Inhabit Happy by Rosie Underwood

Make your home a harmonious place to be

Our external environment, the one that we open our eyes up to every day, is the foundation of how we present ourselves to the world, and it sets us up to face the vagaries of life that we can’t control. But it’s not just as simple as picking out the calming art set on Etsy, or carefully adorning pillows with a neutral theme to match your Pampas grass in an oversized vase. Everything we choose for our physical surroundings has the ability to affect every area of our lives, including our mental, physical and spiritual health. Just as you consume foods to nourish your body, apply natural skin care your skin absorbs, you also consume and absorb every aspect of your life that contributes to your living conditions. It has the potential to inspire and energise you, or exhaust and drain you. So, here’s how to shift your environment to get the best out of you, using hacks from the ancient Chinese art of Feng Shui, to balance energies in your home for a healthier and happier life.

De-tech and Meditate

Make a nook in your home for a meditation space, add cushions and blankets to signal to your brain that this is a safe space. Our bodies and our minds respond well to more confined places to calm the mind, because our ancestors in the wild living in caves felt under threat if the space were too open. Our brains are old devices that are no match for the technological era we live in, technology can really overwhelm the natural capacity of our brain. That’s why cosy spaces in the home are so important to ground us, to make us feel safe and whole and to get us back to our roots.

The power of imagery

Really consider the images your brain digests. It’s been scientifically proven that we don’t necessarily have to physically be in places for our minds to feel the benefits of the environment. Pictures of running horses, moving boats on the ocean, cascading waterfalls represent flow, abundance and encourage a sense of momentum and abundance in the brain whilst abstract art encourages creative thinking and is conducive to motivation.

The power of plants and wood

The art of Feng Shui claims that flowers symbolise hope, growth and togetherness and house plants really work to purify the air by absorbing toxins and electrical pollutants. Keeping dead plants-and sadly yes that does include dried flowers and the oh so sort after Pampas grass- can cause energy to deaden and stagnate. Wood draws us towards our roots, the roots that we hanker after, whether it’s the smell of burning Palo Santo, or the feeling of wooden furniture in our hands, or the noise or creaky furniture, it quite simply draws us back to nature and back to our centre.

Light

Soothing pools of light, amber glows and Himalayan salt lamps to help clear electromagnetic frequencies need to be considered when creating a sanctuary in your home.

Sleep space

Sleep should be as elementary as your prana (your breath,) but it’s become increasingly challenging for most. Remove any books you’re not currently reading, any paperwork, remove mirrors and keep them in a bathroom or hallway. Mirrors reflect light, they make the energies of your sleep space very yang and active. Calming yin colours like beige are important here and reserve your sleep space for nothing but sleep.

Finding your Joy

In a world where being busy is badge of honour, people often mistake pleasure for joy, meaning they miss out on everyday joy in all its diversities, often seeking joy-based feelings from materialism and wealth, mistaking it for pleasure and fleeting excitement. Joy is when something aligns with your inner most core values, and your internal truth. That’s why collectively, your grounding space, no matter how frugal or affluent, is a coherent place to enable you to connect to your internal truth, joy and abundance, and that’s where the magic lies.

As you shape your environment, your environment shapes you. We can deliberately create an environment that feeds us and facilitates in our dreams, goals, vision and overall wellbeing. Figure out what you need and see if your home environment is supporting you.

Align your home environment with your values and let the rest come easy.