If Marie Kondo has inspired you to get things tidied up, you’ll be excited to learn that Gloucestershire has its very own Feng Shui expert to help the owners of cluttered homes across the county.
Speaking to SoGlos, Bonnie Lloyd from The Isbourne explains what Feng Shui is and how it can help streamline your home into something more calm than chaotic.
And, if you’re interested in learning more about Feng Shui here in Gloucestershire, The Isbourne is hosting a course on the topic in February 2020. For more information, visit isbourne.org/introduction-to-feng-shui
About the expert – Bonnie Lloyd from The Isbourne
Bonnie Lloyd is a Feng Shui consultant based in Cheltenham, who also works at The Isbourne. Bonnie runs an introduction to Feng Shui course at the holistic centre, and also offers her bespoke service to clients in their homes.
The Isbourne is home to a packed schedule of courses, classes, workshops and talks, spanning subjects from Reiki and massage, through to reflexology and mindfulness.
For more information, visit isbourne.org, or to sign up to The Isbourne’s introduction to Feng Shui course see isbourne.org/introduction-to-feng-shui
How would you describe Feng Shui?
The best description that I’ve come across is that Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese practice of harmonising the energy in the environment, which creates optimal prosperity and wellbeing for the occupant.
The best way people can understand it really is that feeling when you walk into a room, you might feel great, or perhaps not good in that space. You either want to stay and get comfortable there, and enjoy yourself, or you want to turn around and head straight back out the door.
That feeling is basically energy in action. Energy is all around us, in the air that we breath and move around in. We intuitively experience that all the time, and Feng Shui is about harnessing that energy in the best way.
What does your role as a consultant involve?
I work one-to-one with people. So, I’ll go to their home, usually over two different appointments. Firstly, I take a compass so I can get a really accurate reading for where the house is facing, and then I spend time getting to know them, finding out if they’re experiencing anything challenging in life and what they’d like to achieve from the consultation.
I then go away and create a chart for them before returning for a second consultation which takes about four hours. During that appointment we go around each part of their home and look at the different balances and cures that I recommend they put in place.
Sometime we do it at the time, so I’ll be moving around furniture with them! But sometimes they’re not quite ready to take that step so I’ll leave them to do that in their own time.
It’s a really personal bespoke service, and I get to know clients really well. Most people don’t realise how in depth the process is going to be, and also how much they can benefit from it.
What small changes can people make at home to introduce better energy?
One thing is to declutter. That’s a key part of Feng Shui, as energy can become stagnant if there’s lots of clutter around, particularly things that we don’t need anymore it holds energy that is old and not needed anymore.
It’s always important to put the loo seat down before you flush! Having it up when you flush the loo is seen as ‘flushing money down the toilet’, so that’s always a key one to make sure that everyone in the household is putting it down.
Another one is the position of your bed. It’s advised that when you’re in bed, you’re facing the door. It’s important the door isn’t behind you, as it’s seen as good for protection and stability.
How did Feng Shui become part of your life?
My background was actually in public relations and hospitality, but through my own ill health I had a change in mindset and I started to explore all sorts of complementary and holistic therapies like nutrition and reiki. That’s how I came to discover The Isbourne, and it changed my life.
I’ve always had a love for homes and moving my furniture around, without really knowing why, and I discovered that Feng Shui is about the energy of the home. That was a huge lightbulb moment for me – I knew what was going on in my body, and then I became able to translate that into my home, too.
You’re running a Feng Shui course at The Isbourne in 2020. What will that involve?
The course is an Introduction to Feng Shui, which is one of The Isbourne’s quality endorsed learning courses. It’s running in February on two sessions on Saturdays between 2pm and 5pm.
It’ll be a really great introduction for people, where I’ll go through some methods people can apply to their own homes. There’re certain methods that are simple to implement and are really effective.
For more information, visit isbourne.org.
