Article: Healing Home, Harmonious Living
HEALTHY HOME AND HARMONIOUS LIVING
Article by Suzy Chiazzari © 2009
This article is based on ideas found in Suzy Chiazzari’s book HOME HARMONY - creating a healthy and harmonious home, published by Ebury Press.
Have you ever walked into a room and sensed the atmosphere there? Sometimes you feel that a place is a happy loving one, and at other times you feel really uncomfortable and you may even feel cold or shiver. What you are sensing is the subtle atmosphere, the feeling of the place. It is the subtle atmosphere which gives a place ‘soul’ and makes you feel comfortable there.
It doesn’t matter how grand and expensive a building is, if the subtle environment is not balanced and harmonious the occupants of the building soon feel uncomfortable and will want to leave. The prime example of this is the Millennium Dome in London. Although the dome was well designed the feeling inside the space was not right and no amount of money could make it a success.
The problem is that we are used to concentrating on the physical aspects of a building; the structure, furniture, furnishings and objects around us that it is easy to forget that the powerful effect of subtle and sometimes unseen forces.
The five elements of earth, fire, metal, wood and water play a major role in the creation of a healthy and harmonious home. The home is a mirror of the outside environment, and when we create a space in sympathy with these natural forces our home has a special and loving atmosphere. Each element brings a different quality to your life so that homes showing a harmony of the elements also balance the elemental flow in our body. The result is a feeling of peace and connection.
Our home is not just a collection of materials, it is a living entity with which we have a personal relationship. Like us, our home breathes and moves, it uses and disposes of energy. It also has its own energy centres and personality depending on the mix of natural elements present. Living in a home which has an energy field aligned to your own elemental make-up creates a sacred space where you can relax and flourish.
You can activate the energy centres in the home in a number of ways but introducing the five natural elements of fire, earth, metal, water and wood you can harmonise your home with your own inner vibrations. The positive vibrations of the different elements set up a sympathetic resonance in the corresponding areas of the home that move negative energy and charge the atmosphere with positive energy, known as Chi.
The energy centre at the entrance is particularly important for it is the great protector of the home. Most people paint their doors intuitively with a psychologically protective colour like black, dark blue or dark green and white. Dark colours absorb harmful energy while the light ones deflect it away, much like a mirror. The strong element of wood is extremely useful in entranceways at it creates the same sort of protection you would be given by tall trees in a forest.
It is in the entrance hall that you really begin to adjust to the atmosphere inside. This area provides us with grounding and security and so is a place which benefits from warm earthy colours and materials, such as terracotta and clay brick. Burning aromatic oils of Rosewood, Cypress, Cedarwood and Elemi can assist in this process and helps boost the Earth energy. Taking one’s shoes off at this point will protect your inner sanctuary. Walking barefoot stimulates and balances your foot reflexes, strengthening your ground connection so your energy system is better able to cope with change.
The staircase is the backbone of your house connecting the earth to the heaven and lending support to the upper rooms. The staircase and passageways are the arteries of your home, promoting movement through your home. For this reason staircases should be well made and stairs well lit. The fire element will move energy upwards to nourish the people on the upper floors and you can aid this movement if you paint the stairway is painted in a tone of red, gold or magenta.
In your main living area, your home will draw its primary power from the fireplace. This creates a direct and dynamic connection between the ground and the sky and can be likened to the hara centre of the home, the seat of power. The living room is the main area of self-expression and is often a multi-functional room. Sometimes it has to be a vibrant place to entertain our friends and family while at other times it has to provide a quiet place to relax. The fire element has this changeable quality, being both exhilarating but also soothing and comforting.
You can be enhance your own creativity and zest for life by enhancing the natural light coming into the room by day and sitting in front of living flames by night. If you don’t have a fireplace, you can enhance the fire element by using colours and shapes which suggest the sun. A bright yellow candle or bowl of sunflowers can radiate this positive force and boost your self-esteem. If you want to relax in your living room or spend time their alone, you need to tap into the quieter side of the fire element by introducing blue, green and lavender into the room.
Like our heart chakra which links our physical body to the spirit, a hearth in the kitchen has always been regarded as the heart of the home. The kitchen is a place of nurturing, both of ourselves and our family. It is the part of the home most closely linked with nature and so the wood element needs to be strong if you want to enhance your ability to care attract abundance into your life. The colour representing the wood element is green. In colour therapy, green is known for its positive action on the digestive system and one which opens the loving heart chakra. The colour green is the key for activating energy in this area of the home so use plenty of fresh green herbs and vegetables and introduce timber and wooden utensils into the kitchen.
In the chakra system the dining room is the area linked to the splenic centre, giving us the ability to digest life. In order to reap the benefits of our food we need to be relaxed and in a place of safety.
In ancient times we used to sit on the ground around a fire and share a meal. The darkness around us was frightening as it left us vulnerable to attack from behind. The need for security while we eat is still with us and this is why most people choose to sit with their back to a wall when having a meal. To-day many homes are open-plan leaving our eating space unprotected, and in order to regain a sense of psychological security you need to enhance the earth element in this area. Tap into the feeling of earth protection by using tones of yellow and orange and these colours help us relax and so encourage sociability and sharing. Go into any town centre and look at the restaurants which are full of chatting diners - the great majority will reflect an inviting golden glow. Not only do we feel good when surrounded by earth colours, tones of ochre and orange have the added benefit of stimulating the appetite and aiding digestion.
Terracotta and earthenware plates and crockery will enhance your earth connection if your dining table is in the centre of a large room.
The amount of energy we enjoy in the day is directly linked to the quality of sleep we get at night, so it is not surprising that the bedroom plays a vital role in balancing our energy levels. The place we sleep is linked to the crown chakra and the deep tones of indigo and violet. Violet contains both the soothing blue ray and stimulating red ray, so while it aids rest it also encourages celebration of sexuality. While decorating your bedroom entirely in purple would be unwise, many people find pastel tints of lilac and lavender particularly appealing. The fine vibrations of these colours create a sacred and protected space for sleeping and dreaming.
It is during sleep that we rest the busy mind and harmonise the psyche. An energised house will be one where you can enjoy vivid dreams and one where your understanding and creativity will be enriched. This connection with our intuition and the spiritual world is reflected in the fact that most people choose to have their bedrooms on an upper floor. The contact with the sky and the air element is extremely beneficial to our spiritual development. To stimulate this connection, ground floor bedrooms should be painted in light blue and enhanced with pictures of cloudscapes.
The presence of the water element is the strongest in the bathroom. It is the area which activates and recharges our throat chakra so it is not surprising that many people love to sing or vocalise in some way in this room. Water is closely connected to our emotions and by spending time relaxing in this room you can purify and recharge the emotional body. Charge the energy field in your bathroom with turquoise bath crystals, blue towels, shells and candles. Use aromatic oils which vibrate on the blue ray, such as chamomile, marjoram and lavender.
In order to build a healthy body and home it is essential to clear away dirt and clutter. After this you can activate the energy in each area by placing an object of the appropriate element or symbolically using the corresponding colour. You can do this by visualisation too, mentally filling each room with a colour linked to the chakra centre appropriate to that area. Fill your hall with red, the living room with yellow, the dining room with orange, the kitchen green, the bedroom violet and the bathroom, blue.
If there is one area of your life which is out of balance, pay special attention to the corresponding area of your home and by enhancing its energy, you will absorb the positive blue-print. I like to balance all five elements in the living area, linking them to the compass directions as used in the traditional Feng Shui practises.
This is a particularly auspicious time to energise your home. For in doing so, you will be breaking down old mind and living patterns creating a channel for vital energy to flow into your system and auric space. While our homes should provide us with security and protection they should not be made into fortified castles. Chi needs to flow through our home in order to connect us to each other and the elemental cosmic forces. When you align and harmonise your home with the five elements you will enjoy the love and abundance and a wonderful feeling of well-being.
Suzy Chiazzari founded and is the principal of the Holistic Design Institute and Iris International School of Colour Therapy in Devon, England.
CHAKRA AREA OF THE HOME COLOURS ELEMENT
BASE entrance hall,
stairs RED, MAGENTA, TERRACOTTA FIRE/EARTH
SACRAL dining room ORANGE
PEACH EARTH
SOLAR-PLEXUS living room GOLD, YELLOW CREAM FIRE
HEART kitchen GREEN WOOD
THROAT bathroom BLUE
TURQUOISE WATER
THIRD EYE bedroom DEEP BLUE LAVENDER ROSE PINK FIRE
CROWN studio/study, meditation room or shrine VIOLET, WHITE METAL
