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This is the first in a series of chakra-healing blogs that will incorporate Feng Shui techniques to help you help yourself heal … mind, body, and soul. Both the chakra system and feng shui are based on energy flow. The energy in your home is tied to your personal energy. By clearing energy blocks in your home, you can release energy blocks in and around your body.
I am approaching this process based on the 7-chakra system of Root (1), Sacral (2), Solar Plexus (3), Heart (4), Throat (5), Brow (6), and Crown (7). The heart chakra is in the center of the 7 chakras and encompasses your chest and extends to your left and right hands. Your left and right hands relate energetically to giving and receiving respectively.
You might be wondering why I am starting with the center chakra of heart. At the time of writing this, the January New Moon has just passed. With each new moon, the energy focus shifts to a new chakra. The focus with the January New Moon is the heart chakra. So, here we go.
How do you know if your heart chakra needs a helping hand for healing? First, how much do you know about the heart chakra and it’s energy flow? There are 13 energy points that make up the heart chakra.
Left Lung / Right Lung
Thymus Gland
Chest
Upper Back
Cardiac Nerve Plexus
Left Shoulder / Right Shoulder
Left Arm / Right Arm
Left Hand / Right Hand
Primary Heart Chakra
Any health issue in one or more of these areas is a sign of blocked energy. There are also emotional signs that indicate blocked energy in the heart chakra, but that delves much deeper into the concept than I am wanting to go. Even an energy block of emotional origin can be indicated by a physical sign in or on the body.
If you do a Google search for “clutter health issues,” you will receive results from multiple “sources across the web.” The results range from distraction to respiratory issues to anxiety. In the study of feng shui, it is believed that your home reflects your personal emotional and physical health.
Feng Shui (pronounced “fung shway”) is the art of energy flow in places and spaces. It was born of the ancient Chinese study of the chi energy, the breath of life, in all things. It is used by some of the most powerful people in America these days to generate balanced energy in their homes and businesses. Feng shui offers many traditional methods for creating change for the better. Here, we will take a look at 8 different Feng Shui Declutter Techniques you can use to clear blocked energy in your home and thus from around your heart chakra.
But first, let’s talk about what feng shui techniques are. Many feng shui books and articles will refer to “cures.” There are nine categories of traditional feng shui cures. If you study feng shui at all, you will notice a fixation with the number nine. It is a powerful number in feng shui. These categories of traditional cures are:
Light
Sound
Living Things
Weight
Color
Moving Objects
Electric Power
Symbolic Objects
Other
The category of Other is where the concept of decluttering comes in. It is a category that can, and should, be personalized so that it has great significance to you. Decluttering is not an easy task, emotionally or physically, especially when the clutter has been building up for years. If you approach it with the mindset of a “challenge” or game, you will hopefully find the process to be less taxing. Some of the following declutter techniques will be able to be approached this way. For those of you who are not comfortable with the idea of games or of challenging yourself, you will find many other techniques that will allow you to approach decluttering with a different mindset. The important thing is for you to find an approach that you are comfortable with and that you believe you can complete successfully. Depending on the amount of decluttering you need to do, you may find that implementing more than one approach at a time will be very helpful to you.
Choose one, or more, that resonates with you.
1. If You Saw This Stuff in Someone Else’s Home Technique – Would you think it matched their personality? To apply this technique, you will need to envision yourself in someone else’s shoes. See your stuff from an outsider’s perspective. Does this item represent how you want to present to others? You may find this technique to work best in areas of your home where visitors frequent.
2. If I Keep This Technique - Will it make my life less stressful, less chaotic, and more fun? This technique allows you to focus on keeping items with positive, supportive energy for you. These items will have a purpose, and because of that, you know you will use them or regularly appreciate them in some way.
3. Get More Done Challenge – Enlist the help of others to keep you on track and/or motivated to work through the clutter in a fast and efficient manner. This is a “fast is easy, slow is hard” approach. You will need to set a deadline and a declutter goal. Your personal situation and needs will define the timing of your deadline. It will depend on when others are available to help and on how much stuff you need to go through. Please keep in mind that after you complete this challenge, you will need the continued support of others to ensure your heart chakra has the time needed to heal and to help you keep from cluttering the space back up again. If you do not follow through and allow the heart chakra energy to fully heal and continue to flow freely, you will eventually find yourself living in clutter and stagnant, cluttered energy again. To make quick decisions in a limited time, you may want to incorporate one or more of the additional techniques.
4. Physical and Mental Health Technique – Will keeping this item support my physical or mental health in some way? Let’s be realistic … Will I use it? Will I appreciate it daily when I look at it? You want to rid your space of items that make you feel bad, physically and emotionally.
5. Is This a Weed Technique – Is this item like a weed in a garden?Does it have any particular significance? Do I use it? Did it seemingly show up out of nowhere? Do I remember where it came from or why I got it in the first place? If the answer is “no” to one or more of these questions, then let it go.
6. Clean Out a Closet Technique – The closet in feng shui can represent the veins in the human body. Getting rid of clutter here can help to maintain healthy blood flow to and from the heart. Sometimes this can be a good place to start. You may want to apply some of the other techniques, depending on the stuff you are going through.
7. Group by Color Technique – Do you have a favorite color? Do you have too much of one color? Would you like to have a consistent color pallet for your work clothes? Make decisions about whether to keep or let go after you get the items sorted. This technique works well for clothing and decorating.
8. 9-Day Declutter Challenge – For 9 days in a row, give or throw away 3 items per day. As mentioned earlier, the number 9 is a powerful number in feng shui. If you miss a day, you will need to start again. Keep going until you can complete the challenge fully. Repeat as many times as needed. You may also want to use some of the other techniques during this challenge.
How, where, and what you choose to declutter in your home is up to you. I am a firm believer that you will be drawn to the method(s), location(s), and items of decluttering that will benefit you most. Simply by reading this article and choosing methods from it, you are setting your intention to heal your heart chakra, as you complete these tasks. You will be lead to where you need to be in order to accomplish this.