Does Feng Shui Really Work?

It’s so funny. You’d think after doing this work for twenty years my answer to that question would be an unequivocal, “Yes! Of course it works!” But once in a while the Universe gives me a lesson to remind me first-hand that when feng shui is applied to a space correctly, it does indeed free up the energy that brings positive changes into our lives. Yes indeed, even the “Feng Shui Lady” needs a lesson from time to time. Here are two stories I’m going to tell on myself and my own personal experiences with feng shui in my own home.

A while back I got a bouncing, barking, baby puppy. He was so cute and at the same time so much work. Just like any baby, my puppy went through a chewing stage. Anything he could sink his little chompers into was fair game for a chew toy. Because of his prolific chewing activities, I decided that the electrical cords in one particular area of my home posed a potential deadly threat to my ever-curious puppy. To protect him I put a metal “puppy gate” around the area where the majority of the cords were. When I did that I didn’t stop to think about what “feng shui area” this part of the house was. I just plopped the puppy gate down and forgot about it.

A couple of months passed. My time had been consumed with taking care of my very active puppy and putting the final touches on my book before it went to press. During this time I noticed that my income started declining. Yes I know all about the current state of the economy, but this was different. This was an unusual dip in finances that was starting to move past a “dip” and was becoming more of a canyon. I started getting worried. Then I thought, “If I were my client, what would I tell myself?” The answer was, “Look at the southeast (wealth) sector and see if anything is going on there that shouldn’t be.” My wealth sector happens to fall in the exact location where I had placed the puppy gate a couple of months ago (around the same time my finances became stressed.) You see, growing wood (i.e. a healthy plant) is the needed element for the southeast meridian. In the Chinese 5 Element Cycle, Metal (the puppy gate) energetically destroys the needed element (wood). When I realized that I had placed the metal gate in the area where metal was the worst element, I removed it immediately (luckily the puppy was past his chewing stage by then). Sure enough, within a week finances began to improve and in a couple of weeks were back to where they were before the ” Puppy Gate Incident”.

The next story I’m going to tell on myself is similar to the one I just mentioned, only this time it has to do with the north (career) sector. My career sector (the north meridian) falls exactly in my guest bathroom, which is fine, because water is the main element for career energy. In feng shui, when we add water to an area we need to make sure the water is circulating. This is why a table top fountain is so ideal in the north. That said, for almost ten years my live-in boyfriend used that bathroom as “his” bathroom. The daily use of that bathroom kept the water circulating and there was no need for a fountain. During that time my career had really taken off. I had more appointments than I could book, starred in a television series, and had risen to the top of my field. Then three years ago we came to the decision to go our separate ways. He moved out and the guest bathroom went back to being a guest bathroom and was only used very occasionally. Truth be told, during that time my career had begun to stall. Big contracts were fewer and farther between, class sizes got smaller and the frequency of my appointments went from sometimes up to three in a day to sometimes three in a week. I blamed it on the economy and kept plugging away, “hoping” it would get better.

Finally (I’m a bit slow on the uptake sometimes), like the incident with the puppy gate, I decided to look at my home the way I would with a client. Was there anything amiss in my career area that I had overlooked or unthinkingly changed? Then it dawned on me. My career started slowing down shortly after my boyfriend moved out. The guest bathroom went from being used every day to being used maybe once a week. As a result, the water in that area became stagnant instead of circulating. A lightbulb went on in my head. (DUH!) I needed to put a fountain in that bathroom as soon as possible. Guess what? Within two weeks after I put the fountain in that bathroom, my career went into the stratosphere! Suddenly my appointment book was full, big contracts were once again flowing in, and I was back to where I was three years before. If only this had dawned on me sooner!

I know what you’re thinking…the “Feng Shui Lady” should have known this all along, but the truth of the matter is that we all get used to the way our houses are. We place something (or remove something) without thinking of its impact on the overall energy of the feng shui our home. I also think there is a deeper meaning here. In order for me to be able to help my clients, I MUST know that what I do has truth and validity. My experiences in my own life and in my own home are true testimonies to the power of feng shui!

To keep your home on its feng shui toes, be sure to pick up a copy of my book, “Feng Shui that Makes Sense, Easy Ways to Create a Space that FEELS as Good as it Looks”. Take it from me, this stuff really works!!

c. 2011 Cathleen McCandless All Rights Reserved.