Create a Harmonious Space with Feng Shui
Meet Feng Shui Expert Lucy Richardson
Today, I’d like you to meet Lucy Richardson, a Feng Shui Expert and owner of Feng Shui Focus. For those of you who are not familiar with Feng Shui, it’s an ancient Chinese science that aims to bring balance, harmony, and beneficial energy (“chi”) to the environment where we live and work so we can have the best life possible.
I can’t quite recall how Lucy and I met, but we hit it off quite quickly with our shared passion for bringing order and harmony into people’s homes and lives. Shortly after we met, Lucy and I got ourselves invited to give joint talks where we shared the impact clutter, the number one enemy for both a Feng Shui Master and a Professional Organiser, has on our lives and offered practical tips to organise and harmonise our homes using Feng Shui principles. Sadly, my role as co-speaker during those talks never allowed me to pay careful attention to what Lucy was saying.
Lucy and I around Carol Lian, our host from Homes65, 2017
The science of Feng Shui
In 2020, I eventually got to sit in the audience and listen to one of Lucy’s talks. It was a big a-ha moment for me as it helped me clear a big misconception about Feng Shui. Indeed, I had assumed that Feng Shui was mainly relying on symbols in the form of ornaments and artefacts, something that, being quite intentional about what I bring into my home, I was not particularly drawn to. However, I found out that Feng Shui improvements could also be achieved through furniture placement, soft furnishings such as cushion covers, doormats, and bedlinen as well as direction faced when sitting or sleeping.
I felt inspired by Lucy’s talk and decided to apply her approach on my own. Equipped with my flat floor map and a compass downloaded from a phone app, I divided my flat into 3 by 3 equal rectangles, or sectors. 8 of these sectors are connected to a compass location and correspond to an area of our lives:
- South – fame & recognition
- Southwest – relationships
- West – creativity
- Northwest – helpful friends & mentors
- North – career
- Northeast – education & knowledge
- East – family & health
- Southeast – wealth & prosperity.
Bringing in Lucy’s expertise
My measurements led me to believe that the North (representing career) and the Northeast (representing education & knowledge) were missing from my flat. With a drastic reduction in revenues due to COVID restrictions and a son starting his IB program, I decided not to leave our future to chance. I called Lucy in to make some suggestions on how to improve those aspects of our lives.
Before her visit, Lucy asked me to send her my floor map. She also brought in her compass, which looked like a piece of art. Armed with these tools, Lucy set up to take detailed measurements which revealed mine were wrong – that’s why you always need to have the proper tools. But while the Northeast sector made its way back into our flat, it was then the Northwest, symbolising helpful friends and mentors, that was outside of it.
Lucy subsequently went into each room and drew our furniture on the floor map. We then sat down, and she made plenty of suggestions to counter negative forces and enhance some aspects of our lives. Her suggestions were centred around furniture placement, auspicious directions for us to sit, colours we should be using for cushion covers, table cloths, bedsheets, towels, doormats, etc., and yes, some ornaments such as windchimes, tassels, water features, etc.
She concluded our session by drawing a Flying Stars chart that revealed the auspicious and inauspicious sectors of the flat which was then combined with the auspicious and inauspicious sectors for the year. Based on her findings, she made another set of recommendations. I took notes along the way that I eventually summarised in an Excel spreadsheet, but for an extra fee, Lucy could also have sent me a detailed report with all her findings and recommendations.
Making Feng Shui improvements
Nine months down the road, I have implemented about 60% of her recommendations based on personal priorities. All the changes I chose to make were quite subtle. I didn’t implement those that involved other family members who were not necessarily supportive of the idea, those we felt affected the room aesthetics (there was, in particular, a case in the dining room where we felt a corner would have been too cluttered with furniture) and those that involved ornament pieces that I felt made too big of a statement.
I’m so pleased with this mystic knot tassel from China Collection to activate excellent flying stars.
You may wonder what has happened since then. Well, I’m pleased to report there have been several positive improvements, especially on the career and relationships fronts. First, I’ve had for the first time since I started my business a regular flow of enquiries. Second, I’ve developed a fair number of friendships I hadn’t necessarily been open to in the past. Third, I’ve felt more supported by my network both on a personal and a professional level, with especially plenty of referrals and opportunities for collaboration being sent my way. You may argue that these changes are just pure coincidence, and they well may be, but I personally want to believe that Lucy’s insights have played a part in them.
Bonus: Lucy’s Top 8 Feng Shui Tips
- Only surround yourself with things that you need or love.
- Look after your main entrance – make it look friendly and inviting.
- Keep your home free of clutter, as clutter creates stagnant energy which can cause blockages in certain areas of your life.
- Be careful with mirror placements in your bedroom – do not place a mirror opposite or next to your bed as that may invite a third person into your relationship.
- Place your bed with the head against a solid wall.
- In your (home) office, sit with your back against a wall.
- At your work desk/space, hang a mountain picture behind your seat to receive continued support from your superiors.
- When house hunting, look for a regular floor plan, ideally a square or rectangle, to avoid missing areas.
Investing in your home is an investment in yourself.
- Discover how Feng Shui can enhance your living space with Lucy’s expertise by visiting her website
- Experience the profound impact of mindful decluttering with my personalised hands-on coaching. Book a non-obligation exploration chat today and let’s create a space that nourishes your mind, body, and soul.
Thank you for writing about your experience, Nathalie. This blog is a very nice read (if I may say so myself) and I’m delighted to hear of the positive outcomes.
My pleasure Lucy. I’m happy you liked it.