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Shifting Energy
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| ENERGY SHIFTS — Gayla Meredyth Yates and her wolf-dog Leila play with shamanic energy in a labryinth located in Philo, Northern California. Yates defines a shaman as one who perceives, comprehends and knows how to shift energy, or Qi, the universal life force. Labryinths serve to shift the energy of the land. - Photo provided |
Practice of feng shui brings harmony to work and home
by Patricia M. Roth - Staff Writer
Many elements contribute to the presence that certain places possess. You know, that feeling you pick up as soon as you walk through a door.
It makes you wonder. Why does this place feel so good - or so dreary?
It could be choice of color, furniture placement, lighting and layout. It could be energy: flowing, stagnant or trapped. Most homes, and workplaces for that matter, combine both the physical and the metaphysical. Is there really a separation?
While not everybody tunes into energy on a conscious level, you don't need to understand quantum physics to sense the energy of a place.
Improving energy in an environment can lead to positive changes at home and at work - even harmony. This concept is not new. For thousands of years, civilizations have set up their spaces to harmonize with the natural world.
The Chinese have sought to replicate this harmony through the practice of feng shui (pronounced fung shway and literally meaning ‘wind' and ‘water'). Feng shui was started by farmers whose prosperity depended on understanding the forces of nature to survive. Today, its influences circle the globe and, some say, its applications have been trivialized in the West through mass marketing.
Far from trivial, this blending of Chinese ancient wisdom with cultural tradition is complex. In general, using certain symbols or changing the position or layout of rooms and doors can combat bad feng shui. Energizing excellent energy flows that exist can activate good feng shui. A few ways to activate energy in a house includes bringing in fresh flowers and healthy plants, incorporating statues of animals that represent longevity such as the tortoise or crane, and using bright lights, especially in entranceways and corners.
Practitioners of these traditions believe we are all tied into the universal flow of energy - Qi or Chi - we are not separate. So, altering the energy of our environment can affect our personal lives, too.
I recently spoke with two women whose practices differ in scope, but who have had success creating balanced environments for people from many walks of life. Part of their work involves manipulating, changing and improving the flow of energy in the various environments to which they are called.
Irene Turner applies the energetics of space based on studies such as feng shui or Indian vastu to her work. Her services range from managing custom interior design projects to offering hourly consultations (need to hide your TV, learn about color, get a floor plan?) to clearing homes energetically and physically. Her solutions are practical, but always with an eye to beauty.
“Beauty is uplifting,” said Turner, whose experience includes a corporate career in the fashion business in trend direction and product placement before beginning her own interior design business called “Irene Turner at Home.”
“I love what I do and I enjoy working with people to create their homes,” she said Her interior design projects have included work in major cities from New York to Palm Springs.
She works with businesses, too. Recently, she came to our newspaper office for this interview and, upon request, a quick walk-through. Her observations brought forth a list of “to-dos” aimed at improving energy flow.
These included clearing the clutter as much as possible for a business that keeps a “morgue” of newspapers. Most of us are guilty of stacking papers, files and boxes. Turner also suggested improving the lighting by turning off humming overhead fluorescents and using task lights for desks and floor lamps to lighten up dark corners; improving air flow through the use of fans; tossing outdated equipment and appliances and then applying a fresh coat of paint with colors based on goals of work groups or individuals. That's for starters.
She also zeroed in on the “circulation desk.” It's crowded, cramped and has no “circulation,” she pointed out. That's definitely something to make note of if we wanted more readers (and what newspaper doesn't?).
Apparently our office is similar to many households in Sonoma County. People who've lived in their homes for many years accumulate stuff and that stuff means stagnant energy. Clear out the clutter, Turner advises, because it's the number one hazard to energy flow of a person, place or thing.
Turner's interior design projects have included work in major cities from New York to Palm Springs. One of her favorite projects was her own: The ranch house she and her husband, Ron Walsh, inhabit in Sebastopol. She started by creating a file of “dreams,” which consisted clippings of pictures for ideas related to storage, solar, bathrooms, fireplaces, kitchens, flooring and more.
“I do what I suggest that my clients do,” she said. “I put all my ideas in this file. My husband sees something he likes, he puts it on my desk and I add it to the file. It's a great way to dream.”
Turner drew a detailed floor plan of their home and property before they started renovating. “We prioritized phases of work we wanted so that we have an ultimate visual of what we want. That allows us to create in a holistic, not choppy, way,” she said.
“It took us two and a half years to get to where we are today, but we did everything with the intention of always knowing what we wanted to do next,” she explained
From front yard to backyard, the results are tangible. Overgrown brush was cleared from the front of the house, a driveway was created and the yard was landscaped, with each plant and tree hand-picked for color and placement.
Her husband's office claims the space where the former garage used to be; a three-car garage will one day emerge in the backyard. Water flows from a fountain that can be seen from his office, which is organized to support his realt estate work and music.
A new path leads to the front door, which Irene painted an inviting shade of orange-red. Inside, elements of personalities of husband and wife co-exist. She likes to meditate and read. He loves nature and music. “Before we started, we talked about how we wanted to live in our home. My husband is fifth generation so we have lots of family and friends here. We wanted the place to be vibrant and colorful and reflect our lifestyle,” said Turner.
The entranceway is functional and welcoming. “You used to walk in and look at the kitchen. I didn't want to walk in and think of food or doing the dishes,” she said. Now visitors feast their eyes on the dancing Hindu figure Shiva Natoraj, who graces a table created from two altars. A light, shaped like a guitar, emits a glowing light.
In the living area, they knocked out a wall between two small rooms to create one big one. They built in bookcases, changed out the windows and floor coverings, painted the walls with warm colors and re-did the stonework and mantle on the fireplace - all with energy flow in mind.
When Turner wanted to hang a piece of art in the spot that was ideal for a television, she and her husband worked it out. “I found a beautiful wooden screen and had a box built to hold the television. I got my art, he got his big screen TV and we're all happy,” she said. Turner also designed a corresponding piece that is situated below the TV to hold other media components, including places for surround sound speakers and drawers for DVDs and videos. Her work extends throughout the house.
In Turner's view, every home is a sanctuary - or has the potential to be one. For more information, contact her at (707) 823-3957.
Master Qi specialist
Gayla Meredyth Yates has more than three decades of experience as a master Qi specialist. Her travels and training are extensive, dating back to the 1970s. She has taught T'ai Qi, T'ai Ji, T'ai Chi Chih and Qi Gong classes and seminars for more than 20 years and currently offers “Amazing! Feng Shui” consultations that “go beyond the simple arrangement of furniture, mirrors, crystals, fountains and flutes.”
“I am not a run-of-the-mill feng shui person,” she said. “I am a shaman and I shift energy - usually, but not always, for healing purposes. My intention with Amazing! Feng Shui is always, in every blessing, for the greatest good and highest purpose of all.”
The process can last up to five hours, depending on what a client needs. These sessions typically involve a “flower power” blessing and shaman ceremonies as well as walking through the house to identify and clear issues related to placement and flow. A shift in environmental Qi can be subtle or at times dramatic, she said, but Yates said her clients tell her they are always “amazing.”
During sessions, Yates enters into alignment with her clients by asking them to relax “into the mystery” as she poses the question: “If you could wave a magic wand and have anything you ask for from today's Amazing! Feng Shui, what would it be?'”
“We just wait and listen,” said Yates. “Then the shaman in me goes to work shifting energy.”
There are so many things people want or need - better relationships, more prosperity, removal of bad energy. When a family needed help clearing negative energy after a death on their property, Yates was able to assist. Houses have history and are porous, she explained. “They absorb strong emotions and many sick emotional energies stick to the environment in the same way that smoke molecules do after a smoker leaves the room,” she said.
She said her works begins with a flower power blessing using candles, flowers, stones and water. Then she walks through every room in the house, checking for “metaphors” - for instance, a woman who wanted a relationship hung a picture of a forlorn woman in her bedroom (change that!).
In another situation, a West County winery owner called Yates and said he needed a situation to be cleared up in 24 hours from the time she gave a blessing. “I cannot reveal what he asked for, but at the end of the blessing he told me the quality of the light on the land had changed. That's the way it is. People feel it in their home as well. I've had many people say ‘my neighbor came over for coffee like she always does and it feels lighter and brighter in here.'”
That feeling of lightness comes from working with energetics, she explained.
She also works with the art of placement. “I see things Š I started out as an interior designer and color consultant. I cover all the levels. It's the blessing that really shifts energy, though. The other things can make people feel more comfortable in their homes, such as not having your back to a window.”
The results? “Your home or office will feel more welcoming, happy, comfortable, safe, harmonious, balanced and peaceful Š People feel they have a blank canvas on which they can paint their life.”
Yates also teaches feng shui classes in Santa Rosa and leads tours to Chinatown in San Francisco. For information, call 573-1133 or visit her website at www.amazingfengshui.com.
Comments? Email: Patti@sonomawest.com
It makes you wonder. Why does this place feel so good - or so dreary?
It could be choice of color, furniture placement, lighting and layout. It could be energy: flowing, stagnant or trapped. Most homes, and workplaces for that matter, combine both the physical and the metaphysical. Is there really a separation?
While not everybody tunes into energy on a conscious level, you don't need to understand quantum physics to sense the energy of a place.
Improving energy in an environment can lead to positive changes at home and at work - even harmony. This concept is not new. For thousands of years, civilizations have set up their spaces to harmonize with the natural world.
The Chinese have sought to replicate this harmony through the practice of feng shui (pronounced fung shway and literally meaning ‘wind' and ‘water'). Feng shui was started by farmers whose prosperity depended on understanding the forces of nature to survive. Today, its influences circle the globe and, some say, its applications have been trivialized in the West through mass marketing.
Far from trivial, this blending of Chinese ancient wisdom with cultural tradition is complex. In general, using certain symbols or changing the position or layout of rooms and doors can combat bad feng shui. Energizing excellent energy flows that exist can activate good feng shui. A few ways to activate energy in a house includes bringing in fresh flowers and healthy plants, incorporating statues of animals that represent longevity such as the tortoise or crane, and using bright lights, especially in entranceways and corners.
Practitioners of these traditions believe we are all tied into the universal flow of energy - Qi or Chi - we are not separate. So, altering the energy of our environment can affect our personal lives, too.
I recently spoke with two women whose practices differ in scope, but who have had success creating balanced environments for people from many walks of life. Part of their work involves manipulating, changing and improving the flow of energy in the various environments to which they are called.
Irene Turner applies the energetics of space based on studies such as feng shui or Indian vastu to her work. Her services range from managing custom interior design projects to offering hourly consultations (need to hide your TV, learn about color, get a floor plan?) to clearing homes energetically and physically. Her solutions are practical, but always with an eye to beauty.
“Beauty is uplifting,” said Turner, whose experience includes a corporate career in the fashion business in trend direction and product placement before beginning her own interior design business called “Irene Turner at Home.”
“I love what I do and I enjoy working with people to create their homes,” she said Her interior design projects have included work in major cities from New York to Palm Springs.
She works with businesses, too. Recently, she came to our newspaper office for this interview and, upon request, a quick walk-through. Her observations brought forth a list of “to-dos” aimed at improving energy flow.
These included clearing the clutter as much as possible for a business that keeps a “morgue” of newspapers. Most of us are guilty of stacking papers, files and boxes. Turner also suggested improving the lighting by turning off humming overhead fluorescents and using task lights for desks and floor lamps to lighten up dark corners; improving air flow through the use of fans; tossing outdated equipment and appliances and then applying a fresh coat of paint with colors based on goals of work groups or individuals. That's for starters.
She also zeroed in on the “circulation desk.” It's crowded, cramped and has no “circulation,” she pointed out. That's definitely something to make note of if we wanted more readers (and what newspaper doesn't?).
Apparently our office is similar to many households in Sonoma County. People who've lived in their homes for many years accumulate stuff and that stuff means stagnant energy. Clear out the clutter, Turner advises, because it's the number one hazard to energy flow of a person, place or thing.
Turner's interior design projects have included work in major cities from New York to Palm Springs. One of her favorite projects was her own: The ranch house she and her husband, Ron Walsh, inhabit in Sebastopol. She started by creating a file of “dreams,” which consisted clippings of pictures for ideas related to storage, solar, bathrooms, fireplaces, kitchens, flooring and more.
“I do what I suggest that my clients do,” she said. “I put all my ideas in this file. My husband sees something he likes, he puts it on my desk and I add it to the file. It's a great way to dream.”
Turner drew a detailed floor plan of their home and property before they started renovating. “We prioritized phases of work we wanted so that we have an ultimate visual of what we want. That allows us to create in a holistic, not choppy, way,” she said.
“It took us two and a half years to get to where we are today, but we did everything with the intention of always knowing what we wanted to do next,” she explained
From front yard to backyard, the results are tangible. Overgrown brush was cleared from the front of the house, a driveway was created and the yard was landscaped, with each plant and tree hand-picked for color and placement.
Her husband's office claims the space where the former garage used to be; a three-car garage will one day emerge in the backyard. Water flows from a fountain that can be seen from his office, which is organized to support his realt estate work and music.
A new path leads to the front door, which Irene painted an inviting shade of orange-red. Inside, elements of personalities of husband and wife co-exist. She likes to meditate and read. He loves nature and music. “Before we started, we talked about how we wanted to live in our home. My husband is fifth generation so we have lots of family and friends here. We wanted the place to be vibrant and colorful and reflect our lifestyle,” said Turner.
The entranceway is functional and welcoming. “You used to walk in and look at the kitchen. I didn't want to walk in and think of food or doing the dishes,” she said. Now visitors feast their eyes on the dancing Hindu figure Shiva Natoraj, who graces a table created from two altars. A light, shaped like a guitar, emits a glowing light.
In the living area, they knocked out a wall between two small rooms to create one big one. They built in bookcases, changed out the windows and floor coverings, painted the walls with warm colors and re-did the stonework and mantle on the fireplace - all with energy flow in mind.
When Turner wanted to hang a piece of art in the spot that was ideal for a television, she and her husband worked it out. “I found a beautiful wooden screen and had a box built to hold the television. I got my art, he got his big screen TV and we're all happy,” she said. Turner also designed a corresponding piece that is situated below the TV to hold other media components, including places for surround sound speakers and drawers for DVDs and videos. Her work extends throughout the house.
In Turner's view, every home is a sanctuary - or has the potential to be one. For more information, contact her at (707) 823-3957.
Master Qi specialist
Gayla Meredyth Yates has more than three decades of experience as a master Qi specialist. Her travels and training are extensive, dating back to the 1970s. She has taught T'ai Qi, T'ai Ji, T'ai Chi Chih and Qi Gong classes and seminars for more than 20 years and currently offers “Amazing! Feng Shui” consultations that “go beyond the simple arrangement of furniture, mirrors, crystals, fountains and flutes.”
“I am not a run-of-the-mill feng shui person,” she said. “I am a shaman and I shift energy - usually, but not always, for healing purposes. My intention with Amazing! Feng Shui is always, in every blessing, for the greatest good and highest purpose of all.”
The process can last up to five hours, depending on what a client needs. These sessions typically involve a “flower power” blessing and shaman ceremonies as well as walking through the house to identify and clear issues related to placement and flow. A shift in environmental Qi can be subtle or at times dramatic, she said, but Yates said her clients tell her they are always “amazing.”
During sessions, Yates enters into alignment with her clients by asking them to relax “into the mystery” as she poses the question: “If you could wave a magic wand and have anything you ask for from today's Amazing! Feng Shui, what would it be?'”
“We just wait and listen,” said Yates. “Then the shaman in me goes to work shifting energy.”
There are so many things people want or need - better relationships, more prosperity, removal of bad energy. When a family needed help clearing negative energy after a death on their property, Yates was able to assist. Houses have history and are porous, she explained. “They absorb strong emotions and many sick emotional energies stick to the environment in the same way that smoke molecules do after a smoker leaves the room,” she said.
She said her works begins with a flower power blessing using candles, flowers, stones and water. Then she walks through every room in the house, checking for “metaphors” - for instance, a woman who wanted a relationship hung a picture of a forlorn woman in her bedroom (change that!).
In another situation, a West County winery owner called Yates and said he needed a situation to be cleared up in 24 hours from the time she gave a blessing. “I cannot reveal what he asked for, but at the end of the blessing he told me the quality of the light on the land had changed. That's the way it is. People feel it in their home as well. I've had many people say ‘my neighbor came over for coffee like she always does and it feels lighter and brighter in here.'”
That feeling of lightness comes from working with energetics, she explained.
She also works with the art of placement. “I see things Š I started out as an interior designer and color consultant. I cover all the levels. It's the blessing that really shifts energy, though. The other things can make people feel more comfortable in their homes, such as not having your back to a window.”
The results? “Your home or office will feel more welcoming, happy, comfortable, safe, harmonious, balanced and peaceful Š People feel they have a blank canvas on which they can paint their life.”
Yates also teaches feng shui classes in Santa Rosa and leads tours to Chinatown in San Francisco. For information, call 573-1133 or visit her website at www.amazingfengshui.com.
Comments? Email: Patti@sonomawest.com
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