp for this particular corner since moving in. Because this space has no real function, it tends to get ignored (aside from the dogs using it). But as I mention in 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home, turn your least favorite room or area into your favorite. In other words, make lemonade out of lemons.
You can see from the picture below that it is an extra deep corner that gets very little, if any, light thereby creating a bit of an energy vacuum.
Corners are usually fine so long as they are clear of clutter and periodically space cleared of any stagnant energy. It is rare that I would advise adding something to a corner, but this space needs some energy! Did I mention that it’s part of my Wealth corner?
So I’ve added a floor lamp to bring in light into the corner as well as a plant and some simple decorative items. Not only do I have an aesthetically pleasing new area, but all Five Elements are represented to harmonize the energy. The entire living room feels so much better even though this was only a corner of it. The uplighting from the floor lamp lends to a yin yang balance of the entire room. You can see how much cozier the space is as the light provides a depth to the space, unlike the one dimensional feel in the before photo.
This is definitely a change I should have made a long time ago, especially with only spending $59.99. And for purposes of selling the house, the better I feel about the house, the better potential buyers will feel about the house as I project my energy in the space.
5 Steps to Clearing Clutter
We are realizing how little we actually need in the physical world and turning more to the simple pleasures in life. Furthermore, it simply doesn’t feel good to be in our living space if it is filled with items that we no longer need. And, for good reason. Anything in your space that you no longer use or love is simply taking up space for something else to come into your life.
Feng Shui is based on harmonizing the free flow of energy, or chi, in living spaces. If the flow is restricted, then it becomes stagnant. By keeping your spaces clutter-free, you are not only allowing the free flow of energy, but you are also removing stagnant energy that was created by that clutter giving yourself new opportunities in your life. Clutter is anything that you are keeping that stagnates your energy because it serves no purpose in your life.
Clearing clutter can evoke feelings that range from overwhelment to bliss. For those who feel overwhelmed by the idea of clearing clutter it is best to start with small, achievable spaces even if that simply means cleaning out a drawer. Once you’ve attained that goal, you will be more inspired to keep going.
The following are the 5 steps to clear clutter from any space:
1. Set Aside Time
For many, clearing clutter can be overwhelming which is why it has accumulated to begin with. We put it off and just let stuff collect. So the first step of clearing clutter is to make time for it. Make it a priority. To do this, create a block of time out of your schedule. For example, take a day off from work or carve out an afternoon or simply designate the next 30 minutes for clearing clutter. The point is consciously making time knowing that this is important for your well-being.
Again, if clearing clutter seems especially daunting to you, then break down the job into small tasks. Do one box, drawer, or closet at a time.
2. Have Materials On Hand
Make sure you have boxes and/or plastic bags, recycling bin, and garbage bags on hand. Also Sharpies are great to label boxes. This step is important because you don’t want to clear one closet just to shift it all to another closet. While you are clearing, you want to be able to immediately place the item into its destination to reduce any further clutter.
You will want to sort the items accordingly: trash, recycling, returns (all those things that you’ve borrowed over time and not returned), donation, for sale, and an undecided pile. For trash items, place in trash bags. For recycling items, place in recycling container immediately. For returns, place in a designated box. For items that will be donated, place in an appropriate bag or box for immediate delivery.
For the items you have designated for sale — whether it be for a garage sale, craigslist, or ebay — make sure the item is worth your time to sell. Make sure you are not using the “for sale” items as a way to distract yourself into keeping it. For items in the undecided pile, keep reading…
3. To Keep or Not to Keep
Knowing what to keep and what to get rid of is the quintessential question of clearing clutter. In determining what to keep, ask yourself the following questions:
Do I use it?
Do I love it?
If the answer is “No” to both, then it goes. You should love or lovingly use everything in your home. If you don’t, it is taking up valuable space.
4. Final Decision
For those items that you either can’t make your mind about or just can’t part with, then ask yourself why? You will find a deeper meaning. And perhaps then you will be able to part with it. If not, then save it for the next round of clearing clutter. The emotional weight will eventually get to you. Just like everything in life, we hold on to it until it becomes easier not to.
Each time you clear clutter you will be amazed at how much easier it gets and how much more you can part with. In fact, it becomes extremely freeing. When you successfully do it once, you realize life really does continue without that item(s).
5. Delivery Time
This step is as crucial as the first step. There is no point in going through your items, just to put them in a box in your closet. Instead, immediately take the trash out. Recycle items. Deliver the donation items within 24 hours, along with any items to be returned. Begin the process for selling the items to be sold. This step can be more time consuming than you think, so build in plenty of time for properly disposing of your items. This last step can be the most annoying, but also the most therapeutic. Once you have properly rid of the items you will feel so much lighter.
AND one of the biggest payoffs from clearing clutter is that you will be so much less likely to accumulate clutter in the future.
What To Do With Childhood Memorabilia?
This is a question I invariably get every time I speak about clutter clearing. So often parents of adult (or almost adult children) want to know, “what do I do with all of the crayon masterpieces my child made in kindergarten.” They are so conflicted. On the one hand, there are closets full of these that are just collecting dust and taking up valuable space, but on the other hand it just seems criminal to get rid of them. What to do?
First off, you may be asking, “why do I even need to get rid of these items?” You wouldn’t be reading this article if in some way they weren’t weighing you down. Keeping a lot of memorabilia – be it our own or our children’s – can physically and energetically weigh you down. Having lots of stuff can literally prevent people from moving to another location – one in which they would probably be happier. Secondly, it locks you into the past.
Hanging on to lots of memorabilia prevents you from moving forward or even being present in your current life. It oftentimes prevents mothers from finding their life after being a mother. So what do you do with all the memorabilia?
Step 1: Have your adult children go through the memorabilia to see what they want to keep. After all, it’s their stuff. It’s their crayoned artwork, their graduation cap, and their mood ring. In fact, when you originally kept it, you were probably keeping it “in case” they wanted it one day. Give them the right of first refusal and have them take ownership of what they want to keep. Chances are they won’t want much of it. That is, unless you are offering to store it for them (not recommended). In which case, they will want to keep more of it. Trust me. If your children are not adults yet without enough hindsight to what they will want to keep, then gather all of the memorabilia and store it in organized containers until they are old enough to go through it. At that point, refer to Step 1.
Step 2: After your children have taken what they want, then the rest is yours. This may vary from rooms full of stuff to a file folder. Everyone is different in the amount they accumulate and therefore with the amount you want to keep or get rid of. My advice is to pick a target container size for what you want to keep. Your target size may be a file folder, a small storage bin, a large Rubbermaid bin, a closet, or even a room. Decide what is best for you. So, for example, if you select a large Rubbermaid bin, select your favorite items until the bin is full. And that’s it. Clear out the remaining items.
Step 3: Some people suggest taking photos of memorabilia items and then dispose of them. If this appeals to you, then this could certainly lighten your load. If so, perhaps you won’t have to store anything or at least not as much. For me, I would rather hang on to a few items than have a bunch of pictures. With a picture you don’t get the sensory experiences of touch and smell that you get with the actual item. When I come across my baby blanket in my Rubbermaid, it’s as if I am transported back in time. That being said, my life is just as rich with or without keeping my baby blanket. So perhaps it’s time to let it go! Your thoughts?
Talk of the Town Interview
