The Art of Feng Shui with Sara Nelson
On this episode of the Plan Simple Meals Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with Sara Nelson, a feng shui and reiki practitioner about how we can shift our energy with feng shui practices.
Sara discovered reiki after having some health issues including numbness in parts of her body. Her doctors thought it was stress, but that didn’t feel right to her. She started have reiki sessions, which helped, and decided to learn Reiki herself. She now has a Reiki practice and teaches reiki as well. The energy work of reiki, paired with a long-time love of interior decorating and DIY projects, led her into feng shui.
For those of you who don’t know about feng shui, it’s the energy of your space and the energy that you take up in your space as well. Sara explains, “By moving things around and clearing your space and then honoring your space by marrying it with elements … you create a home that becomes a sanctuary that nurtures you and holds you and all of your life.”
We talk about:
- Feng shui in relation to decluttering and minimalism (they often go together, but aren’t the same). Feng shui is more noticing elements in your space and how to support each area of your home.
- Asking four questions to help make decisions: What do you own and do you love it and does it mean something to you and are you using it?
- Taking the first step of knowing what you have—going through your stuff and getting rid of things. Then organizing what’s left.
- Starting with one room and really impact that space. Live with the change.
- Using the GUAS—career and life purpose, helpful people and travel, love and relationships, health and wellness, abundance and wealth, children and creativity, fame and reputation, family and community, and wisdom and knowledge—to help arrange your space
- Some tips for specific spaces in your house, including clearing stagnant energy—think cobwebs or a drawer of stuff you never use, creating balance in your bedroom, and where to put mirrors
- Starting to clean up the common areas will eventually impact your kids.
Doable Changes
CHANGE THE ENERGY IN ONE SPACE. Pick a drawer, a cabinet, or a closet with stale energy (i.e., stuff that you don’t use much). Go through that space. See what you have, what you use, whether it means something to you, and if you are using it. Move out things that don’t fit those criteria.
CHANGE UP YOUR BEDROOM. Sara gives lots of specific advice about setting up our bed rooms for good feng shui. Think about balance—nightstands that look balanced, pillows or anything else in even numbers. Choose photos or images that you love and are about you and your partner; remove pictures of kids or other people. Move your mirror out of your room. Have the door visible from your bed. If all of this seems like too much all at once, pick one or two of those things that feel doable.
LIGHT YOUR CANDLES. Lighting your candles invokes fire energy. Having a lot of unlit candles around isn’t good energy, so if you decorate with candles, light them and enjoy them.
ABOUT
Sara Nelson is a Reiki Practitioner and is certified in Feng Shui. She invites you to join her in (re)discovering how your space and attention to self can bring you to a calm and happy place. She lives in Maine with her family and loves the beach, her garden, and hibernating in winter.
LINKS
- Sara’s website https://www.thedreamydragonfly.com/
- Sara’s story of feng shui in action https://www.thedreamydragonfly.com/blog/what-are-you-lookin-at
- The Decluttered Life with Deidre Nesline on the Plan Simple podcast
