Living in harmony reaps rewards
Can shifting around some furniture really change your life?
Definitely, says interior designer Tracey MacKenzie.
She’s spent several years helping homeowners in North America and Bermuda bring balance to their living spaces with Feng Shui.
She got started with the ancient Chinese philosophy almost 20 years ago after hearing how it worked for business mogul Donald Trump.
At the time she was going through a rough period emotionally, and was struggling financially.
She prayed to the heavens for help.
Then the next day she sat down to watch television and an episode of a popular news show happened to be on.
“They were highlighting Donald Trump and showing how he had used Feng Shui to turn around his casino. It had been losing a record amount of money before they used Feng Shui.
“I took it as a sign and immediately ordered some books about it,” she said.
Ms MacKenzie studied for hours on end, then started applying the Feng Shui principles to her home life.
After a week things started to improve.
Random people started being placed into her path, offering to help her out of some legal and financial trouble. She found a lawyer to represent her pro-bono and had a co-worker approach her, after hearing about her money woes, and offer to loan her $500.
Over the years the Canada-based designer has seen Feng Shui benefit many other people’s lives.
One time she was called in to help a client who was having trouble conceiving. The client already had children, but wanted to expand her family and her biological clock was ticking.
“They called me in for a consultation and followed exactly what I told them to do,” Ms MacKenzie said. “Last year the client e-mailed me a photo of her three-year-old son with a huge ‘Thank You’ written underneath.”
The designer has also worked with a couple who needed to evaluate a new business space they wanted to move into.
Ms MacKenzie looked at the outside of the building and recommended they not take the space.
“The husband was very mad and asked me to return and redo the evaluation,” she explained.
“Long story short, I gave them a list of why they should not move there and although it caused a lot of strife in the relationship, the woman convinced her husband not to move to the new location.
“About six months later I get a message on my phone from the two of them thanking me for standing my ground even though the husband has been quite angry with me.
“It turned out friends of theirs had taken the space in the building and went bankrupt after six months — and this was a company that was in business for 25 years.”
Not sure how Feng Shui works? Ms MacKenzie said each session starts with her asking the client about what they hope to achieve — be it better health, success at work or improved loved life.
From there she uses an advanced form of Feng Shui called “Xuan Kong” to evaluate the energy patterns of a home or site.
“It’s a mathematical system which takes the facing degree of the home or site as well as the year of construction and calculates what we call a ‘flying star chart’,” she explained. “This energy chart is comprised of numbers that form combinations of energy which are either favourable or unfavourable.
“My job is to give you remedies for the unfavourable combinations as well as enhancements for the favourable ones. These numbers can also tell me what potential issues may arise in your life. This can include a loss of money, sickness, legal issues, gossip, fertility issues, etc.”
Next she evaluates the outside of the home or commercial space to see how the exterior design and location can impact energy flow.
The last step is called “chi flow evaluation”, where she looks at issues like clutter and furniture placement.
“Anything impeding the flow of energy will be pointed out and I will give them ideas on how to improve the space,” she explained.
“I will also look at their bed and desk placement to make sure those are facing a good direction while working and that their head is aimed towards a good direction while they are sleeping. This is done by using your “Kua number” which I obtain via your birth date.
“I will also give colour recommendations and anything else that I feel will be useful in order for them to obtain their goals.”
The rest is then up to the client.
Ms MacKenzie said in every case people get out what they put in.
“If I tell you to do ten things and you only do two or three well then you are not going to benefit as much as you could,” she said.
“Some places are also very difficult to improve either because the energy chart is not favourable or because the landscape is bad. There are remedies but ideally you would move.”
Ms MacKenzie was recently on Island hosting seminars and home consults at My Sereni-Tea. She expects to be back next March.
For more information, visit: www.traceymackenzie.com.
1. Get rid of clutter. Interior designer Tracey MacKenzie believes that financial and other blockages in life can be removed by simply getting rid of the extra stuff.
“The more stuff you have in your house the less energy there is to receive,” she explained. “The universe cannot send you money or a spouse or better things if your house is full to the brim. There is simply no room.”
2. Beautify the outside. Most people focus on decorating the inside of their home, but the outside entrance is just as important.
Ms MacKenzie said: “In Feng Shui the entrance is considered the “Mouth of Chi” and is a very important factor in your success.”
She encourages people to consider what they see when they open their entrance door. If you have dying flowers and spider webs or overgrown grass and weeds out front, that’s the kind of energy you’re inviting into your home. If the visual outside your front door doesn’t bring success to mind, then change it.
Ms MacKenzie recommends that you fix anything that’s broken and place a pot of pretty flowers on either side of your entrance door for added chi.
3. Make your bedroom an oasis. Want to improve your love life? Make sure your bedroom is a relaxing space, rather than one that’s stressful or untidy.
Ms MacKenzie said if you have an ironing board and dirty laundry lying about it symbolises tedious work, which means you’ll have lots of work in your relationship as well. “Make sure you don’t have pictures of single women everywhere in your home or single statues,” she said. “This happens so often I can’t tell you. Every time I get called in for a client looking for love they have all these pictures of single women on their walls or statues of women alone. You are sending the message to the universe that you are fine with being alone so if you’re not fine with being alone, remove the singular items.”
4. Wear some colour. Every colour has a specific mood or meaning attached to it. Ms Mackenzie has found that wearing a piece of citrine can help with one’s personal success, while donning some rose quartz can help them attract love.
