Move in with Feng Shui - Feng Shui Your Way into a New Home or Office

It’s funny how our whole lives can fit into a few dozen boxes when we move. How a few pieces of cardboard can hold our entire lives…What if our homes and workspaces could hold part of us, too? What if they hold the energy of our experiences and emotions, even after we leave?

Moving. We have all done it, or know someone who has. Moving house or workspace. For some, their house is their workspace. Moving can be stressful, emotional, challenging at the best of times, but it can also be exciting and invigorating once you move into a new space that you get to explore and make your own.

Read on to find out how Feng Shui can help to remove stress from the moving process and make it easier and more enjoyable!

I have heard a number of clients say “we will wait until we move into our new place / until we unpack everything / until we get it all set up, to get a Feng Shui consultant in”.

I think some people think that everything has to be set up, that a space needs to be fully furnished and decorated before inviting in a consultant.

This is a common misconception and missed opportunity; to wait until you are move in / unpacked / “all set up” before inviting a Feng Shui practitioner into your home. In reality, Feng Shui can help with both ends of the moving process.

For one thing, spaces (houses, offices, buildings etc.) hold energy. As soon as you introduce 4 walls and a roof, you are containing energy and energy - past and present - is held within this space and remains there until it is released or cleared.

Feng Shui includes techniques for space clearing, which can be essential when transitioning between two places, even if you were, or are, only renting - or especially in these cases.

If spaces hold energy and you are renting a home or office that has had people living / working in it previously, or that has been rented out to many different people…that’s a lot of energy in one space!

Energies of arguments, deaths, divorce or separations, depression, other mental illness, past business partnerships etc. are all held in spaces where they have occurred.

There are instances where you will see a repeated situation over years across multiple different tenants or owners - repeat divorces, repeat money problems or bankruptcies, repeats of mental illness. This is because these energies are held in these spaces! This is why space clearing can be such a powerful tool!

Feng Shui can help to complete the transition from one space to another, both before and after the move. It can help to clear old, unwanted, residual energy and wipe the slate clean in a new place to allow that space to take on your personal energy and to become a space that supports you and your goals and outcomes.

I worked with a family earlier this year who were moving house. I worked with them in both their old house and new. Before hiring me, they felt unsure about how to set up the new space, how to position couches in the lounge room and which room would be a bedroom and which would be the room for my client's healing practices.

We worked with the new space before any furniture was brought in, performing some space clearing and also planning the positioning of important furniture items, such as beds, desks, couches, TVs and bookcases. We also decided which room would be her client room for the healing work she does in her home and talked about Feng Shui tools for preparing that to be a nurturing and safe place for her clients.

With the work we did together, once they moved in, the family already felt like that was their home; they knew where all their furniture would go and how it would be positioned, which made the process easy for them. Having performed some space clearing before they moved in, the house was also ready to take on their energy and to become their new home.

Feng Shui can also help to complete the energy in a space that is being left, by creating a sense of completion and resolution of issues and a sense of “closure” in areas of one's life. In a space where there may have been personal issues or challenges, Feng Shui can help to ensure that the energy of these issues does not affect future tenants and also that these issues are not carried forward into one's life, or their new space.

I worked with a lady last year who was looking to move house. She felt her journey was complete in the house she was in and that it was time to move. We worked for a few hours in the space making sure she felt every part of her life was balanced and felt grounded and complete in this space. We spent time in each section of the house making sure it, too, felt complete and balanced with the rest of the home.

We worked to balance energies in spaces that didn’t feel as balanced as the others and we resolve any issues that were still present in her life (her relationship sector being one of focus).

The following week she found a new place to live and she is now in a very happy relationship.

In some cases, people are focused so much on the new place they are moving to, that they sometimes forget the significance of the space they are leaving.

As mentioned above, working with a space before leaving it, helps to ensure that any issues you have had are completed and are resolved, so that they don’t affect the next person to reside in that space and so that you don’t carry them forward with you.

This can also be helpful in instances where there has been a strong emotional attachment to the place that is being left - eg. childhood home or a death in the family or another significant life event while living in that house. Feng Shui can help to create “closure” in situations like this, making the transition of moving easier and less emotionally draining.

I have also worked with young people looking to move out of home, but who, at the same time, feel an obligation on some level, to stay at home to look after their parents or to not leave their parents alone, when inside they are struggling because they want their own freedom. In instances such as these, Feng Shui can help strengthen family ties and relationships, even though the physical distance between family members may be greater. It can also help to fill the absence of the child for the parent(s), so it is not as painfully evident, which can also be beneficial for emptynesters.

Often when renting, there are restrictions on what you can and can’t do and changes you can and cannot make. I have a client who has been waiting for months to have a light fixed by the owners in the house she is renting, which doubles as her home office. It can so often feel like you are living in someone else’s home. Feng Shui can work within these restrictions to make a space "Feng Shui aligned" and to make it feel like it is your own, even if you are only there temporarily. These feelings of belonging and ownership can be so important and can make a major difference to your comfort level while living in a rented home.

Tips for moving house or workspace (whether renting or buying):

1. Space clear the new place This is one instance in which I would endorse the use of Sage as a space clearing tool. Sage works like an eraser and can be efficient for clearing old, unwanted energy from a space, making way for new, positive energy. Light, movement and airflow are also wonderful cleansing tools to bring in new, vibrant energy, while dispelling old, dead energy.

2. Do an intention setting exercise on the space you are leaving No, this doesn’t have to involve candles and crystals and holding hands and reciting ancient transcripts. It can be as simple as a small mantra you put together and say a few days before moving out. Something like “I thank this space for all the experiences it has brought me and with this move I acknowledge and intend that my energy here is complete and fulfilled and is now released back to Source”. Make something up that sounds good to you! This process can also involve some space clearing techniques, in fact I'd almost recommend it so that no future energy in that space can impact your life, even after you move.

3. Don’t wait It is harder to move stuff around once it’s in than to position it in line with Feng Shui principles in the first place. Furniture placement is a big part of Feng Shui; for one thing, it can help to facilitate or inhibit the flow of energy and for another, furniture positions can have major affects on the dynamics and relationships of the people living / working in the space and also on their health, finances and relationships. Placement is important. It’s also not about having everything perfect and “ready” for a consultant to come in. It is about preparing the space and setting it up so that you love it, not so it is always half set up and doesn’t ever feel quite “right”.

4. Move into your space! Even if you are renting! Make it feel YOUR space. Let people (and the energy) know that YOU are living or working there! Add your own personal touches, paintings if you can, your favourite furniture, decorations or feature pieces. Make it your space. You will feel much more comfortable and the space will begin supporting you in much more tangible ways. While you are tiptoeing, the Universe and its creative manifesting energy are also tiptoeing. Yes it can be annoying to unpack everything only to pack it up again in 12 or 24 months’ time, so simply add your favourite items, anything that will make you love the space and feel like it is yours. (I worked with a family who are waiting to finish their renovations to really furnish their home and fill it with their personal items. They have been waiting for 2 years to even start the renovations! The house feels empty and like no one is living there. My biggest piece of advice for them was to MOVE INTO THEIR HOME! To add their personal touches to the space and do this WHILE waiting to renovate). 5. Take into account and apply Feng Shui principles when setting up your new home or workspace As much as possible, follow the principles and guidelines of Feng Shui to help you create a life that is balanced and a life (and a home or workspace) that you love!

Things to remember:

1. Feng Shui can help you move into a new space by clearing old, residual, unwanted energy of past tenants or residents, thereby creating a blank canvas for your energy and a space that will support you and your goals and that will feel personalised to you.

2. Feng Shui can help help you move out of an old space by creating a sense of completion and resolution of issues and a sense of “closure” in areas of your life where you may have had issues or challenges, ensuring that the energy of these issues don’t affect future tenants and that they are not carried forward with you into your life, or your new space.

3. Have fun! Whether you are renting or buying, the principles are the same. Clear old energy that isn’t yours and create a space that supports you and that takes on your energy! A space that is easy and enjoyable to live in and move into. After all, the ultimate outcome of Feng Shui is to create a space YOU love and for you to love every space within that space.