So often people think of the design of their home, the choices in colors, texture, patterns, and symbolism are just for eye candy. No one talks about the importance in any way of influencing their health and vitality. As a long-time Feng Shui consultant and Forest Therapy teacher, I can tell you that not only is it important, but certain choices could create dire health issues. Who knew that design could be deadly!
I know I have your attention… what could have such dire consequences? The list is long, but includes items that off gas chemicals (paint, flooring, furniture, etc.), lighting and other items that create dangerous electrical waves, colors that cause our body to not relax or be able to sleep, symbolism that disempowers our goals or even our health, and much much more. Yes, our modern design trend of white, white, white is fresh. Yet it is what we call metal energy in feng shui, and creates its own cold, clinical, lack of emotional content energy. It’s not always great for our physical, mental and spiritual state.
How can we bring our lives back into balance? How do we create a home environment that create ease and not dis-ease?
One of the primary things you can do is bring more nature into your home. We do this with your senses of sight, sound, scent, texture and even taste. These are the experiences in a Forest Therapy session. Called Shinrin Yoku in Japan, these sessions create documented improvements in immune system, heart rate variability and a powerful stress management response. In an Inner Harmony Forest Therapy session, you slow down, acknowledge that you are a part of the community that is nature (the trees, plants, earth, streams, animals, clouds and more) and you truly notice what is around you. You live in the present, and appreciate what your senses tell you. You are also breathing in what the trees breathe out, basking in golden rays of sunlight, listening to the breeze in the leaves, and the sounds of the creatures. You are bathing in the colors of nature, the greens, browns, blues, and other colors in your local environment. You can feel the texture of the ground beneath your feet, and the way the air feels on your skin. And you are a part of the energy of nature, including Earthing, which is connecting to the real wavelengths that emanates from the earth.
You can bring aspects of nature into your home, no matter what your design aesthetic is. Here are some easy ideas that can activate the healing aspects of nature in any space:
· Lighting: Open the blinds and curtains, and let the sunlight in! You can cut back on your indoor lighting (more sustainable!) and also cut back on the dirty electricity or EMFs that your LED lighting might be generating. When shopping for bulbs, choose daylight or warm white to give you better lighting in your space. You will be in light wavelengths that are more like what happens when you step into the sunshine!
· Scent: Eliminate the artificial fragrances in your home, and switch to essential oils as a way to bring a connection to the plant realm. When in the forest you are breathing in what the plants exhale, so essential oils is a way to incorporate this aspect of nature’s plant communication into your space. (Be careful with pets, as some oils are not safe with pets, and their sense of smell is much more power than ours)
· Colors: Utilizing the colors of browns, blues and greens is going to bring a nature balance into your space. Think earth, sky and plant life. You don’t have to change everything; start small, incorporating this through artwork, decorative items, pillows, throws, dishware, etc.!
· Texture: Do you have actual objects from nature in your space? Real wood, quartz countertops, pottery, tile, are all nature-based items. Look at what your space and the items in it are made from. Imagine how you might bring in more natural materials in ways that work with your sense of style. Rocks, stone, wood, crystals, furs, leather, feathers, twigs, plants, sand and even water bring the natural textures in a space.
· Shapes: Do you have any artwork or shapes your space that represent nature? Tree trunks, plant leaves, flowers, swirls of water in a stream… Biophilic design in architecture brings natural shapes into the actual physical design of the space. But you can bring these elements in to any home through artwork and pattern choices on your linens, wallpapers, draperies or other easily changeable aspects in a space. I super love entire wall murals of nature scenes that create that sense of being in your favorite nature setting.
· Sounds: How often is the tv or other media blasting through your home with disempowering messages? Switch off, and turn on background sounds from nature, like birdsong, rainstorms, even crickets chirping. Sound is a wave that can change the actual matter in your space. It can make miracles in a space that felt flat and lifeless.
· Taste: Bringing fresh fruits and veggies into your home is a way to uplift it’s energy, and brings a lifeforce energy of nature into your home (and then eventually into your tummy)! See how you can make food choices that are sustainable and planet healthy; the energy within these choices will create a more beautiful energy in your home, and also in you.
· Reduce Negative influences: You might need the assistance of an expert to fully check for the manmade health issues in your home. Ignoring the situation doesn’t make it go away. You can check with a Healthy Home consultant on what you can check yourself (it’s too long of a list to have here); even one change could make a huge difference. I worked with one woman who by simply changing her laundry detergent made a huge difference in the quality of her health. Another woman’s digestive issues dramatically improved just by switching which bedroom in her home to use, because of the energy lines running beneath her home.
I invite you to take a look at your home and find just 3 ways you can align the energy into the ‘sensation’ of being in nature. Notice, after a week, how you feel – body , mind and spirit. Every action you take to bring nature into your home brings its power into your life!
LuAnn Cibik is a Master Teacher of Interior Alignment® Feng Shui and Space Clearing since 2002. She has graduates worldwide. She now offers courses both in person at her retreat center, and online. She certifies people in Inner Harmony Forest Therapy, so that people can fully experience the beneficial power of nature, even in their own backyard. A new all online Forest Therapy class with 6 live ZOOM lessons begins July 19th and is currently 50% off the regular price. Her next Interior Alignment® feng shui and space clearing classes begin in August. You can find out more about LuAnn classes or work with her personally at www.innerharmonyschool.com