In this refreshing convo, I sit down with feng shui consultant Catherine Dean to explore how the energy of your home can either drain you or deeply support your healing—especially if you’re navigating PCOS, stress, or hormonal chaos. Catherine demystifies feng shui (no, you don’t need a red front door!) and shows how small, intentional tweaks—particularly in your bedroom and kitchen—can help regulate your nervous system, lower daily friction, and make nourishing choices easier. From clearing clutter to relocating those knife blocks, you’ll learn simple ways to shift your environment so it finally matches your goals and supports metabolic stability, restful sleep, and mindful eating.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
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Catherine Dean, Feng Shui Consultant — newsletter, blogs, and consults: catherinedeanfengshui.com
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This podcast is for educational purposes only and not medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, exercise, or treatment plan.
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(0:02 - 0:35) Hey there, and welcome back to PCOS Unfiltered, Nourish, Heal, Thrive, the space where we have real conversations about healing without the filters, the fads, or the fluff. I'm your host, Lindsie, and today's episode is about energy, especially if you've ever felt like your home environment is draining you more than it's supporting you. We're talking about something a little different, but deeply connected to healing, feng shui, the ancient practice of aligning your space to support your energy, your mindset, and your health.
(0:35 - 1:02) And joining me today is the amazing Catherine Dean, a feng shui consultant who helps women shift their environments to make room for healing. If you're navigating PCOS, chronic stress, or you've just felt stuck in your health journey, this episode is going to help you see your space in a whole new way. We're going to explore how your environment could play a bigger role in your hormones, your nervous system, and your healing than you ever realized.
(1:02 - 1:21) As a reminder, the content shared on PCOS Unfiltered is for informational and educational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are not intended to serve as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your diet, exercise, or treatment plan.
(1:21 - 1:35) The information shared here is based on personal experience and expert interviews and is not a substitute for professional medical guidance. Let's get into this episode. Welcome.
(1:36 - 1:47) I'm super excited about this episode. I think it's going to be a learning curve for me. So yeah, thank you, Catherine, for being here with us today.
(1:47 - 2:06) And let's just dive on in. So for those who aren't familiar, what exactly is feng shui and how does it go beyond just home decor? Because I think that's probably what a lot of people recognize it as. Yes, I think a lot of people feel that is what it's all about.
(2:06 - 2:22) But feng shui, it's an ancient Chinese practice, and it promotes harmony and balance between people and the environment that they occupy. So it could be your home. It could be your office.
(2:23 - 2:56) It could be your home office, your gym, any space that you occupy, feng shui is there to help balance and harmonize that space. And we focus very heavily on positive energy, always looking for opportunities to bring the positive energy in and to break up stagnant and negative energy and to help that leave the premises. Yeah, which is a lot of people need it, whether you're listening with PCOS, I feel like, or not.
(2:56 - 3:19) I mean, yeah, it ties in, I feel like, to the stress piece of life. And yeah, it has so much to do with, well, a lot of people can actually feel the energy that surrounds them, but they don't know that it's the energy that is surrounding them. All you have to do is walk into a restaurant that makes you feel uncomfortable.
(3:20 - 3:37) You're going to a party, and it's like, you like the people there, but you're like, something's off, you know, or whatever. People can tell when they're in the midst of negative energy, but they don't always know that that's what is bothering them, or what to do about it. Yeah.
(3:37 - 4:12) So how did you personally get into feng shui? And what made you passionate about, especially the healing aspects of it? Okay, so, oh, years ago, it's got to be close to 10 years ago now, my husband and I were at a marketing seminar, and a lot of very inspirational speakers. And one of the speakers said, during his talk, you know, find your passion. And my husband was very clear about his passion, but I had spent years raising a family and getting my education.
(4:12 - 4:24) And so, at this stage of my life, we came home, and I said, I'm not really sure what my passion is. And so my husband had said to me, well, you have always had an interest in feng shui. And I said, that is true.
(4:24 - 4:33) I have always had that interest. I wonder what it would require to become a consultant. And I looked into it, and I was intrigued.
(4:34 - 4:47) And then I decided to dive in, I became a BTB feng shui consultant. That was my first certification. And I absolutely loved it.
(4:47 - 4:57) And so what became an interest, when combined with that knowledge, became my passion. And I'm very passionate about it. Yeah, it's awesome.
(4:58 - 5:19) So yeah, there are many misconceptions about feng shui. So what's one thing that people often get wrong about it? Well, there's a couple of things that people get wrong. I think one of the most common things people misconstrue about feng shui is that you have to paint your door red.
(5:20 - 5:34) If you've talked to people who talk about feng shui, they're like, yeah, but I don't want a red door. And that is one of those things. I actually did a newsletter on it to explain the myths about feng shui, or at least five of them.
(5:34 - 5:46) And I'm going to be doing another newsletter to tackle some more. But yeah, red is a very protective color in feng shui. And it has a lot of symbolism and meaning.
(5:47 - 5:58) And it's protective and kind of a good luck color. And so people think, well, if I do feng shui, I have to have a red door. And that's absolutely not true.
(5:58 - 6:23) If you want red near your door to bring that protective energy to your door, and you don't want a red door, like me, the feng shui consultant, you can bring red through plants or maybe a doormat or something right over the threshold. There's things you can do to bring that red, but that is a big one. And then another one is that feng shui is a religion.
(6:24 - 6:44) And feng shui is absolutely not a religion. There are some teachings within feng shui that are based on the Tao and, you know, mindfulness, but it's not a religion. The ancient Chinese masters created it as an art and science and nothing to do with religion at all.
(6:44 - 7:12) So I like people to understand that because I've got, I grew up in a Christian based family, and I've got members of my family who are practicing Catholics and, you know, it's like, they don't go together at all. One is energy, one is faith and spirituality. So I think those are two good ones that people should keep in mind that, no, you don't have to paint your door red and no, feng shui is not a religion.
(7:14 - 7:23) Yeah, those are great. I mean, again, I'm learning stuff already. So, um, so yeah, I mean, I think that's great to kind of right off the bat.
(7:23 - 7:42) Yeah, I say those things for sure, so that people understand more, you know, as we get into it. Yeah. So yeah, diving deeper, how can the energy of our physical environment impact our physical health? And I mean, this can be for women in general, or especially for women dealing with hormone imbalances or something like PCOS.
(7:42 - 8:19) Well, you know, it's interesting when you talk about hormone imbalance, and you talk about feng shui, feng shui takes imbalance and balances it because negative energy comes about through that imbalance. You can, you can inadvertently invite that imbalance into your space, and it can affect your the energy of your space. So if you find, you know, you can tell, like I was mentioning before, that if you're in negative space, negative energy, I should say, you can feel it.
(8:19 - 8:44) So your question regarding, you know, how the stress of, is it how the stress of life can show up in your home kind of thing? Yeah, just how that well, how the energy of our physical environment can impact our physical health. It has, it's reflective. And I would say, if you can see it in a room, you're feeling it internally.
(8:44 - 9:07) And if you can't see what's bothering you in a room, but you're being bothered, then that energy is surrounding you. And it takes a little investigating as to what the problem is. So just like when you're unbalanced with your hormones, if you're feeling uncomfortable in a space, you're unbalanced in the energy of your space.
(9:07 - 9:14) It's very reflective. A lot of times your home reflects your life, and your life reflects your home. Yeah, yeah.
(9:15 - 9:39) I mean, I'm not even I feel like probably more mentally for me, but I've mentioned before we travel, you know, my husband and I travel and we live in a condo and so we've got like a spare bedroom. Well, that's where his office is. So I even had to get I got like a mobile desk, because I just felt like I was like, you know, all over the place and didn't actually have my, my nice little physical environment.
(9:39 - 9:51) So yeah, I felt like it was affecting me. Yes. Maybe a little physically, but even mentally, I feel like too, because I just I felt so scattered and like I couldn't organize to, to get my work done.
(9:51 - 10:15) Well, you make a good point. Because even if if you're feeling it mentally, you know that there is a physical reaction to what's going on mentally. I think anybody dealing with PCOS or any kind of imbalance or any kind of, you know, malady of sorts, it's always like you're feeling that discomfort because something's out of whack.
(10:16 - 10:26) Yeah. And your home can reflect that as well, even your office. And then of course, oh, my goodness, I think one of the worst places is doctor's offices and hospitals. (10:26 - 10:39) I mean, trying to heal in those environments. Oh, yeah. It's like I really would like to have a little chat with some of these people who are putting together these rooms.
(10:40 - 10:48) It's like, yeah, I don't understand. I understand efficiency. You got to move quickly sometimes with a patient, especially in a hospital.
(10:48 - 11:33) But the ding, ding, dinging and the beep, beep, beeping and the gray walls. Oh, I remember those days. I know. It's it's just wow. I can't hats off to anybody who is dealing with that and enduring that. But yes, Feng Shui is there to help keep you balanced when you have your home reflecting that balance. That is a supportive energy that can help you as well physically. Yeah. So from your perspective, how does chronic stress show up in our living spaces? Probably as clutter, most likely as clutter and clutter is such a big problem.
(11:33 - 12:07) I don't know about other countries around the world, but certainly in America, we are a consumer culture and we buy things that we like, but they can accumulate. We get gifts that are meaningful, but they can accumulate. We have that pile of mail that we still haven't gotten to, that pile of shoes that we haven't organized, those clothes that we used to fit into or, you know, that that favorite jersey from college or high school or something.
(12:07 - 12:47) You know, these things that have meaning, but they can clutter your space and clutter is, it's a very, I like to say clutter is the enemy of your serenity. It just can overtake and stress you out or the stress that you're feeling can kind of blind you as to what is accumulating and building up. So it's very, it's a very interactive conundrum, you know, am I stressed because everything's so cluttered or is everything cluttered because I'm so stressed? That is a big one.
(12:47 - 13:03) If you, yeah, if you walk in, even into your own home, if there's that one room in your home, it's like every time I walk into this room, I get stressed or every time I get angry or I get irritated. You might not even be angry. It just could be like annoyed, you know, that kind of thing. (13:03 - 13:16) And yeah, stress. Yeah. I know the first of the year, I always get in like a mode of like cleaning things out, you know, organizing some more, you know, whatever.
(13:17 - 13:31) And then of course, like throughout the year, but I always just feel like the first of the year, it's, you know, first of the year you want fresh start with everything. And I always feel like that's when I tend to tackle a lot of that, but then yes, throughout the year, more clutter builds up and things get unorganized. And yeah.
(13:32 - 14:03) But you bring up a good point because you said at the beginning of the year, you want to start fresh and you can grasp that feeling of freshness. And that's what you would like to maintain daily, weekly, your life, which if you're on a health journey, the last thing you really want to be thinking about is I got to do that closet. Really? You know, when you get things organized and get things decluttered and get things balanced, you can go about the business of healing.
(14:03 - 14:20) You can go about the business of getting the information you need to do what you need to do. It's a very interactive relationship between the energy of your home and how you live your life. And the feng shui comes in to help you balance everything in your home.
(14:20 - 14:25) Yeah. I feel like it's even even that junk drawer that, you know, everybody has. Yes.
(14:26 - 14:28) Even though you don't like see it. I know. Yep.
(14:29 - 14:57) You know, because it's in a drawer and it's closed, but you know that stuff is there or when you do go to get something that you know is in there and you're having to like sift through, you know, all these other things that can, yeah, it could be overwhelming and definitely affect you. I mean, yeah. So is there a connection between clutter and inflammation, energetically or emotionally? So I know this would be conjecture on my part.
(14:57 - 15:43) There's nothing in feng shui that I am aware of that says anything specifically about inflammation. But there is that sense of disharmony, irritation, certainly, but it's more on that emotional level. And so how are you expressing yourself emotionally? Do you have healthy emotional expression or are you holding everything in, you know, are things just building up, that kind of thing? And so I would, I would think that that could contribute, but I need to be clear that there's nothing that I'm aware of in feng shui that definitely correlates to inflammation itself.
(15:44 - 15:56) Gotcha. Yeah, I think that's, yeah, that's a great point. Because again, to me, it would just contribute to the added stress and the, absolutely, which could then, yes, contribute to inflammation.
(15:56 - 16:01) Absolutely. Yeah, there's no question in my mind about that. Yeah.
(16:02 - 16:30) How do you see feng shui supporting the nervous system or promoting calm in the body for better healing? So, you know, again, balance, balance, balance, and people may not be quite as aware of how important their bedroom is in that whole process. Because while we balance energy in our homes, we might say, I love the way it looks at the foyer. I love the way it looks in the family room.
(16:30 - 16:40) I love the way my kitchen looks. And then you go to bed and then there's piles of clothes, or you have a desk in there because that's your office. And then your sleep is interrupted.
(16:40 - 17:02) I would say that you need to focus on the feng shui of your bedroom as a very strong priority in trying to keep everything balanced, organized, less stress. You know, everything that I think you and your clients are working towards. Yeah.
(17:02 - 17:16) Yeah. Which, yeah, that was going to be kind of my next question is what's the, what's, what are the most supportive areas of the home to focus on first? So I think you kind of, kind of answered that. Well, yes, I would say the kitchen and the bedroom.
(17:18 - 17:34) However, what you're greeted with as soon as you walk in the door is extremely important. You don't want to get hit first, you know, walking through and it's like, there it is again, that pile, that irritation, that annoyance. You don't want to be hit with that.
(17:35 - 18:04) But if that's pretty much under control and you're not irritated when you walk into that space and, you know, you feel kind of welcome when you're coming into your house, then you can focus on your kitchen and your bedroom. The kitchen, for obvious reasons, healthy food, healthy preparation of the food, nourishment, you know, all of your nutrients, that's where it's held. That's where it's at.
(18:04 - 18:22) And then your bedroom is about restorative sleep and rejuvenation, healing, recovering. It's an extremely important room in the home. Yeah, those are really great points.
(18:22 - 18:28) I mean, like, you know, I guess I don't think about it. But it's not like I don't think about it in this way. But now you're making me think about it in this way.
(18:28 - 18:41) Because even we just got a new oven and it has an air fryer. Again, we're in a condo, so we don't have, you know, a whole lot of space. But we had our kitchen redone a few years back and really optimized the space.
(18:41 - 18:48) Mm hmm. But we still had some stuff on the counter, like an air fryer, for example. So the oven now has an air fryer feature.
(18:48 - 18:53) So we got rid of the air fryer. One less thing on the counter. Yes.
(18:53 - 19:08) We even got rid of the toaster oven that we had, which obviously those can be rather large, too, just because the features on this new oven. And oh, my gosh, I love cooking in general. But now I really feel like, oh, I have some really good space.
(19:08 - 19:31) Well, again, you brought up a fabulous point because your counter space is important, too. You can get choky and cluttery and overwhelmed just on your counter space. And you got rid of two bulky items, which I'm doing a happy dance right now about that.
(19:32 - 19:45) But I'm going to throw a wrench in. I don't know what your situation is, but for everybody out there who loves that butcher block, knife block that they keep on their counter. Oh, yeah, yeah.
(19:45 - 19:57) Yeah. I always recommend getting the knives off the counter. And yes, people say, wait, wait, I just did a post on this on my Instagram account.
(19:57 - 20:25) I think it kind of shocked people. But yeah, we do not recommend knives on the counter because knives are sharp and cutting and stabbing. And if you are dealing with stabbing pain or that cutting pain, there's so much symbolism between feng shui and how we live that and then people don't think of it.
(20:25 - 20:32) It's like, well, I want my knife right there. These are the tools of my trade. This is my artist palette.
(20:32 - 20:39) I do understand that. But you can have all of that in a nice drawer in your kitchen. You get that off of your counter.
(20:39 - 20:49) You don't have any reminders of that cutting, stabbing, slicing energy. And I would recommend that for absolutely everybody. And I do.
(20:50 - 20:53) I recommend it for all my clients. Yes. And we did it.
(20:53 - 21:05) Now, that was something I was not familiar with as a new feng shui consultant. And I was advised about that. And I'm like, I don't think I have room in a drawer to put it. (21:06 - 21:17) And my advisor had said, just look around, see what you can do. And I had this big drawer that I was using for something else. And I'm like, I think this will work.
(21:17 - 21:23) And I went on Amazon. I found this nice divider. It's got like slots for the knives.
(21:23 - 21:26) And everything's organized. It's beautiful. And it's in a drawer.
(21:27 - 21:31) I got it. I got it all done. And I said to my husband, come and look.
(21:31 - 21:35) What do you think? He walked in the kitchen. He's like, I love it. I love it.
(21:36 - 21:44) He just absolutely felt the difference in the energy immediately. Yeah. So there may be some resistance to that.
(21:44 - 21:49) And I get it. I really do. But you should try it because you will notice a difference. (21:51 - 22:00) I'm going to throw a little wrench in that. OK. No, so the set that we have is my husband's dad's.
(22:01 - 22:08) So there's like some meat. It's been around for a while. It kind of reminds him of his dad.
(22:09 - 22:17) So it's, yeah. I mean, that makes total sense. Like as soon as you started saying about the knives, I'm like, oh my gosh.
(22:17 - 22:29) Like, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. But I guess in that case for us, especially for him, keeping that around. Yeah.
(22:29 - 22:37) You don't want to create conflict, but you want to be aware. So here's what I think. And so for people listening, here's what you do.
(22:37 - 22:49) If you're in the same boat, it's a gift. It's very meaningful. Connect yourself to how you feel in the presence of those items.
(22:49 - 23:04) If you do find that, not digging what I'm feeling, I'm not sure what it is, play with it. And if it is about the knives, you still have the knives. They're not gone.
(23:04 - 23:12) They're just in a space that can contain that energy. So you're not hit with it all the time. So it's being mindful.
(23:13 - 23:23) It's applying the recommendations to your situation. You see how it works. You see how it goes, because not every remedy is for every person.
(23:23 - 23:39) Yeah. And with the placement matter too, because they're not necessarily the center of, like, when you walk into the kitchen, you don't see them right away either. They're off in one of the corners, but it's not even a corner that I prepare the food.
(23:39 - 23:50) Yeah. It really might not be problematic in your situation, but it might be. And so now that you've got the awareness, and that's what I would say to anybody.
(23:50 - 24:06) Now that you have the awareness, check it out and see what you think. If you like them there, if you feel you're really not being bothered by them, if it gives you a sense of that connection with his father and all that, I understand that. Yeah, then it works.
(24:07 - 24:18) But that's something you can do. Yeah. Not you necessarily, but what anyone can do when, you know, the stabbing pain, I keep getting that stabbing pain.
(24:19 - 24:32) I was like, what's going on with the knives? You know, people don't make those connections, but you should because so much about feng shui is very symbolic to life. Yeah. Yeah.
(24:32 - 24:56) That's learning something and such a great point. So for someone, sorry, let me backtrack. Are there any specific feng shui elements or placements that support hormone balance or reproductive health? So we kind of talked about the, you know, the pain or anything, you know, for women, reproductive health, that type of thing that you would say.
(24:57 - 25:19) So the center of the home is where, you know, the abdominal area is represented. So here's a tricky part of feng shui. We use what we call the bagua on a floor plan and a bagua is an energetic map.
(25:19 - 25:50) But what does that mean to people listening? If you can envision like a nine square grid and each grid is divided up into an area of life, like the center is health, like the top left is one area. The bottom right is another area. Each area has an area of life and then a part of the body that it relates to.
(25:51 - 26:10) And in this situation, we would focus on the center, which is the health and well-being and the abdominal organs are there. Specifically, I was reading about digestion, intestinal, but the reproductive organs are there too. So you would want to focus on the center of the home.
(26:10 - 26:31) And how can you find the center? Well, the way we figure out the bagua is we take measurements and, you know, we see how wide a home is and how deep the home is. And then we kind of draw the outline of it. And then we place this nine square grid over that space.
(26:31 - 26:47) And then we apply the location, the direction in each location. And then I can see where that lies in your home. So in, okay, there's, and then here's the other tricky part.
(26:48 - 27:05) My first certification is in BTB Feng Shui. And that's a very set bagua that they use. Like in every bagua, the center bottom is always the career and the right rear is always partnership and the left rear is always wealth.
(27:06 - 27:25) I have since gotten certified in Flying Star Feng Shui. And that uses entirely, it's the same bagua, but it's done differently by direction, compass direction. So where in a BTB bagua, the career would be at the front door.
(27:26 - 27:43) In a Flying Star Bagua, the north would always be the career. So it depends on the location, the different directions. So I'm more exclusively Flying Star Feng Shui because I feel it's a little more in depth and a little more precise.
(27:44 - 28:16) However, anybody who has worked with a BTB consultant should rest assured all schools of Feng Shui, very effective, very helpful, and they should feel confident with that. But I wanted to give the two different examples because a lot of people have heard of that BTB because it's what's used very prominently in the West here. And it's based on the Chinese teachings, but it's been simplified for how the Western people, you know, how we live in these modern times.
(28:16 - 28:36) The Flying Star is more from a classical school, more of the older rules, more with direction and form and everything else. However, in both baguas, the health area is in the center. And we pay attention to health matters.
(28:36 - 29:05) When you're dealing with a health issue, you take a look at the center of your home and you see what's there. And it could be very supportive to good health, and it could be very, there could be obstacles there to good health. Things that would be obstacles would be a staircase or clutter or maybe something about the structure that makes it awkward or things like that.
(29:05 - 29:21) It's something that a professional would be able to help you with. And I don't want anyone to freak out because if they have a staircase or, you know, clutter or whatever, the center of their home, there's remedies. And that's what a consultant can help you do.
(29:21 - 29:42) What you can do initially, because in Flying Star Feng Shui, there's some negative numbers in Feng Shui, and then there's some positive numbers in Feng Shui. And each one of those squares on the bagua is assigned a number every year. And in the health area, it's a negative number.
(29:42 - 30:04) And so, you know, you can add metal to that space. And that's the beauty of the Feng Shui is that we can see where the negative energy is tending to accumulate. But then we can advise as to how to break that up and send it on its way and minimize any negative effects of the energy that's in that space.
(30:04 - 30:11) Wow, very cool. It wasn't too confusing, I know. No, no, that was great.
(30:12 - 30:42) So what are some changes that someone could make today to start shifting the energy in their space toward a more healing and just, you know, better energy flow? So today, I would say to them, take a look at your kitchen, take a look at your bedroom. If one is more upsetting or disconcerting than the other, then focus on that room. And then take into account what we've been discussing today.
(30:42 - 31:09) Remember that your health is being reflected in your home, that your home reflects your stress level, your sense of peace and balance. And remember, too, that you are trying to balance everything out and you're looking for the most supportive energy to help you achieve that goal. So figure out which one needs your attention first and get your game plan.
(31:10 - 31:23) You know, you most likely will have to do some decluttering. But if you're one of those people who you don't, I mean, you're one of those who keeps up with it, but something's not quite right. You might be sleeping in the wrong direction.
(31:23 - 31:39) Your bed might need to be repositioned. You might be using some storage under the bed that's not for your optimal health. There's certain things that, let me just say that we always recommend not using under the bed for any storage.
(31:40 - 31:49) However, people, I mean, their hands are tied. They have very limited storage. And we don't fault anybody for that.
(31:49 - 32:45) I mean, everything is what it is. So if you have to store anything under the bed, we always recommend it's soft things like towels, sheets, sweatshirts, sweaters, maybe seasonal clothes, but nothing like weapons, legal papers, anything pointy or sharp, anything given to you that has a negative connotation. If it's something that you want to keep, but it kind of bugs you to have it, but you don't want to get rid of it, well, then you're not ready to get rid of it, but it can't, it should not be under your bed because you want the energy to be surrounding your bed, you know, all the way underneath the bed, you know, from head to toe and side to side, you want free flowing energy.
(32:45 - 32:52) And that is supportive while you're trying to repair and restore while you're sleeping. Yeah. Oh my gosh.
(32:52 - 33:03) That makes so much sense. Yeah. I mean, in those two places, I mean, I talked to all my clients about that, you know, healing in the kitchen and healing, you know, in the bedroom with sleep and everything.
(33:04 - 33:36) So those are definitely, yeah, great. But the fact that, like you said, under the bed storage and, you know, if you have to, what, like, that's, that's very cool, like pointing it out, you know, and hearing that. So here's one thing too, I do want to put out there, if someone in your group is pregnant and they have things under their bed, we always advise people to just leave it, just leave it until the baby comes and then go ahead and do your thing under the bed.
(33:37 - 34:00) It's kind of symbolic of the womb where, and you don't want to pull things out and you don't want to empty it before it's time. So if it's already there, just live with it. And if you can't, now that you have that knowledge and you can't sleep or whatever, maybe you can find another room to sleep in, but just leave it alone.
(34:01 - 34:25) And the other thing I wanted to mention is if you have an en suite, to keep your door to the en suite closed, especially when you're sleeping. I'm not real strict about that during the day, but at night we always close it and we close our closet door. Bedrooms have, or excuse me, bathrooms have drains and drains are draining energy.
(34:26 - 34:38) And so yeah, you just close the door and it blocks that from grabbing your energy out of you. And yeah, it helps you sleep better. Just remember to open it if you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the day.
(34:38 - 34:46) Yeah, I know. Remember it's, yes, it's closed. Don't bang your feet, you know, trying to open the door.
(34:47 - 35:06) Yeah. Do you have any suggestions for creating healing or nourishing space for mindful eating, especially for those working to improve their relationship with food? Yeah, I think it's really important for people to have their table cleared. Some people use it as their desk.
(35:07 - 35:27) Some people use it as the mail center. Some people use it to drop their groceries off. A dedicated space to maybe use placemats, napkins, nice silverware, plates that you like, all of that to encourage mindful eating will be very helpful.
(35:28 - 35:42) Yeah, yeah, love that. How important is intention when rearranging a space? Intention is like so important. In the Western method of feng shui, intention is everything.
(35:43 - 35:59) In Flying Star, the intention is always there. It has a different value than in BTB. But in both methods, it's very important.
(36:00 - 36:20) Your intention, it's like what are you manifesting? You know, when you make adjustments to the center of your home to be, so that center is the supportive area for your health journey. And whatnot. Having that mindful intention behind the actions you take strengthens everything.
(36:21 - 36:34) It's very important. So this is where also like mindset can play a role along with, you know, feng shui and working together, you know, for even deeper healing, probably, right? Yes, yes. Yeah.
(36:35 - 37:07) How can feng shui help someone feel more in control or empowered on their healing journey? Well, I would say that would be an offshoot, kind of a one of the benefits that you would receive from balancing your space. When things are balanced, that's what you achieve, you know, so it's in that way. It's not, you know, a specific do this feng shui thing, and then you get that.
(37:08 - 37:14) It's the byproduct of what you're achieving through all of it. Gotcha. Okay.
(37:15 - 37:28) So can our space reflect or reinforce limiting beliefs, maybe about our health? Absolutely. Absolutely. Think about and think about the artwork that you have in your homes.
(37:29 - 37:42) I did a newsletter on the artwork in our homes too. I'm going to recommend that people sign up for my newsletter. Well, we'll finish up with that as well.
(37:42 - 37:49) That definitely sounds like a lot of good stuff. Yeah, these are the things I write about. Okay, I got lost.
(37:49 - 39:11) Where are we going? Can our space reflect or reinforce limiting beliefs about our health? Yes, and it's probably through artwork, symbolism, things that we are drawn to, a limiting belief, you know, if you have, oh, I don't know, what are the books you read? What are the shows that you watch? How do you tackle projects with confidence or do you shy away thinking, oh, that's for other people, I can't do that. We can get ourselves stuck in so many ways and the objects that we keep around us can really reinforce that. If you have, I don't know, maybe a favorite menu from a health food place that you like to go to, if you have that framed and that's in your kitchen maybe, or if you have an area in your home that you use for your workout space and it's like inviting to you and it calls your name, then you're doing things in your home that are supporting your journey.
(39:12 - 39:52) And those are the things you should be thinking about. And remember about the symbolism because the symbolism is really, it strikes people as very, aha, I should have thought of that when you put symbolism together with the feng shui, but the symbolism is there without our knowledge. We could have a man cave with Rocky Balboa, right? And it's like, yo, Adrian, I won the battle, but you don't want I won the battle in your kitchen where you're trying to do healthy, or in your bedroom where you're trying to sleep.
(39:53 - 40:38) So it's about being mindful of where you put what, what you bring into your home, the kind of symbolism that you are exhibiting throughout your home with that connection. Now, hopefully people have about how we are expressing how we're feeling about the journey that we're on. Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's of course another great point, but I feel like, cause I talked to my clients, even about like if they want to do some simple workout stuff at home, whether it's a mat or just some light weights, or maybe they do have a treadmill in the corner, but making that stuff just easily accessible, but still not to a point where it feels cluttered or not making your treadmill your new closet.
(40:40 - 40:46) Yes, that's exactly right. Going back to the symbolism. Yeah, I feel like that's, yeah.
(40:46 - 41:03) And when you have a dedicated space, use it for its dedicated purpose. Just like you said, you don't want the treadmill to be the coat hanger, you know? Yeah. And if you have to have it in your room, we never recommend that because it does interrupt with the energy of the purpose of your room.
(41:03 - 41:27) However, we do understand about space limitations, but I would advise anybody who wants to put their treadmill in their room to get some sort of barrier, you know, those like the screens that you can... Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's a great barrier. And that very symbolically is separating that space from your sleeping space.
(41:27 - 41:37) And you can dedicate both to their intended purpose. Yeah. And it could even just add to kind of the decor and the, you know... Oh, absolutely.
(41:37 - 41:41) Yeah. Yeah, the energy, you know, to the room. So for sure.
(41:41 - 42:02) A lot of energy, yes. Do you have any client stories where shifting their space led to noticeable changes in their health or mindset? You know, I have not had the very focus on health, but I do have quite a few client stories. I could share a couple.
(42:03 - 42:16) They're not health related though, but let me, I would like to explain because I would like people to understand that feng shui is helpful in more than one area of life. Yeah. It's nine different areas of life that we can focus on.
(42:17 - 42:34) So my husband and I went to a family member's house. They invited us for dinner one night and we were, he was asking me some feng shui questions and I said, well, let me see your office. And he took me to his office and there were a few things.
(42:35 - 42:49) It's like his office was set up pretty well, but I noticed, you know, maybe you should put this over here and that over there. And maybe you should switch your desk from there to here. I think you might feel more comfortable here.
(42:49 - 43:01) And he was frustrated with his job. And I said, you might find a little more satisfaction. And he did all, everything that I recommended.
(43:02 - 43:12) And about six weeks later, they called us and said, he got a new job. They were moving. There were some, yeah, the whole thing changed.
(43:12 - 43:20) Everything changed. And he's been, and he's a little older and he could be retiring now if he wanted to. And he doesn't want to, he's enjoying himself.
(43:20 - 43:27) Yeah. And they love their new house. They moved from New York state to Virginia and they're happy.
(43:27 - 43:33) It worked out really well. Yeah. No, I mean, I think, yeah, that's super powerful.
(43:33 - 43:47) There's definitely something to be said, you know, about the energy that's flowing in our spaces. And yeah, whether that's a new job or, you know, with health. And yes, there's other things that would need to go along with that.
(43:47 - 43:52) Yes, yeah. There's definitely something powerful still. You know, with that.
(43:52 - 44:36) So, yeah. You know, and I do want to make it clear that feng shui does not practice medicine, that it's not like medical advice. What we do is all about energy, allowing positive energy in, directing negative energy out, breaking up stagnant energy, allowing free flow energy, because all of that supports, it's all about being supportive energy in what it is that you are mindfully doing to improve your health or your life or your relationships or your career or whatever, your creativity.
(44:37 - 44:47) Yeah, whatever it is. So people think in terms of, oh, they can't really be all that important. I mean, everything just is what it is.
(44:47 - 45:00) But we have a lot of control over how the energy flows in our spaces. And we can dictate how we feel in our homes and our offices based on how we direct that energy flow. Yeah.
(45:01 - 45:23) So obviously that was a great story. Has there been one that's been like maybe the most surprising transformation you've seen from someone applying feng shui to their home or their life? No, that one was pretty much up there. I did have another client who she was having a terrible difficulty sleeping in her room.
(45:24 - 45:37) And it was affecting her health because she wasn't sleeping while she was sleeping on the couch. I'm like, well, what's going on? She said, well, why don't you come over and take a look and maybe you can help me figure it out. And so I'm looking at her apartment. (45:38 - 45:44) It's like, oh, this room looks really nice. And I look in her bedroom and I'm like, this room looks really nice. All right.
(45:44 - 46:13) So what do you got under the bed? And so she pulled out some stuff from under her bed. She had legal papers, divorce papers, very upsetting reminders of very upsetting times in her life sitting right under her bed. And what do you know? She could not sleep in her bed.
(46:13 - 46:30) She never made that connection that all that negativity was permeating up and surrounding her while she was trying to sleep and she couldn't sleep. So yeah, that one was pretty profound. And when she, I said, you've got to get rid of all of this.
(46:30 - 46:47) I know you need these papers, but you've got to keep these in a place that's not where you're sleeping. You can put pillows and blankets under your bed, but you can't keep these here if you want to sleep. She did what I recommended and she's like, I can't believe it. (46:47 - 46:54) I can't believe it. It was, yeah, it was pretty profound. Wow.
(46:54 - 47:01) She was really happy with that too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This might be an odd question. I don't know.
(47:02 - 47:19) Have you done anything with nurseries? No, but nurseries are to be considered. If you, okay, children are very... Yeah, or children's rooms or whatever. They're very sensitive to EMFs.
(47:19 - 47:41) So if you try to keep your children's cribs and beds away from outlets and things like that, I wouldn't have any electronics in the rooms. I know that people have their monitors. I would keep that monitor way away from the baby so that there's no interfering energy while the little one's trying to sleep.
(47:41 - 48:02) If you have a slanted ceiling in that bedroom, I would put the crib under where the ceiling is the highest and not on the slant there. Yeah. And then for older children, but still young children, colors are pretty important.
(48:02 - 48:12) Red and dark blue. I would go easy on those colors for children. And bed placement is really important.
(48:13 - 48:33) There is what we call the command position in Feng Shui for beds, desks, maybe for the owner of the house and where they sit in their family rooms. There's a command position and you always want to be able to see the door. You don't want to be surprised by something coming up from behind you.
(48:33 - 48:41) Yeah. Very symbolic, but very energetic. And so, I would be mindful of how you set up a child's room as well.
(48:42 - 49:00) And then if you find that they're having difficulty at school, the colors of their room and the energy in their room, maybe there might be too much print. It could be action figures that are, it's just too much stimulation for them. But yeah, things can be addressed in children's rooms and in nurseries.
(49:00 - 49:22) Yeah. Yeah. Great. I just thought that was, that just came to mind as we were talking and I thought, yeah, that still might be helpful for someone. Yeah. What would you say to someone who feels overwhelmed by their space, but doesn't know where to start? You know, I love that saying of, how do you eat an elephant? And the answer is one bite at a time.
(49:23 - 49:33) Although people on your, you know, where you're directing their journey, they're probably not eating elephants. No. Obviously, you get my point.
(49:33 - 49:38) Go small. Start with that junk drawer. Start with the mail.
(49:39 - 49:55) Start with maybe the boots in the front closet, if you live in that kind of environment or, you know, that one rack in your closet. Start small. You will be surprised at the energy boost that you get.
(49:55 - 50:06) It happens almost 100% of the time. I would venture to say it happens every time. Unless you're an old curmudgeon and you just don't want, you know, you just are not going to be helped by this process.
(50:08 - 50:16) If you get the ball rolling, it's very empowering. It really, really is. It's like, wow.
(50:16 - 50:22) And then you open that drawer and you see the organization. It's like, I love what that feels like. It feels good.
(50:22 - 50:27) Yeah, it feels really good. So you start small. It's like the train pulling out of the depot.
(50:27 - 50:35) It's a slow go, but then it gains momentum and then you're on a roll. Yeah. And I think that's perfect too.
(50:35 - 51:05) Because I mean, that's what I tell my clients. I tell listeners is pick, you know, one, like one meal even, you know, so I feel like it aligns with that. And maybe before they even need to adjust one meal or one, you know, eating preference or whatever it is, maybe this is even, you know, the first step is feeling like they have the right energy to be able to do that and adjusting something in their kitchen or, you know, organizing that drawer, whatever it might be.
(51:05 - 51:14) Yeah. So I think that's really great and definitely aligns with, like I said, with what I tell my clients as well. Are there any- I love that.
(51:14 - 51:29) Yeah. Are there any simple feng shui rituals or habits that you personally practice? You know, whatever it is to support your wellbeing. I am a stickler when the mail comes in.
(51:29 - 51:36) My husband has his pile. I have mine. I put things in drawers, you know, a file drawer.
(51:36 - 51:54) If I need it, I read whatever I need to read and throw it out or keep it, whatever. Everything's got its place. And then my room is, it's not stark, but it is, it's very feng shui-ed out.
(51:54 - 52:07) And my bed is in its command position. We have two dressers and a chair and a dressing table and no clutter. Our closet is not cluttered.
(52:07 - 52:16) We keep the doors closed every night to the bathroom and to the closet. And yeah, we sleep pretty good. Yeah.
(52:16 - 52:24) Yeah. Great. So last question, where can our listeners connect with you, learn more? I know you've mentioned your newsletter.
(52:25 - 52:47) So yeah, how can they get on that or just, you know, connect with you in any way? Okay. So I'm on Instagram and LinkedIn and Facebook. I do have a newsletter and you can sign up for that through my website, which is katherinedeanfengshui.com. My website has all sorts of information.
(52:47 - 53:02) If you're looking for a consultation, if you're looking to sign up for the newsletter, if you want to read my blogs, if you want to get in touch with me, it's very easy to do so through the one-stop shop there. Great. Yes.
(53:02 - 53:12) And I'll link all that in our show notes for the episode as well, but I just wanted to make sure that everybody knows. So yeah, that's a wrap. Thank you so, so much.
(53:12 - 53:16) Oh my gosh, this was really different. Really different. Yeah.
(53:16 - 53:24) For me, I think it'll be different for our listeners. Hopefully, I mean, I think they probably got at least one thing out of that. I know I got several things.
(53:25 - 53:40) Well, I'm delighted. I'm happy to hear that. And if they have any questions, how the Feng Shui can relate to what they're doing to work with you, just they, my contact information is through, you can do that all through my website.
(53:41 - 53:44) Awesome. Well, thanks again. You are welcome.
(53:44 - 53:57) Thanks for having me. Thank you so much to Catherine for sharing her wisdom and energy with us today. I love how she reminded us that healing isn't just about what we put in our bodies.
(53:57 - 54:12) It's also about what surrounds us. To everyone listening, if you're feeling called to make changes in your space, even small ones, trust that your environment can either support your healing or hold you back. It's okay to start with one drawer, one corner or one intention.
(54:13 - 54:24) If you want to connect with Catherine or learn more about how to bring Feng Shui into your healing journey, be sure to check the show notes. I've linked everything there for you. And as always, thank you for being here.
(54:25 - 54:31) Thank you for showing up for yourself. And remember, you don't have to do this perfectly. You just have to stay in the process.
(54:31 - 54:36) Until next time, nourish your body, heal from the inside out and thrive.