We recently worked with Feng Shui expert, Deanna Cohen, to Feng Shui our personal space and are excited about the results we’ve seen so far. After our own personal Feng Shui session, we saw significant changes, like improved sleep and much calmer and peaceful energy in the home. As predicted, relationships, wealth and finances have improved.  We are in the process of adding objects, like clay to the bedroom to incorporate an earth element, and metal in the kitchen to guard against pain, arguments, accidents, and delays.    
Deanna is located in Montecito, California and has been working on her Feng Shui craft for many years. The Feng Shui she practices involves a compass reading of the structure in conjunction with the date the structure was built. She also analyzes the birth date of the occupants to determine whether the home is supporting them. The practice is beneficial to those looking to better their lives in terms of health, creativity, spiritual growth, love and marriage, career and money, to name a few. We are so impressed with the changes Feng Shui has made in our space and the insight to our surroundings that this tool has given us so we asked Deanna some important questions and are excited to spread the word with all of you.

Q & A

1.    Can you explain the process of Feng Shui in regards to someone’s personal map and the East/West System? What are the benefits from this information?
One has a personal map based on one’s birth year, which tells us the directions we need to position ourselves in order to sleep better, create financial prosperity, have harmony in our personal and professional relationships, good health, etc.  Feng Shui also lets us know what our directions are for poor finances, arguments, poor health, loneliness and other negative manifestations.  The same is true for the home, based on its compass reading and the year it was built.  Knowing this, for example, one would want to arrange the furniture in such a way as to take advantage of the positive directions for both the person and the home so that one is able to manifest better health, good finances, public and family harmony, and lead a peaceful and meaningful life.  

 2.    How can Feng Shui benefit health, emotions, and sleep?
Based on the birth year, one has a direction that is best for sleeping, however if that cannot be achieved because of the layout of the home, then one must try to achieve one of the three other directions that are positive, otherwise sleep can be disturbed, creating emotional disturbances, poor health, and simply put, unrest.  

3.    Would you say that Feng Shui is linked to prosperity?
Absolutely, because what Feng Shui is about is creating balance and harmony in one’s world, and should the person and their environment be out of balance, it is hard to be prosperous over the long term.

4.    Why is the Ganesh important to have in the house and which specific colors are important to have in the house?
The metal Ganesh is just a metal remedy suggestion and not meant across the board for everyone, only those who resonate with the meaning of Ganesh. Ganesh is the remover of obstacles, and so if he resonates with you, then Ganesh a good way to enhance your Feng Shui by being conscious of what he represents. But the importance of a metal Ganesh for Feng Shui purposes is the metal aspect of the statue, which would be needed in a specific area requiring the metal element to remedy the energy pattern in that area.  Colors are important especially if they are colors that are creating an energy pattern in the house that is throwing things out of balance, either for the house or the person, creating arguments, illnesses, and other kinds of difficulties. When the colors are correct for the house and the occupants, the occupants will feel more at peace.

5.    We get this question most often. In general, is there a direction that people should face when they sleep, or is it completely based on the person’s birth date?
The direction one should sleep in is specific to the year in which they were born.  So for example, if you were born in 1956 and you’re a woman, you should sleep with your head West.  However if this cannot be achieved you could also sleep with your head SW, NW or NE. It is simply not true, according to Feng Shui that everyone should sleep with the head north.  It could be that the Chinese figured out that one’s orientation for sleeping is way more specific than what others may think.  Don’t forget, Feng Shui has been around for thousands of years.

6.    Is there any general advice or tips you can give someone on how to Feng Shui their own home?
General tips would be to first of all clear the clutter, organize your possessions so that you are aware of what you have and discard what you don’t use or need. So much of the time people complain that their life is not progressing as they would like it to.  The first thing to look at would be how the things you have in your home are weighing you down and blocking you from moving forward.  Sometimes we hold onto things for years thinking one day they’ll be useful.  Clothing is a big one for a lot of people, but clothing has a life span and even though it may not be worn out, it doesn’t make you feel good when you put it on anymore. Examine the things you have for the emotion it provokes and whether it is evoking “motion” in you. If it doesn’t, let it go, it’s holding you back.

7.    You talked about 2017 as the year of the Rooster and the Peach Blossom year. Can you tell us a little bit more about what exactly that means, and any advice you have for us as we approach the last few months of 2017?
The Rooster is considered “peach blossom”, which means he is good for romance.  Think about a rooster.  He loves the attention of all the hens hence, a lot of romancing goes on around the rooster. This has to do with Chinese astrology.  Also, a year can be a peach blossom year, even when it is not a Rooster year. It just so happens 2017 is a peach blossom year as well as a Rooster year, therefore making romance doubly highlighted. This could mean any number of things and it all depends on how the individual will experience it. For example, one could find that problems in one’s romantic life are resolved this year, or the romance finally ends after much back and forth, or one finally decides to accept the limitations and frustrations of the relationship, surrendering to the fact that it is what it is, and finally feeling okay about that realization. On the other hand, it is easier for single people to find romantic relationships this year.  So my advice as we approach the last few months of 2017 is, resolve what you know to be true in your heart, and if single, get out there.
 
8.    What is one way you’ve implemented Feng Shui in your own life and how have things unfolded?
I have put all the necessary remedies in my home in order to balance the 5 elements throughout the house, and have arranged the furniture so that I am able to sit, and work in the directions that benefit me.  My bed is positioned in my best sleeping direction of course.  I have water fountains outside in the directions that are necessary to make it better for finances since I have a 20 year lock on my property inhibiting wealth.  I have found that everything in my life is working very well and I feel balanced. I have my emotional flair ups but they last only a minute or two, and then I’m back to being fine. My life flows easily and well in every way with no real complaints.  I also keep up a meditation and yoga practice, which I began when I was 12 years old, along with continuously tweaking my Feng Shui.  I’m always finding little ways to improve my Feng Shui by refreshing the way things are placed in my house, while implementing the knowledge I have about the 5 elements and the patterns they are creating.
 
9.    If you suspect that people are not in the right relationship or living space, are there ways to rectify those relationships and/or living areas while still staying in them?
Absolutely.  Say someone is an East person, and the other person is a West person, they are going to have different directions, including and most importantly, different sleeping directions. This is not ideal and the Chinese don’t recommend such a relationship, but what can you do? They are together.  If they aren’t having a problem, leave well enough alone, but If they are finding that they are at odds with each other a lot, they might decide to not sleep together for awhile and sleep in their best sleeping direction so they balance out with each other.  Sometimes this can scare people, but experimenting to create harmony is well worth it.  It doesn’t mean sex can’t happen just because the two people aren’t sleeping together.  It just means both people are getting a better night sleep.
I would also suggest that they use their good directions when arranging the furniture so that they are utilizing their best directions even though the house may not be supporting them in the way a good direction house would.  I suggest implementing the remedies for making the house strong and that’s that. One doesn’t have to move out of the house or end a relationship just because the Feng Shui is not ideal.

10.   How do you use Feng Shui as a tool in helping people to buy a new home and decide whether or not that home will be the right place for them?
I use three systems of Feng Shui to help buyers determine whether the house will be good for them.  I use a system called the ‘Flying Star School’ to determine whether the house is one that is good for money, and or for people, based on the compass reading of the house and the year it was built, and tell them how it would need to be remedied should the house be weak for either of these two aspects.  I also let them know based on the “East/West System” whether the house is either a West or an East house, because ideally the buyers would want to be in a house that is oriented in the same direction as they are, so that the beneficial areas in the house coincide with their own personal beneficial areas, otherwise it’s not an ideal match. Also I use another system called the “Land and Form System” to determine whether the area surrounding the house has good Feng Shui.  For example it is not good Feng Shui to live up against a freeway, or across the street from a cemetery.
 
11.    What is one thing about Feng Shui that you’d like to share with people who might not know a thing about it?
I would learn Traditional / Classical Feng Shui and be discerning about what to believe and what not to believe. There is a lot of misinformation out there about Feng Shui that is not true and is ineffective.  I asked a Feng Shui master once about a particular system of Feng Shui that was introduced to us in the west in the 1970’s, and what she thought about it since it had so little to do with Traditional Feng Shui.  The master said, “You will not find that system in Asia”.    That pretty much says it all.

12.   What might you suggest for people who cannot seem to find harmony in their home and are struggling with the ways that this lack of harmony is bleeding into their relationships or personal lives?
I would begin with a Feng Shui consultation of your home so that you can find out what seen and unseen energies are operating and affecting you, and remedy them as soon as possible.  We often blame ourselves for things we haven’t even created and feel at odds with ourselves. There are energies in your home that are either helping you, or are making life more difficult.  We need all the help we can get in this world, so it’s a good idea to make your environment as strong as you can, using the principles of Feng Shui to support you.

13.What role does energy and meditation play in Feng Shui?
Everything is energy and Feng Shui defines the energy pattern of our world and the effect it has on us, and our environment, as it relates to the 5 elements, fire, earth, metal, water and wood, on the seen and unseen levels.  Meditation is considered a cure all by all the mystical traditions so that balance and harmony can be achieved in an unbalanced world. Quieting the mind is important because of the degree of bombardment we encounter everyday with all kinds of stimuli that over heat our brains creating imbalance. In other words, bad Feng Shui. Meditation heals this problem so that we can be more effective and fulfilled in this life, despite its challenges.

14.What is your favorite Feng Shui success story from your own personal experience? When did you realize this is real and something you wanted to take on as a career?
I discovered very early on that I felt so happy and fulfilled in my whole being when helping people with their Feng Shui.  At the beginning I felt altered and would feel light headed after doing the work of Feng Shui, which kind of surprised me.  I was working as a realtor in Montecito, California and for anyone who has ever been a realtor or who has ever bought or sold a house, it is highly stressful, but as soon as I started discussing the principles of Feng Shui with my friends and clients, I felt aligned, happy and in my power.  I was able to talk about houses in a way that was more in keeping with my deeper nature having already had an extensive background in yoga, mediation and Jewish mysticism.  Feng Shui was now the next step in deepening my understanding of the universe, and I could apply it to housing, which was so exciting.  When the housing market crashed in 2007 it became harder to want to keep selling, and so I was left with just wanting to help people with their Feng Shui.  I just followed the good feeling I had inside, and so it has remained with me as my career of choice.
For more information on Deanna and her practice, you can visit her website at: https://www.fengshuisantabarbara.com/