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Lauren Muney at age 40:
Wellness coach and featured in
"Fit Over 40: Role Models for Excellence"

Confessions of a feng shui convert: lifestyle enhancement
by Lauren Muney

I confess . . . I didn't think that feng shui (pronounced "fung shway"), that ultra-modern nouveau way of arranging one's home or office, was going to make any decorating sense for me. After all, I attended art school and I know what makes me feel good in a room - so what could something else, especially something as exotic as the name "feng shui", do to help me?

As it turns out, plenty. Feng shui is an art of arranging a space to work with the flow of energy; in Chinese, this is called "chi" or "qi" (pronounced "cheee"). Since every aspect of Eastern thought talks about energy flow (the Japanese call it "ki" - "kee"), I realized that 'energy' was a VERY important detail that we frequently overlook. And, as I found out, feng shui is not ultra-modern at all - it's over 5000 years old, and based on very natural principles.

I am a lifestyle coach - I teach people how to be healthy and fit; however, our modern lives have, at their cores, "LIVING".

Feng shui is about assessing your way of living and making the living space function and feel the best way possible, thus enhancing the rest of your lifestyle.

(image below courtesy of The Feng Shui Training Center website)

This article isn't going to be a lesson on all principles of feng shui: it's a a humble bow to accepting the natural feeling inside all of us.

Feng shui uses the acceptance of our most core beings -- our "male" and "female" sides -- as well as the symbols of earth, water, air, metal, and wood, to create harmonious-feeling spaces. With these sensations, feng shui also applies the principle "Does energy seem to flow fast or slow in this area?" to make changes in our surroundings. Lastly, there is a generalized suggestion as to what rooms of the house benefit in what way, according to feng shui principles.

(This is a very short way of explaining feng shui; a search on Google will offer you so much more).

I could accept this readily - as an art student, I learned that when I looked at a picture, my eye travels through that picture. If my eye got 'caught up' or the picture seemed too busy, my mind would feel confused, tired, angry, or bored. Feng shui does the same thing. In paintings, certain colors felt "hot" or "cool"; they made me feel calm or over-stimulated. Feng shui does the same thing. However, in art, sometimes the artist's conception was to make me feel uncomfortable and stir-up my senses; feng shui's desire is to create harmonious living.

As the Fung Shui Training Center states: "A symbiotic relationship exists between our surroundings and our state
of being."

How do these principles apply to a feng shui skeptic?

First, I had to accept that I was skeptical. Then, I read a book where an excellent feng shui expert wrote: "If you don't like any of these suggestions, feel free not to use them". I was given the power to CHOOSE! With that freedom and realizing that I was skeptical, I set forth trying to "feel" what a room currently did for me, and what I needed from the room.

I am a very firm, directed woman. There is a thought that I am less soft (womanly, feminine, or "yin"), and more tough, and strong (masculine, or "yang"). While I am not 'cold', I am not very 'fluffy' either. Thinking about these qualities meant that I needed to balance my toughness ("yang") with softness and gentility ("yin"): I needed more wood, more curtains, more plants, more delicate sounds. These minute changes would give my life and my thoughts more balance.

In addition, there were certain times I would not feel uncomfortable in a room of my house, and I didn't know why. It would feel lonely, or cold, or empty - even when "full". Carefully, (since I read this book) I started thinking about the principles of energy flow, balance, natural objects, light sources, and finally, what I wanted to do in the room.  . . . eventually I started realizing that I craved "a heavy object on the floor over there" (a symbol of wanting to ground myself), or noticing I didn't want to enter a certain room (the plants were symbolically blocking my path).

Example:

PROBLEM: I had a sunroom which I rarely entered. When I tried to sit in it, I'd feel uncomfortable trying to catch sunlight while sitting on the rug or the wicker chair.

It was the brightest room in the house, the most convenient, and yet I felt completely cold there. The plants blocked my entrance, and I felt like I was the unwanted one, despite having two chairs, a rug, and sunshine. I sat in the room to try to understand what it needed, and what I wanted to do there.

Solution: after moving my living-room's unused overstuffed easy chair and ottoman into the sunroom, and pruning back the plants so I could walk through the space, I turned the unused room into a cozy breakfast-workspace, perfect for relaxing, drinking coffee, or using my wireless Internet service on my laptop!

I felt completely peaceful, balanced, AND I solved a major problem I didn't know I had: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD, or a biological depression linked to reduced sunlight) - the added sunshine gave me the lift and energy that my body, mind, and spirit needed!

How can these personal examples apply to you?

The first step an any room is assessment! Assess what it makes you feel, how you use the room, how your family uses the room, and what you want to feel in the room.

Who knows - by assessing a room, a doorway, a table, a wall color, a chair,  and making changes, you may enhance the energy in your entire life by bringing forth new "growth" and new "possibility" from your surroundings! This is true "lifestyle" progress.

Some feng shui, practically applied:

- Reduce clutter: put unused things away. Not only do you feel energy flow in a clean, cleared room, it makes you want to begin a project or relax. . . This includes doing dishes or clearing kitchen countertops, so you have mental space to cook.

- Add plants to rooms, especially corners. Plants are a grounding force in many ways, especially their green color and the natural qualities. But don't let the plants take over a space! It might make you feel like you aren't wanted in that room.

- You will feel calmer in a quiet place with soothing colors like blue, green, browns. (These are yin) As an opposite, if you are in a metal or shiny-object-filled room, you might feel on-edge (these are yang). You need surroundings which help you in many ways, and have qualities of both calm and energy -- this is true balance.

- Don't overfill rooms with furniture; this makes the energy stagnate and you will feel stagnant inside the room. Give away furniture if you have to. . . . arrange furniture so that chairs do not have backs exposed, or the sitter will feel vulnerable.

- If you do not feel comfortable in a room or with a piece of furniture, try to think on "why" it makes you uncomfortable.
Is it the wrong color?
Filled with bad memories?
Positioned in a location which is difficult to access?
Does it embarrass you? 
. . . you do NOT have to live with discomfort: CHANGE it! Paint it, move it, give furniture away, trade it, make storage spaces.

To make a long story short, feng shui is not voodoo as much as it is an ancient, spiritual psychology to work in balance with your human heart, life balance, and principles.

For more ideas on fitness, health, or "alternative" methods for your lifestyle, contact Lauren for coaching solutions!

ENJOY!