LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Feng Shui


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Like many ancient philosophies, Feng Shui observes different aspects of the phases of the Five Elements - water, wood, fire, earth and metal - to inform the changing patterns in our lives, homes and bodies. Simply take a look outside and use nature's canvas to adjust your home for the season.

The metal element of fall conceptually symbolizes in Feng Shui refinement or precision, beauty, completion and finishing up. Take a look at your home office workspace. Do you have a project that has been dragging on and on and needs to wrap up? Use the precision and completion of the metal element to push your project goal toward the finish line. Stand in the doorway and look into the home office room. Divide the space into nine equal squares and ask what is presenting in the middle right area of completion (metal/harvest). Placing a symbol or reminder of the project you want to complete in that area will send out your wishes for the energetic of completion.

Do you have relationship attachments you feel ready to release or find closure on? The middle right area (completion/harvest) of your master bedroom would be an ideal spot to place something that symbolizes the relationship you want to release.

Adding more warmth (fire) and glow into your home environment with warmer hues and truly yang colors like tangerine, sunshine yellow and earthy browns can be an intuitive way to balance out the metal element associated with fall. Bring back the cozy carpets under your feet or light a fire in the fireplace. Surround yourself with cozy red, orange or brown throws that will bring the necessary balance into your space by adjusting the missing elements of fire and earth.

Consciously celebrate the bounty of fall with a visual display of the fruits of the harvest season. For example, be inspired by all of the reminders of fall's cornucopia with sumptuous pumpkins, red or orange berries, acorns, uniquely shaped gourds, pinecones, yellow, orange or purple mums and fragrant apples to welcome the abundant joy of the harvest to your home. Arranging the auspicious symbols of fall that you love at your front entrance sets a tone and welcomes the joy of the harvest season to your home.

Symbols of fall's harvest create a welcoming centerpiece for your dining room, too. Apples are symbolic of peace, pinecones conjure longevity and good health, pumpkins are believed to fend off negativity, and mums are a sign of wealth and abundance. Infuse your home with the energy of the harvest and gratitude for all that you have personally accomplished so far this year.

Fall is also a great time to remind ourselves to brighten up our spaces. Make sure the path to your front door is well lit, add full spectrum lighting inside your home and place candles in all the areas people gather to introduce the necessary warmth to your home.

It's also important to be personally grounded (metal depletes grounding earth) through healthy self-care, creating healthy boundaries, and saying yes to what really nourishes our souls this time of year. Reconnecting, cooking in your kitchen, hosting gatherings, spending time with friends and family are part of the joy of the season. It isn't unusual to feel like going to bed early or rising later, if possible, and generally it's wise Feng Shui to go with the flow.

Try this easy fall space clearing technique to refresh your space for the beauty of the fall season. You will need bells or a gong and positive intention.

1) If you can, first open all doors and windows of your home, letting the crisp fall air in.

2) Start at your front entrance door and slowly walk clockwise around your home. As you ring the bells with precision, so the sound reverberates in your space, simultaneously and mindfully chant a prayer that symbolizes good luck and good fortune to you. In Feng Shui we often use "Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hum," which symbolizes good fortune, health and happiness.

3) End up back where you began at the front door and visualize everything is cleansed and released from your home that no longer serves your higher purpose.

4) Express gratitude for all of your blessings, accomplishments, successes, and the harvest you observe in your own life and home.

5) Wish for all sentient beings to also receive the blessings of the fall season of harvest.

Personal wellness will also be refreshed and realigned with the cooler autumn temps by adapting and cooking up those root vegetables like carrots and beets in stews and soups and choosing warmer foods and drinks in general, incorporating warmer spices like ginger, turmeric and cinnamon as we go. This also nourishes our stomachs and digestive systems (earth element is depleted by metal) and helps us to personally stay healthy and grounded and aligned with the changing energy of the season.