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Legal Notices
Feng Shui: Wind & Water
Speaker for the House: A Feng Shui Voice
by Carole J. Hyder
Feng Shui is about the art and science of placement in the environment. It provides ways to create or select an ideal house or work-space to bring prosperity, productivity and peace, as well as balance and harmony. Throughout the centuries Feng Shui has been used extensively in Eastern cultures; the Feng Shui practitioner is as important as the architect or contractor. Recently it has seen a remarkable interest in the West as people have come to realize its power.


By manipulating your environment (moving furniture, fixing something, moving clutter out), you can change the events and happenings of your life, both personal and professional. The Chinese have a poetic yet literal way of approaching change. If you want to call something or someone into your life, use a bell. If you want to catch money running out the front door, you place a basket by the door to catch it before it leaves. If you want some project to blossom or you want to bring something to fruition, place a healthy, lush plant or flowers in the appropriate area.


Feng Shui supports an attitude that welcomes change, and, in many cases it involves just plain common sense: if the faucet is leaking, call a plumber; if a light bulb is burned out, replace it; if a door doesn't open, get it fixed; if you want a new job, send out resumes and network. But in addition to these mundane changes, using the Feng Shui principle that "your space mirrors your life" you can begin to ask what besides the faucet was "leaking", what else has become "burned out" in your life, what other issue isn't "opening up" for you.


As you can see, the adjustments for Feng Shui can be small, subtle and very affordable. The power of the adjustment does not depend on the object as much as on the intent. The stronger the intent, magnified by Feng Shui, the stronger the shifts which will manifest in your life. Both the logical and mystical methods of Feng Shui allow you to recognize and take advantage of the synchronistic events that are possible.


I’ve been involved in the Feng Shui world for over 10 years now. I’ve seen it grow from an "on the edge" approach to life situations in a private residence into the design of hospitals, corporations and retail stores. I practice Feng Shui in my life continuously, daily even. My husband and I have seen endless, countless changes along the way--- some remarkable, some subtle, some unexpected, but always something changed.


When working with clients, I have found that before discussing the principles and specifics of Feng Shui, it is important they understand how to "connect" to their space. Based on the principle that "everything is energy," I want a client to feel the energy of their home. This may require we sit in some of the rooms while they tell me how they feel about the space. It may result in a long, anguished story about how the house has let them down and how they never feel "at home" in their home. This connection idea is new to most people. They have just never thought about it. However, my husband and I have a special way we connect with our home.


On New Year’s Day we have a Feng Shui ritual we perform each and every year. We started it about five years ago and had such profound results that we decided to do it the next year. It became so impactful that now we make it a regular New Year ritual. The whole thing doesn’t take long or require anything other than paper and a pencil, but the results have been amazing. We write to our house.


This all began when we found ourselves in a dilemma around a house project we were thinking of doing. We moved into our home eight years ago and have been consistently and tenaciously remodeling and fixing up parts of it. I discovered that my husband is VERY handy with house projects and he discovered that he liked doing them. I am VERY good at supervising and making suggestions at just the right moment, so we make a good team.


Six years ago we had been considering adding on a sun room to the back of our house. We didn’t have easy access to our back yard and thought it would be a good use of space. We envisioned a little fireplace, lots of windows and a love-seat where we’d enjoy watching the seasons come and go. But we met up with one obstacle after the other. We struggled with the plans, the size, the windows. As winter approached, we decided to put the whole idea on hold and think about it until spring. Then New Year’s Day came.


As with most people around this time, we reminisced about the prior year and projected to what might lie ahead for us. Of course, the sun room came up for discussion. I don’t remember which one of us said, "I wonder what the house would like." We were both hit with the same idea----let’s ask. We scrambled for paper and pens; we each found our own favorite spot and began a letter to our home. I outlined the issue, what I thought would work best for our needs and how I thought the end result should look. I was very specific about the details and the costs. I knew it would enhance the house immensely. I described how we’d use the new sun room. I even saw our Christmas tree placed in there. It was hard to argue with my point of view. I thanked the house for being such a good protector and provider, and signed it "Love, Carole."


That said, I waited for some kind of reaction. I felt like I needed to write on behalf of the house, so I picked up my pen again and began writing. The house assured me it was grateful for all we’d done. It appreciated the care and the concern we’d infused into our projects. A lot of our remodeling involved invisible things like new hot water heater, new electrical in parts of the house, insulation, etc. That had not gone unnoticed by our house. I was sure the house was about to tell me how excited it would be to have a new sun room.


Not so. Once we rounded the corner of all the wonderful things we had done, the house assured me a sun room was NOT what it wanted. Yes, it wanted the ch’i to flow through the area and out into the back garden, but not via a sun room. It only wanted a deck. A deck? We hadn’t thought about a deck. A simple deck? That was almost too easy. I was a little uncertain about presenting the idea of a deck to my husband.


But when we reconvened to share our experiences, you can imagine my surprise when he said "I think we should build a deck!" "Where’d you get that idea?" I asked. "The house told me!" he said. So a deck was born. Before spring had completed its cycle, my husband had built a beautiful two-tiered deck off the back of our house. Even now, the sun room idea seems so over-done compared to the beauty and simplicity of our deck. My hammock is a testimonial to its perfection.


One New Year we wrote to our house to see if there was anything it really wanted us to address. There was, it assured me. A closet that we had ignored. I couldn’t imagine we had ignored anything in this house. But, sure enough, we realized we had never painted the inside of our front hall closet. The next Sunday we emptied it out, painted the walls, put new linoleum on the floor, fixed the light fixture which hadn’t been working. In one afternoon we had a fresh new closet that lifted our spirits for months afterwards every time we opened the door.


I’ve invited clients to try this letter-writing technique. One client’s house let her know it was time to move! Another client was strongly advised to get to work on straightening out her basement----it was where she found some much-needed legal documents she was sure were in the attic!


My husband and I don’t always get the same suggestions from the house. Sometimes he gets a stronger connection than I do, sometimes it’s reversed. Nevertheless, as we take on our endless stream of projects, it has become more than tasks to us. It has become a way for us to connect to our home. Each project seems like an opportunity to create something sacred and to express who we truly are. The house simply provides us a reflection of our dreams, and we, in turn, speak on its behalf, giving it a voice for its own journey.
Carole J. Hyder,
Feng Shui consultant, speaker, teacher, author and trainer.
Carole J. Hyder has accomplished success as a Feng Shui consultant, speaker, teacher, author and trainer.


She has been a Feng Shui consultant since 1992, having studied with Professor Thomas Lin Yun and Roger Green, both master teachers in their respective philosophies of Feng Shui.


She has facilitated hundreds of private residential and commercial consultations in both traditions. She is co-founder and president of the Feng Shui Institute of the Midwest, an organization dedicated to creating standards for practitioners, providing continuing education and community outreach.


Besides being published in countless publications and writing a monthly column for "The Edge," Carole has published two books. Wind and Water: Your Personal Feng Shui Journey is in its fifth edition, has world-wide distribution and has been translated into Spanish and German. Her second book Living Feng Shui: Personal Stories was released in September 2001.


Carole currently spends her time presenting seminars and keynotes. She has developed a six-part training program, Wind and Water School of Feng Shui, which is now licensed by the State of MN.



www.carolehyder.com
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