How to Heal Your Home

‘Our home is stressing us out’ says Paula Moore. She is a chiropractor, and her partner Laurie Tomlinson, 34, is a doctor. They live in Southwick, West Sussex.

THE PROBLEM

‘We’ve lived here for two years and have never felt it’s a relaxing environment,” says Paula. ‘My clinic is on the ground floor, so I can never switch off at the end of the day. Laurie finds it hard to unwind here, too. Since we moved in, we’ve both slept really badly and we’re always getting colds and flu. Our relationship has also been affected. We want to make the flat an oasis where we can escape our hectic lives and become closer.’

THE SOLUTION

Chris Colgan is an expert in space clearing. ‘I work with the energy in people’s homes and workplaces, helping to identify the things holding them back. Buildings store an energetic imprint of past events and connections we’ve made with people in our lives,’ he says.

CHRIS SAYS: I started by ‘reading’ the and energy of Paula and Laurie’s flat. I do this by standing in the space instinctively getting a sense of what’s going on. I also pass my hands over the space to sense blockages, in the same way as when you heal someone’s body.

I detected the property had a long history of being a space that’s both worked and lived in. The girls confirmed it had once been a blacksmith’s forge and a fire station. This pattern has continued and Paula now has a clinic here, too. The space clearing will help them start afresh.

The design of the flat is jumbled and it’s cluttered in places, so it’s good they’re going to redesign it. As you walk upstairs, the kitchen is in front of you, but a partitioned ‘box’ housing the bedroom and bathroom has been constructed next to it, blocking the kitchen from view of the main living area. It’s only connected by a narrow comidor alongside the bedroom.

This hallway space had shoe racks in it, which blocked the flow energy between the two spaces, rather like a blocked artery. This drains energy, making you feel lethargic, and cuts creativity and inspiration. A space like this must be left clutter-free.

The bedroom and bathroom area is basically a room within a room with space on top. The area below the main ceiling was being used as storage, accessed via a ladder. Having things packed into space overhead and inside lofts can limit your potential. In space clearing, the space above your head represents your future. This is why we refer to ‘glass ceilings’ and ‘going up the career ladder’. Having physical blockages above your head can slow your progress in life.

In the bedroom, there was an unusual imbalanced energy. I can usually tell who sleeps on the left or right of the bed, but I couldn’t do that here. This is because Paula and Laurie regularly switch sides, which is quite rare. Generally, the man or, in a same-sex relationship, the person with the most male energy, will sleep nearest to the door. It’s an inbuilt and subconscious tendency linked to the protective instinct.

However, if a man sleeps away from the door it can mean he’s a gentle, creative type and maybe the woman has a stronger male energy. Paula and Laurie should stick to one spot as they’re constantly merging their energies and their identities, and in any relationship it’s much better to distinguish your identities.

The bed wasn’t in the centre of the room, so one of them always had to squeeze around the edge of the bed in the comer. It’s a real block in a relationship as it’s literally relegating one person to a comer, blocking them in. So we made more room on that side of the bed.

They also both shared the same clothes and the same closet, which contributes to the merging of their energies and identities.

The bedroom had lots of books, which isn’t conducive to intimacy because books draw them into ‘think mode’. I advised them to move the books out to create a more intimate environment. Another problem is the fact that the kitchen, which has a harsh, industrial style, feels disconnected from the rest of the living space because of the flat’s layout. They should eventually make the flat more open-plan, so they’re not separated while one of them is cooking. They should get rid of the industrial look and harmonise their cooking area with the rest of the home.

Finally, to perform the space clearing I used a bowl containing a tea light, incense, flowers and some water that had been blessed in my family home in Ireland. Paula and I also called upon help from the guardian spirit of the home. Sound can break up energy, so we clapped, used a space clearing bell and a Tibetan singing bowl, which ‘sings’ when it is struck to produce a bell-like sound. Then I bumed purifying sage and wafted it around the space.

Later, Paula and Laurie got together to talk about their intentions and desires for the future and how they want their home to be. Then they gently sprinkled blessed water around. I suggested that Paula state her intentions as affirmations every day at the top of the stairs to bring health back into their living space. Also, she should leave all her work behind when she’s in her living space.

THE VERDICT

PAULA SAYS: Chris changed our lives immediately. We started in the bedroom and took out the books and some of the fumiture, so it wasn’t cluttered any more. We also made plenty of room around the bed, and that night we made love again for the first time in a while. It seemed like the new, calmer environment brought us closer together. We’ve begun sleeping well, too.

We hadn’t realised how much the bedroom was affecting our relationship. Instead of it being an oasis, it was more like a stopping point between bouts of work. We had poor communication between us and we weren’t feeling close. Now it feels calm and intimate, and that’s showing in our relationship.

We’ve stopped sharing clothes and we each have a designated side of the bed that we sleep on. It has certainly helped in establishing our own identities in the relationship. Clearing out all the clutter in the flat has made it seem less hectic, and now we’re finding it so much easier to relax here. Until I spoke to Chris, I hadn’t realised how unhappy we both were with the kitchen. We hardly used it and instead ate out a lot. It just hasn’t seemed a very inviting space to spend time in and I never really understood why. Now we’ve completely changed the original architect’s plan and we’re going to integrate the kitchen with the rest of the flat’s look, making the whole place more open-plan. We’ll make sure it’s big enough to include a dining table, so it’s the hub of the home rather than just an afterthought.

Interestingly, Chris found no problems in the living room, which is where we had been spending all our time because that’s where we felt most comfortable in the flat. We’re now using all the rooms. It really feels like Chris managed to move a lot of stuck energy from the rest of the flat. Laurie and I wanted to improve our physical wellbeing and the health of our relationship, and I’m pleased to say we’ve managed to achieve all those things. Now we’re incorporating Chris’s suggestions on the redevelopment plans and looking forward to a great future.