The Next Perfect Step
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The Next Perfect Step
Finding Balance: The Ancient Art of Feng Shui
Ever walked into a space and immediately felt uncomfortable without knowing why? Or noticed how some areas of your home seem to collect endless clutter while others remain pristine? These aren't random occurrences but powerful energy patterns that directly influence your life, relationships, and prosperity.
Master Feng Shui practitioner Peg Donahue joins us to unravel the mysteries behind this 6,000-year-old practice that's far more scientific than mystical. Drawing from her 25+ years of experience, Peg explains how our possessions literally absorb the energy of events happening around them – harboring everything from joy to conflict long after the moment has passed. "Boy, if these walls could talk," she notes, "they would have stories to tell."
The conversation takes a fascinating turn as Peg shares remarkable client transformations. One couple struggling to conceive discovered a large, unwanted piece of furniture blocking their "children area." After removing this obstacle, they soon welcomed a baby daughter. Another client with financial challenges had a broken clock decorated with pirates (symbols of theft) hanging in her wealth corner – eerily mirroring how she felt her brother had "stolen" her inheritance.
We explore the Feng Shui Bagua – an energy map overlaid on your space that connects specific areas to different life aspects like career, knowledge, family, and prosperity. Peg offers surprisingly practical advice: keep front doors (the "mouth of chi") uncluttered and well-maintained; recognize how sharp angles create cutting energy; understand that knife blocks on kitchen counters can actually promote arguments; and ensure water elements flow toward your home rather than away to attract rather than repel prosperity.
The most liberating insight? Clutter is simply "anything you don't use or don't love." By clearing these items, we're not just organizing our physical space – we're creating energetic pathways for new opportunities and reconnecting with our natural intuition, which Peg describes as our birthright.
Transform your environment, transform your life. Connect with Peg at fengshuiconnections.com to discover how your space might be secretly shaping your destiny – and how small, intentional changes could unlock extraordinary possibilities.
Welcome everyone to the next perfect step, where all possibility lies in conversation. I'm your co-host, lori Mullen.
Speaker 2:I'm your co-host.
Speaker 3:Lori Tremblay, and I'm your co-host, kim McStay.
Speaker 1:We are so excited to have a special guest, peg Donahue, on today, who's going to talk to us about feng shui, and I was fortunate enough to work with her when I first was opening my office and she helped me set everything up. So, peg, I would really love for you to talk about what feng shui is, how you got started in it.
Speaker 4:Okay, I'd be happy to. So feng shui is the art and science of arranging your environment to enhance your life. So it's really as simple as that and it's all about the energy of your space and how the energy of your space really influences your life and everything that happens in it. And I got started in feng shui about 25 years ago. I had left a corporate job at a company I worked for for 21 years and I thought I'd take six months off and get another job and my life kind of evolved from there. So it's been over 25 years that I did a deep metaphysical dive study, if you will and I learned about feng shui.
Speaker 4:I went to three feng shui programs. I had a feng shui school myself for seven years where I taught practitioners. I studied building, biology or the art and science of healthy homes and healthy environments. I studied intuition. I do also space clearing and personal clearing.
Speaker 4:So I did really a deep dive into, I would say, all things energy from a metaphysical point of view. And it was really my clients that encouraged me to go deeper into this, just through questions and issues that they had, and I was curious about them and about them and curious about how all things really connected and it really is all about how the energy of your space influences your life. So, as I would work with clients, a lot of it would be about identifying obstacles in spaces that matched the very issues that they were trying to change or enhance in their lives. So it's like detective work. It's really a lot of fun. I also co-authored two books along the way. One was Dorm Room Feng Shui, so that was, I think, in 2005. And the second book I co-authored is called Money is an Energy Game. So it's all about prosperity and how what we do, say, think, act, how all of that influences the prosperity in our lives. And so prosperity is not just about money, it's about everything. It's about health, it's wellness, it's overall well-being.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's great. I didn't know you wrote two books. That's congratulations.
Speaker 4:I did Well I participated in a few others as well, but I was sort of just, oh, and I also taught at SNHU, Southern New Hampshire University. I did that for four years and I taught a business program there, but then I decided or a business program there, but then I decided our business course there, but I decided I really wanted to work with my own clients and so I went back to doing that.
Speaker 2:So I understand that the feng shui is direction, is directions as well, right, more Southeast and West.
Speaker 4:Directions are one part of it. So there are two types of feng shui, or two as well. Right, more Southeast and West Directions are one part of it. So there are two types of feng shui well, maybe more than two types, but two primary types. One are schools of thought. One is the Chinese or the Asian school of thought, where we use the feng shui compass. The other is the Western approach, where we use the feng shui bagua, so directions are used in both of those. So in the compass it is actual directions, and when we're using the feng shui bagua, this is where we say superimpose a tic-tac-toe board on your space, and in that system we are using the direction symbolically. So it would be the symbolic north, and that would be the position where the center front of the space that you enter is a symbolic north versus the actual north placement.
Speaker 2:That sounds really interesting. So how does it clear the energy? Just by moving objects or moving energetic objects? How does it clear the energy Just by moving objects or moving energetic objects? Or how does it clear the space? I'm interested because I don't know that much about it.
Speaker 4:Okay, these are great questions. So, whenever you well, first of all, all of our possessions contain your energy. They are always absorbing the energy, the chi, what we call chi of the events that take place in that space. So if you look around your offices now, look around your homes now, etc. Everything that's there really contains the chi and the history of what has happened in that space. You know there's an old saying boy, if these walls could talk, they would have stories to tell, and that is so true. So think of you know how old homes really carry the history of that space.
Speaker 4:And sometimes you walk into a space and it feels really really good, and other times you walk in and you really just want to leave. Well, that is because you're feeling the energy of that space. So your possessions are containing that energy and if they are positive occurrences in that space, then your possessions will have really good, positive energy. However, if there have been conflicts in that space or illness in that space, the energy also contains those components as well. So that can lower the chi or lower the energetic. Think of it as a vibration in that space.
Speaker 4:So I do a lot of space clearing as well and I've been taught by many teachers throughout the years and I've been taught by many teachers throughout the years. So when I do space clearing I use a method called dowsing and I do ceremony, and I do it primarily remotely. These days I do it for people all over the world. So I set up a sacred space, an altar, a sacred space, and for space clearing usually I do a questionnaire so I'm gauging what has happened in that space, so the types of energies that are there, and then I do dowsing to clear them.
Speaker 4:But people can go in and clear or shift the energy in the space by, first of all, removing all the clutter. So well, maybe we never remove all the clutter, but removing clutter, let me just put it that way. So clutter is anything that you don't use or you don't love, simple as that. Putting everything away, giving everything a home. So the less that you have out in the open space, really the better, because you want energy to flow through, to move through, because you want energy to flow through, to move through. And then clearing a space, open the windows, letting the air blow through. You can burn incense or sage in a space, you can ring a bell, play sacred music or classical music, music with a high vibration. Those are all great ways to shift the energy in a space. So think of it that way, and I also do that for people as well. I do a lot of personal clearings, so help people clear themselves of energies that have been stuck.
Speaker 2:Excellent.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so when we work together in my office, you were able to tell me like, which each to break down the room and tell me where, like, this was the business energy and this was the prosperity energy and this was the educational energy to a room. Can you tell us a little bit more about, like, how a room can be divided by those? Oh, sure, sure.
Speaker 4:Absolutely. So that's where we place the Feng Shui, bagua. And so think of the Bagua. Ba means eight and gua is sections. So it's like an eight section map that we superimpose over a space. So you would take, say, the room, let's just work with a room, and you can also apply this to your land. You know, just make notations where the doors, windows and furniture are and then superimpose a tic-tac-toe board on that. So it's a grid of nine blocks and that might be a square, it might be a rectangle, it might be a tall rectangle, vertical rectangle, it doesn't matter. But put the you know, nine blocks over that space. And then the center front block, so the block that's closest to you in the center front, that is what we call the career area. So that's the area where we would energize, activate, if you will, for life, opportunities for a new job, for your career.
Speaker 4:Then, moving over to the left from that, the left corner is what we call the knowledge area. So that's about your deep inner knowledge. Moving up the left side, we come to the family area. It's also about community and in work it's your work, community and life. It's families and ancestors. So it's about the energy of your parents, your grandparents, siblings. The back left corner is prosperity. So many people are most concerned with the back left corner, so that's the prosperity or what we call the wealth area. So that's a great one to keep in very good shape and to make sure that you're really minimizing the clutter there and keep the flow of energy moving. The center back is what we call fame and reputation, so it's about how well you're known. So you know you're in the business now of running a podcast and publicizing a podcast, so that would be an important area in your own spaces to bring in more visibility for the work that you're doing. The fame area so the center back, the back right is what we call partnership, relationship, marriage, so it's about joining in partnership with others.
Speaker 4:Coming down the right side, the right center area, is called children and joy. It's about the future. It's also about retirement year. So the family area on the left side is where we came from. The children enjoy areas about where we're heading. It's also about what we give birth to, so we give birth to businesses and activities and projects. Companies have subsidiaries, so that would be associated with the children enjoy section. And then the front right corner is called helpful people and travel. So it's about the right people showing up in your life at the right time, and it's also about travel. And then we swing back to the center.
Speaker 4:The center is what we call the Tai Chi area, and everything, all the energy revolves around the center. So whatever type of energy is in the center that is permeating out through that entire space. So that's the feng shui bagua. And I said you can apply that to your house, your whole house, and then break it down to each room. You can also do it for the land as well. And when I'm working with clients, I typically ask and I would have asked you this, laurie, what are your top three wishes? Because then I take those top three wishes and I map them to the bagua, I figure out which area they are tied to energetically, and then we zero in and work primarily with those three areas, because feng shui can be overwhelming and I think that's where people get stuck with it. It's like, oh my gosh, there's so much here and there is because it runs very, very deep. But you peel all that away, isolate what it is your intentions really are and then work with those.
Speaker 1:I agree, I went down, you know, the rabbit hole of feng shui. I was all in, I was like this is fascinating and was totally overwhelmed and was like backed right off. But I tell you, working with you was just seamless and effortless. It was actually to work with you and to learn everything that we did at our session.
Speaker 4:Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome, and that's after you tried it on your own. What that's? After you tried to figure it out on your own.
Speaker 1:Yes, right, yeah, no. I was like this is way over my head.
Speaker 4:Well, you know what? That's how I got started in it, Cause that same thing happened to me because when I was in the corporate world, I, you know, had been diving into it and studying what is this feng shui stuff? And this would have been the late 90s. And one day, I remember, I took off of work and I took all my feng shui books, I piled them up and I took the map of our house and our land and just started mapping everything that I, you know from these books. And it turned out I was working with both the compass system and the Western system, the Feng Shui Bagua, and by the time I got done I said, oh my gosh, these two systems are the same when they overlap, they really are the same. And when I had a Feng Shui school, some of the students were learning a compass and some were learning the Western system. I remember one day I just sent them off into a house and said you know, use whatever method you want. But then you know, find the top three issues. You know, what would you do, what would you recommend? And when they came back and we all got together, they really hit on the top three issues. But they approached it from different angles, but they got it, which was great, and so they really showed each other.
Speaker 4:It doesn't matter which system you use, and sometimes out in the public arena there'll be people that feel strongly about one system or the other, Say this is the right one, the other one doesn't work Well, in my experience, that's not the case. They all work, and the biggest piece behind it is your intention. What is it that you want and what is it you're trying to do? Bring that to the surface and then identify what the issues, what the blockages are in your space. Primarily, what do you need to shift or remove or change and what can you enhance? I always recommend don't start enhancing anything until you get it clean and organized and everything put away, Because otherwise you risk enhancing chaos and you risk bringing more of those unsettled feelings into your space and you really don't want to do that subtle feelings into your space, and you really don't want to do that. Yeah, so I'm glad that it worked. It worked well for you and that you found it easy to understand at that point.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, it was fascinating. I loved working with you and learning all about it. It was exciting.
Speaker 4:These days, just as we're doing here, we're on Zoom. Today I work with people all over the world and, you know, through the technical tools that we have we didn't have these in the 1990s, but we have them today so it makes it easy to do this work globally without really traveling to the space. So I'll do it over Zoom. You can be on your phone, we can do it on Facebook or FaceTime, you know, whatsapp, really, whatever works best.
Speaker 2:What have you noticed working with brunch weight personally for yourself?
Speaker 4:What have I noticed? Well, I've been doing it now for putting it in place for over 25 years, so it's just a normal course of living for me of always adjusting my space. When I first started learning it and I was in the corporate world, I realized that I was already doing a lot of the practice, like I had a habit of. Well, in the company I worked for, we had some corporate standards, and one of the corporate standards was neatness, which was awesome Because every work area had to be neat. Well, that doesn't always happen, right, but we would have cleanup days and like, and big trash cans would show up, so people were encouraged to clean up their offices. Well, that is one of the key aspects to having chi flow through. And I also had the habit of bringing in flowers for myself. You know, about every week I'd bring in a vase of fresh flowers because I love to have them in the office. Well, that's another really big chi boost, you know, right, there too.
Speaker 4:So I didn't know that there was a language for all of these things that I was doing and I, you know, I'm a Virgo, so neatness comes to me anyways, and order and figuring things out, so that all you know is a. It's a part of my persona. I guess you know what I do, naturally. So I found out wow, there's a method to all of this and there's some art and science behind it and it's been around for a very long time and it makes a difference in your life. So in my life there just is a lot of synchronicity and a lot of things flow smoothly. Or when problems come up, I have methods and ways of cutting right to the chase and resolving them.
Speaker 2:Great Thank you. Feng shui is pretty ancient, isn't it? How old is it it?
Speaker 4:goes back to china about 6 000 years, so it was discovered, if you will, by the taoist masters. That's t-a-o-i-s-t. And it started off in. China was an agrarian community or farming community at the time. So they realized that the most prosperous farmers had farms that had mountains behind them and they had water in front. Water for the rice paddies and the mountains served as protection, and there was some protection on both sides. So that's how the formation came into place, how this, the formation, came into place. And this is actually the thought behind placing your bed, you know, so that you can um, you know, see the door, that you have the wide space of the room in front of you. You can see the door, you have support from behind, and that goes for the same as for your desk and for your stove. It comes out of china being an agrarian community and the most prosperous farmer farmers they face the water. They had the mountains behind them, really, for protection from warring communities and armies coming in the sun would come up in front as well. Yeah, so it comes out of that.
Speaker 4:And then also, as people move to the cities in the Chinese system, they looked to the stars. They looked to the stars of the Big Dipper. So there's nine altogether seven main stars and two on the ends, and that became the basis of the flying star system or in the compass system. And so then they would look at the physical directions of the buildings, how the buildings faced, and they applied those same life issues to the directions. For instance, southeast happens to be, in the compass system, the prosperity area, the Southwest happens to be the partnership area, the North is career, the South is fame, and then one of the other layers that comes into the system is the five element system, and this comes out of, or is a big part, the basis of Chinese medicine. So we have the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water, and each of these has particular attributes, and so they have colors associated Water is black, fire is red, the wood is blue and green, earth is yellow, metal is white. So the color system layers in the directions layer in that in the north happens to be associated with black and career, the south is fire and red. So you can start to see how these layer in.
Speaker 4:They also have a mythical Chinese family a mom, a dad, three boys, three girls, and so this layers onto the bagua, and what I do is. I simplify all this for people so you don't have to really know this, but I apply it like the partnership area happens to be the area of the mother. So what I have realized in my practice over the years is if somebody is looking for a partnership but there happens to be a blockage somewhere along the way with their mother, it might be, their mother might be a mother in their life, so to speak, until they really resolve that the partnership is not going to either come or it's not going to flow easily. And there's a similar area with the dad. The father area happens to be helpful people in travel.
Speaker 4:Well, that's also associated with the brain, so migraine headaches are there, but sometimes, if there are blockages with father energy, there'll be blockages maybe in the body or in that area of attracting the right people into your life. So for me it's a matter of listening to what is going on in each person's life and then applying the knowledge of the Feng Shui Bhagwa and the Feng Shui Bagua and the Feng Shui Compass to what's happening and also how this space looks and feels and there are health patterns. We overlay organ networks on this and the organs come out of the five element system and out of Chinese acupuncture. In fact, years ago, when I was learning all this, one of my teachers said go to the Chinese medicine books, that's where you'll learn about the five elements. And I did.
Speaker 1:There's just so much to it, it's so big and it hits on every angle.
Speaker 4:I mean it's fascinating, it's just fascinating.
Speaker 4:And so it is my clients that have had me go deeper. I mean, they didn't ask me to go deeper, it was my own curiosity that drove me deeper. I've had a couple of clients over the years that had ear problems, hearing problems. Well, I learned by doing some research on it that ears are associated with the kidneys, the kidneys are associated with fear, and in a few of the instances the people that had ear problems also did not like their careers. And the ears are also associated with the front door area or center front door. So the career is, if you have a house with a center front door, that's your career area.
Speaker 4:Well, one of these houses when I showed up it happened to be March the door was taped shut on the outside, on the inside, and snow up against it on the inside, on the outside. Well, you know we live in New England, so you know it's very practical to keep the cold out. So years ago people would tape shut those doors. But we're also blocking them and you ever feel like around March, you know people are climbing the walls around here, they just want to get out. We'll drive around and look at all the houses where the snow is blocking that front door and you'll see the visual evidence of how we block ourselves, how we stymie our own energy. Well, that client happened to shovel his front door. You know, the snow from the front door right away took the tape down and a few months later I was chatting with his wife and they had forgotten all about the air problems. He had air problems, he happened to be an air traffic controller and it just went away. So it's fascinating to me how different patterns show up.
Speaker 4:Another time it was about I was called into a house, the family, they wanted to have a child and it had been many years and one, you know, wasn't coming. Well, I just happened to ask them about a big piece of furniture. It just, you know, occurred to me. You know, tell me about this piece of furniture. Well, it happened to be in their children and creativity area and this particular furniture piece of furniture, it's huge, it was like a big chest, you know, floor to ceiling. It came to them as a wedding present. Only, they never liked it, but it was built by a family member and they didn't know what to do about it. But so here it was, this huge block sitting in their child area, children's area, and also on that property the children's area was missing, so it was a double block. They had a cutout in the land, it was through an angle on the plot and this big block of furniture that was sitting there. So I suggested that maybe they could give it to another family member, because other family members love that piece of furniture, only they didn't. It just wasn't their style. And then I really hadn't heard from them for a long time. But years later I found out, oh my gosh, they had had a daughter and so she did manage to get pregnant shortly after we met and had a healthy baby. So that was awesome.
Speaker 4:Another client called me in. It was about a prosperity issue and she wanted to know how to charge things up a bit. And in her prosperity area was a clock that was broken. But she proceeded to tell me about a story, how her brother had cheated her out of her inheritance and she was really upset about that. So this clock was a. It was hers, but it had been a gift to her parents, a wedding gift to her parents, and the image of the clock was of pirates on the high seas. So what do pirates do?
Speaker 4:They cheat and they steal this was sitting on the wall in her prosperity area and it was also broken. So there was a broken item. It was also an image that was mimicking what was happening in her life being cheated. So, anyways, that was like wow you know.
Speaker 4:So she took the clock down and suggested that, you know, she'd take it out, have it fixed, have it appraised, and maybe there was some wealth in that clock. But so it's amazing and she did that. So it's amazing how our patterns mimic what's going on in our life, and that's really what feng shui is all about the energy in our spaces.
Speaker 3:Well, I'm kind of blown away by a lot of this that you're talking about and you've given me so many great ideas, um, that I'm going to work on as soon as this podcast is over, uh. But I wanted to ask you a little bit about, like, the plants in your home and mirrors. Those have always, you know, I've always wondered about the placement of plants and I know I went into a house that had two mirrors, one on either side, and I felt really weird.
Speaker 3:So I don't know if that had anything, if you had any wisdom on that.
Speaker 4:Oh sure. So a couple of things to unpack there. So first of all, mirrors. Mirrors are like aspirin in feng shui, so they replicate things, they double an image. So when you have two mirrors like that, a mirror on either side, you step into the middle of that. It's almost like you're disappearing. You can disappear in that or you can be magnified as well. So it's magnifying the energy that's there.
Speaker 4:You could use mirrors like that if you wanted to widen a space, like if you had a very narrow hallway, you could use a mirror technique like that or you could. I mean, they probably had the mirrors there because they liked them. But when I look at, study the energy, if somebody brought me into a home and told me what was going on, then I might happen to talk to them about those two mirrors. You could, in a narrow hallway you could use a mirror put, say, a nice picture on one side and a mirror opposite that and that provides depth and helps to widen energetically widen a narrow space. Or you could align a narrow hallway with double mirrors and that automatically you know, energetically widens that space. So when you go into hallways, and particularly in public buildings and restaurants and the like, look at how they're using mirrors and what's going on there. And, as I said, mirrors are like aspirin and feng shui, so energetically they are empty until you put intention into them. So we do a lot of things with mirrors and feng shui.
Speaker 4:And plants. You asked about plants. So plants are vibrant energy. So plants are good. Plants add health, they add vitality, they help to raise the qi or the energy in a space. So keep your plants healthy. Sometimes, you know, I do think, that plants also absorb the stress of an environment, so you know they'll die. Well then it happens. When that happens, return them to the earth, just, you know. Let them go, thank them, you know, for the energy they brought and get some new ones replace them. Use plants that you love. I recommend going for plants that have soft edges, that upward you know growth. I had, you know, some huge spiders over the years, spider plants over the years. And then when I learned about puncture, I was like, oh my gosh, that's like a downward energy. One day somebody had given what's that? Wow, I didn't realize that I have like, oh my gosh, that's like a downward energy. One day somebody had given what's that?
Speaker 3:Wow, I didn't realize that I have a lot of those, yeah.
Speaker 4:Well, you can cut them off and make them into babies and things like that, but keep them light, lively as you can. And one day somebody had given me a silk spider plant and it's like what am I going to do with a silk spider plant? Because plants, you want them to be fresh, and I used to always love dried flowers as well. But then until I learned and realized and understood it's obvious to me now well, dried flowers they're dead flowers, but they're beautiful in the fall. So when they're freshly dried, that's great. But if you have like, say, hydrangeas that have been hanging, or roses you know they've been hanging on for you know, time after time it may be time to let those go and bring in something that has some fresher energy to it.
Speaker 3:That's really interesting. My sister is she's not feng shui, but she should be, because she was so intuitive about that.
Speaker 4:Maybe she knows a lot about it?
Speaker 3:yeah, I think she really does. But she came into my house and she was like you gotta get rid of this. You know, I I couldn't believe the difference after okay, so you have felt this blown away. Yeah, yeah, so yeah to you and how it's really, and it's yeah, I'm thinking of a plant.
Speaker 4:There's a plant out there called a mother-in-law's tongue. It's one of those. You know it has sharp edges and long plants. Well, you know there are appropriate ways to use that, but many people just have it and are oblivious to it. But that could trigger a lot of arguments. Sharp tongues Just as knife blocks. You know knives in blocks on kitchen counters. I'm a cook, I love to cook. I had two sets of knife blocks on my counters until I realized that they also promote argumentative energy. So it's better to have your knives in drawers, Keep them safely. You can get knife blocks for drawers rather than have them out on your kitchen counter. So if there are a lot of arguments in the house, you know if there are knife blocks there, you might be better off putting those knives in drawers rather than keeping them out in the open to get rid of those sharp blades.
Speaker 3:Wow.
Speaker 4:So there's lots of subtle things that are going on and it's not the same for everybody, like one size does not fit all. It really matters what's going on in that person's life and what it is that he or she would like to shift.
Speaker 3:That's great, thank you.
Speaker 4:You're welcome. So one thing I always recommend, and this is a nice time to do it front doors. The front door of your house is what we call the main mouth of chi. So keep your front door in great shape, great condition, keep it free of clutter, keep shoes away from it. You know it's easy, you know, to come in and take off your shoes. Well, organize them. Either have a cabinet there, a basket there, something there to catch the shoes, because it can also be a tripping hazard as well. If everybody comes in, takes off their shoes. They're not organized, you know, then that can introduce chaos into that space as well.
Speaker 4:So get all the debris away from the front door inside and out outside. You know, if you have lights out there, make sure they're working. I have noticed patterns that, come fall, the light bulbs tend to burn out faster. So check those outdoor lights, you know, before winter comes, to make sure that they're operational. Get all the spider webs away from, you know, the front door and the lights and all that. Yeah, big things. So if we follow basic patterns of keeping your space neat and clean, you will begin to create good feng shui great advice, um, besides neat and clean.
Speaker 1:Well, the other thing when we worked together was a lot of the angles and things that I could do, that the angles also yes, so um angles and how sharp with angles. So right.
Speaker 4:So, um, like furniture, the best furniture would be rounded and curved, and so angles in space, like right now in my office, you can see an angle in the back corner because I have my desk semi on a diagonal, so that's okay. If the angle were reversed though, if it were a point that were coming at me, I would want to either shift my desk or put something there to soften that angle. Because an angle coming at me, I would want to either shift my desk or put something there to soften that angle. Because an angle coming at you is like a knife edge. It can be sharp and cutting energy, either from behind or in front. So if you're sitting at your desk and you're looking in front, if you happen to have an angle, you know, pointing at your desk, have an angle, you know pointing at your desk, then you may want to adjust that as well.
Speaker 4:Furniture you don't want to be walking around your house or your office or whatever and bumping into furniture. So you want to arrange things so that doesn't happen and work to soften the angles. You can put like a tablecloth can help soften, you know, corners. You can also what I'm thinking if you have an angle coming at you, like in a prior house, that we had the way the bed was positioned in the room. We actually had two sharp angles coming towards the bed. So in the room we actually had two sharp angles coming towards the bed. So what I did is I softened those with crystal. I hung a crystal they're called knife edges and so I hung a crystal at the top of the ceiling just in front of each angle, and that energetically softens it. It helps it to disappear.
Speaker 1:That's what it does energetically, softens it, it helps it to disappear. That's what it does. Yeah, that's what I did. I took a crystal hanging and it had balls and it had like five different circular balls that came down and we hung that right in front of the angle. That came out like that but ever since then, I've always me and my husband always talk about how everything's square with points, and why can't we just make everything circular like? Why don't we live in circular houses then?
Speaker 4:so the energy is constantly just flowing like and there are some circular houses, right, right, right, but you don't want to spend too too, too much, so. So a circular energy, and I'm just thinking now. So circular energy is um of the aligned with the metal element. Square energy is aligned with the earth element. So Square energy is aligned with the earth element. So we have the combination of heaven and earth right there, and that's also what Chinese quings are combination of the square and the circle, heaven and earth.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so that all of these, there's so many layers and I want to say angles. You know, to feng shui, to learn, but for me, you know, I just learned it. I dove deep into it, actually, and just had to learn. I was curious about it, and then different situations would come where I would go even deeper, and it's all about the patterns. So when you study and analyze the patterns in your space and make changes, it's like wow, wow.
Speaker 4:And sometimes people will make change and they'll say, well, nothing happened. Well, something is always happening. It may be that you just didn't tune in and notice. And what I say is notice the small things first, because it's a small things that grow into bigger things. Things first, because it's a small things that grow into bigger things and also things might happen in ways that you don't anticipate. So be open to the essence of what you want, coming to you in different ways. But if we have our eyes set on one particular perspective, that may not happen, but something else may happen and probably will happen. So it's about being open to all of this yeah I love all the possibilities.
Speaker 2:I mean, my mind is just going right now, um, I love, I, just I just love everything you've been saying and I've um so much to learn and to notice, to look for, and also I can see how your intuition is really important in feng shui, so you can pay attention to those things.
Speaker 4:Yes, and let me tell you, we all have intuition. We all have it. It's our inner gut feeling, that's what your intuition is. So when you clear away the clutter in your space, you clear away the clutter in your body, you're really opening up so that you are perceiving your intuition, you're in tune with it, you're tapping right into it. We all have it. It's not something that we go and get, we are born with it.
Speaker 4:In fact, children are very intuitive and they're connected, say, to the other world, the spirit world, until they are about eight or nine, and around that age you know, if you have young children in your life, watch them. You know they're imaginary friends, all their connections About eight or nine, though, they've picked up that people are telling them no, that's not true, that's not real. So we build these covers, you know these shells around us, you know, for protection from our world. And then what I noticed in a lot of classes I taught around 40, 30, 40, 50 years old people are starting to peel off those shells and then get back to their authentic selves so that they are tapping more into the intuition. But it's a protective layer. So with children, I would say nurture them and encourage them to hang on to that intuition and those gut feels that they have because they're real yeah they really.
Speaker 4:So tell me about your spaces. What do you like about your spaces?
Speaker 1:I guess what I love about my space is that I have I mean, I've done some clearing since working with you that what I have around me, what I look at, is what I really love and I enjoy to be around me, right? I definitely have some more, as we're talking, more decluttering to do at this point.
Speaker 4:Well, you know what we always do. It's an ongoing process because life is always changing and things, new things are coming to us every day, and so it's about shifting our, you know, space. But, yeah, staying working with it all the time? Yeah, and what's your favorite space, lori?
Speaker 1:Oh well, it's definitely my back porch, right outside my back door I have. You know, this time of year I have lots of flowers and fairy lights up and we have a little table with two chairs. I read my book out there and sit in the sun or the shade and the heat, and it's just a really peaceful place.
Speaker 4:My garden.
Speaker 1:I can look right at my garden and then the woods. Just last night I was looking out into the woods and there was a ton of fireflies out there and they looked like little fairies flashing all night long and that's just kind of my favorite space oh, that's really fun.
Speaker 4:That's fun. So a lot of good feng shui aspects to that. Yes, the energies, yes, and who else? All right. I think you had some comments you were going to say well, I like to.
Speaker 2:um, I live in new hampshire. We have same with me. I love the garden outside. We have a little stream that you can hear and go watch, and my flowers, and it's just really peaceful outside. And also I practice Reiki, so I have a Reiki room in the home which I've arranged, you know, with crystals and just to make it comfortable, so I like that room as well, oh nice. Yeah, my husband's a burgo, so you know he likes everything, like you know, nice and neat, and you know we try to keep things flowing, but we've also had friends that have given us a lot of things, so things we need to get let go of too. There's a lot of things that are in the attic and need to come down and what you can do is you.
Speaker 4:You can pass them on to you know, I just like some or just move things along. That's a big part of feng shui as well, yeah right things along when somebody gives you something just you know, say thank you. But then if it you know it's not something that you want to keep for the long term, whatever, pass it along it's okay yeah, right, absolutely okay.
Speaker 4:And you mentioned water. So that's a big aspect of feng shui that's associated with the um, korea, gua or whatever. But water is um, you want to keep it fresh, keep it clean. So a stream flowing is is really good energy.
Speaker 4:So, and and we happen, we, we live at at a lake we also happen to have a small pond that we put into our yard and we put it in, oh, maybe 25 years ago, so it and it happens to be in the wealth corner of our yard, but when it was first being planned, the flow was going to go away from the house.
Speaker 4:And then, actually the day before it was going in, I asked my husband, let me see those plans, and then I realized, oh my gosh, it's going to flow away, and I said, no, we need to switch the plan because the water needs to flow towards the house, not away from the house, because, from a feng shui perspective, water carries financial blessings with it financial blessings and health blessings. So you want those to come to you and not flow away from you. And in another house that we lived in, I noticed that, you know, one particular property had a beautiful pond and water, water flowing, but the flow of the water was away from the house, so it was actually the neighbor that benefited from that flow of water, versus the people who put it in.
Speaker 2:It was beautiful, but the flow was um away from their, their own property, and they probably didn't realize that yes, or the stream is on the side of the, it's in the south, it's on the side of the house and then it goes. Then it goes around the back in a way into the lake winnipusaki, so it is flowing away on the side and then on the side but but it's flowing past your house.
Speaker 4:Yes, yes and that, and that's okay, yeah it's just, but it's we like it, yes, so it carries blessings with it as well. Yeah, very nice.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and this is a nice time of year. There's a lot of flowing water out there.
Speaker 3:Yes, and it's clean water.
Speaker 4:Yeah right, yeah, yeah, so that's great. So it's flowing into the greater lake. Yeah, yeah, very good, the greater lake, yeah yeah very good, yeah, yeah, well, I, I'm fortunate.
Speaker 3:I live on 35 acres of land and I have a house in the barn and I have a pond and I can't really say which is my favorite place, because I get to go to all different they all sound beautiful yeah, yeah, I'm so thrilled to be able to live here yeah today's world.
Speaker 3:that's right. I can hibernate a lot and I love that, but I've learned so many different things that you know. And my pond I have a spring on like the uphill, but then the runoff goes kind of to the side of my house okay, but I feel like the spring brings it in Sure and I spend a lot of time in my little pond house there and I spend a lot of time just sitting there enjoying all the wildlife.
Speaker 4:Oh, that's awesome and each of you has really mentioned key aspects of feng shui that you are living in spaces that you like. So you have created, you know, um. You have natural beauty around you and that's a big part of feng shui is having um nature all around and tapping into that, and also you've created respites for yourself. So the um the world out there is crazy, but you can be aware of that without being drawn into it so that it's overwhelming. You know, be aware of it. But retreat into your own space, into the beauty of your own homes, you know, for replenishing your own energy and for, you know, being healthy and nurturing your families as well. Yeah, it's really, really important, yeah, to have a retreat from the craziness that's out there.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Yeah, I love what you said is seeing the beauty all around us, right? I mean, I think it's really important during these times, right now, to see the beauty that's right there in front of us. Right, we're there to create ourselves, right? I mean, this world really is. I mean we look at all the crazy stuff that's going on, but there really is so much beauty on this earth.
Speaker 4:That's exactly right. And so, feng Shui, it's about living in harmony with nature. You know, we are, you know, participants in nature, and it's respecting all of nature yeah, that's that's awesome Versus fighting it. And so, um, it's helping the earth get back into balance yeah, versus harming it. We've done a lot of harm to it, so it's time for us to um, replenish, yeah, the earth and then think about Mother Earth, father Sky, so really helping the earth to be healthy and to stop polluting it and trashing it. And so we see this in a lot of businesses. Now, the younger generation, they're creating more and more sustainable businesses. Right, generation, you're creating more and more sustainable businesses. And so you know, figuring out how to take better care of our own home, our mother earth home, and then our physical homes as well.
Speaker 2:This has been so fascinating. Peg, can you tell us where that people can reach you if they would like to work with you?
Speaker 4:oh, absolutely so you, um, my business is feng shui connectionscom. It's spelled f-e-n-g connections, 603-867-4347. On my website there's a contact form. You can also find me on Calendly where you can make you know I'm always happy to give people complimentary 15 minutes. So if you have a quick question and if it needs to go deeper, I'll tell you. You know how we can work together. But I do Feng Shui consultations. I do, and they can be full or they can be. You know, a full one might be several hours working with somebody and doing a whole. You know, plan recommendation Could be half hour, could be an hour, whatever. Whatever the issue is, I do um personal energy clearings, I do space clearings, um life coaching. Yeah, sort of all combined it's. It's based on what is it that you're trying to shift or change in your life? And, um, if there's something there that I can help you with, I'm happy to do do that.
Speaker 1:That's great, and we will put all of your contact information in the comments below and attached to this video so that you can find her easily. And, having worked with her before, I highly recommend it. Not only does it help you and shift energy, but it's fun. Peg makes it very fun and easy, so it was very enjoyable and I highly recommend it. Oh, thank you, I really appreciate that.
Speaker 4:Yeah Well, that's what I try to do is really cut right to the heart of it, Knowing that it is a can be a complex subject, but it doesn't need to be a complex subject. You cut right to the chase, you identify what it is you want and I help you zero right in on it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it wasn't scary. It wasn't like you came in and said here are all your problems and here is. I mean, it was fine you gave me? Yeah, not at all. You gave me where placements was and fun ideas how to amp up that energy. You taught me a ton. And no, like I said, it wasn't, wasn't heavy or anything. It was light and fun and I learned a lot and it really did help.
Speaker 4:Okay, great, and I do write a newsletter once a month so people can sign up on my newsletter list. It's out of my website and I'll be candid with you, I am not active on social media. I'm out there, but don't contact me there because I'm really not active there. That's not my thing to do. I just do my work, work with people, but I'm not really promoting everything I do. I just work with people privately and also all of the work I do is confidential. So you know I respect that with every client I work with. So people have always found me for 25 years it's really through referrals, yeah.
Speaker 1:That's great. Well, we can't thank you enough for sharing your knowledge and information with us and being on our show. We've really enjoyed it, thank, you Well.
Speaker 4:Thank each of you and, as always, if you have any questions, just send me a note or give me a call and I'm happy to help you out.
Speaker 1:Fantastic. If you've liked this video as much as we have, please like, share and subscribe. And until next time. How is your intuition leading you to the next perfect step?