What is Interior Alignment?

by Ginny Pollitzer

Interior Alignment is an approach to Feng Shui and Space Clearing that was developed by Denise Linn. The three basic premises of Interior Alignment (IA) are: 1) Everything is composed of constantly changing energy, 2) You are not separate from the world around you, and 3) Everything has consciousness. Therefore, your home and working environment are comprised of transforming energy fields that are connected to you.

What is Feng Shui? How is the Interior Alignment approach to Feng Shui unique?

Feng Shui is the 4000 year old Chinese art of placement that is intended to increase and enhance the flow of chi or energy in a space. It dictates the physical placement of Chinese buildings on the land as well as the placement of objects within them. This allows for harmonious living by recreating the balance between heaven and earth, yin and yang, man and nature. Many other cultures practice systems of placement, and although the names are different, what they have in common is creating spaces with attention to natural elements. Interior Alignment focuses on the Native American tradition of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire.

Interior Alignment uses an intuitive approach to Feng Shui called Instinctive Feng Shui, holding that the most important factor in applying any cure is your own feeling about it. There are no hard and fast rules about placement of furniture or use of a specific type of cure. The emphasis is on what is right for you. As an IA practitioner, I help you identify your deepest desires and assist you with aligning your home or work space to support what you want in your life using a process called Synchro-Alignment. Making Feng Shui adjustments in a building opens the channels for chi to flow freely, manifesting your intentions on a deep level.

Like many schools of Feng Shui, Interior Alignment makes use of the Bagua. This is a grid or map that relates to the aspects of your life. Your home or office is divided into nine areas of focus. I help you discover which areas you would like to give attention to by applying this grid to your space. These areas are Career, Helpful People, Offspring, Relationships, Fame, Wealth, Family, Inner Knowledge, and Health.

What are the basic Feng Shui cures?

There are nine basic Feng Shui cures in the Interior Alignment system. The first one, bright things, includes such as mirrors, crystals, bright lights and light reflecting objects. These stimulate the amount of vital energy in a particular area. Next is sound which includes wind chimes, musical instruments, music, fountains, bells and gongs. They work by activating stuck chi, dispersing disruptive chi, and summoning positive chi. Any pleasant sound can increase energy. Living objects are another cure. Animals, birds, fish, plants, potted flowers or bonsai trees symbolize growth and generally encourage increase and expansion. Statuary, large stones, boulders and heavy furniture under the solid objects cures provide stability by holding down energy. One of the most well known applications of Feng Shui involves moving objects to stir up, direct and deflect chi. This includes windmills, windsocks, mobiles, fans and fountains. Colors that you are attracted to are another way to adjust the energy by bringing different moods or feelings into your space. The seventh category is electrically powered objects such as radios, music systems, TVs and computers that promote movement, activity and change. Any symbol , painting or picture that carries meaning for you can uplift the energy in your space. And last, but not least, anything where you live that inspires you and touches your senses will improve your quality of life.

What is Space Clearing?

Space Clearing refers to the energetic shift and transformation of subtle energies in an environment resulting in increased harmony and balance. This can be in a car, a single room, a home or an office. It can encompass an entire building or parcel of land. A variety of tools are used, primarily based on the four elements, in order to release stuck energy and invoke your desired intention. These elements are Earth , Water , Air , and Fire , as well as Sound. The Earth category includes salt, crystals, plants and copper. Herbs and feathers used for smudging; incense, aromatherapy, sacred breath; and machines that cleanse the air fall under Air . Water is comprised of charged water, misting, flower remedies, fountains, aquariums, pools, and bowls of water.

Candles, oil lamps, fire ceremonies and cut crystals are some of the tools used in Fire .

In the Sound category bells, drums, chimes, gongs, tuning forks, singing bowls, rattles, clapping, toning, and chanting can be employed.

It is a good idea to clean and clear your home or office at least once a year, and do a moderate cleansing around the time of the full moon each month. Other times to do a Space Clearing are when you need a change in your life; after illness or injury, death, difficult guests, negative incidents, or a robbery; when you are selling your house or when you are feeling tired and drained.

There are four steps to Space Clearing. Preparation involves becoming clear about your intention. Where intention goes, energy flows. This includes your overall intention for your home or office as well as any specific results you desire. The clearer your intention, the greater the effect. I do exercises and meditation to tune in to your space and your needs for your Space Clearing.

The next step in the process is Purification . Since energy moves through a space like water moves in a stream, this is like clearing debris from the stream. Stagnant energy is cleansed so that new energy fields can be instilled. You know that the energy has been cleared when colors look brighter, you can breathe more deeply, sounds are crisper and clearer, you feel lighter and freer, and corners look sharper.

After the purification stage, an Invocation or Blessing is offered. The tools used for this can be the same as or different from those used for Purification. Prayers are made to call in your specific intentions, filling the space with radiant light and crystal-clear energy.

The last stage of Space Clearing is Preservation . This is designed to maintain the clarity of the ceremony. Energizers and protectors help preserve, protect, and enhance the energy field that has been created. Happy photos and special objects are examples of energizers. Protectors include angels, animal spirit allies, guardian spirits and prayer. Dedicating crystals and creating an altar are two specific ways to preserve the energy in your space.

Here are ten ways you can immediately increase and enhance the energy of a space:

1. Do a thorough surface cleaning

2. Toss salt in all the corners of every room

3. Briefly open all the doors and windows

4. Take down any negative photos and paintings

5. Get rid of dead or dying plants

6. Put out fresh flowers

7. Light a candle

8. Burn incense, herbs or essential oils

9. Put on inspiring music

10. Say a prayer and ask that Divine Light fill the space

What is Clutter Coaching?

Clutter Coaching refers to assistance with clearing and sorting those piles of paper, jumbles of clothes and stacks of boxes that get in your way and weigh you down. If you have an accumulation of things that you no longer need or love, but you are keeping anyway, you have clutter.

There are three types of clutter and they all affect the flow of chi and the flow of life, bring down your energy, and get in your way. The first one is physical clutter , which you can identify by applying the phrase: Love it, use it, or lose it . This includes clothes that don't fit, odd socks, anything broken, unwanted gifts, personal letters and Christmas cards from people you don't remember, collections of recipes you will never cook, piles of magazines and newspapers you will never read, expired coupons, old makeup you don't use, and expired medications and vitamins.

Mental clutter is the next category. It is the unnecessary stuff you carry in your head like schedules that are too full, lists of jobs you need to do, decisions you've been putting off, guilty thoughts, judgmental thoughts, belief systems that no longer serve you, and constant internal commentary. Old files in your computer come under this heading.

The third kind of clutter is emotional . These are the things you carry in your heart such as ungrieved losses, unfaced fears, unexpressed anger, unfulfilled dreams, regrets, and people and situations from the past that you have not released.

Removing clutter can be extremely freeing by symbolically getting rid of things that have been weighing you down. As a clutter coach I help make the process of identifying, sorting, tossing and organizing easier and more pleasant by guiding you through a clearly defined system.

What is Soul Coaching?

Soul Coaching is a three level process of assessing your inner life in four aspects: mental , emotional, spiritual, & physical . Based on the book Soul Coaching by Denise Linn; this is the perfect enhancement of Feng Shui and Space Clearing and actually employs de-cluttering in one of its phases. The purpose of this program is to align your inner spirit with your outer life, helping you clear away the interior clutter so that you can hear the messages that are already within you.  It is a dynamic program designed to take you to your spiritual source and help you find meaning and sacredness in your life.  You have an opportunity to honestly appraise your life, face your fears, release old patterns, get motivated, and move into your future with boldness and joy.

Your journey is divided into four one-week periods, each devoted to one of the four elements - Air/Mental , Water/Emotional , Fire/Spiritual , and Earth/Physical .  Nature is a melding of these elements, and using them individually gives you the chance to experience a powerful integration in your life.

This 28-day program is about telling the truth to yourself about yourself.  You will find that your energy increases when you do this because your soul thrives on authenticity. Once you declare that you are ready to discover your authentic self, life unfolds in synchronistic ways, lovingly sweeping you forward in the direction of your destiny.

How can you recreate yourself using these tools?

The IA approach to Feng Shui allows you, with my assistance as a trained IA practitioner, to focus on specific intentions for your life. The cures recommended are given in a report in the form of suggestions for enhancing those aspects of your life that have been identified in a one-on-one session in your home or office. You are then free to apply the cures appropriately. Only those recommendations that resonate with your own intuition should be implemented.

Space Clearing assists you in getting moving. Some of the most useful times to have a space clearing are before and after big changes in your life. Anytime you feel stuck is a good time to "clear the air". My personal approach is to teach you how to do your own space clearing. It is my desire to empower you with the tools to balance and enhance your life on your own.

As with Space Clearing, de-cluttering is something I prefer to demonstrate to you. Therefore, I would much rather present guidelines and encouragement in order to support you in your own sorting process. Sometimes de-cluttering requires an extra push, which can be accomplished with my assistance either through the physical sifting through the things in your space, or through a space clearing to help you get unstuck.

Soul Coaching is the internal partner to the external de-cluttering, space clearing and feng shui cures. It employs aspects of the above, but its focus is much more on what is going on within your inner being. All approaches have their merit, and different things work for different people, but I feel that a balanced application of all of these produce the best and most holistic results.

Ginny Pollitzer is a Certified Practitioner of Interior Alignment. Her unique approach helps you redesign your life according to your souls' desires. In addition to Feng Shui Consulting, Space Clearing, Clutter Coaching, and Soul Coaching, she is available for speaking engagements and workshops. Ginny can be reached at [email protected] or (919) 732-8760.