Unlock Personal Empowerment: Feng Shui Secrets from "Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life"

Hey guys welcome to the Learn Feng Shui podcast where you'll Learn Feng Shui from a classical point of view taking out the myth and Superstition so if you're interested in learning fun Chinese astrology all things Chinese metaphysics as well as the superstitions and myths that connect it all you'll enjoy learning funu with me what if rearranging your home could improve your finances relationships and over all wellbeing well today we're diving into the book move your stuff Change Your Life by Karen RJ Carter so get ready to learn how shifting your space can create a ripple effect that transforms your life hey guys welcome back to Learn Feng Shui podcast where ancient wisdom meets modern living I'm cace Binga certified funu practitioner and red Ripper professional with the international funu Guild today I'm excited we're diving into the book of the month a new segment where I share my favorite reads from my shelf that can enhance your funct practice help elevate your space and improve your overall well-being so this month we're exploring the book move your stuff Change Your Life by Karen rash Carter Karen rash kter is a professional funu consultant and licensed landscape architect she studied taii yoga and Alternative Energy healing and one of the most interesting things I think Paras psychology prior to beginning her studies of black hat Style F and of course I will also put a book Link in the show notes one of the reasons I picked this book it really was one of the first in my collection when I first became interested in fun my husband picked me up a bunch of books and you know I kind of had a quick look through it at that point I had already decided to apply classical funu which is more of what I practice now I do like to cover both eastern and western views on funu I wanted to start the series with a book from my collection that I think is easier to follow it is written conversationally and relatably so it does give you a good starting point and I also wanted to kind of share my new thoughts after practicing for a while and really read the book through cover to cover to see what kind of stood out to me I'll be covering three key aspects of the book today as well as a summary so we're going to talk about how it ranks in terms of difficulty how practical it is to follow and what makes the book Stand Out compared to others let's get into it before diving into the details of the book guys let's take a moment to highlight some of the key themes that are covered in move your stuff change your life in this summary I've kind of broken it down into some different categories here it does cover your funu Basics personal empowerment through your space practical application Mind Body Connection and empowerment through action so ultimately it does provide also a holistic approach to life and it shows how your environment directly influences your well-being starting off with the funu basics she starts with the bwa map which is the foundation of fun whether you practice flying stars or btb Funway there's always what is called a bogwa the btb style does divide your living space into nine sector if you think of putting like a tic TCT toe grid over your home each corresponds to a different aspect of life so it'll be wealth career relationships as an example it gives a great intro into the btb style of Funway which I think may be easier to apply to somebody who is just starting out on their fun Journey one of the points that she makes about the bwa is she emphasizes how different life areas and fun are interconnected rather than functioning independently for example she does explain like how the knowledge sector can influence financial management and not just activating the well sector and she explains how the family sector can hold the energy for your daily finances so instead of thinking of these areas as functioning independently they actually do work together I do have a little bit of a story about that when I first started applying Funway I studied with a teacher that did apply these nine life aspirations but she used the compass and so it's kind of a blend between the western style and the btb funu and it's still uses the life areas but it just divides them in by Compass Direction so I was following this and still following the life aspirations or life areas and the reason I started applying Funway in the first place was because my marriage was actually having a lot of issues my relationship was not good at the time and I thought you know to myself hey if I can fix this relationship sector I am going to be able to fix our our issues like things are going to open up for us like we're going to be able to you know fix this relationship and carry on with life well it wasn't like that so as I kept practicing I was realizing that nothing I put out no sort of cure or good intention that I put out was going to fix things magically you know it just doesn't work that way and we'll talk about that in a minute too but one of the things that I I actually did was I started looking at communication my husband also has mental health issues and um so part of it was understanding his mental health issues and and that was like my knowledge part of it was also our communication and so we worked on things with our communication but these can be represented in areas of your home also like the West for creativity is your communication and the Northeast could be your self- knowledge and cultivation and learning so we look at these areas and again we find that they're interconnected for me it wasn't necessarily focusing on the sector but doing the action which in turn also then helped my relationship I can definitely see how these areas are interconnected and how it also helped in my own practice my own life by showing these connections she illustrates how improving one area of your home can positively impact multiple areas of your home it definitely has a ripple effect to help balance the energy throughout all the sectors of your home she does go over each sector in detail with cures and enhancements as well as red flags to look for there's a quick reference guide for each sector each life aspiration and it really does make you think about each area differently so again you know for example Prosperity she also talks about giving to receive so it's not all about just receiving you know the next Point she does make is placing all five elements in a sector for more balance in your home and she does discuss the five elements and how to balance them in your home to create Harmony she also talks about the creative and destructive Cycles with a handy chart now I will say if you are coming from a classical function way background it will differ it's a slight bit different um and what I'll say to this is you if you're starting to learn you want to probably stick with one style until you learn a little bit more and have a little more understanding because I don't want you to get confused not only do the elements differ a little bit from classical funu but the colors are a slight bit different and the numbers also can be different to classical funu so if you are a guu it would be different with the btb style for example another Point she makes is your personal relationship through space she does talk about the fact that your space does reflect your life and I've noticed this in btb style of fun it is a lot more symbolic reading the room looking at the room and what's in the space to see what kind of story it is telling and see if that story does correspond with what you want your life to be the central theme is that your physical environment does impact your inner world so clutter disorganization or neglect in certain areas of your home can manifest as a blockage in that corresponding life area so for example again looking at the prosperity or your money sector which most people are familiar with if you have a lot of clutter disorganization or that area is neglected then that's going to come out in that corresponding area of your life and you might have blockages in your wealth and prosperity also and I wanted to quote this part of the book it says for all you scientific Minds out there I asked Barry Gordon a physicist as well as a fun spray practitioner to briefly explain from a science perspective how and why funu works and here's what he said guys if we accept the message of both quantum mechanics and a great spiritual teacher then every smidgen of our universe affects the other from a Viewpoint there is no inside or outside and everything is contained in conscious ious which has no boundaries so the placement of your bed has meaning in relation to the rest of your experience the bed is a representation of your beliefs and emotions on a physical Dimension which manifests directly and seemingly Disconnected by you on other dimensions when your bed is moved with intention the belief and emotion Dimension also move the great 18th century scientist and mathematician liin who also discover binary code in the eing by way discovered that photons the basic particles of Light Exhibit intention and purpose and if we take light to be a whole spectrum of vibration not only visible light then everything is composed of photons that means the universe is intentional and since we have been given the ability to intend we're co-creators of the universe that we individually experience everything even the sticky front door that doesn't open all the way has meaning everything every action is intentional sometimes conscious sometimes unconscious funct brings the unconscious in our environment back to our conscious that brings the beliefs and feelings back into conscious then we have a choice and can create our universe consciously I know that btb style of funct is very intentional and the items you place out really do serve as that intentional reminder it serves as a symbolic reminder it also serves with the style of funu way to do the work for you and so you put your intention and your focus and thoughts into the item you place the room you clean and clutter and the even the way you decorate your room and that intention is behind it it puts the thoughts out into the universe to help it manifest moving on to practical application practical application and simple adjustments such as what are called cures the book does provide practical tips for making changes that align with functua principles like decluttering using me furniture placement added plants and Etc to improve the energy flow as well as balance those five elements in each section she does talk about what she calls power tools and Hazards or the red flags that require immediate action and again as I mentioned above there is a quick guide in each section that makes it easier to follow the nine categories of cures she does talk about also which include color sound light living objects weight moving objects Power and Electric Power objects and symbolic objects and then there's another category that is other and she kind of relates that as something that's personal to you or something that you might do on Instinct like you might be instinctually drawn to an area and feel like you need to make changes there and then you see some improvement in your life so some things really are just kind of second nature to us and it does also go through each category to help you enhance each sector also so not just cures but enhancements or activations sometimes with classical funu I have realized that it can present a challenge because there's not a lot of what are called cures offered and sometimes you do have to get creative to fix a situation you're in and you can't readily move or do major repairs or demolation or Renovations things like missing sectors being unable to use a command position or even having bad land form I like that she talks about using cures for those like a heavy stone or lighting that can bring the energy up in an area those are very practical things that you can do without having to move and sell your home away you know sometimes cures can be the best way to fix area that is otherwise unfixable with classical funu and another thing I really like that she does is include anecdotes and case studies to illustrate how these changes helped others to achieve success ESS and overall well-being she talks about real action and examples that can help you understand how things work she also gets you to thinking about how to adjust your own environment and shifting your own perspective and again I think that kind of goes back to those in the other category where she's talking about following your instinct and making it personal to yourself the next part I want to talk about is the Mind Body Connection so the author does emphasize the importance of energy flow both in your home and in in your body so healthy energy flow does lead to Better Health relationships and opportunities and all the things Carter does talk a lot about positive mindset along these physical changes so the book encourages cultivating a positive mindset to also support the transformation process I like that she points out that if something bad happens it's not that function way doesn't work it's just that life happens sometimes so good things can still happen out of the bad quoting from the book here it does say If you think the funu has stopped working for you because something Dreadful has happened think again even though you cannot possibly see anything good from a tragic event trust that the Universe can I do think that is a big part of life honestly sometimes we really have to look for what we can do instead of you know what what's happened to us the bad things that are happening we really need to look forward into how you can fix your life from what has happened maybe we can make something good happen from the bad another thing Carter talks about is clear intention so having a clear intention and really kind of getting clear about what you want in life is very helpful it's kind of like that old road map analogy when you say how do you know where you're going if you haven't picked a destination how do you know how to get there right and so it's kind of like that you know having a destination of mind or some goals really will help you I do like also that she walks you through each category of the nine life aspirations to see where you feel good and what areas need work that is one thing she encourages you to do uh one problem can also fall into multiple categories just so just like one life aspiration area can fall into multiple categories problems can also font them out multiple categories and you can use multiple sectors to fix those problems on page 35 in the part where she's walking you through the nine life aspiration she does tell you to list those nine life aspirations in your notebook and then file a complaint from Life in each one of those categories so the nine areas of course like the prosperity F reputation relationship love creativity children helpful people travel career skills knowledge family health and other within those categories that you list she gives the example here if you're having trouble in school you may want to place a complaint in the skills and knowledge area for obvious reasons but also you might want to look in the helpful people area and put in some kind of complaint for Tutors or reasonable teachers smart friends so every gu should have a complaint in it or perhaps just a few do and the list now becomes easy reference point that points to the problem places in your home she has you not walk through just each area of your home but each area of your life and kind of helps you get that clear intention and she also talks about positive affirmations and mindset so that is a big part of it too when I used to attend church one of the youth pastors that I worked with he used to call it stinking thinking and which that's always stood out to me you know when we have these negative thoughts this negative mindset Debbie Downer type outlook on life you tend to see those negative things a lot more so if you just kind of focus on the things that really are working out for you you know you can put those complaints in but focusing on the good things that happen to you throughout the day will definitely get you a lot farther trust me the fifth Point here empowerment and action taking control the book does empower readers to take control of their environment as a means to take control of their life so this is where I talking about empowerment and action the idea that small manageable changes can lead to significant life improvements is covered in this book action and responsibility is a big one because again we can place the cures out but if we take no action in our lives to see those changes then things still aren't going to be working out for us this is the example she gives here um on page 75 it says I knew a guy in Hollywood who take everything regarding funu to the extreme he was a director and yearned to be famous in the industry and it happened that his guest bath was in his Fame area when he found out that red was the color for fame he immediately went to work he had the toilet changed to a red one painted the walls floor to Door ceiling red everything and in True Hollywood fashion he placed a long red carpet on the floor well he became famous all right as the weird guy in Hollywood with the red bathroom I was going to say I thought maybe his career went the toilet or down the drain I used this as an example to demonstrate the importance of balance with funu the red bathroom had become a sign of desperation as if the fellow believed he couldn't ever become famous of his own Merit and he thought he needed some outside source to deliver his Fame and wasn't taking responsibility for it he did not make the internal shift within and when enhancing the fame area with balance he should have had the confidence that his request for fame had been heard and was surely on its way with much less red I saw really good example on a Facebook post a while back I saw that one funu consultant um had advised somebody I I you know I honestly don't even know who it was U but I saw that they had advised somebody to paint red triangles all over their room to enhance the fire energy and they had all kinds of you know Crazy Design and to me that's just too much that's a little bit of Overkill we don't necessarily have to you know do all that that's just way too much and you know we really need to be realistic you don't have to have things in excess as way way too much you need to have some self-awareness and again be realistic with what you're putting out on page 121 she gives us gives this as an example also a friend of mine a fellow funu consultant was desperately trying to have a baby to no avail every time she found out from her fertility specialist she was not pregnant she added more enhancements to her children in creativity area she eventually became so overwhelmed with the entire process another consultant visited her one day and noticed that the friend had way too many enhancements in the area and it felt out of proportion and out of balance so here is a case of too much of a good thing can be bad for you that's a definitely something I can say you don't need to have your whole home looking like a funu store for you to have good funu if you are one that likes to put symbols and stuff like that out I really love that she touches on you can just have too much of a good thing and for my own example you know I had a a client contact me one day and you know I of course live here in West Texas and he was just an old farmer he's the old farmer and he said you know the only thing I know about fun is where my Prosperity area is he said the only thing I know is where that wealth sector is that's the only thing I've been Hy for years and I feel like it's worked and it worked for him that's the thing it worked for him so if the only thing you know is one little thing try it and if it seems to be working don't go into Overkill and paint your entire house with red triangles or put a a thousand you know rainbows in your children creativity area like you don't have to do all that U another thing I wanted to point out is she does equate the symbolism of The Gua as an action just like I talked about earlier I didn't necessarily have to enhance my creativity area or my knowledge you know sector because I was actually doing that action and that didn't need to be enhance taking the action actually worked as the enhancement she gives the example of aging and she says you know for example if you don't want to age or you want to apply some anti-aging to your fun she says focus on the children and creativity Zone she does say here that she heard of a study where they took some older people and place them in environment that replicated typical surroundings of what they experienced in their 20s so the same music decor and everything and not only did they start acting younger but they actually start regenerating new cells within their physical body where they weren't supposed to be able to these older people were making 20-year-old cells so that is the difference environment can make and it says here whether it's Big B music Kool-Aid popsicles jump rope it can literally slow down your aging process and she does say don't live in the past but creating surroundings that make you feel youthful and Alive can also help too so taking those actions and not just relying on a cure to put in the area of course just elaborating on when I talked about earlier when something bad happens use it to your advantage or think of it as an opportunity the book also stresses that funwe is this ongoing process and it encourages readers to regularly evaluate and adjust their space as their lives and goals evolve and change being realistic and evaluating your actions is helpful doing a periodic evaluation because things constantly change even funu changes and it's sometimes not a oneandone Even In classical funu you know there's this component of time space and even things like flying stars are static and those are constantly moving you know time periods are shifting and things like that there's a shift in time space and there's also shifts in our life like children don't live with us forever children you know we might want to apply a style of funu that it supports our children or getting pregnant but you're not going to want to apply the same style or the same cures or enhancements to your home when your kids are teenag you know I'm not going to apply baby or toddler funu adjustments to my home for my teenagers or my adult children that still live at home just like with your relationships whether you're single or you're married or you're looking those are all going to be in different enhancements and require different evaluation uh maybe you're single and you're looking to get married and you finally find somebody and you get married well you're going to want to enhance and change those different sectors of your home so it's not still attracting the the energy that you were wanting to attract a couple years ago making small changes at first just starting to think differently is very helpful knowing that life happens and mess and clutter happens when you host a party you don't expect your home to stay clean just like when we have small children we don't expect our house to stay clean you know my house is a different level of messy than it was when my children were little you know people can wash their own dishes and declutter their own spaces and stuff like that I really like also that she talks about how things don't have to be perfect and that's so true I think you know we look at fun and of course it is a lot of times referred to as the art of placement we think that things have to be beautiful and perfect and manicured and we think Marie condo and you know all those things but things don't have to be too perfect one of the things that I've heard with btb funu for example is if you underneath your bed is too clean you'll have a hard time conceiving a child because it's like uh there's no accumulation of energy there that just really goes to speak to to that things don't have to be perfect another example she gives is one of an overcontrolled garden and you know when things are too rigid and Too Perfect do you feel comfortable in a space right the answer I think is no maybe some people do but we really want to create a warm cozy inviting space for people to relax that really compliments our life we don't want to create a rigid structured stiff environment that people don't feel comfortable in and last but not least is the holistic approach to life she talks about kind of integrating fun the book does integrate fun into all life areas including career love personal growth so it does create this holistic approach to self-improvement it she talks a lot about life balance ultimate goal is to achieve this balance and Harmony in all aspects of our life one way I can describe this I think is that some people tend to be no in a way I explain this to you is a lot of people tend to be off in life in one area of their life so say your relationship is really good you know you're having a good relationship with your children but maybe financially things aren't where you want them to be or maybe financially things are really good for you but things are lacking in your love life maybe you don't have a partner uh maybe you want children you know so there's always an area of our life that tends to be an area of kind of like maybe like a pain area an area we feel that in we really would like to improve and again she touches on all of this and talks about kind of balancing all these areas of life which I really love all right guys so to recap the book just go over funu Basics personal empowerment through your space practical application Mind Body Connection empowerment through action and a holistic approach to life where does this book rank in terms of difficulty to follow I thought it would be fun to give it a little rating system one to three bwas so one bwa being the easiest and three being the most difficult I think it I would give it in between one and two cuz it's probably not the easiest you know most watered down version of funu it does get pretty indepth and for that reason I would give it two bwas on a scale of difficulty meaning it's probably at beginner medium level one of the hardest things about fun is kind of putting all these Concepts and ideas together and so it's a lot of information but I do feel like it is easy to follow when you start kind of understanding if that makes sense she does break the book down again into very easy to use sections for each area or sector of the home she does have what she calls the power tools which is easy reference she talks about colors shapes what to use in the sector as well as things you want to avoid in that sector and I think that makes it easy to implement I think that the practicality and application is very easy in the book and so that would be probably a one on the scale of bwa so practicality and application is a one because it is very practical you don't have to go out and buy a bunch of stuff and again just kind of even starting out with your own intuition I think that is very easy you can it's gives you easy space to start as far as uniqueness insights or perspectives I think what makes this book stand out is it's written very conversationally I like that she makes some funny jokes like I find it relatable I like to joke around or have a play on words and stuff like that and I really like that she includes that in the book because I feel like somebody's just chatting with me I don't feel like I'm sitting there reading a technical manual and so I think that is a very a fresh perspective on fun other than trying to be too Technical and making things too academic she makes it just understandable and so insights and perspectives I would probably give it a a one on the difficulty scale so it'd be fairly easy to understand the perspective and kind of have that shift for yourself um it can definitely be utilized by a beginner but I do think um just trying to remember my own fun journey and where I started out I couldn't put a lot of these concept together I think she does a good job on making it understandable in that way I think it's a good one to start out with I definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to start their funu journey and just see where it takes you the link for the book is going to be down in the show notes I will link um Karen rash Carter's website also in the show notes so for October I am going to be covering the book fun for home buyers exterior Edition by Joey Yap and I can tell you I've read this one already and it is a very easy good read so I'll be looking forward to to reviewing it in the same way I reviewed this one all right guys well I hope you enjoy today's episode be sure to check out all the links in the show notes if you'd like a copy of that book click that Amazon link next week I'll be covering the monthly energy for October you're not going to want to miss this it is what is known as the year breaker next month it is the month that clashes the year so what does that have in store for us energetic wise right what are we going to be looking at so I'll talk about all that on next week's episode and if you have uh listened to the episode but you have not checked out that companion newsletter uh it has all the information I cover on the episode plus a lot more I'm actually pretty proud of it if you haven't been to visit the website to check that out I highly encourage you to do so because it has even more information as well as like lucky dates uh funct tips all kinds of how twos on there so I think it's very informative all right guys well I'll catch you guys next week for that the week after that it was going to be probably a repeat episode because I have a lot of family obligations for October and then at the end of the month I will be doing that book review so a little bit of an abbreviated month for me next month but I'm still around all right I'll catch you guys next week youall have a great weekend for a free energy mapping of your floor plan please check the link in the show notes to support today's podcast go to learnfengshui.com sign up for emails leave leave a review and share with your family and friends