Flow In Your Home as a #workingmom

Featuring Kerri Miller of Feng Shui Pathways

I remember like it was yesterday, the pure chaos that erupted in my kitchen while my husband and I tried to rally our small children, a 3 years old and infant trying to assemble a 7 am departure with pump parts, what seemed like 500 hundred bags for work and a toddler and infant that wanted nothing more than to have an extra hour to relax in the morning rather than rushing out with stressed parents. This was 2019 before the pandemic and we had been living in ‘survival mode’ for a long while.  My story isn’t unique though, pre pandemic many #Working parents had long commutes, were also on their kitchen floors crying to themselves with toddlers, negotiating socks and outfits and trying not to forget baby bottles for daycare.  Our mental game as #Working moms isn’t a shared process all the time and if we could do a “share” of our mental load without having to speak it, boy would that be something! 

I bring all of this up because it hit me one day in 2019 that I was burned out and I needed to do an overhaul of on the inside of myself and the inside of my home so I could start showing up differently and creating more flow, thrive, sustainability, and abundance in my life so that I functioned better and my family did as well.  I needed to leave struggle behind and create a new pathway.

As a new mom or seasoned mom, we often don’t look at the nursery or the flow of our home as a way that reflects our daily rhythm, but it does impact so much and the way you live day to day in your home often speaks to the way you are showing up in the external world.  

So with this vulnerable introduction, I couldn’t think of a more capable, nurturing, and creative expert in the field than the one and only Feng Shui expert, Kerri Miller.  Her services help women entrepreneurs set up their surroundings so they are supportive and help them experience more ease, joy and abundance in their life.   

I truly believe working moms need support in this area as it’s not always intuitive and front and center. Many are operating feeling stressed, overwhelmed and out of alignment in their own homes. ***Ehem***…survival and fight or flight mode. 

Cue the diaper pails, piles of papers, trinkets, toys, clutter etc. We all have it but there are also manageable ways to chip away at your home in a way that feels supportive with compassion and grace. You can accomplish this in a way to thrive and create spaces that you love. 

So I wanted to take a moment to ask Kerri Miller, Feng Shui expert a few questions of how her work can help #workingparents. 

1. Q: Can you share a few tips for new moms when they are creating a nursery for their first baby? What do you suggest for decor, placement of furniture and patterns? 

Kerri: First, for decor, it’s important to realize that babies and young children are especially influenced by the energy of the things in their surroundings, and we want it all to encourage calm and rest.  Although super cute, mobiles with flying airplanes, sheets covered in cartoon characters, and wall murals of circus animals are not supporting quieting down and sleeping, but instead are very stimulating.  It gets even more complicated when you have toys all over the bedroom that are ‘whispering’ to come and play instead of drifting off.  So my tip is to keep the decor of a nursery quiet, calm and simple and keep all the active decor, toys and books out in a separate area where activity is welcome.  

In terms of furniture placement, you want the crib to be in a supported area that’s away from the direct flow of energy through the room.  In Feng Shui, we use a term called the command position, where the bed is placed against a solid wall for support.  You also want them to have a view of the room and the entrance to the room, without being in direct line with the doorway.  This position helps them feel supported, but also allows their nervous system to relax so they sleep better.   

2. Q: The Kitchen area.  Isn’t this the space where 80% of us spend our time congregating and making our families ‘run’?  What do you suggest as a way to keep things organized and in “flow” for this area?  What are the challenges? 

Kerri: First, I think it’s helpful to figure out a flow for this room that supports the day to day activity of the household.  It's really helpful to consistently declutter the cabinets so you are keeping foods that you love and use and support your family health goals.  Also, it’s helpful to use the 80/20 rule for kitchen cabinets - leaving 20% free space in them so that when you come home from shopping things can easily be put away.  That way things don’t back up onto counters and into prep areas.  Another part of this is daily habits.  If you can be consistent about washing and putting away dishes you’ll prevent the mess from backing up.  I load and wash my dishwasher every night after dinner and make sure I unload it first thing so that I have a place for dirty dishes to go all day instead of letting them accumulate.  

3. Q:  We know as new parents and parents of young children under 5, sleep is a commodity you can’t buy or sell. It’s often put way down on the list. Most #workingparents in dual income families need to prioritize it more.  

  Kerri:  I can tell instantly when rest isn’t prioritized in a house because the bedrooms will be cluttered and/or serving multiple purposes - usually things that compete with sleep.  Piles of laundry, stacks of books to read, exercise equipment, and computers/work stuff will all be distracting from the main purpose of the bedroom – sleep!  These distractions will affect you on a conscious and subconscious level.  If you’re not sleeping well, or if you wake up tired, it will help to prioritize your bedroom and create a space that supports sleep, rest and connection with your partner.  

4. Q: Can you share your thoughts on how the bedroom and our night time habits influence our sleep? 

Kerri:  On subliminal levels the phone, tv, laptop, treadmill, and piles of laundry are telling us that we have something else to be doing besides sleeping.  Even when we’ve fallen asleep, if those things are in the room they’re affecting the energy of the room and keeping it active.  Our body stays alert on some level, which is why we don’t feel like we can disconnect and catch up on the sleep we need.  You can powerfully support good sleep habits by leaving those things out of the bedroom all together.  Create a sacred, calm, restful and romantic place for sleep and you’ll experience more of it.  

5. Q: Can you share some of your tips around the bedroom for working parents? 

Kerri: These tips are similar to those I’ve shared for nurseries.  Keep the bedroom clutter free and reserved for quiet activities.  Keep the colors, patterns and decor warm and calming.  Set up the bed in the command position so that your body can truly relax and sleep on a deep and restorative level.  

Motherhood doesn’t come with a manual and sometimes it’s often too little too late before we get the support and help we need to encourage a thriving or abundant mindset in our life.  Most of the “street” talk we hear is how much we “normalize” being in survival mode.  

As a life coach, I firmly believe in something different.  We need to start to create more prosperity and sustainability for ourselves and our families.  Our energy enters the door before we speak. 

And something that not only supports you as a #workingmom but also helps your family thrive. Something that I noticed immediately once I created shifts (getting rid of papers and clutter, removing the millions of tupperware that didn’t get used). I created intentions on how I wanted to “feel” in these spaces. My kids' behaviors shifted. It was for the better! I didn’t need to share with my husband or kids what I had done behind the scenes but that is the beauty of having this empowered way to shift to flow and abundant spaces.

Building in support, resources, outsourcing, and making lifestyle changes has a huge impact on your daily living, your joy and happiness.  My wealth and health are feeling aligned and my energy is therefore responding to those changes. 

We all deserve to love living in the spaces we create.  It doesn’t all have to happen in a day and it doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. 

Thank you for these valuable insights and tips Kerri!

For more information on how to incorporate more flow into your home, do visit her page here for more about her services!

Check out these tips below on creating more flow in your bedroom. Here’s the checklist!

Happy Feng Shui’ing!

#workingmoms #fengshui #flow #support #resources #outsource