Is your home losing its energy? Start by incorporating mirrors into your decor to reflect the positive and support your plans for growth
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Now that all the excitement of the new year is over, I want to move forward on some of the expansion and improvement plans for my life (too many areas to mention) before the year slips away again. Do you have any advice on how I can use my home to support this? I’m also interested in any other guidance you may have.
I love your enthusiasm in wanting to take action to improve your life. Our environment can easily support changes that involve growth or “upleveling.” Below are some tips to help you prepare for the expansion you want to create and on the use of mirrors to support your growth.
Locate areas of energy drain
Any time you choose to make a change to expand or grow in some way, take a look at where you are currently “losing” energy so that you can “plug the leakage” and regain energy and momentum to move in the direction you want.
Whether the changes you want to make involve eating healthier and exercising more, starting a new business, having more private time, being more productive, making more money, or finding a mate, you require energy to sustain the new expansion. If you are maxed out in your life, creating the “bigger and better” life improvements will be difficult.
Start with the basics
When it comes to making your life bigger and bolder, beginning with basics can mean the difference between success and failure. For instance, without plugging your personal energy leaks, you can become utterly drained and abandon your plans.
Step 1: Identify your energy drains. Where are you uninspired in your life? To whom can you not say no? Where are you taking responsibility for others’ obligations? What are you wasting your time on? What can you delegate? What can you let go of?
Step 2: After identifying your energy drains, determine workable solutions. As long as it returns more energy to you, no change is too small to make. When actually making the change is challenging for you, keep reminding yourself of the bigger picture — that you want to expand, and need more energy to do that. In this step, commit to three things you will change, do them and ask a good friend to hold you accountable.
Step 3: Now, begin setting up your home to support your expansion by using strategically placed mirrors!
The use of mirrors
Human beings have been using mirrors for protection or reflection for centuries. In feng shui, a mirror brings in energy of the element of water (flow) and helps to expand the environment while drawing in beneficial energy.
Once you have successfully identified where you need to make changes in your life and are committed to them, use the feng shui guidelines below to create flow and support and enhance your newly directed energy. If you make no personal changes but add mirrors, you will simply create more of the same because mirrors double the energy they reflect. With that thought in mind, always place your mirrors so that they reflect something positive.
• To visually expand the foyer, place a mirror at the entrance, preferably on one of the sidewalls. When placing a mirror on a wall that directly faces the front door, pay special attention to what it reflects. It should reflect something pleasant, such as trees and flowers, not your messy neighbors across the street.
• Do you have space to hang a mirror in your living or dining area? If so, creating a visual expansion of space here is excellent, especially if it reflects the outdoors, bringing in unrestrained “growth energy.”
• If you have narrow and cramped spaces in your home, such as tight corners and narrow passageways, hang a mirror there to “open” the energy for expansion.
Note: Make sure the mirrors you hang do not reflect toilet doors (drain of energy), sharp edges and corners (cutting energy), bills (unwanted expenses), or old newspapers (the past). Mirrors should reflect only things you want to enhance.
Types of mirrors to put up
Use your common sense to determine the size of the mirror, and make sure it is not too big or too small for the wall. Framed mirrors and ornamental mirrors are great choices and allow you to pick a style that matches your basic decor. To keep the bedroom energy calmer and more conducive to sleep, avoid adding mirrors in that environment and avoid cracked and tile mirrors as they create distorted reflections.
From time to time check to see where you are losing your energy. Whenever you feel tired or feel you are building resentment, put more attention on yourself and your needs.
Alice Inoue is a life guide at Alice Inoue Life Guidance LLC, a company committed to assisting people in living empowered lives. Alice shares her wisdom as a professional speaker and personal consultant, and offers a series of instructional DVDs on feng shui, as well as her award-winning books on feng shui, happiness and spiritual life wisdom. Visit www.aliceinspired.com.