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Interview with Feng Shui Expert Dana Claudat

Dana Claudat is a modern feng shui master, interior designer, author, and founder of the feng shui blog The Tao Of Dana. (www.fengshuidana.com). A Stanford-educated Art Historian based in Hollywood, she works with clients around the globe to both design and feng shui spaces to create artful environments and lives. Dana’s mission is to help everyone in the world become more positively connected to their environment, more creative and more rooted in their personal genius. Dana recently released an e-guide to feng shui- Feng Shui 101 to empower people to feng shui their spaces and organise their lives in a step-by-step fashion.Dana

1. How Feng Shui can impact our lives and with the help of Feng Shui how one can one make life easier.

Feng Shui in my way creates a lot of clear space, flowing energy and organisation in your home and office- and your entire life. When energy and thoughts can flow without being blocked, you have less stress, more productivity, better ideas, happier relationships and a healthier you overall!

2. Health, wealth and happiness in a relationship are all we want. What are the steps to achieve this in life?

We do all want health, wealth and relationships that are amazing! Very keen of you to mention it as these are my top three requests from clients and blog readers.

Health, wealth and love all are very expansive ideas. When I say this I mean: take a moment and get quiet and think of health or great wealth or a dream relationship. You feel… bigger. The more you allow yourself to actively imagine these ideas the bigger and more “buzzing” with excitement you are likely to feel.

To be very simple, the major steps to creating a more prosperous life full of health, wealth and incredible relationships are:

a. Eliminating clutter and persistent obstacles in your home. (examples: the piles of papers that don’t seem to ever get filed or the clothes that can be donated because they are just taking up space when someone could very much use them, or the piece of furniture that blocks a door from opening fully.)

b. Focusing the attention and energy in your home so that you can do more of what promotes health, wealth and love. This takes some thought, but if you realize where you are spending your energy poorly – perhaps in front of a computer or a TV when you could be cooking a meal and having people over or sleeping at a proper hour- you can adjust your furniture and liven up areas that will pull focus away from your present habit and toward a new one!

c. Creating a ritual for yourself of weekly (or daily) cleaning and freshening your energy (like burning incense, opening windows, washing floors, dusting, shaking out pillows and fabrics) to keep things flowing well in your home and life.

d. You have mentioned that colours play important role in Feng Shui? Which colour are the best for home and office?

Colour is one of my favourite topics given that I am a designer as well, and I love to view colour for its symbolic properties as well as its psychological and even physical influence upon our bodies.

While each person will use more of some colours than others depending on their personality their lifestyle, I can tell you that blue is a great colour in offices for people who have to communicate a lot and require a confidence boost. Green is an excellent colour for creative people at home or in the office.

If I were to give a tip to all of your readers- try to get a set of multicoloured markers or pencils for your desk at work and play around with writing lists and taking notes in different colours. I personally use magenta for my lists as it is the colour that turns dreams into reality!

3. Tell us something about Visualization technique and what we can achieve through them?

When you can have great clarity in your imagination I feel that it translates into more wonderful solutions at work and more vibrancy in all of your relationships and activities. I like to breathe and count backwards from 100 to 1 before going to sleep, relaxing in bed as I count. Often I will fall asleep first (!) but when I am awake and reach the number 1 I am really peaceful and my mind is quiet. I can see things that I want to create far more clearly. I like to envision art, rooms I am designing, trips I want to take, people I’d like to meet, even concepts that I am learning in pictures. I have noticed that when I have trouble “seeing” what I want to create that typically means I am not sure what I am doing in a certain area of my life. Visualization is a helpful way to “check in” wit yourself and exercise creativity at the same time.

If you have a particular dream or vision you would like to bring into your life, you can then add symbols or colours that remind you of that vision to your home to reinforce it!

4. Do you recommend the use of Feng Shui products at home? If yes what are those 5 things we can incorporate into our living spaces?

I think people should start by making the best of what they have, and what is easy to find.

Cleaning your home with common mixes you can find online made of things like vinegar, lemons, baking soda are refreshing and enlivening.

Growing houseplants and herbs is a great way to add creative, healing nature and green colour to your home.

Using fabrics from clothes you don’t wear to make art (I stretch fabric in frames often, and old patterned dresses are great for this, as are any interesting fabrics) can add dimension and personality to your home

Cooking more at home with family. This ritual reinforces positive energy and prosperity in your home and life.

I do like using lamps that point upward to energise and “light up” dark corners.

5. We live in the fast pace world & all our energy is taken in balancing personal & professional life? How do you suggest we can recharge ourself with the help of Feng Shui?

While most of us work on a computer these days, taking breaks every 30 minutes to stretch, drink water and get some fresh air if possible will be better for your overall energy.

My biggest tip for rejuvenation is to sleep a lot and minimise electronics in your bedroom (TV/ Computer/ Phone if possible) and to stop looking at computer screens and TV’s at least an hour- if not 2- before bed time.

6. Does Feng Shui has anything to do with astrological signs?

Some forms of feng shui do deal with astrology and the like. I don’t deal with astrology because I have found that it puts people in very limited boxes of possibility based on the year, their birthday, etc, and I am interested in expansion, not limitation. The placebo effect is a real thing: If I were to tell you that this year you will not make money unless you paint three walls red, you would paint three walls red. Or you wouldn’t paint your walls and perhaps, if I made enough of an impression upon you, you would not make money all year because of what I said. That doesn’t feel good to me. I believe we create our own luck. If you like horoscopes and astrology, and you find power in it, that is great.I want to bring feng shui, great design and creative, artful living to as many people as possible in an empowering and open way, so I stick to the stuff that makes people and spaces glow.

There are many tools of feng shui supported by modern science and psychology, and those are the ones that I share and expand on. That’s the fun of feng shui, and where you can get the greatest personal benefit!

What do you think?

Written by Smita Diwan

Smita Diwan is a Media & Communication evangelist with 15+ years of steady growth. She has served across diverse verticals of Broadcast Journalism, Corporate Communications, Digital Media and Public Relations. A fitness enthusiast, Smita devotes her ‘rare’ free-time to yoga and meditation. As she strongly believes that the right balance is the key to steady growth.

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