Feng shui consultant Jen Casey. Photo by Chip Scheuer.
I had barely finished plucking wayward clothing items, shoes and books off my floor and jamming them into my closet when Jen Casey arrived on my doorstep. A certified feng shui consultant who specializes in green living, Casey had come to assess my tiny studio apartment, and the garden that surrounds it, from a feng shui perspective.
I’ll be honest, this all started when a friend told me that they had “feng shui’d” their apartment, built something called a “wealth corner,” and in a matter of months, been rewarded with booming business. But this isn’t entirely about money: according to the principles of feng shui, “Your house is your larger body,” says Casey. And just like a depressed person might let their dishes pile up, our environments reflect our overall well-being.
Directly translated as “wind-water” in Chinese, feng shui is not a religion or superstition, says Casey, but a scientific discipline that dates back thousands of years. Just as the life force Qi, or “chi,” flows through all living things, she says, our spaces also resonate with chi, and feng shui seeks to keep it flowing freely.
The most common form of blockage she comes across in peoples’ homes, offices and gardens is reason enough to follow her advice for a deep spring cleaning: clutter.
“Mentally, it causes depression,” says Casey. “And people have a hard time focusing on what they’re supposed to be doing when all of this clutter is surrounding them.”
I nervously eye the precarious stack of books that lives on the floor by my bed, the papers scattered on my desk, and realize, she might have a point. When my desk is less chaotic, so is my brain.
Aside from depression, people who suffer from emotional trauma, attention deficit disorder, and chronic pain may struggle with housecleaning, according to David F. Tolin, director of the Anxiety Disorders Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Could spring cleaning help alleviate our psychological imbalances? There’s only one way to find out.
“I noticed mainly that I was able to focus better, and sleep more soundly, and I was calmer,” says Casey of clearing the clutter in her own life many years ago when she began to study feng shui. “I also noticed differences in the behavior of my family members, too, and they didn’t really have any idea. It affected everybody. It was more functional.”
Dr. Pamela Peeke, assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of Maryland says that clearing clutter may even help you lose weight—not just because it’s easier to find your gym shoes, but also because it means making a choice to live in a different way.
But feng shui goes way deeper than what Casey says should be an “everyday process” of a home without clutter and a garden sans weeds.
With her “Bagua,” an eight-sided energy map that divides the living space into the five elements of water, wood, fire, earth and metal—each also associated with physical aspects of our health—she maps out my apartment, making suggestions as she goes. A lamp here, a candle there, a mirror above the stove, more plants, and then there it is: the wealth and prosperity corner. To my utter elation, I have two—one in my apartment and one in my garden. “To cultivate your wealth and prosperity, you need some jewel tones here, purples and reds,” says Casey. “Jade plants are associated with abundance, so you can try rolling up a twenty dollar bill and leaving it there,” says Casey, because the corner is also about gratitude.
Oh, I will try all right. But how to keep from spending it on gas in a pinch, I am not quite sure.
The bathroom is a problematic room in all homes, says Casey, because so much chi is lost through the drains. She recommends keeping the toilet seat down—at all times—and even keeping the door closed. For success in your career, she suggests a water element by the front door, but a fountain is not a budget priority so I hang a photograph of the ocean there instead.
“Adjustments don’t have to be fancy and expensive,” says Casey. “A lot of people think that they do. But you can make huge changes in your life without having to go out and dump thousands of dollars on it, or remodel your home. Intention is really the most important thing. You place an intention and then you manifest it through your actions and your environment.”
And even if my new wealth corner doesn’t land me my dream job, she’s left me inspired to clear the clutter, go to town on my garden, and keep the toilet seat down.
For more information on Jen Casey, visit: http://www.jencaseyfengshui.com/index.html
