Living Beyond Fear & Embracing Change
Twenty years ago, I created the East-West Academy to help support a world where people understand and are responsible for their connections to each other, in spaces where all life is respected and valued. We are all connected on some level, and when we take responsibility for who we are, “become conscious,” and bring positive value to our shared environments, that positive change radiates around us.
Our home is an important channel for these connections and positive vibrations, and it can either support you to make meaningful change, or it can hold you stuck in place.
Today, I’m sharing with you how to “unstick” yourself and move forward, not just by understanding principles of Feng Shui, but by understanding how where we live connects to our fears, preventing us from positive change.
Understanding our fears
To first understand how where we live connects to our fears, we must first understand where fear comes from: our brain.
95 percent of our brain activity is unconscious or subconscious. From the time of conception to the young age of six or seven, we are creating what are called “neutral pathways.” These pathways are like highways for the thoughts and feelings we have, and they travel through our brain without us noticing. What this means is that whatever emotional patterns were forming and happening in childhood, become the status quo for our neutral pathways. If you experienced a great deal of anxiety as a child, the subconscious connections your brain makes now, are most likely heavily influenced by that early place of fear.
Feng Shui tells us that we are connected to seven generations of our ancestors, not just through the DNA that is handed down to us, but through those unconscious patterns and pathways too. Transgenerational trauma is what causes the great-great-grandchildren of ancestors who escaped horrific war, to feel what seems like unexplainable anxiety or fear. Just as we can inherit a family member’s blue eyes or dimpled smile, we can inherit their unconscious fears and traumas.
Now, all thoughts have vibrations, whether unconscious or conscious. And in the world of vibrations, like attracts like. So where there is someone struggling with anxiety or fear, the space around them reflects this. This makes turning fear and anxiety around into something positive very difficult, as we subconsciously choose to live in spaces that reflect these fears.
Lessons of inner work
If you follow me, you know that I’ve moved 13 times in 25 years. And if you’ve read my astrological chart, you would see I have two very active travel stars. It’s part of my destiny to be on the move!
However, at some point in my Feng Shui journey, I asked myself, Why is this happening? Why did I choose this chart and these patterns to reflect these lessons? I then noticed that the first four homes I moved into after starting my Feng Shui studies years ago, all faced the exact same degree and hexagram. Yes, each house was a slight improvement from the last, but they all pointed in the same direction, to the same thing. This is all extremely unusual, so I asked myself again, What’s happening?
It dawned on me that these homes were somehow connected to me through a lesson, and until I learned that lesson, I would be unable to move to a new home in a new direction.
When you see the world as a field of energy with shared connections and vibrations, you begin to see messages everywhere. When you see these messages as teachers or lessons, they become opportunities for you to look forward at the changes you must make to improve your life.
By understanding that these four homes were an opportunity to see and learn, I could look for the change I needed to make to move forward in a more positive, supportive direction. As I looked, I found that I had chosen four homes that did not actually support me for what I consciously wanted to create in my life and that the lesson I needed to learn was to feel deserving. I struggled to feel deserving of support, abundance, and love; and if you know my story and the fact that I’m adopted, this explains a lot of that struggle.
I knew I had to change my story and my vibrations, and to start with inner work. I began counseling, working with a therapist, and meditating to release my pain around the past. As my inner life started to change, so did my Feng Shui and my surroundings. Our thoughts create our reality, and when we can change our inner selves and maintain this positive inner change, we can manifest truly positive environments.
It’s important to remember that all change is uncomfortable. We tend to choose what is familiar, when we’re unfamiliar with feelings of deserving or love, then any positive change in that direction might initially feel awkward or uncomfortable and we might decide to reject it. By understanding the formulas and directions of Feng Shui, we can trust the process of change and move past any temporary feelings of discomfort or distress. Only through this process, can we really unlock the full potential of Feng Shui.
If you’re unsure of where to begin, consider an astrological chart reading with me. I can help you understand your chart’s meaning, and the lessons it’s directing you toward.
Embracing change
To supplement your self-change and inner work journey, let’s focus on one of the most basic, yet deeply important, aspects of practical Feng Shui in your home: the front door.
The position and location of your home in relation to the natural world is extremely important in determining the energy of your home, even more so than your home’s internal environment. The front door is a gateway for the energy that flows into your home from the natural world. Depending on the view from your front door, whether it’s a bustling city or quiet lakefront, your home’s energy can be drastically affected.
Just as you need to consider the energy you are inviting into your home through the front door, you need to consider the energy you are letting out. Does your home’s entrance exude good fortune and inspiration? Warmth and love? If you are trying to manifest financial or business success, or promote a healthy, lovely relationship, then you need to reflect these goals right from the start, in the entrance of your home.
The entrance of your home needs a clear, unobstructed, well-lit pathway, just as your goals do. The prominence, recognizability, and openness of the outside entrance of your home correlates directly to the good fortune, empowerment, and success of the home’s inhabitants. This outside space provides room for positive energy to collect, instead of getting lost as it tries to enter your home.
As all of the energy that has collected outside comes inside, it will begin to flow throughout your home, but it needs to know where to go. If it is obstructed by too much clutter, furniture that is difficult to maneuver around, or a confusing layout, then the energy will become stuck. The inside entrance, as well as the main hall or space that leads to the other rooms of your home, should feel pleasant, open, and very airy.
Remember that everything is energy, and everything is connected. More importantly, remember that together, we are more. When we better ourselves, and learn to support ourselves, we encourage a world where others will want to better themselves too. Be the change you want to see, and soon, you’ll see it.
I love sharing these stories and tips with you each week, and would love to know more about the changes you’re making in your life to work toward your goals. Please share below, and I will do my best to stay in touch with each of you.
