Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui by Karen Kingston
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Book Reviews of Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui
Book Review: An excellent place to begin...
Summary: 5 Stars
Kingston has done an excellent job of getting down to the fundamentals of Feng Shui without getting bogged down in dogma and/or calculations. For those who are new to this ancient Eastern tradition there are basically two "schools" of thought - the geomancy background where everything revolves around complicated calculations and 'Black Hat' which is a more holistic and basic approach.Kingston cuts to the core of both styles by concentrating on that all too modern problem of how we Western consumers collect a lot of junk that then just lies around collecting dust. One cannot over-emphasise the negative impacts this has on all aspects of your life!
I suspect that even those who would be the most unlikely to "believe" in Feng Shui will still notice a great improvement in life if they would simply follow Kingston's advice and get rid of the layers of detritus found in many places in the house. I suspect you'll feel like a great load has been lifted when you cart the 25 bags of recyclable items to various community second-hand depots and discover there actually was a table underneath that pile of old fashion magazines and dusty books...
If you enjoy this book, particularly the sections where Kingston gets into more personal areas then you really should look to Qigong (Chi Kung). Kingston has appropriated many ideas from Qigong and her slim book does not expand nearly enough on what is possible for clearing the clutter from your mind. Seek out master and check out some of the excellent books like "The Way of Energy" by Kam Chuen Lam, Wong Kiew Kit's "Chi Kung for Health and Vitality" and Frantzis' "Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body".
For more reading about Feng Shui I'd recommend "Feng Shui: Harmony by Design" by Nancy SantoPietro as the best place to start. Kam's book is pretty interesting as is "Lighting the Eye of the Dragon" by Baolin Wu. Frankly, I am not very interested in the geomancy school which is typified by the many books put out by Lillian Too.
Book Review: This book rare book has revolutionized my life!
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't remember ever recommending a book as whole-heartedly as this one. I don't consider myself particularly mired in material stuff or big on soft science and Eastern thought, but this book opened my eyes to a new definition of clutter and why to do away with it. I read the book halfway, and started on a cleaning jag that lasted all night. I slept for two hours, and kept at it with more energy than I've had in a very long time. I have freed myself from a large number of things I had tepid or negative associations with. I ended up with a lot of great stuff I wanted to get rid of, too good to just toss, so the Salvation Army came by for 3/4 of my clothing, half my CDs and books, and I had only begun! I "re-gifted" and "re-purposed" a lot of tremendous, perfect stuff that people have been thrilled to receive. It's difficult to describe the excitement I feel for this process, one I FINALLY understand on a level deeper than intellectual. I truly believe that anyone who scoffs at this process has not tried it. You don't even need to be open-minded about it. Just try it and be prepared for change in your life.
The bagua map is a fascinating reference tool... to test Feng Shui, I compared the map to the parts of my life that aren't hitting the marks (or are), and I was very surprised. My muddled finances (I make good money, but manage it very poorly) were reflected in my shabby bathroom and a few kitchen cupboards full of unused cooking things.)
I've not had this much clarity in my life for a very long time. It's more than housecleaning, it's transcendent. (By the way, the internal cleansing thing is also not a bad idea. If it weirds you out, skip over it, but you can do less extreme or invasive cleansings than Kingston suggests, with supplement programs like Kylea sells.)
Get this book. Get this book. Get this book. It's really exciting.
Book Review: All I know is: It worked.
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book on impulse last Saturday. It's now been a week and a day and I've donated six shopping bags of books, 17 trash bags of clothing, five boxes of "stuff," a comforter, two lamps, four shelves, and a (single!) crutch--I was keeping it in case I ever needed it for a Halloween costume!I also got rid of 30 bags of garbage.
That's enough to fill a 14' U-Haul; I'd packed and moved it all eight times in the past 11 years, along with the rest of my stuff.
All my closet doors now open effortlessly. My drawers aren't stuck. My garbage disposal is fixed (I wouldn't call the plumber for five months because the kitchen was too messy). And I no longer have five sets of toenail clippers in case I misplace four of them.
I, too, was a little taken aback by the colon cleansing chapter, but the way I look at it is this: Karen Kingston (and her publisher) had to know that it would be a risk to include it, and they did anyway. For that reason alone, I have to at least keep an open mind about it--who knows? Everything else in the book has worked for me. I'm almost done clearing my clutter and walking into my home is a joy. Not only that, but I look forward to having friends and family over and would even be proud to have my freelance clients meet me at my home office.
It's interesting that people complain about clutter clearing not being part of traditional feng shui. Why would it be? When feng shui was first introduced, clutter wasn't an issue. It's still not as much of a problem in the East as it is in the West--especially in the US. It makes sense to me that creating a blank slate would be the first step in applying feng shui principles.
This is the first book that's ever affected me so drastically. It's got a great balance between practical, real-life stories and Karen's philosophies on life and spirit.
Book Review: AN EXTREMELY MOTIVATIONAL BOOK!
Summary: 5 Stars
i happened to stumble upon this book purely by accident. it was sitting inconsipucously on a shelf in the book store and i picked it up for ha has. it was the best thing i could find to start my new year off on the right foot. this book has got me cleaning clutter like i've never cleaned before and thinking thoughts like this: do i really need this? does this really make me happy? i am an habitual pack rat, so this clutter clearing will defintely not happen over night, but i do a cabinet at a time... a closet at a time... and i cannot begin to tell you the feeling of relief that comes over me! why was i keeping that sweater my husband gave me 14 years ago? the sweater i haven't worn in 12 years? why do i have filing cabinet drawers filled with teacher plan books from 15 years ago? why do i still have cards and pictures students gave me from all those years ago? why do i have bookshelves of books i haven't read in 20 years? what about all the utility bills and visa bills and phone bills? why do we keep this stuff?!!
karen kingston says there are 3 ways to declutter: 1) let nature take its course (i.e. flood or fire) 2) wait until you die and let someone else clean up after you or 3) make a consious decision to get rid of your own stuff.
it feels good to just get junk out of the house. and this does not mean making room for more stuff. this means asking yourself the same questions when you are shopping: do i really need this? does this make me happy? a friend once told me that i don't have to buy it just because it's on sale. this saying along with all that i've learned in the book is helping me become a new me. when you get rid of clutter and tie up loose ends, enormous weights lift from your mind and body and your WHOLE SELF begins to feel clutter free! it's amazing!!
Book Review: This Book ROCKED my Cluttered Life
Summary: 5 Stars
I LOVE THIS BOOK! Clearing your clutter helps you, those that live with you, and those around you. There is an overwhelming amount of literature on the topic of Feng Shui, where does one begin to learn? Karen Kingston's "Clear Your Clutter" will provide the perfect beginning.Not only does is this book based on clearing tangible clutter but Karen also delves into the INtangible clutter, spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental. She FOCUSES clearly on the reasoning behind clearing clutter...to bring new and better things INTO your life, you must remove the old and musty clutter. Her probing insight leaves questions not only DO you keep clutter, but WHY you keep clutter, are you in denial about your clutter? Was it inherited? Are your parents packrats? Were there old emotional attachments that are now gone?
I had never heard of this book, I just saw it on the shelf in the self-help section and thought, "Now THAT is something I NEED." Truly, this book has helped me to re-evaluate all the "junk" that I have been holding on to for years.
Karen Kingston enlightens her readers by pointing out that clutter in ANY part of your house cultivates weight on/in your life. She shows how the house is divided by the Feng Shui bagua and which sections/corners of your house represent which part of your life. This is about as far as she goes into Feng Shui because the purpose of the book is to help you clear the clutter so that you can GET to the Feng Shui balancing part
Not only did I learn a great deal about the author through this book, but a great deal about myself. I even gave my first copy to a loved one and bought another for myself so I could highlight it and make notes.
Bottomline, this is MORE than just a self-help book.