4 quick ways to shift the stagnant energy

Now that we are one week in semi lockdown, the anxieties that bothered a lot of us in March seem to make another return. To make matters a little more intense, Mercury is going into retrograde tomorrow, disrupting communication, travel plans, and affecting our internal communications. As an interior designer and feng shui consultant, I’m always asked by people if there are some quick fixes we can do at home to shift the energy. Sometimes the energy just seems stagnant at home, maybe its the result of a period of heightened nervousness, or the lack of movement during the winter months, whatever the reason, you can easily make a change to the flow of life.

Opening window

I know what you’re thinking; it’s cold outside and it’s raining, opening the window might be the last thing you want to do. Believe me though, opening your window for a few minutes of the day can help with the energy flow at home. Even when it’s cold outside, the air coming in is a lot fresher than the one that’s been trapped in the room. The act of opening the curtain, and opening the window is also a symbol of your active welcoming of new energy.

Burn an incense

Scent has always played a major part in religions as well as corporates. It is used in ceremonies at the place of worships and specific scent is also used by businesses as part of their brands. While modern developments has made us less sensitive to scents compared to our ancestors, the vibrations caused by the scent can still be felt by people in the room. After an intense conversation where we pour our heart out, I love to burn an incense partly to “clear the air”, partly to introduce a shift in energy.

Play some music

Music is sound waves, it’s vibration. It’s a quick way to introduce new flow into your home. When the energy feels stuck, I like to listen to some upbeat music to bring in some excitement in the home. Of course, depending on your mood and what you would like to welcome, you could choose from different music genres. One thing I’d like particular is to use music composed with alpha or theta waves as they also affect your subconscious

Physical movement

One of my favourite way to change my energy is to take a walk. The rise in covid numbers in Scotland, especially in Edinburgh means I’m a lot more cautious when I take my daily walk. I would try to combine several things into one single time to minimise the exposure to this virus. But movements can still be done at home - when you are moving your arms, legs, you are actually vibrating on both physical and psychological level. I’m a terrible dancer - but I feel that when I actually dance randomly in my living room, I feel a lot more energised and I can actually feel the change in the air. Dance intuitively following your favourite tune is a great way to connect with your inner self, and also raising your own vibrations.

"It is so important to pay attention to our energy level, especially if you are an empath ."

This might not be a typical interior design or feng shui post, but I feel that it is so important for us to pay attention on our energy level, especially if you are an empath who constantly suck in the energy of others. Usually during meditation I come to realise where in my body I feel stuck and I’ll make conscious efforts to make a change. After all, when we are vibrating at a higher frequency, we are more in tune with our authentic self.

If you have felt stuck in a prolonged period, perhaps you might like to engage some more vigorous tools. I’d love to provide you with some recommendations! Click the button to book a complimentary soul space session!

4 Reasons you should name your home

Since I’m going on my soul journey on property hunting, I’ve been spending a lot of time with my soul. I believe that moving to a home, resettling is a big new chapter and sometimes we just need to receive downloads with the Universe - so that we’re one step closer to our true soul home.

It has also got me thinking ways to connect with your home; of course, feng shui and interior designs are great ways as I’ve helped a lot of clients in reconnecting with their truest self through these wonderful tools, but if you are not in the position on hiring a soul space creator, or simply want to deepen the relationship between you and your home, naming the rooms and your home is such an easy way! Why? read on ..

Build relationship and connection

Imagine you meet a tinder date, or meet a potential business partner for the first time, you’d always call that person their name right? And when you become more intimate with a romantic partner, you’re likely to have nickname for him/her. The reason is because the name implies a connection; without knowing that person’s name, she will just be another passer-by in your life.

Your home is embodiment on your outward energy. By giving your home a name instead of just calling it “my home” suggests your willingness to acknowledge its existence as something that will make a big impact of your life, and it also indicates your determination to work with the energy of your home.

Recognise its energy and contribution

Your home is scared. Your home is your temple in 3D form. By naming it, you are recognising its power and energy, and the way that it can nourish and support you, especially at the time of hardship.

This beautiful church is close to my home. The name is Mansfield Traquair. Traquair is named after Phoebe Traquair who spent a long time creating the herculean works - making the church earning the title of Edinburgh’s Sistine Chapel.

Photo taken by Peter Stubbs

A lot of churches and cathedrals are named either after the town they are at, or after a saint. I see it as the people’s formal recognition of the sacredness of these buildings. Your home is sacred as well - its energy would affect you on different levels, from the quality of your sleep to your productivity. When you name it, you can actively have a conversation with your home. For example, before you go to sleep, tell your bedroom “xxx, I’ll need your help to have a restful sleep today, thank you, thank you, thank you”

Pay respect to the property history and function

When you go to a hotel that’s been converted from a historical building, usually you’ll find that the most expensive rooms are named after some individuals. For example, the beautiful Hotel De Crillon in Paris, with suites designed by some of the most celebrated designers in the world, have a suite called Suite Marie-Antoniette & another one Suite Bernstein. The hotel pays respects to those who’ve come before us, and recognise that we are all connected. Besides, regardless of your opinion on the extravagant lifestyle of Marie Antoniette, she was a royalty known for her beauty, and by naming a suite after her associates the suite with the energy of royals - who doesn’t want that?

The elegant Marie Antoniette Suite in this beautiful hotel. Photo from hotel de crillon.

This is the boarding school I went to. It didn’t look as nice when I was studying, but right now you can see how comforting this drawing room is. Photo from school website

Some of the boarding schools still have rooms named after their initiate function, for example, a drawing room. Although the room’s function has changed from a room for girls to advance their artistic skills to be one of social gathering, the name shows an understanding of the lineage between our previous generations to us. And when you acknowledge the ancestors or people who stayed in the property before you, you can get their blessings and protection.

The thing is, we are all connected.

Setting physical and energetic boundaries

Our home is our sacred temple and we definitely do not want uninvited energies to enter. By naming your home, you are creating an invisible boundary between your soulful home and other people’s home. It indicates to the universe that this place solely belongs to you and your family, and you are the owner of it and you have the sole power to decide who’s invited to your sacred space.

I always encourage children to name their bedroom. When you name a room, its energy immediately changes, thus when you enter a room from a communal area, there’s an instant shift of energy. You are protected in your own room, and you have the freedom to decide what activities would be conducted in this room. It also gives the children sense of ownership, which I believe is vital for their sense of self-worth.

I love this door sign from etsy. Calling a room gallery immediately transfer you to a creative state!

Apart from everything that I have suggested, I think naming your home and room is such a fun and creative exercise for you and your family to do. It symbolises you’re on the soul journey together and if your room/home are named correctly, you’ll definitely feel more aligned.

You can name your home when you first enter the property, or anytime you feel you want to strengthen the connection with your space. If you are feeling a little stuck, I encourage you to do the space clearing meditation that I’ve created. I’d be curious to see how you feel!

Let me know what is the name of your home by sending me a message or connecting with me on instagram or facebook. I’d love to hear from you.

4 ways to use your home as support when you are angry

A few weeks ago I experienced racism, for the first time since I moved to Edinburgh. Covid has definitely upset a lot of our usual routines, and with the lack of education some folks were unfortunately convinced that all Chinese-looking (I’m from Hong Kong, but this lengthy topic better wait until another time) people are carriers of this pandemic which has disrupted so many people’s lives.

I was on the way to Tesco in my neighbourhood and an elderly lady stopped in front of me, cough right to my face.

I was shocked.

I was mad.

I was speechless.

I could have initiated an argument but I think the shock was far too big for me to actually verbalise how I was feeling, and I simply didn’t believe such thing would happen in my neighbourhood which is shared by so many different nationalities. It was simply beyond my understanding that at current time of anxieties about this scary disease, someone would actually cough to another person’s face. Even when we are not in covid, isn’t it rather impolite to do that?

There was not much I could do, I carried on getting my groceries at Tesco but I was fuming. I wanted to shout, to scream of this horrifying treatment that I received. And while I was at Tesco, all I wanted to do was go back to my safe space - my home to work through the emotions.

Make your entrance as welcoming as possible

As soon as I turned my key, I felt a new waves of energy diluting my anger. I love the entrance of my home; a bench with macrame cushions, a star map of the time when my husband and I got married. I particular chose the colour blue at that time, knowing that I would want a calming energy to welcome me when I arrive home. And when I was fuming, the entrance helped to calm me down so I didn’t direct my anger to my husband or my dog. Of course, it’s always nice to go home to a dog wagging his tail. A dog really is a blessing isn’t it?

The cushion with macrame textures immediately create softness and calmness to the entrance

Get comfortable with cushions, throws

Sense of touch is extremely important when it comes to nourishments and supports. Grab your loved cushions, throws and lie on the sofa for a moment. Get extremely comfortable and cozy, allow your emotions to released through your sense of touch. Do you feel your fingers agitated, or shaking? Or do you feel the need to move your body to settle in? Take note of what your body is telling you, and then if you want, just throw the cushion as hard as you can - symbolising the anger is out of your body!

Candles to bring in new energy

There’s something extremely powerful about the fire energy that candles carry. Traditionally in feng shui, candles put in certain directions are thought to be bringing in abundance, opportunities. And candles are always used in a lot of religious and spiritual rituals. I’m sure candles mean different things to different people - but when I was in an angry state, I like to light up a tea light candle in a candleholder that reads “Root Chakra” - it’s a confirmation that I’m safe, I’m nurtured, I’m at where exactly I should be.

Looking at the candle wax growing longer and longer, until the point the frame diminishes is almost a recognition of my feeling, and when the smoke becomes part of the air - it’s like the feeling has been released and let go. This is my go-to tool to release my anger or disappointments.

Meditate facing the wisdom direction

Everyone has their own kua number and there’s specific wisdom direction. When an unwelcoming feeling surfaced in my heart, I’d like to meditate facing my wisdom direction to obtain guidance from the universe. Every single action in our life is a soul lesson, and part of our soul journey. Rather than letting the anger consumes us, let’s see what this lesson can teach us - and facing your wisdom direction whilst doing it offers you cosmic support, as well as allowing you to be in touch with the spirits easier.

After a short meditation, I was able to reframe the experience - it is a lesson to teach me to forgive, and it actually ignites the fire inside me to educate the public about the importance of treating everyone equally. (Well, I’m a libra who really values justice and equality). If you feel drawn, you can also pull an oracle card while facing your wisdom direction. My experience is, my intuition and my ability to receive download always increase when I face the wisdom direction.

As you’ve brought some of the anger energy into your home, you don’t want it to linger, so perhaps it’s a time to do a space clearing meditation (I’ve created a free one for you which you can download here)

You’ll feel much lighter after this!

The truth is, I used to be very angry all the time - I blame the hectic lifestyle of Hong Kong, or the fact that I just feel suffocated in the space. However, I begin to realise that anger happens for a reason, a lot of the time we are actually angry about part of ourselves. I invite you to look into the anger at the comfort of your home, because that is part of soul journey, and it will take you closer to your true soul essence.

Want to see whether your space is supportive enough? Click the below button and book a complimentary soul space assessment call

Interior Design and Feng Shui as a Soul Journey

Before I’ve decided to rebrand as Imrama Space, I’ve done thorough research on what Imrama actually means. I worried that as an uncommon celtic word, Imrama might fail to translate my brand essence, especially among the many talented interior designers in Edinburgh and in the UK. The more I researched on it, the more I’m drawn to this word - meaning voyage, journey, even though you are not sure what your destination is. I can’t shake the feeling that this is basically the faith we require before we embark on interior design or feng shui.

The beauty and the power of any soul journey (whether it’s a pilgrimage or a lovely meditation by spiritual teacher Rebecca Campbell) is that you never quite know what you’ll experience. You keep an open heart, take the leap of faith, following the guidance from Universe to reach a place - most of the time you don’t even know what that place is!

And isn’t it what interior design and Feng shui is?

Although you can hire interior designer who can do realistic 3D rendering, or create beautiful mood board, they are all imitations, and projection of what you’ll experience. How you will eventually experience when the furniture is moved in, wall is painted, accessories are placed can so often time be drastically different. The decision to design or Feng shui your home is a courageous one, because the result is largely unknown - so please give yourself a big round of applause when you decide to embark on this journey.

You keep an open heart,

take the leap of faith,


following the guidance of the Universe

Imrama means voyage in sea

You are embracing new vibrations

The courage to have a newly designed and Feng shui home should not be undermined. Firstly, you are welcoming new changes, new vibrations. Change is scary, but you are doing it. That definitely deserves opening of champagne!

New discoveries about yourself

Secondly, you are bound to experience new-found knowledge about yourself, your family, your soul home, mysteries of the universe while undergoing the design soul journey. When I started any project, I take the time to understand my clients, and so often I hear something like, “I never thought about that before! That’s very interesting”.

To learn and unlearn knowledge about your desires can be quite intimidating, especially when you thought that your understanding of yourself is complete and thorough. The thing is, do not let it scare you. You are foreverly growing, foreverly shedding the old layers. All these new discoveries about yourself help you to manifest a most-suited live

Trusting the process

Whether you hire an interior designer or not, there’s no guarantee the outcome will be exactly how you visualise at the beginning. When it comes to redecoration and renovation, many things could go wrong. For example, you might realise that a particular wall requires major plastering that is out of your budget, prompting you to make an alternative decision. It requires so much trust to the Universe that the end result is what you need.

It is same with Feng shui. Even though you hire the most successful and celebrated Feng shui master in the world, it is not possible to have a clear key performance index like in the corporation word. Say if you are attracting abundance, you wouldn’t be able to know if it comes in the form of clients, investment gains or a new child. You just never know, all you can do is surrender to the process and trust that whatever comes is what best serves you at that very moment

Ultimately, it is your journey….

Oracle card from Gabby Bernstein. She had a wonderful article on spiritual surrendering

Because there are so many unknowns, the soul journey of interior design and Feng shui is an exciting one, yet terribly nerve-wracking, and that’s why as soul space co-creator is needed. I tend to see myself as a soul space co-creator rather than an interior designer or feng shui consultant, because this is your own exclusive journey. My role is help you create a new canvas in life using my experience and skills. I can help you by guiding you through meditation and oracle cards, offering you practical advice, and emotional support but ultimately it is your journey. and it will be a very beautiful one.

If you would like to find out more how I can support you, take a look at my packages or book a initial complimentary call with me. Looking forward to helping you to reach your soul home!

What makes me

First (Proper) Blog since I relaunched this website in January, 2019.

Finally. After spending a long time thinking what to write.

Then a dear friend of mine that I should write about how my background and my experience affect my interior design style. It’s my one year anniversary in Edinburgh on Saturday.. It was my yearning for space and my passion for creating personalised interiors that brought me to the Scottish Capital.

I was sitting quietly, reflecting on my growth and changes and I come to realise how much my childhood, my heritage affect my interiors style

Victorian Harbour in Hong Kong, where I lived before relocating to the Scottish capital. The busyness, the streets, the human connection have always inspired me,

Smart use of space

HK is one of the most expensive and packed city in the world. The average home size in Hong Kong is 484 square feet (45 square meters) so since childhood I’m taught to be clever with the use of space. I don’t recall having a home with dedicated study/ storage space. Utilising every space possible has been crucial to a comfortable living. As much as I dreaded it, I had no choice but to place boxes of letters, photos underneath my bed that I customised. Extra blankets, beddings are always stored at the top drawer, fully using all the height.

Although I’m now in a city where space is less scarce, this is still a very useful skill. I’m almost trained to organise things in a certain ways to maximise the sense of space. No one wants to go home to see things lying around. Just adding a drawer or a small box in the cupboard (and a bit of self discipline!!) could create a peaceful space without clutter

A set of storage boxes are useful to place things that are rarely taken out. Also, this set from Beautify is also very pretty to look at :) Making you more inclined to sort out your things !

When I was living with my parents we built a bar tables. To increase storage space we make cupboards next to it where we can also use the counterop for displaying bottles

The need for Sanctuary

As one of the economic centres in the world, Hong Kong is truly a city that never stops. Shops open till 9, if not 10pm everyday. Stress is basically something that everyone deals with on a daily basis. Everyday when I was on my commute, trapped in the MTR with my body right next to someone’s shoulder, I longed for the moment in my bedroom where I could recharge. It’s the busyness, the distractions that makes it even more important to have that moment, that space where you can feel truly connected, inspired. Because of my busy working life back home, I understand fully the importance of creating a comforting, calming, inspiring space and that’s what I wish to help my clients create the sanctuary

Image by Unsplash

People at heart

I’m fortunate enough to work with interesting people globally. Going to rural village in Thailand opened up my eyes - they have a different attitude to art, life. They brought their beliefs into crafting some of the most beautiful ceramic vases I’ve seen. The different shapes and colours are almost a symbolism of humanity. In the design industry, it’s key to form a harmonious relationship with people, and space. To me, design is really about people;, how to inspire, energise them? How to make them happier when they are upset? I guess it’s also my background in an international busy city like Hong Kong that makes me put people in front of everything else. An interiors will only be a good one if it is actively interacting with the people within. As cliche as it sounds, does it spark joy?

Ilse Crawford is my all time favourite designer. She designed the Cathay Pacific first-class lounge in Hong Kong. She carefully considers the needs of airport passenger and create a place for them to relax and recharge

Fusion of different styles

Hong Kong is a mixture of old & new, eastern & western. We have old Chinese styles temples dated hundred years ago, and every year there’s seem to be a new tall skyscraper entering the already-busy Victorian skyline. I grow up watching both local and western movies and I’m intrigued by both Eastern and Western culture. I like how both cultures interpret nature in a very different way. This uniqueness affect my style - I really like to mix different features from both culture. For example, I like to put a traditional Chinese urn next to some western handcrafted ceramic vase with victorian pattern. As long as you give some careful thoughts while curating the collection, the result is often a very pleasing one (of course, you can hire an interior stylist! contact me if there’s anything I can help!)

Photo credit: One King’s Lane