How to Create a Space that Inspires You!

April 22nd, 2010 Posted in Clutter Busting, Creating Change, Feng Shui Tips, Wealth & Prosperity

One of the keys to moving through times of transition and making the most of them is to create inner spaciousness.

This is what Eckhart Tolle writes about - removing the clutter from your life, whether physical, mental or emotional - anything that stops you being fully present in each moment.

Clutter and chaos will keep your head very busy - and that means your ego will feel right at home. And your ego’s job it to stop you creating space for inspiration and change.

Do you have a room of your own? A room you can’t wait to come home to? A room that nurtures your soul and inspires you to dream?

Over the years, many of my clients have created such a room for themselves.

One client had a home office that felt stagnant and uninspiring. She was ready for a change in her life so she set about removing everything from the room. She cleaned and cleared the energy there and took some time to choose perfect color. For some time she didn’t move anything back in - it felt so good to just sit in that room and feel the spaciousness. Going to that extreme allowed her to really drink in the new energy and be very deliberate about what she allowed back in.

From that space her new business was born. Gone is her ‘temporary’ fill-in office work. Now she’s following her passion.

It’s amazing what happens when your environment is working with you, not against you. Suddenly all those blocks are gone and you start attracting opportunites and people to support you. By creating space to breathe you are then able to notice the synchronicity that’s all around.

When you are surrounded by clutter you feel bogged down, lethargic and definitely uninspired.

Tips for creating a space that inspires you

1. Choose one room to focus on. You’re going to be creating a space that feels so yummy you just can’t wait to be in there.

You can choose the room that bugs you the most, or if you’d like to focus on freeing up your prosperity or career energy, choose your home office. If you’d like to focus on making changes in your relationship or relationship status, your bedroom would be a great place to start.

2. Stand at the door looking into this room as if you had never seen it before. If you really want an objective view, take a photograph. What is this room telling you about the person who lives here? How does it feel? Imagine if this space was so nourishing, you couldn’t help but feel at your best.

3. Remove everything from the room if that’s possible. This will give you the best feeling of spaciousness and possibility. It’s easier once everything is out, to only bring back what you want. Take some time while it’s empty to feel how it is with all that space. Perhaps you’d like to leave it empty for some time, to really soak up that feeling. Sometimes it’s good to go to the other extreme for a while before you come back to a place of balance. Remember, you were out of balance before you started, surrounded by all your stuff!

After you’ve cleaned the space, do you want to paint it? This is a great way to shift the energy in there.

4. If you can’t remove everything, divide the room up into chunks of clutter. Make them a manageable size and make a list. Perhaps the top of your desk is one, each drawer in your desk, 5 hanging folders in your filing cabinet, the picture on the wall you don’t like. You get the idea. These are tasks you can do in one sitting.

You’re going to start with defined areas - so you feel the difference. One day start with the top of your desk for example, another day tackle one shelf in your book case. And as with the whole room, remove everything from this smaller area - even if you have to put things in boxes in the hallway for a few days. Give the area a good clean and be very deliberate about what you put back.

5. Your desk or your bed needs to be in the power position, which means you can see the door from where you sit or lie. If you cannot do this, place a mirror so you can see the door. Then nothing can symbolically creep up behind you in your business or life and take you unawares. This is Feng Shui 101.

6. Map the Bagua on this room - orient it from the position of the door, looking into the room. Include any closets. This will tell you where the different areas of your life are located within the room and it will give you an added incentive to clear the clutter. When you know that broken clock is sitting right in your Wealth & Prosperity area, it won’t be there for long, I bet.

For information on the Feng Shui Bagua and how to map it see: Map the Bagua

7. Surround yourself with things you love, that inspire you and raise your energy. Your office is a more yang space so you might want fun, creative colorful objects around you. Your bedroom is a more yin space so you might want luscious, sensuous fabrics that feel like they’re wrapping their arms around you.

What do you really want to bring back? Make sure you love it, you use it and it raises your energy. This means you might have lots that won’t be coming back - that’s good.

8. Treat yourself with care. While you’re doing all this, listen to your heart. Removing stuff is a big deal so you want to treat yourself carefully. This process of re-designing your environment will have a big impact on your life. While you are redesigning your life take the time to appreciate yourself and appreciate your progress. Creating a nourishing space for yourself is the ultimate in self-care. What can you do to create a mini spa experience to support you on your journey?

9. Grab a buddy for support. One of the fun things I include in many of my programs are Integrity Days. You can do this with a friend too. You agree on a day and time and each hour on the hour (for as long as you wish to continue) call each other and tell your friend what you plan to do in the next hour, then call back an hour later and report what you completed and what you will do in the following hour.

You’ll be amazed at how it helps to have that accountability. You’re hardly likely to call your friend an hour later to say you sat about eating bon-bons for the last hour, now are you?

Use these strategies to create a space that will allow YOU to feel at home and fully alive, rather than your ego.

Here’s my Coaches request: Do something today to create a space for yourself, where you feel at home and have space to breathe. Could be decluttering a whole room. Could be creating a corner of a room that feels like yours.

Before you start: take a look at your room as if for the first time. What is this room telling you about the person who lives here?  Let us know.