Posted by Pat in Feng Shui | 7 Comments
Feng Shui and Clutter
Even if you don’t know a lot about Feng Shui, there is something you can do to make a huge impact on the energy in your home.
That is: get rid of clutter!
Clutter and Feng Shui
Clutter is very bad Feng Shui. If you think about it and stop to really experience what you feel when you are surrounded by clutter, I think you will agree that clutter is depressing and really lowers your energy levels.
In Feng Shui, we say that the chi (energy) gets stuck in clutter. The chi can’t flow like it should, with clutter around. It just gets sucked in to the pile of clutter and stays there, stagnating.
I used to have a huge problem with clutter before I started studying Feng Shui. I really didn’t notice much of how my environment was affecting me. It was only when I read Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui
Clearing Clutter
Now that I know how clutter affects me, I don’t let it get so bad. I still have a tendency to let my desk get messy, for example. But I soon feel myself getting irritated with my work, and I realize that it needs to be cleaned up. It is amazing to me how much different I feel as soon as the clutter is cleaned up.
As far as the rest of the house goes, I have learned over the years to clean up as I go along. I don’t let clutter pile up. If I am in a room and I notice something out of place, I put it where it belongs. This way, it’s not a huge job to clean up all at once.
For a former clutter-holic, this is really saying something. I believe that you do things that you feel are important. Once you realize how clutter impacts your life, you will gladly do what it takes to keep from getting overwhelmed by it.
The Power of Nine
If you have a clutter problem in your house, don’t be overwhelmed. Just start small. Feng Shui has a few tricks that can help you with this. One tip is to do a small amount every day. In Chinese culture, the number nine is very important and signifies completion. So use the number nine in your decluttering. Every day, work at decluttering for 9 minutes. Or, pick 9 things a day to clean up.
Soon decluttering will become a habit, and you will see progress. Those 9-minute segments will add up. Remember, it takes 21 days to create a new habit, so keep at it every day until it becomes automatic.
(This post was originally posted on my FengShuiCrazy.org blog.)
Feng shui is a great method for clearing the clutter. The state of mind clutter leaves you in can be draining.
I agree – Feng Shui has helped me a lot in getting motivated to get rid of clutter.
I remember when my son was very young (he’s almost 31 now). If his room was cluttered and toys were not in bins or on shelves in the playroom, he was hyper, and generally aggressive. When I noticed that, we would start to sing the Barney clean up song and soon, everything would be nice and clean and orderly again — including his emotions. (Is Barney even still around?) Clutter has a big effect on the mind and can really affects it as well!
Hey Dorine!
My son was very neat when he was little. He loved to keep his stuff organized. It was only when he got to be a teenager that he pretended to be messy (but I think he still secretly liked things neat). I think everyone really feels better when things are neat and nice looking.
I’m 16 and I just spent an entire day going through my bedroom and it felt sooo good to sort through everything. My room was packed with so much crap, by the end i nearly filled the outside paper rubbish bin. It’s so hard deciding what to keep, and what to chuck out. But i did it, and it was the biggest clean up I’ve ever done. My room feels so clear it’s amazing, I kind of feel addicted to that feeling of chucking things out now, and I’m worried i kept too much. I probably should chuck out that old toe nail that fell off though, and some other gross stuff.
Now I just have to do my bedroom at my dads house, that’s going to take, ummmm… a couple more full days than my room at my mum’s. Its full of basically everything I’ve ever owned including school books. But i will do it and chuck out nearly EVERYTHING and it will feel great. I can’t wait! It really makes me feel so much clearer.
Love your site Pat! I had no idea about the number 9. I will definitely be using it more – completion is my focus right now.
Lily, That’s great! I’m so glad you are getting rid of your clutter. Keep up the good work
Jan, thanks! You have a great site too!