How Much Space vs. How Much Stuff?

A question came in earlier this week about how much stuff it’s ok to have in a space — is there some kind of percentage rule of thumb about it?

Here are a few ideas to help you decide if you have too much stuff:

If you don’t love, use or need everything in your home — you’ve got too much stuff.

The answer will differ for each of us, and you can expect your answer to evolve over time.

How do you know when you’ve got too much stuff? Please leave your answer in the Comments!

Q. of the Week: Placing A Garden Buddha for Good Feng Shui

This week’s timely springtime question comes from Jesse in Tucson, AZ, who’s working on a new Buddha garden for her front entrance.

She asks, “Do you have any thoughts about his placement or most pleasing way for him to sit? We are planning to do 3 of most plants: are there any particular rules about numbers?”

Serenity in the garden...

Jesse’s Buddha garden sounds lovely, doesn’t it?

A Buddha that greets you every time you enter and leave your home, surrounded by beautiful plantings, adds an element of Feng Shui that’s hard to duplicate in any other way.

So, here’s my answer:

• A solid slab of rock or marble is best for your Buddha to sit on. You definitely want to avoid any impression of discomfort that sitting on a pile of rocks (or dirt!) might create.

• In terms of numbers, threes are very good. Since odd numbers are Yang, they’re considered very auspicious.  Even better would be plantings that come to a multiple of nine, the MOST Yang number, to create the best possible Chi energy.

• In terms of the Bagua, I’d suggest placing him in one of the following spots: Knowledge & Self-Cultivation, Wealth/Prosperity, or Fame. The area you select depends on your intention for having a Buddha in your garden in the first place.

So now it’s my turn to ask: What are you doing in your garden this spring to bring in good energy?

Q. of the Week: Setting Up A Feng Shui Aquarium

This week’s question comes from Verosha, who asks, “I recently bought a fish tank. What colors of fish should I get?”

I love this question since it gives me a chance to write about all the ways an aquarium creates good Feng Shui.

An aquarium is one of Feng Shui’s best-loved adjustments, anchoring your intention for wealth and abundance.

It instantly brings harmony into your space since it contains each of the Five Elements: Wood (green plants), Fire (fish colors and lighting), Earth (sand in the bottom of the tank), Metal (shiny fish and round tank shape), and, of course, Water.

Black & gold fish in a Feng Shui aquarium

Nine is the most powerful Yang number in Feng Shui and is used to supercharge the energy whenever possible, so it’s most auspicious that your aquarium contain nine fish: eight gold (or orange) and one black.

According to the Bagua, your aquarium is best located in the Career, Self-Cultivation, and Family areas since these are connected with the Water and Wood elements.

And finally, there are two rooms where your aquarium does NOT belong: the bedroom and the kitchen. Its constant motion creates too much energy for a bedroom; likewise the Water symbolically extinguishes a kitchen’s vital Fire energy.

An aquarium is great for offices, too — but that’s a topic for another post

Do you have an aquarium? How do you feel about the energy it’s bringing into your space?

photo courtesy of tropicalfishonline.info

Unexpected – But Perfect? – Feng Shui

There’s been so much snow lately that the kids in my neighborhood have filled the local park with big, comfortable igloos (and a few snowpeople, too, of course).

When I mentioned this to some friends one of them asked, what is the Feng Shui of igloos, anyway?

It turns out that igloos actually have excellent Feng Shui.

An igloo built by Troop 361 in Washington State.

To begin with they’re perfectly round. The circle is the most perfect of shapes; it represents endless possibilities and the human spirit. In Feng Shui the circle is a powerful Yang symbol representing Heaven.

Secondly igloos have a single entrance, which is very clearly defined. There’s no confusion about where Chi (and human) energy can enter the space. The entry is very small, opening up into the welcoming warmth of the igloo itself, similar to Feng Shui’s “Bright Hall.”

Lastly igloos have a smoke-hole in the center of the roof. Chi energy wants to leave a space through a different opening than the one it entered by. It gets stuck in spaces with just one opening, like closets or basements.

So the smoke-hole gives Chi energy a way to leave the igloo after making its way around inside.

Can you think of anything I forgot? Let me know in the Comments!

Q. of the Week: Bedroom Do’s & Don’ts

This week’s question comes from Sarah, who asks why family photos don’t belong in her master bedroom, as I mentioned in my article on the Bagua last week.

Family photos: anywhere but the bedroom!

Having your family “looking at you” from the walls of your bedroom can easily interfere with the sense of intimacy and sanctuary you need to create in this all-important room.

Sarah went on to agree about the boundary lines necessary to living an adult life in her master bedroom: she makes sure kids’ toys are cleared out at the end of every day, giving herself and her husband some very necessary visual peace and quiet.

No toys, either!

How do you make sure your bedroom stays peaceful and serene?