Celebrating – elements of this piece were featured on Redfin’s blog here!
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To use Feng Shui for moving, remember that moving into a new home is one of the most auspicious events in life because it means you are metaphysically upgrading your external body. Just like working hard on personal fitness goals for months to wear a special new outfit, most people work hard to achieve the resources needed for a new home. As a result, there are a few things to know about moving into a new home from a Feng Shui perspective that can set the stage of your next life chapter to be as positive and happy as possible.
Pre-Move Actions You Can Take
To help make both your move and life in your new home as smooth as possible, here are a few things you can do before you make the move.
1. Clean the house and open the windows and doors daily for three days prior to moving in as a way to release old, trapped energy from the house. You can use fans to help circulate the energy, although make sure to not point the fans at the front door as it could block prosperous energy from entering the home. As windows represent vision, make sure they are clean and do not have any cracks.
2. Close the drains and turn on the water slowly to fill the sinks and tubs to represent flow and abundance. When each sink or tub is full, turn off the water and set your intention that it represent positive and harmonious flow and abundance in your life going forward in your new home.
3. Replace air filters, check smoke detectors, and inspect the house for any other repairs that need to be made. Consider replacing all light bulbs with full spectrum light bulbs for more natural lighting.
4. If a member of the house is pregnant or a new baby in the world, they should not participate in any heavy lifting; instead, their support of the move should be focused on intending good energy in the new home (which is naturally easy for babies).
5. Determine the first item you will bring into the house when you get the keys. The item should be meaningful and a symbol of the life you want to have there. Typically, such items are placed in either the kitchen or the master bedroom to support abundance and love. If you have an altar, that would be an ideal first item to introduce to the house. Always enter your home for the first time through your front door to show the Universe the way for future good luck and at least once a week once you’ve moved into your home.
6. Plan for the move to happen during daylight and before sunset; moves made at night symbolize working day and night or leaving early for work and coming home late at night in your new life.
Day of the Move
Use the above action items on the day of the move as well as the following tips to encourage good luck in your new home.
7. Be patient in all things and maintain an even temperament as shouting or anger invites negativity into the home.
8. Use sage, incense, bells, or chimes to clear your house of any residual energies. You can also sprinkle salt outside doors and windows as a protection from potential negative energies that may try to enter the home. Sharing verbal gratitude with the house and setting intention can also be a powerful energy activator.
9. Make sure items have a place, especially in the kitchen which can harbor hungry ghosts in unused spaces.
10. Avoid placing a tv in bedrooms as that invites external world energy into your inner sanctum, which should be reserved for rest and private time with your sweetie.
11. Do not take a nap on the first afternoon in the home as that can promote illness later.
12. Place your bed and desk so they diagonally face the door of the rooms they are in; this is to ensure that incoming energy does not ‘blast’ you or rob your power through its force of entry. You may have heard of this as placing them in ‘the command position’ of the room.
Chi Blessing Ceremony
Once you have made the move, there are many Feng Shui tips to help ensure your success going forward. Just like any new relationship, one of the most important things you can do is set the tone for a positive future together with your new home by doing a simple chi, or energy, blessing ceremony. Such a ceremony conducted deliberately and with intention not only helps initiate your relationship with your home but also releases residual energies and introduces your home to your energy and intentions.
It helps to have at least two people conduct this house clearing and blessing ceremony so one can handle the water bowl and the other can use the flowers. Make sure you have an orange, a knife, a bowl of distilled water, and a bouquet of flowers on hand. Outside the house, cut the orange into nine disks, then float them in the bowl of water. Hold the bowl and fresh cut flowers while standing at the front door. Visualize the home as your external body, and ask that any negative, toxic, or non-serving energies be released. Think about what you want to experience while living in this home.
Cross the threshold into your new home and stand in the entry area. You will be moving slowly through the home in a clockwise motion (from the left side, around the back, then to the right side and returning to the front door entryway). As you do, be sure to pause in each room and notice how the room feels to you. You may notice physical sensations, like your skin changes or your hair might tingle, or you may feel a sense of calm or other emotions. Dip the flowers into the water bowl and flick the orange water in droplets in the room, visualizing that any non-supporting energies are being released and inviting the home to be in positive relationship with you. Know and feel that this home is now your sacred space, your external body, which will shelter, protect, and nourish your next life chapter. As you enter and pause in each room, feel the room, release any stuck energy by flicking water droplets lightly with the flowers, and setting intention for your relationship with the space. Walk through each room, including closets, moving toward the front door again. When you return to the front door entryway, give thanks for the experience. Read the following house blessing that was written by John O’Donohue, Irish poet; note: feel free to change the words to make them your own.
House Blessing Poem
May this house shelter your life.
When you come in home here,
May all the weight of the world
Fall from your shoulders.
May your heart be tranquil here,
Blessed by peace the world cannot give.
May this home be a lucky place,
Where the graces your life desires
Always find the pathway to your door.
May nothing destructive
Ever cross your threshold.
May this be a safe place
Full of understanding and acceptance,
Where you can be as you are,
Without the need of any mask
Of pretense or image.
May this home be a place of discovery,
Where the possibilities that sleep
In the clay of your soul can emerge
To deepen and refine your vision
For all that is yet to come to birth.
May it be a house of courage,
Where healing and growth are loved,
Where dignity and forgiveness prevail;
A home where patience of spirit is prized,
And the sight of the destination is never lost
Though the journey be difficult and slow.
May there be great delight around this hearth,
May it be a home of welcome
For the broken and diminished.
May you have the eyes to see
That no visitor arrives without a gift
And no guest leaves without a blessing.
Notice how you feel after conducting the house chi blessing ceremony. Some of my clients have reported that the air seems cleaner, that they can see the ‘edges’ of doors and windows more clearly, that it seems like there is more light in their space, or like a fog was lifted. You should feel a sense of relaxation and anticipation – remember, this is a new positive relationship that will support you in your life going forward. Some of the shifts that come from such a chi blessing may not be noticed immediately; that said, you should notice such shifts within the first nine days of living in your new home.
After the Move
Now that you’ve made the move, there are actions you can take to support your new relationship with your home which, ultimately, effects your quality of life going forward.
13. Make sure all doors can open fully and without sound to ensure optimal movement and positive vibes in your home.
14. Place a jade plant on your desk to absorb energy from your computer.
15. Place a water fountain in the area that is diagonally at the back left of your home from the front door to support financial abundance. Make sure the fountain shows both the flow and the water collection area or you could limit the flow or inexplicably lose, or not be able to hold onto, money.
16. Have a housewarming within the first nine days so friends and family can help clear the house of unwanted spirits through the power of love and celebration.
17. Turn your front door or porch light on for at least three hours every night to make sure the Universe knows where to bring abundance, prosperity, and opportunities to you.
18. Place a welcome mat at your front door to greet guests, set intention for the experience you want guests to have in your home, and support wiping their feet of external world energy before entering your space.
There are many other things to know about your home, such as colors, room layout, and yard influences; however, the items above will help your move and life after you move into your home be smooth, easy, and positive. May your new home bring you only good things.
