People are often surprised by how accurately a feng shui consultant can deduce certain things about them based on their space. While it may seem as though there is some mystical or magical explanation afoot, or that we have a direct line into your brain, the truth is really much simpler than that: we’re observant.
Our Spaces Are Influenced by Us...
As feng shui consultants, we’re trained to notice what a space shows us about you. By observing your space (as well as any related language, habits, and behaviors), feng shui consultants are often able to spot why there might be a disconnect between what you say you want and what you have. It’s well-understood that there are many ways through which someone can reveal what their thought patterns and beliefs are, and, believe it or not, space is one of them. We don’t all live in the same way, and the individualized way in which we like to live tells others a lot about us. So, by observing your space, feng shui consultants can more easily spot where your belief systems may actually be directing your energy (which is often different from where you may be intending for it to go).
...But We're Also Influenced by Our Spaces
Feng shui works because not only do our spaces reveal a lot about us and our influences, but we have a dynamic relationship with our spaces. This means that not only do we influence what’s in our spaces (clearly), but we’re also heavily affected by them. Just as a feng shui consultant can learn things about you through your space, they can also see what subconscious messages throughout your space you may be swayed by. For instance, if a person swears up and down that they want to get married and can’t understand why they’re still single but then have their single bed pushed up against a wall, closets packed with only their stuff, and paintings of single people alone at the beach, it would appear that their space is telling us (and probably their subconscious) something else: mainly, that they haven’t created any space in their environment (and maybe also their life) to share with another person, so why would anyone else want to enter it?
The Interplay Between Us and Our Spaces
So how does this dynamic relationship (between you and your space) play out? It could be that you as a person have changed and are ready to move on to the next phase in your life, but your space hasn’t changed to catch up with your evolution. It’s still prompting you to think old thoughts or carry out old behaviors, even though they’re not serving you anymore. In these cases, your space needs to align with who you are now, and once that happens, transformations can happen fairly quickly because your space, which was holding you back, is now supporting and encouraging you. Or, it could be that you want to achieve something, but your being or belief system needs to evolve and change in order for you to get there. In these cases, a transformation of your space (and associated feelings, beliefs, and behaviors) is one element that helps to bring you forward into that next phase. In the above example of the single person looking for a partner, they may not have created the space in their home for another person because either they’re not actually ready to have a partner (so they may need a push from their environment to start getting used to the idea), or they do feel ready, but they haven’t changed their space to reflect their new outlook (so it’s still feeding them those subconscious, singledom messages). Often, these work together in interchangeable and overlapping ways over time as we evolve and grow.
Feng shui helps us see what’s (consciously or subconsciously) blocking us from achieving the things that we want, and its principles can then guide us in adjusting our spaces to support our mental, emotional, and spiritual evolution. It tells us things about ourselves that we may not be able to see because we’re (literally) living in it!