Feng Shui and Minimalism

Do you need to be a minimalist to Feng Shui your home?

Let’s get one thing straight: Feng Shui does not mean decluttering to the point of having nothing in your house, and neither does minimalism. So how do these two ideas work together?

Before we get down to it, let me just say that I am not a minimalist. In fact, I may be a maximalist, but don’t let that turn you away.

I really, first of all, want to acknowledge the influx of minimalist living, and the decluttering phenomena that has taken over the world, especially with the growing popularity of Marie Kondo, and The Minimalists. They are doing incredible work.

 

 

Minimalism, to me, is living with fewer possessions in order to let go of the societal pressures to “keep up.” Feng Shui is an ancient practice that helps you make your environment aligned with what it is that you want to call in. For me Feng Shui is a practice of acupuncture for your home. So if we think about your home, being like a person, you would not want to feed yourself with loads of junk food and terrible things because we know it’s going to have a negative impact on your body. So the same goes for your house: having loads of things that are broken is going to have an impact on your home, energetically.

Now, I am someone who has stuff, but let me just be really clear: too much stuff blocks that flow of chi and blocks the flow of energy flowing in.

What is chi?

Chi can be difficult to understand because it’s this intangible thing.

Chi is money, opportunities, luck, new jobs, good things, and what’s coming in either good or baked. I’ve noticed a people do feel way more motivated when you clear stuff out, because it’s almost like giving your has a little bit of a detox, you know, if you go in and you feel like you’re full of energy, and that’s exactly the same thing with your home.

How do Feng Shui and Minimalism work together?

Fung Shui and minimalist living come together to create a home that has core pieces that you adore. Image coming into your home and seeing a picture on the wall that you actually don’t like.

How is that going to inspire you?
How’s it gonna make you feel?

Not good at all!

Your home should only have pieces that you love. When you come in, you should think, “Yes, I love my office chair,” or “I love my bed; I feel so comfortable in it.” Yes, that couch makes me feel good.”

But wait! If you’re immediately wanting to throw everything out, that’s ok. Acknowledge that your things don’t necessarily spark full joy. Then, choose one thing that you can let go of easily to allow it to be replaced with something that you do love.

You don’t have to be a minimalist to practice Feng Shui.

The philosophy of minimalism can be beneficial for you because we want to make sure that the pieces that you do have in your home make you feel good. And that is a really big part of Feng Shui. If the energy is coming in and around, you want to feel good in your environment.

You may just need to give yourself time to reflect. Move around your house and really look at the different items in your home. Ask yourself, “Am I using this?” If it feels difficult to let go, or you decide that you’re not using it, ask yourself, “Am I ever going to use it?”

Pay attention to the resistance of letting it go. Maybe it cost a lot of money. Maybe it’s related with something to your past. If it’s difficult to let go because it’s associated with a memory, that’s something you need to definitely address, because for me, it’s important for us to have things in your home, as a Feng Shui consultant, that you love. Your items should emphasize and be aligned with where you’re going, are practical, and are useful, and in line with the kind of life you want to create.

Maybe there’s a little bit of residual holding on to the past. And here’s the truth: if you keep looking backwards, you’re going to fall over because you can’t go forwards and backwards at the same time. If you start focusing on where you want to go, you’ll see a big difference because you want to make your home a vision board for your future. You want to have your home reflective of what it is that you want to call in for where you are going in your life.

Allow yourself to take on the ideas and concepts of minimalism, in terms of the practicality of what you love, and allow yourself to see each piece in your home and assess if to see if it lines up with where you’re going with what you want to call in, with your sense of personal growth and development, and your vision for the future.

How to Embrace Minimalism and Practice Feng Shui

First, have a few key, intentional pieces that make you feel really good.

Second, Get rid of artificial plants. Artificial plants allow the energy to come in and then create stagnant energy because they’re not alive and they’re not breathing.

Third, pare down what is in excess, like loads of books, for example. Perhaps somebody out there would just love the wisdom from that book.

Finally, clean out the cupboards that haven’t been touched in months. Get the chi flowing again.

We should use things in our homes as much as possible and make sure it’s being used so that the energy circulates. Stale energy blocks the flow of energy, which is not what we want in our homes. Stale energy can hold us back from calling in what it is that we want as easily as we can.

A challenge for you!

Ready for a challenge?

I want you to move around your house, look at everything, and see if it resonates. Then, use the power of Feng Shui #27 to change the energy of your home.

Move 27 things.
Or move 1 thing, 27 times.

I would really love you to just move around and see if you can move it and then as you move those items, think about maybe letting go.

Now, minimalism and Feng Shui can cohabitate in your home, if that’s what works for you. Now just remember to make your home an energetic place that is like a magnet for what it is that you want.

But where do you begin? With a checklist, of course!

I created a Feng Shui checklist just for this. This checklist gives you ideas of everything that you can look at, identify in your home, and maybe move around your house that could be blocking the chi and how to improve it.

Get the checklist here.