Monthly Archives: October 2013

The world is a very different place than it was thousands of years ago when Feng Shui principles were first observed. There was no electricity in homes, nor satellites in space, mobile phones, or Internet (surely I’m not the only one who remembers life before the Internet…). While some manmade inventions can create some challenges from an energetic perspective, there are some technological advances that can help make our living in box-like spaces more convenient – provided they are used in a balanced way.

Over the last decade, digital technology has changed how we store and use photos and music. While I am not 100% convinced that all of this is progress – analogue recordings have a richness that is lacking from digital formats, and real photos don’t pixelate faces and sunsets – the storage and functional benefits can be tremendous. It is possible to have your music collection take up far less physical space and be more immediately accessible, while photos can be running through a digital photo frame, saving on space while generating a flow of memories that can bring great energetic support in a small space.

It is important to use new formats well: ensure that you are not simply storing thousands of digital photographs without looking at them (something pretty much everyone is guilty of). Make a regular habit of loading a new selection of photos into a digital frame – a few old favourites as well as new ones – so that your nervous system isn’t being imprinted by the same memories all the time, something that was always a challenge with expensive framed photographs, which tended to stay in place for too many years. Regularly create new playlists for music to shake things up a bit, being sure to revisit some old favourites while adding new acquisitions to the mix. Your brain will benefit from hearing varied combinations of old and new, enabling you to bridge different parts of your life into your present experience and creating a new soundtrack to your current life scenes.

The e-book phenomenon has its advantages too: books and magazines can be a major source of clutter and energetic stagnation, whereas a single reader can hold a massive number of volumes. This is particularly helpful when traveling, when space is at a real premium, or if living in cramped quarters. I enjoy having interior design magazines as reference, and yet they take up too much space for the amount of time that I might look at them; digital technology can solve that issue (no pun intended). The same for my Harry Potter collection: as much as I loved the physical books and the experience of reading them, I will not reread them often enough to warrant the space they take up… but the digital format takes care of that.

The challenge in all of these is that there is a lack of connection to the ‘analogue’ physical world to which we more deeply belong. Each book has its unique feeling, each record album had its cover and the disc had its texture, and physical contact with a photograph was part of the experience. Nowadays, each email looks the same, lacking the character and individual handwriting of the person who wrote it, unlike with a personal letter; turning the page of an actual book to see what is on the next page is a very different experience when it’s made of real paper, as opposed to always touching the same screen and holding the same device.

While the Feng Shui advantages that these technological developments bring are evident, a home can feel rather soulless when everything is electronic. Aim to bring balance by complementing the old with the new. Colourful art and a few framed photos can add some dimension to your space while digital photos circulate on a frame. An analogue amp can help your digital music sound warmer than it might otherwise (I have my iPad playing through an antique gramophone horn and have purchased an amp that uses tubes). Having some key books in your physical surroundings helps to communicate the ideas and themes that are important to you – just keep the numbers under control. And keep plants, candles, and other more ‘primitive’ natural objects near your electronic devices (but not so near that water or fire threaten electrocution or damage!) to bring to your home a more seamless fusion of manmade and environmentally balancing elements.

May you and your home gracefully balance technology with nature.

Mirrors are powerful objects and are often misused in design and Feng Shui. While it is true that they can expand a space and circulate energy, they are not the only things that can do so, and there are important guidelines that should be followed if they are to enhance rather than compromise the energy of a space.

Because mirrors literally provide us with a self image (literally), having an accurate reflection of our appearance is important. Surfaces should be clean in order to see yourself clearly, and the height and framing of the mirror should be appropriate to your body size. If you need to hunch down to have your head fully reflected, you may be experiencing less self-confidence than you would like (as well as headaches). Similarly, long narrow mirrors – which are regrettably very common – can lead to doubting one’s capacity to take up space and be fully present. I’ve worked with a number of people with such mirrors suffering from eating disorders: they saw themselves needing to ‘fit in’ to a smaller space. All of these clients saw a positive change in their eating habits when they bought wider, more inclusive mirrors.

Smaller, head-only mirrors are not recommended. They can keep us in our heads and less connected to the bigger picture. Women in particular should absolutely ensure that mirrors include their entire torso so as not to cut off their bust. Mirrors that are divided up (as the one in the image above) are also not recommended, as they cut up one’s image. Tiny decorative mirrors that are only inches wide must be avoided at all costs: every client I’ve worked with who had these was experiencing significant psychological distress, as though being cut down emotionally. If you own these small mirrors, lay them horizontally on a table or cabinet and use them as a tray for objects such as candles, perfume bottles, or jewerly. (And never use those so-called ‘Feng Shui’ mirrors sold to be put above your front door.)

Where you place a mirror in the home is equally important. Historically, Feng Shui lore has spoken to not having a mirror in the bedroom because your spirit would be afraid seeing itself at night. This rather colourful tale obscures a more logical explanation: because mirrors reflect anything opposite them, even if it is dark, movement in one part of the room can create the illusion of motion elsewhere. This means that a twinkle of light from the window or the slightest movement in the bed can make it appear as though something is moving in the mirror, causing your nervous system to tune into the potential threat of an intruder and thereby limiting your capacity to fully relax and deeply rest.

While it obviously makes sense to have a mirror in a bedroom when you can get dressed to see how you look (and many might want it for the reverse of these proceedings), ensuring that the bed itself is not reflected will help you get a better sleep. I am not exaggerating when I say that 100% of my clients with difficulty sleeping who had a mirror reflecting the bed noticed an immediate improvement when moving the mirror or covering it up at night. If you have mirrored closet doors (like I do), you can set up a curtain rod with curtains that you draw at night to cover the mirror while you sleep (like I do), which gives the option of having the mirrors be more active during daylight hours. Mirrors above the headboard are not recommended (anything heavy in that position will keep your nervous system on high alert) and mirrors on the ceiling might be more appropriate in Las Vegas or love hotels, where sleeping is less of a priority.

Another point about mirrors is to ensure that whatever they reflect is something that you like. Because mirrors create the illusion of duplication, whatever is being doubled should ideally be something you want more of as opposed to something you don’t. Position them to reflect dining tables (doubling the food on your table but not your waistline) or favourite works of art or collections, while aiming not to duplicate laundry baskets, garbage cans, or piles of clutter.

You should avoid placing mirrors opposite other mirrors: this creates a kind of ‘hall of mirrors’ effect, where you seem to be caught in the middle of a neverending tunnel. This arrangement can lead to feeling that there is never any end in sight to whatever is going on in your life. Additionally, a mirror opposite the front door, while said in classical Feng Shui to bounce energy out the door, is indeed not very auspicious: it can surprise you because of the sudden movement reflected in the home as soon as you enter, in addition to drawing your attention to what is behind you outside the home rather than welcoming you more fully into your space.

Because mirrors provide an opportunity for reflection (pun intended), too many of them can lead to self-consciousness and overthinking. More than one mirror on the same wall can bring about second-guessing, whereas multiple mirrors on different walls in the same room can be disorienting and confusing. Each room really doesn’t need more than one, and too many in a home in general can make you too self-conscious about your appearance.

May everything reflected around you bring you joy.