a beautified home
A Beautified Home is the therapy you need
Written By Kenniese S. Franklin
It has been made clear in 2020 that the health and wellness conversation stretches far beyond the physical body. Eating, bathing and exercising regularly are of immense importance, but they do not guarantee a healthy and fulfilled life. While sitting at home, we notice the various emotional states that pass through us daily. We find new feelings, new energies, new parts of our consciousness we didn't know were there before. The house witnesses as we attempt to navigate these new waters. With infinite capacity to embody different moods, home mirrors us as we shift. It walks by our side through new terrain and reflects back to us how we respond to change. Whether it’s a week at an Airbnb, a six month job rotation or five years of foundation laying, allow the house you presently live in to support what you're presently going through. Your home base should always be tailored to your current needs.
These principles are extensions of an ancient conversation about the relationship between humanity and architecture. In recent decades, we see neuroscientists studying how stimuli in the physical environment affect the brain and body. Thousands of years before that, the Chinese created Feng Shui, which considers human health and wholeness in the design of the living environment. Before that, India had a well developed sacred holistic science pertaining to design called Vastu Shastra. Even further back, temples and sacred land structures were defined and designed with the seasons and the sun in mind. Ancient tribes considered the movement of constellations and the rhythm of the universal clock when choosing and curating spaces for prayer and meditation.
Your living space can be trained to hold the vibration of the fusion of your higher intelligence fused with your human personality. This harmonic state of being between the immediate self and the higher self, grants you access to infinite wisdom and multidimensional healing. Maryam Hasnaa calls it the home frequency. When both you and your home emit these frequencies into the cosmos, your ability to manifest is amplified. Every house is ripe with these capabilities. You don't need a “dream home,” a designer or a big budget. You can begin to activate these powers from day one of your stay and it won't be long before you feel the effects. All it takes is a personal touch and presence in the Now.
“The energy radiating from your home can be like a small stone dropped into a still pool of the universe, whose ripples will be felt at the farthest shore of the cosmos. ”
Sacred Space, Denise Linn
Activate your senses
You want the house to feel alive so that you feel alive when you’re in it. Surround yourself with things that please you. Use the colors you love. Use the textures that make you feel something. Use patterns, images, sound, music and aromas that excite you. Play with symmetry, asymmetry and contrast to find out where your spirit is at ease and where it feels on edge. Painted walls, throw blankets, pillows, plants and other simple accents can be used to dress the space in color. Buy art for your walls or simply use your personal belongings. Photos, books, bags, hats, jewelry, etc can be thoughtfully and stylishly displayed.
If you don’t have the designer’s touch, remember: It’s more about the process than it is about the product. Of course we want the home to look nice, but what we’re really after is a deeper relationship with that inner guide. Instead of worrying about the perfect color scheme, allow the guide to assist you in creating a space that supports what you need at the moment, remembering that your needs are much more complex than food, water and shelter.
Resist the urge to think you have to do it all at once. Beautiful designs are the result of much tinkering and refinement, similar to the preparation of a meal. The cook continues to adjust flavors until they find the harmony they’re seeking. Allow the design to build on itself. Add and subtract objects as needed and notice how your energy responds over time.
Integrate the Elements
Inside the home we can recreate the feelings invoked by nature ranging from invigorated inspiration to serene softness, childlike wonder to peaceful ponderance, wombly warmth, distant sorrow, thunderous rage and so on.
The immense changes we see in the world now are results of some greater cosmic shifts and we therefore can call on these cosmic forces to assist us as we transform. We cannot survive without the support of the Sun and the Earth. They offer just as much emotional support as they do biological support; we’re not meant to shoulder these transformations alone. Tribal people understand this. Their life cycles commune with and honor the natural world. We are being invited to recall this ancient wisdom and maximize the benefits of our relationships with the Sun, the Earth, our ancestors and other supportive energies in the unseen realm. Integrating the elements at home helps bridge the gap between us and the divine.
“There is no place in the world, neither desert, forest, mountain nor house, town or city, where there is not a voice continually going on - a voice which was once engraved upon it and which since then has continued.”
The Mysticism of Sound and Music, Hazrat Inayat Khan
Water
The water on our planet is said to be billions of years old. It has witnessed life on Earth for eons. Tap into its ancient memory. Water is rich with stories and has information for us, if only we’ll listen.
Notice the humidity or aridity of the air in your space. Adjust as needed.
Use misters to cool the air and imbue the room with water’s serenity.
Purchase a water feature for the home or make your own fountain like I did and meditate upon the ripples.
Purchase or create artwork with fluid forms that are reminiscent of water.
Air
Notice how the quality of air changes from morning to night and from season to season. How does the mood of your space change as the months pass?
If there’s a breeze outside, open a door or a window. Allow the wind to dust you off and break through any blockage or stagnant, tired energy.
Burn incense or resins and contemplate the changing shapes of the smoke. Concentrate on your intention and allow the smoke to carry it to the heavens.
Imagine any atmospheric tension dissolving as the smoke disappears.
Utilize air purifiers, humidifiers and dehumidifiers as needed.
Earth
House plants and fresh flowers are quiet companions with their own personalities and lessons to teach. The soil, roots, foliage and flowers are mini ecosystems that stay in tune with nature's rhythm.
Gemstones & crystals form inside the planet and emerge with their own vibratory signatures. Use these charged chunks of Earth at home to direct or redirect, soften or intensify the flow of energy.
Sit and listen to the voice of your house and the land beneath it. Take some time to learn the personality by witnessing, listening and asking questions if you have them.
Acknowledge the trees and other plants in your area as neighbors that are vital to the ecosystem. Honor the animals and insects that share and benefit from what grows on the land you live.
Start a garden or a compost pile.
Sit in the grass if you have it.
Fire
Open the blinds and invite the sun inside.
Burn candles and notice how the flame purifies and enlivens the atmosphere.
Use wooden accents to invoke and anchor the fire.
Purchase or create art that uses colors and forms that are reminiscent of fire and warmth.
The Fifth Element
Akin to the sixth sense (intuition), the fifth element is also referred to as Space, Energy, Qi, Source, Life Force and so on. It has many names but the fifth element is faceless, formless. It’s the container other elements exist inside; the force that holds all matter together; the invisible battery that charges and pumps our hearts as we go about our days.
To channel this element into your space you can hum, sing, dance, laugh, play music, paint, meditate etc. Exercise and stretching are also useful in aligning the body and its environment with the fifth element. The urge to smile, the spirit that guides you when you dance or draw, the resounding vibration of your hum, the inner space you create when stretching your muscles - these are pathways to the fifth element, the great mystery.
Empty the trash, sweep the floor, dust and declutter often. Creative energy is more likely to drop into empty space.
As you decide what will go where in your space, notice that something is directing you, telling you when things feel off and when the design is just right. That’s your intuition. Let this guidance lead the way to channel more of this element into your designs and your greater energy field.
Among other objectives, the purpose of Spatial Therapy is largely to harness this potent, etheric energy so we can co-create with the universe and have some say in what our reality looks like. In time, these writings will further explore the mechanics of the relationship between house and human consciousness.
A working balance of all expressions of the elements is vital for this magic to work. Keep in mind that a balanced person isn’t necessarily always in balance. Rather, they know how to return to balance, because as humans, we inevitably fall off our centers.
Know that your spirit will crave different stimuli as you grow. If you suddenly feel different towards something you used to love, it’s because there’s been a shift in your consciousness. Infuse these inner changes onto your outer environment. Give them space to settle in. A minor shift like burning incense or a newly swept floor may be all your spirit needs at the moment. Or perhaps it’s something more drastic like new furniture, a new wall color or a new apartment altogether. Notice and respond to these consciousness shifts to remain in tune with your home frequency. You will inevitably learn to harness your power, expand your imagination and step into the life you envision for yourself, but better.
Written by Kenniese Franklin