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.
____________________________________________
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.
5 Things to Feng Shui in the Digital Age
I love being paperless. Not only does it save trees, time, and space, it keeps my visual environment clear of clutter. Overall, being paperless lends itself to a better feng shui-ed space.
Or does it?
We still have the same amount of ‘information’ (arguably much more than ever before) filed and stored as before our Digital Age. It’s just floating around instead of stacked in file folders, cabinets, closets, desks, and so on. Information – which is really just energy – has essentially become less dense, but nevertheless it’s still energy. Instead of manila file folders in a filing cabinet, we can store the same information in a digital file folder on a computer and perhaps even on our smart phone. And so is the case with photos, addresses, phone numbers, tax returns, money, and virtually any piece of information you can think of.
In fact, the Digital Age is even turning physical objects into etherical energy. After all, my iPhone can morph into an alarm clock, a zen garden, a newspaper, a camera, a voice recorder, a board game, a Bagua Map, a flashlight and much more. Amazing! Before long, it might just become my nightstand.
As we have become less dense with this digital revolution, we still have to be mindful of the energy that floats around us. While we may have less physical objects around us, we are still overwhelmed with information. And so we must be conscious of what ‘information energy’ we have hanging around us that might in fact be clutter. (Clutter being anything that is no longer in our highest and best interest to keep.) Here are five places where digital clutter may be lurking in the ethers near you:
- Phone contacts – When was the last time you updated your phone contacts? Chances are, there are people in your contacts that you no longer socialize with, do business with, or want to talk to. Clear them out. Although your phone may be able to hold a 1000 more contacts, you still need to make space for new people to come into your life. This is a great way to bring new people into your life – business, friends, or romance.
- Computer file folders – If your computer file folders were in a filing cabinet, would it be bulging over by now? Probably so. Clean them out. Better yet, organize them while you’re cleaning them out if you haven’t already. And still while you’re at it, take the time to back up your important documents. Store any documents that you would be lost without if your computer crashed on a zip drive, or email them to yourself, or upload to Google docs so that they are stored somewhere else besides your hard drive.
- Photos – Staying on top of photos seems just as difficult digitally as it was back when we had negatives. They at least don’t take up as much space, but that’s because we never get them printed! Are your digital photos strewn all around your computer, along with various online companies depending on who has the best deal? If so, take the time to store them all in one place on your computer in labeled folders. Commit to one online photo company so that all of your photos to be printed are in one place. And then have the ones you want to keep printed. The photo book option that most companies have is great for those of who don’t do scapbooking as a hobby.
- Desktop icons/Phone apps – Is your computer desktop full of icons that you rarely, if ever, use? These can cause some serious visual clutter that can lead to a cluttered mind. Sift through your icons to see if there are some you can remove. Removing the icon doesn’t remove the software, so you can still access the Program if later desired. Of course, this isn’t the case with phone apps. Periodically, go through your phone apps and delete the ones that didn’t live up to their hype or that you’ve lost interest in. It will just highlight the ones that you do use and love.
- Bookmarks – Has your list of bookmarks become so lengthy that you feel like you are surfing the entire web trying to find something. Go through your bookmarks and delete the ones that are no longer of interest to you. For bookmarks you want to keep but don’t use that often, categorize them into folders, such as Recipes, Travel, and Good Ideas. In doing so, you may come across some great bookmark sites you’ve forgotten about. This is what clutter does – it hides the good stuff.
Where else do you have digital clutter?
____________________________________________
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.
Feng Shui for the Workplace
Feng Shui in the workplace is gaining more and more attention as employees and employers are striving to do just about anything to survive the current economy. Although Feng Shui should be applied as a first resort instead of a last resort, it is at least getting some well-deserved consideration nonetheless.
The most important consideration for any office is desk placement. When sitting at your desk, you should be in “Command Position”. Simply put, this is the position that makes you most ‘in command.’
The Command Position emerges from our instinctive need to have visible control of our environment. We humans are most comfortable when no one can sneak up on us or surprise us. The most obvious example of this is choosing a seat in a restaurant. Most people prefer sitting where they can see the door. This is the case in your office as well.
Being in the Command Position allows you to see the entry to your office so that you are sitting in the best location to deal with whatever comes through the door. While we are hardly fighting off tigers and bears as perhaps our old brain thinks, it nonetheless provides an important energetic message for yourself and to others that you are in control of your world.
The ideal Command Position would be a direct or peripheral view of the door from your chair, a view out a window, and a solid wall behind you. This may mean moving your desk into the room away from the wall. If this is absolutely not possible, then place a mirror to where you can see the entrance in the mirror.
Properly placing your desk in the Command Position is the simplest, quickest, and most powerful way to shift energy in your job. Notice the offices of successful people in your building. You will notice that their desk will always be facing the door. Move your desk and take command of your job.
And, yes, desk placement is just as important for home offices. Even if you don’t have co-workers, bosses, or employees come by your office, it’s just as important to feel ‘in command.’ It is a state of mind and therefore what you project out to the world and to yourself.
For more articles on Feng Shui in the workplace, check out:
A Writer’s Guide to Feng Shui Your Desk
AND my iPhone App… Feng Shui Bagua Map!
Q&A: How Does an Artist Keep Her Studio Decluttered?
One of my readers posed this question: What does an artist do to keep her studio clear? After all, the lives of artists, writers, and other creative people collect all types of “special flotsam & jetsam in the name of the creative process.” According to this reader, there are so many items that need to be kept that are a record of process. How do we decide if our ephemera is worthy of that?
Great question. And being a former Interior Design student and one who paints as a hobby, I can totally relate!
In my blog article, What Your Home Says About You, I note that artists tend to be more right-brained – the non-organizing part of the brain. And as I pointed out, is having your home, or especially your art studio, a little messy such a bad thing? Of course not. It’s all part of the creative process, right? Or is it?
We all have a different standard as to what is too messy or too much clutter. You know when your home or studio has gotten out of control. You feel scattered, cloudy, weighed down, or creatively stuck. That’s when you know it’s time to take action.
First off, the size of your studio space will ultimately dictate how much art and supplies you can have on hand. When it comes to art, you can fill a warehouse space just as easy as you could fill a small corner of the kitchen. For example, when I decided that I wanted to convert my art studio space from a whole room to a corner in order to do yoga, I had to downsize the amount of art materials I kept. So designating how much space you are willing and wanting to take up is the first step.
Art Cart from dickblick.com
Next, organizing units are essential. If you don’t already have proper storage, then these can be purchased from any art supply store. Have proper storage and organization in your studio so that you will at least have a standard for organization and have a place for everything. That way, when you know your space has gotten too messy for even your right-brain, you have bins and drawers to put stuff in.
If you then have too much stuff to fit into your organizing units, then it’s time to downsize. This is where the emotional aspects come into play – what to keep and what not to keep. If you keep items for inspiration, such as photos, cards, images, etc., then go through them to see what still resonates with you. You may be surprised how different you may feel about some of the items. Discard any items that you don’t absolutely love or that no longer inspire you.
What about your own past work? This can be very difficult. It took me several different clearings to finally dispose of my interior design projects. I had kept what I needed for purposes of including in a portfolio. For boards that I knew I would never need or use again, I took pictures of them before eventually disposing of them. It was difficult knowing how much time had gone into them. But honestly, I haven’t missed them since. In fact, I feel much lighter once I got rid of them. Every time I would see them in the closet, I was subconsciously reminded of the long hours I spent on them. I still keep a small portfolio of photos I took of my projects for nostalgia.
When your designated space for past projects gets too full, then it’s time to go through them to determine what needs to go. For me, I periodically dispose of my pieces of art that aren’t that great, meaning that I’ve improved since then. For pieces of art or art supplies that you no longer want, consider listing them on freecycle.org or craigslist.com. Taking pictures of your work is a great way to track your progress without being overloaded with projects. Clearing out old projects will also make room for new ideas and creativity. So don’t get too weighed down in your past projects. Instead, let creativity flow through you and your studio.
A Writer’s Guide to Feng Shui Your Workspace
One of the best things about being a writer is that there is virtually no overhead. All you pretty much need is a computer and some discipline. However, it is for this reason that a designated office space is often overlooked for writers, not to mention a feng shui-ed office space.
Whether writing fiction or non-fiction, blogs or books, a writer spends her day pouring herself out, emotionally and intellectually, onto paper and into the world. It can be a very vulnerable place. This is one reason why having an office space is so important and, more specifically, having your own office space – a space that is yours and yours alone without distraction.
Location
Writers usually work from home, again, thanks to the low overhead. But, finding adequate office space comes with challenges. If square footage is an issue, then home offices become an afterthought only to find themselves sharing space with a guest room, kitchen table, or the corner of the living room. And so it takes some creative planning of a space to make a home office work for writers.
The first step is to select one location for your workspace. Ideally, this is a designated home office. But, it could be a sitting chair, your bed, or the kitchen table. Whatever the space, it is important that you make this your space. In other words, this is the place you go to write. Similar to meditation, when you use the same space, it will help you drop in quicker to the flow. Also, in doing so, you are making writing a priority.
A note about writing in coffee shops: Some people need the stimulation of other people around them to get motivated to write. For others, however, it can be very distracting. So, experiment and notice what works best for you.
Desk Placement
To recap my article, Feng Shui for the Workplace: Where to Place Your Desk, there are a few things to keep in mind when setting up a workspace. The most important consideration for any office is desk placement. When sitting at your desk, you should be in “Command Position”. Simply put, this is the position that makes you most ‘in command.’ The Command Position emerges from our instinctive need to have visible control of our environment.
The ideal Command Position would be with a view of the door from your chair, a view out a window, and a solid wall behind you. This may mean moving your desk into the room away from the wall. If this is absolutely not possible, then place a mirror to where you can see the entrance in the mirror. If you do not use a desk, but instead a counter or even your lap, it is still important to face the door entering the room. You want to feel in power and confident in your space – whether you are home alone or working amongst a 100 colleagues in a business office.
In this photo, the writer’s office also doubles as a guest room. The desk faces the door, but is not directly in line with the door (that would result in too much chi energy coming in). It would be better if the window was not right behind her. Why? A wall behind you provides support and for writers in an isolated profession, feeling supported is crucial. Keeping the blind closed is helpful so that there is not a feeling of being exposed.
Clear Clutter
Also notice in this picture the lack of clutter. It is imperative to have an uncluttered space when writing. Our mind is directly affected by our environment. So once you designate your workspace, then declutter it.
Size of Desk
The size of your desk will depend on your preference. Everyone likes or requires a different amount of surface area. For some, an executive-size desk makes them feel more powerful. For others, it’s just another place to collect clutter. I prefer a desk that will fit my laptop, tea, and my cell phone. I work virtually paperless and prefer to keep everything either on my phone or computer.
In this picture of my office, you can see that while my desk is relatively small, it takes center stage in my office. It faces the door without being in direct line and not being right in front of the window either. Find a desk or surface that fits your style and is comfortable. If you are physically cramped, then your creative juices will not be free-flowing.
As said in Field of Dreams, ‘if you build it, they will come,’ and so is the case if you designate a workspace that feels good to you. You will be more likely to write, enjoy writing, and be successful in your writing.
Feng Shui iPhone App is Here!
First off, I love my iPhone. I love the idea of apps and many have even changed the way I function on a daily basis. On several occasions, I will flip through the Feng Shui apps always surprised to find that none of them are all that functional, particularly with using the Bagua Map. So while sitting under the Blue Moon on New Year’s Eve, the idea, design, and inspiration came to me to develop my own. Within minutes, I sketched out my idea and two months later it is now available.
Similar to my book to be released April 25th, 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home, my goal with this app was to make it simple but informative. The number one thing I hear from clients is that Feng Shui books are confusing. And, yes, I agree. It can be challenging to understand Eastern concepts, particularly when written from an Eastern mindset.
This app is based on the most widely used westernized Feng Shui method, including the Black Hat or BTB Feng Shui method. Accordingly, the Bagua Map is aligned per the front door of the space, not per compass directions.
With this app you will have all the information you need to use the Bagua Map. And what I love about apps is that they are interactive!
FEATURES
- The Bagua Map can be viewed in Portrait or Landscape mode depending on the general shape of the space you want to feng shui.
- Click on each square of the Bagua Map to get all the information you need on that section of your house.
- Provides in-depth characteristics, application, remedies, and enhancements for each quadrant.
- Import or take a picture or sketch of your floor plan, room, etc. from your camera photos and superimpose the Bagua Map onto it for a bird’s eye view.
- Save your feng shui-ed floor plan and create as many as you want.
HOW TO USE
- Align the main front door of your house with the bottom of the Bagua Map screen where it says “front entrance.”
- If your front door is centered on your house, you will be walking in the Career & Life Purpose square. If the door is off-centered to the left, then you will enter through the Wisdom & Self-Awareness section. If the door is off-centered to the right, then you will enter through the Helpful People & Travel section.
- To feng shui an individual room, you will align the Bagua Map with the door entering the room with the “front entrance”. For example, the farthest, left corner of the room from the door will be the Wealth section.
- To feng shui a desk, where you are sitting is equivalent to the “front door,” which in most cases will be centered at the Career & Life Purpose section. For example, the farthest, left corner of your desk is the Wealth section.
To link to your iTunes store to download, click here! Or to find in the app store on your iPhone, just Search “bagua map” or “Tisha”.
I would love to hear your feedback!
Feng Shui Your Desk
Do you feel like your career is in a rut? Or perhaps a raise or promotion is long overdue. Maybe your enthusiasm for your job is at an all-time low. Then it’s time to take action and…rearrange your desk? That’s right. By consciously changing the arrangement of your desk, you are shifting energy that can directly impact your job. While it is advisable to feng shui the entire office, you can simply start with your desk.
Paper Clutter. One of the first rules of feng shui to use on a desk is to clean up the space. Clear out all papers that are not necessary and organize those that are. It is often said in feng shui that, “The clutter of the room and the clutter of the soul are intrinsically linked.” If one’s work area is full of clutter, then they will more than likely work slower and have a lower productivity. Keeping papers and pens neat on a desk can ensure that a person can work quickly and effectively. Everything should have its own space — this includes your desktop and the floor around your desk. To cut down on paper clutter, incorporate files, trays, drawers, bins, etc. At least 50 percent of your desktop should be seen throughout the day. Empty space is good. This allows for a clearer, open mind for thinking and creativity.
Desk Location. The location of the desk in the room is also an important consideration. The ‘power’ position of a desk is facing the door. This is especially important for offices in which people come in and out. Having your back to the door puts one in a psychologically vulnerable position. If this is not possible due to computer cords or other logistics, then the next best would be to have the desk at an “L” to the door. If there is a window in the office, then having the desk face the door and window would be optimal even if it is at an “L” to either the door and/or window.
Once you have your desk situated and all of your papers decluttered and organized, then the next step is what to put on your desk. The Bagua Map which is most often used on the footprint of a home can also be applied to any space, including a desk. The Bagua Map is made up of 9 quadrants just like a tic-tac-toe box and is divided accordingly:
Career: The space right in front of you — the center, front square of the tic-tac-toe box represents your career. This is a definite section to keep clutter-free. The element is water and the color is black. If you’ve got a glass top, try slipping an inspiring picture, quote, or affirmation that signifies what you want in your career. You can always just tape it underneath so that it’s not in plain view. As long as you know it’s there, that’s all that matters.
Wisdom: The front, left corner is the wisdom area. Helpful feng shui items to place here are books, anything you are studying and learning, or anything representing higher knowledge or wise people. Blue is the associated color for this area. Any drawers in this area are also included.
Family: The center left-hand side of the desk is reserved for family. This is a great place to put family photos. Wood is the associated element, so wood frames would be great. And green is the color for this area in case you have anything green on your desk.
Wealth & Prosperity: Heading clockwise around the desk, the upper, left-hand corner is the prosperity area. A well-run computer works well in this area or you can use something that reminds you of wealth and riches. It’s also a great spot for a healthy plant, perhaps a bamboo plant. If you have an “in box” you can place it here to represent money coming in. Purple is a great color for this area if you’ve got any lying around.
Fame & Reputation: It is no wonder that the most common spot to place business cards or a name placard is the same spot for Fame and Reputation. The center back one ninth of the desk is the place to let people know who you are. (This is another reason why you want your desk facing the door!) Red is the best color for this area. And since fire is the element, a candle or desk light would work here as well.
Love & Relationships: The right-hand rear part of your desk is the Relationship corner. This can be used to attract a new relationship or to spice up an existing one. Enhance this area with pink, a picture of your significant other, or maybe a bowl of Hershey’s kisses?
Creativity and Children: Now we’re at the mid right-hand side of the desk. Got kids? Put them here, preferably in metal frame this time. Or use this space for items, books, or anything that spurs your creativity. Yellow and white are the associated colors.
Helpful People and Travel: This section is the right-hand, center area of your desk and is associated with the color “gray”. It is a great place to keep your address book, iphone, or rolodex. You can also place your accounts receivable list here so the money comes in on time.
Health: The only place on your desk that we haven’t covered yet is the center square. This area governs your physical health and balance. Like the home, I advise keeping this area clear so that the chi energy can easily reach all areas on your desk.
So, you may be thinking, “wow, that seems like a lot of stuff on my desk when you said to keep it clutter-free.” And, yes, I would agree. First and foremost, keep the desk clutter-free. Secondly, choose which areas of the Bagua Map you would like to enhance and focus on those sections. Then, you can always use the bottom of the desk and drawers to finish out the Bagua Map. The most important thing to remember is to have an intention with each section as you go along AND to have fun doing it.
Subconscious Minefields Lurking in Your Home or Office
Since we live, breathe, eat, and work in our home, it becomes one of those environments where we start to lose objectivity of our surroundings. Perhaps there is a lamp in the corner that you don’t particularly like, but have just gotten used to it to where you don’t even notice it anymore. Or do you? Your conscious mind may not, but your subconscious mind certainly does notice it, remember it, and stores all memories and associations with that lamp.
And so why does this matter?
Your home may be lurking with subconscious minefields that are negatively programming your mind. Do you have furniture that is broken or leaning? What subconscious meanings are the images in pictures or artwork depicting? Do you have items sitting around that you don’t really like, but feel you should keep for one reason or another? Because our subconscious has no filter, it constantly picks up literal messages. So, for example, a cracked mirror could distort the way you see yourself. A desk with a wobbly leg can affect how you stand up for yourself. And, of course, a cluttered desk or room always leads to a cluttered mind.
While these subconscious minefields are powerful, they are as easily changeable. Plant positive imagery in the form of photos, artwork, or even affirmations around your home. Any items that you don’t just love, get rid of them. Start looking at your home consciously, instead of just subconsciously. By changing the subconscious programs in your home or office, your life will change accordingly.
For more information, visit www.mindbodyhome.net
Twitter
Facebook