West Meets East©

By Caroline Patrick BorNei

Certified Red Ribbon Professional of the International Feng Shui Guild

Feng Shui Health Assessment

How does the home relate to our health? In my own personal life, sickness up to this point has been rare. But when I am sick, I am very sick! Doctors advised various things to cure my sore throats, ear infections, scarlet fever and later surgeries to improve or remove the offending parts of my body. I was young and believed it was necessary to obey and believe anyone wearing a white uniform. Options were not offered, and so I got sicker following the recommendations of those health providers. One Christmas morning when my children were small, the pain in my body made it impossible to make it through the opening of presents. The pain was caused by the medication given to me a few days earlier. I suspected this was the problem, but when I called the doctor, he claimed “it” was all in my head and to continue the prescribed medication. A ten-day stay in the hospital proved it was the medicine, to which it was found I was allergic after many, many expensive tests. Upon dismissal from the facility, I vowed to learn everything about the conditions which caused my disease, and I took responsibility for my own health education after that experience. I discovered that not all bodies are alike and medicines should not be given out in a general way.

I found teachers who could teach me about myself first. I studied with many herbalists, taking on apprentices with fantastic wise teachers, whose knowledge was vast, from Celtic “back-woods methods” to doctors who taught Ayurveda, the science of self-healing, and also an M.D. who gave up her high position in a hospital to open a clinic with alternative healing options. She learned our backwoods herbal remedies, and we were taught the properties of how the herb worked. It was a win/win situation. Chinese Medicine, Chi gong, acupuncture, massage, meditation and more studies followed. Feng Shui entered the picture in the 1980’s, and the journey of self-help began to come full circle. The environment, the physical and spiritual path became one entity in my fifteen-year search for better health.

Finding your own constitution is a valuable tool. One such way to find your body’s prakruit, or your own nature, is to take an easy test. These Ayurvedic test charts can be found in books or online, which determine your individual biological humor. This is an Eastern approach to understanding your body’s natural nature, and it teaches specific information for healing the whole aspect of mind, body and soul. Your body type will fall under one of the three doshas of vata-air, pitta-fire or kapha-earth. No one is a complete full vata, pitta, or kapha, but will usually have one strong dosha, such as my body, which is considered kapha, and the second total of characteristics is pitta. So I am determined to be a kapha with a pitta wing! This condition can change and swing from one to another throughout life. My doshas seem to have remained about the same for 15 years. For example: Height, frame, weight, skin luster, skin texture, eyes, hair, teeth, nails, joints, circulation, appetite, thirst, sweating and other body eliminations, immune function, disease tendency such as a lot of pain to moderate pain, activity, endurance, sleep patterns, memory, dreams speech temperament, positive or negative emotions are considered on the test. Yoga exercise helps restore and maintain proper balance to prana-life force, tejas-inner radiance and ojas-primal vigor.

Native Americans, Japanese, Egyptians, Celtic and European tribes, to name a few, all have wheels of life, recording seasons, body parts, elements and colors. The ancient Chinese Bagua is one of the best tools for working with land shapes, locations, seasons, elements with colors and body parts. This “compass,” for example, adds life aspects to each of the eight sections of “the wheel” with a center called the Tai Chi. This spoke is the Yin and Yang of life’s aspects and holds together. This octagonal template can be placed over land, cities, structures, homes and the body to determine health conditions of the people living or working in a structure.

The Family – relates to feet and legs; the Wood Element; color is green

Wealth – hips; money and abundance; purple is the color and Wind helps the flow of money

Fame – eyes; Fire; red is the color

Partnership – Earth-related; stomach; pink or red and white

Health – Earth; other organs; yellow, orange

Children and Creativity – Metal; lungs and mouth; white and pastels

Helpful People and Travel – Metal-related; head; heaven; gray

Career – Water; ears; black and blue-black

Knowledge – self-cultivation; mountain; blue-green

The house and homes we have lived in give clues to your physical problems. Many detail designs, such as high ceilings and low ceilings on one floor of the house or a large beams over the front door, bed, desk or couch, can cause head problems. The pressure builds up on the body, which relates back to the head section of the house or the Career. Investigate and be responsible for your own health. These are just a few personal suggestions to finding peace within. For more details, call for a phone consultation.

Caroline Patrick Bor Nei is a certified Feng Shui Practitioner and a Red Ribbon Professional of The International Feng Shui Guild. Her abilities as a consultant and artist are widely known in the US and abroad. Caroline has completed over 5000 consultations for individuals, large and small businesses. Return clients appreciate the value of her suggestions both mundane and transcendental, providing support on multiple levels. As a college art instructor for many years, Caroline understands the power of color; its symbolism and the visual effect images have on individuals in their surroundings. Her home base is Portland, OR where she continues to write, teach, paint, do illustrations and give herbal medicine making classes. She is available for Feng Shui consultations; Feng Shui art consultant, advises builders, architects and mentors a few serious students.

Call (503) 208-2960 or email caroline@fengshuiartistry.com.

Any suggestions given in this column are only for entertainment. Please contact your physician for any medical or herbal advice or diagnosis. Caroline Patrick is not responsible for any misuse of her advice or suggestions.

Caroline’s “West Meets East” weekly newspaper column can be read from archives on her website www.fengshuiartistry.com.