Feng Shui FAQ's | Design For Energy

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by Belinda Mendoza
Feng Shui Consultant and Reiki Master, Design For Energy

sacred

Why space clear?
In Feng Shui, we learn that we cannot change energy or its essence , but we can change the way energy flows. Albert Einstein once said,"Nothing happens until something moves". We know that if we move furniture around in a room, it gives us a different feel. The ancient Chinese called this changing the flow of Chi (energy). It also holds true that everything has chi and this includes emotions. If you move into a space where the previous occupant's had problems, argued, and eventually divorced, then when you move in, that energy is still there. Imagine someone had poor health and died there, if sensitive to energy, you might feel funny moving in after that situation.

When you move into a new space you want a new and fresh beginning there. Yet, you get there, paint, add your own touches, but things just don't seem to go well. According to Denise Linn and other space clearing experts, energy gets stuck and must be cleared or else you may experience stagnation in your life. Remember how you've felt looking at a model home and one that has been lived in. You love them both in terms of floorplan, layout, location, etc. but they feel different. Most likely the older one has stored memories that make it feel heavier. You think that if you paint, re-do flooring, and put all your things in, it will feel great and yet it somehow never does. This is a time to space clear.

There are four basic steps according to Denise Linn's book: "Space Clearing". This is a very brief summary along with some tips from Karen Kingston on "Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui", and my own space clearing experience over the past ten years. It is designed to introduce you to this wonderful tool for enhancing the energy in your space.

PREPARATION
PURIFICATION
INVOCATION
PRESERVATION

Preparing a space requires removing all animals, and enclosing any food items that may be out on counters. If they are in sealed containers, they are fine. All else can be stored in the refrigerator during the clearing. Open as many windows as possible and a door to the outside during the clearing. It is a good idea to have your space cleaned by yourself or a housekeeper after the clearing to remove any excess stagnant energy. Be sure you feel well and are not coming down with a cold or are feeling weak. Not a good idea to space clear women if on your period or are pregnant.

Purification comes after you have you have prepared the space.
Bring in fresh flowers to symbolize new beginnings and good positive energy. In feng shui flowers are considered good luck. They also represent the wood element which is growth. Light some candles, and place anything of special or spiritual meaning in the center of the space.

Items Needed:
Sage Smudge Stick has been used by the Native Americans for removing negative energy for hundreds of years. It is a powerful purifier. It can be purchased at any natural food or feng shui store.
Brass bell or drum to clear the energy from stuck areas. You can also use metal pots and pans.
Feather to smooth out the energy. You can also use your hand.
Fresh Flowers can be placed in the center of the space. If a two or three -story home, you can place flowers on each floor.

Process:
Begin purification or "clearing" process by purifying yourself with the sage by cupping your hands as if the sage were water and you were pouring it over you.

Begin at the front door and go to all corners of spaces. Ring the bell or beat the drum loudly as this breaks up the stuck energy. Old energy accumulates in corners. After breaking up the energy in the space, light your sage and wave it like a wand into the same areas. If someone is helping you, they can follow behind with the sage and feather as you break up the stagnant energy and release it. The sage purifies and the feather helps to move the energy out.

When you are finished with the whole space. Purify yourself again with the sage by cupping your hands as if the sage were water and you were pouring it over you to clear any residual energy from you. Its like spring cleaning your kitchen and when you're done, take a shower to feel refreshed. Leave the space for a few hours and preferabley 24 hours to allow any residual energy to be cleared out. Ceiling or floor fans can help move the energy out as well. Leave some windows open.

Invocation
When you first begin, state an intention for what it is you are wanting to achieve by the space clearing. Ask for help in the process from your personal spiritual guides. Set up an altar in the eastern part of the home. This altar should include the five natural elements: fire, water, wood, metal, and earth. A candle, flowers, metal bell, crystal, bowl of water are some examples. This is place you will go to after the clearing to give gratitude and sanctify the space. If the east is not the most accessible, then in a place where you feel comfortable is fine. You can use it as your permanent altar or create something like it in another room. The center of the house is also good. Anytime you pray or meditate you enhance the chi of your space.

Preservation
Now that you just cleared everything daily living does not preserve it. Use air filters that remove, toxic gases, pollutants, mold, and bacteria. Use aromatherapy diffusers to balance out the air quality and bring freshness to the space. Open windows as often as possible to let the natural air in and experience the sounds of nature as well as wind chimes, to let you feel the flow in the air. You should not have to do another major space clearing unless something feels really stuck or some negative event ocurrs in the space. Keeping your space clean and de-cluttered, will keep the stagnation down.

*This process is for your garden variety stale feeling space. If you sense some problematic energy or uneasiness with the process, trust your intuition and hire a professional. These techniques were made available in the books mentioned so everyone could improve the energy in their spaces. Do not space clear if the space is too large to clear by yourself, like an office building or large home or if there is a feeling of an unwelcome prescence in the home.

Next time you have a massage, some kind of beauty therapy or a dental or medical treatment, spare a thought for all the people who have been on that treatment couch or seat before you. Why? Because mingling with your energy at that moment will be all the residues of the energy they have left behind them in that place. You may not want to know this, but it's true.

Take the example of a massage, where the idea is for you to open your energy as much as possible to the therapist so they can work with you as deeply as they can. When you get up off their couch, if they have done their job well, you feel lighter and freer. And guess what has happened to all the stuff you were carrying that made you feel so tense? You’ve left it behind in the room, and especially in the couch. If the therapist doesn’t know how to handle the fall-out, you may also have left some of it in them. Then in comes the next client and lies down in your fresh gunk and the gunk of all the clients before you. Understanding this, it’s no wonder that so many massage therapists suffer periodic burn-outs, and no wonder you sometimes get off the couch feeling worse in some ways than when you went in.

Dentists' chairs are a more extreme version of this because they become laced not just with tension but also layers of fear. Even the seats in a dentist’s waiting room have this. If you weren’t afraid before you went in, you soon will be after you sit down.

So what can you do about this? As the client or patient, nothing. It's the therapist's job to take care of their space, to create an environment that is energetically clear, that supports not only the healing process of their clients/patients but also vitalizes them. Regular Space Clearing of a therapy room means the room handles all the gunk so the therapist and their clients/patients don't have to.

So next time you go for bodywork, a facial, dental treatment or whatever, ask the therapist, "When did you last space clear this room?" The word needs to go out. Space Clearing technology exists. We don't have to put up with grungy massage couches or therapy rooms any more!

For any questions, please contact Belinda Mendoza. She does space clearings as part of her Feng Shui services. She is a trained Reiki/Karuna Master so her work with energy over the past ten years allows her to add another dimension to this work and achieve great results. You can read more about this on her website, reikibybelinda.com. Her feng shui website is: DesignForEnergy.com and her office number is: (512) 740-1251 to schedule appts. for your clearing today!