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Applied Fengshui
Clutter
Clutter represents our ability to hold on or let go appropriately. Clutter is defined as anything you don’t use or don’t love. It is important to examine the role of clutter in your life.
Why do people keep clutter?
In the courses I teach many students say it's because it's hard to let go of things from past relationships for sentimental reasons; they fear that they might need it someday, and they find that they have just thrown it out. Many students said their stuff represents part of their identity, part of who they were in the past and who they are now. One woman said, “My stuff defines me”. This is very common in North America where we do define ourselves by what we have. But you are not your stuff. Many people spoke about clutter being a source of comfort, security and safety. For many this was represented by books and papers. It is important to ask yourself what is your clutter?
What are the effects of clutter?
Many people when asked this question say it is anchoring or grounding, and that clutter slows them down. This is in fact true, as clutter will slow the pace of change in your life. If change is something you are afraid of, you may be unconsciously holding on to clutter to slow the pace of change down. For some people in my workshops clutter brings up issues of shame, and makes them unable to focus. Clutter can also trigger feelings of frustration, irritation anger and feeling of not having control. It is key to ask yourself what are the effects of clutter on you?
The process of clearing clutter?
Since clutter has a purpose in our lives some people have said that it creates security, safety and is familiar. One women in my workshop said it helped create a barrier to intimacy. She said that all her clutter is in her bedroom. She said all her friends tell her to find a man, yet she knows she is not ready. In one workshop on clutter she realized that she was unconsciously keeping all the household clutter in her bedroom. As she said “my room is so messy that there is no way I can bring a man in there”. For her the benefit to clutter was to keep men at a distance, in effect creating a boundary. Other workshop participants said that clutter helps distract them from dealing with their problems, some women felt they couldn’t go out and have fun, or change jobs while their apartment was such an overwhelming mess. There are many benefits to clutter. I believe as humans we don’t do things that do not have a benefit. Many workshop participants were seeking security, safety etc, which are important to them. Becoming aware of the benefits of your clutter is very important.
Clearing clutter can bring up a lot of emotional issues for people. Many people spoke about anxiety, feelings of grief, and the fear of letting go of the past - people and relationships. Many students spoke about the fear of their sense of self-changing.
Before you start to clear clutter you must ask yourself the following questions:
What is your clutter? What gets in the way of clearing clutter? What emotional issues are attached to your clutter? What emotional states do you connect to clutter? What is hard for you to let go of? What are the benefits to your clutter? What would help you get started?
The effects of clearing clutter
In my workshops, participants described feeling relaxed, liberated, independent, happy, peaceful, proud, joy, freedom, energy, in control, closure, and a sense of new opportunities as they are creating space for change and for new things to come into their lives. These feelings are very common when you have done the internal work of examining the purpose and benefits to your clutter and then starting to clear with the consciousness of what your clutter is really about. The key is that everything inside is outside. So when you clear your clutter with conscious intent you are making external changes and internal changes as well. This is one of the key principles of Fengshui that the internal and the external are connected and in fact the external is a reflection of the internal. This is why clutter clearing is so powerful.
Getting Started….
In my workshops we strategize with each other about how to get started. These are some of the strategies of my Fengshui students:
Schedule a time to clear clutter, just as if you would doctor’s appointment.
Start by visioning what the final result might be, and how you would feel when you look at the room. Some students even wrote a statement as their clearing vision. One woman was clearing off her desk; her visioning statement was “I want to feel calm and peaceful sitting at my desk”
Start with a micro movement, one drawer, and one part of the desk or closet. We are so good at setting ourselves up for failure and beating ourselves up when we don’t accomplish everything. Think small when starting: the process is as important as the final product.
The subject of clutter seems to be universal; everyone in my workshops has clutter. When we look at clutter from a Fengshui perspectives we need to look at one of the key principles of Fengshui. Everything inside is outside. What does this mean? It means we need to look at clutter from an inside out perspective. We also need to look at clutter from all four levels of our being, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
So ask yourself what is your clutter?
- Physical?
- Emotional?
- Mental?
- Spiritual?
Take some time to write out your clutter on these four levels. When you clear on one level it impacts all four. It is important for you to notice the links between these four levels of being with your clutter. I will give you an example. You have an object left over from a failed relationship (physical level). Every time you look at it impacts you on the emotional level with memories, then on the mental level, where you may tell yourself that you failed at that relationship, which leaves you with self doubt about reinvesting in a new relationship, and on the spiritual level you decide not to trust men. It is important for you to decide what level is the easiest place for you to start clearing.
When we start to clear clutter a lot of feelings may come forward. It is important to explore these feelings before clearing clutter so that we don’t get overwhelmed in the process and get stuck. In my workshops I do an automatic writing exercise to explore these feelings. Automatic writing is a way to bypass our critic that wants to stop us. The key to automatic writing is to use speed, to write whatever comes into your mind without thinking, so if you are feeling hungry or stuck you write about that.
Automatic Writing Exercises
So get out a piece of paper and a pen, and write at the top of the page when I start to clear clutter what feelings come up? WAIT don’t start yet. Next we do something, which is called quiet mind. This brief exercise helps to quiet our mind of chatter before we start. Pick a spot across the room. Stare at it for a short time, now let your mind travel up to the ceiling and back down, as your eyes come back down ask yourself the question when I start to clear clutter what feelings come up? And start writing. Pick one feeling from the list, Write what does ________(feeling) mean? Again do the quiet mind and answer the question. Continue this process 5 times with your answers.
This process helps to clear internal clutter and explore the feelings that prevent us from letting go of our clutter on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels.
Visualization Exercise
Pick one object of physical clutter from your list. Shut your eyes take three deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Imagine going to the place in your house where the object is. (If you can physically go and hold the object … do it). Take three deep breaths, let your mind travel freely, be open to memories, associations, fears, smells, visual pictures, sounds, or feelings in your body, even small feelings, thoughts that may seem unrelated. Breathe.
When you come out of the visualization jot down anything that came to you.
Colour
Under Fengshui there are colours that are suited to you based on your birthdate and gender. These individualized colours are part of your consultation. Colour has been studied and proven to impact your sense of well-being. For example, in the U.S., they are using pink rooms in prisons to subdue violent prisoners. Now when babies are born with Neo natal jaundice they are put under blue light, rather than having invasive surgeries. There have been studies that show that we are affected by colour even when we are sleeping. Under Fengshui, colours are used as enhancements (see mapping your room section for more info). Here is some general information about the use of colour under Fengshui.
Red- stimulates appetite, good for a workroom or exercise room or an activity group room as it stimulates movement and activity. If you are a procrastinator or in a sluggish time in your life, paint a wall red and get ready to take off.
Orange- a social colour. It stimulates optimism, expansiveness, emotional balance, confidence, change, striving, self motivation and a sense of community. Great for group rooms. A good gathering colour.
Yellow- excellent for a home office. Stimulates flexibility and adaptability to change. It is also associated with good luck. Yellow is a good colour in a counseling room. It gets people talking and at the same time brings forth uplifting feelings and optimism. Clear yellow is a good colour for a room where children will be, as it creates a positive feeling and contributes to the development of thought processes.
Green- stimulates feeling of balance, and healing. Good colour for any room. Excellent for use in bathrooms, the green you use in a bathroom should be a spring or a clean, leaf green.
Blue- stimulates you to seek inner truth. Blue allows for gentleness, contentment, patience and composure. It has also been used for pain reduction. A study done in 1982 with 60 women who had rheumatoid arthritis concluded exposure to blue light could substantially reduce pain. Blue is excellent for a meditation room, or any room where you want to have feelings of peace.
Purple- stimulates our spiritual perspective. Do not paint an entire room this colour as it is best to use as accents, or for one wall. Gold is a good balance for the purple. Lavender rooms are also beneficial to use for convalescence.
White- good colour for all rooms. It holds within its energy the power of transformation. However, if you have an all white room, use colour accessories or furniture, otherwise people will comment that it feels unfriendly and too sterile.
Black- black room accessories are excellent for adding power to a room. Do not use black for a whole room, as it is too overwhelming and depressing.
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