The Hidden Forces of Feng Shui

In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Danijela Saponjic, founder of Unfolding Space and a feng shui master, to explore the invisible forces inside our homes and how they shape the way we think, feel, and move through life. Danijela shares how she discovered feng shui during a transitional moment in her life, when she came across the idea of clutter clearing and became curious about how changes in her space could influence her reality, ultimately leading her to completely shift her path and career.

The conversation breaks down what feng shui really is beyond the stereotypes, and why your environment may be the missing piece if you feel stuck, overwhelmed, or out of alignment. They explore how clutter holds onto old identities, why your entrance affects the opportunities you see, and how your bedroom influences your relationships. Danijela also explains how your space can either support your growth or quietly hold you back, and how even small shifts can begin to change the energy of your life. By the end of this episode, you may start to see your home differently, become more aware of what you’re holding onto, and understand how your space can help you move forward instead of keeping you stuck.

More Room to Think:

Danijela Saponjic
Website: https://school.unfolding-space.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unfolding_space_en/

LiLi Tile
https://lilitile.com

Room to Think
https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/

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Transcript

The Entrance And Opportunity

Danijela Saponjic 0:00

The entrance, it's your eyes, it's your mouth. In order to see opportunities, you need to have a clean vision. And that's why clearing the entrance is so important. What exactly does that mean? The cluttering has such a deeper meaning because it's not just about decluttering things, but it's also about decluttering thoughts, decluttering feelings. How do you maintain that? There is no bad and good in Fu Shui. It's always about perspective, it's about the meaning behind it, and it's always the yin and the yang when people feel behind. They would have a lot of old things in their home they are just keeping because they're practical.

Why Feng Shui Still Matters

Lyssia Katan 0:37

If someone wanted to improve their life immediately, what space would they first take a look at? What if the reason you feel stuck, overwhelmed, or behind in life isn't about motivation at all, but about the space around you? Welcome to Room to Think. In this episode, we're talking about something people have been curious about for thousands of years. Feng Shui. I'm sitting down with Danijela Saponjic, founder of Unfolding Space and a feng shui master who teaches people how their homes influence their energy, identity, and nervous system. We talk about things like why clutter can hold you back and how your entrance affects opportunities entering your life. We even get into why the bedroom has such a deep influence on relationships and self-perception and how even small shifts in your environment can change the way you move through the world. So if you've ever felt like you're trying to move forward in life, something just keeps pulling you back, this episode might help you see your home in a completely different way. Let's get into it. Danijela, welcome to the show. Danijela is the founder of Unfolding Space. She teaches Feng Shui through the lens of energy, identity, and nervous system regulation and uh the idea that your home is either charging you or draining you, which is exactly what we talk about on the podcast. And I'm so excited to get a chance to speak with you. Danijela, welcome to Room to Think.

Danijela Saponjic 2:11

Oh, thank you so much for having me, Lysia. It's an honor to be here.

What Danijela’s Work Really Does

Lyssia Katan 2:15

So I've been very excited for this conversation because I have been very curious about feng shui for a long time. But before we get into that, I want to know what do you do exactly and why do you do it?

Danijela Saponjic 2:36

If I would have to say it in one sentence, I would say I'm a feng shui master and I support people, uh, get back into the flow of life by through working with their space. But what I'm really doing is really reconnecting people to their um own sense of balance, to their own sense of being grounded and also to the sense of um feeling the environment. Because this is what's built into us, but we forgot about it. And Feng Shui is helping us to reconnect with something which is very natural in our bodies, but due to everyday life and you know, just the world how it is, uh, we just forget it and we start running through life, disconnecting from not only from nature, but from our space. And our space is an extension of our energy field. And then, well, you're losing, um, you're losing uh a lot of potential by if you're disconnected. So reconnecting is really the key.

Lyssia Katan 3:38

So for listeners that are not familiar with feng shui, am I pronouncing it right? Is it feng shui, feng shui? You can say in Germany we say feng shui.

A Career Detour Into Feng Shui

Danijela Saponjic 3:48

Uh in the the people who speak English, they would say feng shui, so you're perfectly fine.

Lyssia Katan 3:53

So, was there something that in your life that like how did you get into this?

Danijela Saponjic 3:58

Well, I did not plan this career. Um, and I couldn't even tell you that when I was a child, I loved interior design. I didn't. So, as far as I can remember, I wanted to go into the marketing world and I did study business econom uh business administration um in Munich and then I finished. I was even I got married while I wasn't at university, and we also got our first child because I really wanted to go into the corporate world and I wanted to be done with the first step of family planning. So, but when I finished, I was 26, and uh the people would say, You're young, you're married, you're just a liability. We are not going to give you a job. So this was really hard because I was working so hard to get into this marketing world. And at this time, we were about to move, and I was really at a point where I was highly frustrated. So, out of this frustration, I was like, I'm going to work at the fast food restaurant rather than sitting at home. And my husband was like, Are you insane? I was like, I don't care. So I went, um, I worked there for two months, but it was a detour. I needed, I always say, you never know how life plays out and what the masters of life, how they're guiding you. Because at one, at some point, um, I found a magazine while I was on break in this fast food restaurant. And there they were talking about, um, they were writing about the clutter clearing. And I remember reading this thing, so they want to sell me on the thought that changing something in the space is going to change your life. It's like, no way, this is like not working. But then things didn't get better. And I remember the article I told my husband, let's just cut a clear our little small, a tiny home. We had a one-bedroom apartment, let's just see how it works. So we did it, things started to shift in a big way. And this was enough for me to uh become really curious about what is the NGO space is holding, um, holding to. So instead of looking for a job, I I told my husband, well, I'm going to become uh a French consultant. And he's like, uh why? Can't you start working, please? I said, Well, I just can't, I can't ignore this poll. And this is how I got started. And I was um, I was 26 years old back then.

Misalignment And Stuck Energy At Home

Lyssia Katan 6:21

Wow, what a cool story. The the things, the, the moments that we don't expect, a little spark of inspiration, and it changes our whole life career. I've watched a lot of your videos. Your your social media is fantastic, not only just for it's it's very entertaining, it's very educational. And I've watched several of your videos. Um, thank you for creating such beautiful content that can be digested in a really small, it's it's very digestible. You can just watch it and and really uh look through it. But you say people aren't lazy, they're just misaligned with their environment. What exactly does that mean?

Danijela Saponjic 6:57

With my experience, I've been doing this work for over 20 years. And I know that generally people really want to um work on their lives, on their personalities. They want to because humans are born to grow. We are part of nature, and everything in nature grows. When something stops growing, it means it's dead. So we have it in us that we want to grow. But then we grow in our personal lives. And as I said in the beginning, things get really fast. And then um we stop taking care of our environment. We are more concerned more concerned with practicality. So is it practical? Is it okay? It's fine, it's fine, you know. And then when you get home, like, oh, I'm so tired. I'm you know, it it can stay as it is, I'm good. But then what happens is that a home gets stuck with a certain energy, and you're trying you're trying to evolve, you're trying to work on yourself, and then things get harder. That's because your home is pulling you back. Your space is pulling, your office is pulling you back, and then um you get frustrated, things are not working, and then people turn to feng shui, and they want this fast, quick um to-do's, which they can do, which is amazing, you can do it. But uh, I'm really trying, that's the reason why my market or my my social media, all my marketing is so educational because when you understand the philosophy, what's behind feng shui, it's self-explaining. So you don't always need this, and feng shui is complicated, right? It's the philosophy of life, it's more than 5,000 years old, and there are a lot of things which need to be calculated if you if I will do a consultation, but you don't need a feng shui consultant to start using the principles of feng shui in your life in a way that they can really, really move you forward really, really fast.

Lyssia Katan 8:46

Have you seen this happen with clients where they their life just completely changes based off of incorporating some of these elements?

Clutter As The Fastest First Shift

Danijela Saponjic 8:55

Yeah, absolutely. But I mean, look how my life changed. And I only clutter cleared. I had not like I didn't know anything about Feng Shui in like in a big way. I knew I needed to clutter clear and knew this is you know, clutter clearing moves energy, and energy moves opportunity. So, and what do we need in life to grow? We need opportunities. So, and when, you know, just simply like we I know we are always talking about clearing the entrance. The entrance, it's your eyes, it's your mouth. So, in order to see opportunities, you need to have a clean vision. And that's why clearing the entrance is so important. And to get back to your question, um, yes, I I had clients, it was a couple, and they wanted to grow a family and she couldn't get pregnant or they couldn't get pregnant. So we uh did it was they were about to buy a house, then it was moving out of the old house, moving into the new one. And what we did, we infused the energy of this new life into the new house. And she was because she's like, oh, this is like a portal for me. And the great thing is, while they were building the house, she got pregnant and she also kept the child because she had four miscarriages and before that. And I mean, this is one of the of the deepest um stories I have ever had in my career of supporting the family to grow and to move into the new home and to um, well, unfold because this was the biggest wish they had. So sometimes people would ask me, well, Daniela, it could not have only been Feng Shui.

A Home Change That Led To Pregnancy

Lyssia Katan 10:30

No, but it was the missing piece. You said you infused the new house with the energy of the life they want to live. What do you mean exactly by that?

Danijela Saponjic 10:39

So I love to work with the frequency of a house or just with frequency in general. Um, so if you have ever heard about uh future selfing, and future selfing is about going into the energy of the person you want to be after you have accomplished the vision. So why not bring this future self-energy into your space? Why not bring the frequency into your space and allow your space to hold the frequency of the light you want to live? This is so, I mean, so this is basically what we did. It's not just visualizations, it's not just um having a vision board, but it's about okay, good. So you are going to have three children. So let's have three uh three room, like three spaces, three three children's room. Let's think about uh how we're going to lay out the house for a bigger family. Let's not plan for a four like a four-party, but a five-party, you know. So it's it was just it was not um doing it wasn't working with vision boards. It's what was not buying baby stuff before she even got pregnant, but it was just opening the space for more.

Lyssia Katan 11:49

That's incredible. And when you think about it, in looking back, it makes sense. You want to have three kids. Eventually you're gonna need those three spaces, but so often people aren't thinking about that. They're like, oh, I'll I'll deal with it when it happens. But taking the I don't want to say precautions, but pre-measures, the measures to prepare for that life is so genius. And and people don't do it very often.

Danijela Saponjic 12:18

Yeah. And it, you know, it's very often this when it happens, then I will deal with it. Or be it, for example, if we talk about success. So um, when I'm successful, then I'm going to buy this bag, or then I'm going to get a new desk, then I'm going to get the new pen. So, of course, you know, sometimes it's really a a question of finances. Like, can I can I afford to buy the desk? Maybe you cannot buy the desk, but you can buy the pen. Right? So you can change the frequency with little tiny things to bring in the future cell frequency into your space.

Lyssia Katan 12:53

So when someone says, for example, that they maybe feel behind in life, what can they do in their space to move forward? Or do they first have to see the future that they want before even doing anything?

Future Self Frequency In Your Space

Danijela Saponjic 13:07

Oh, not necessarily. Very often when people feel behind, they would have a lot of old things in their home they're just keeping because they're practical. It's like, oh, I don't know, this desk, oh, I have it like for 20 years, but it's still okay. You know, I can still keep it. But then I ask, is this desk you who you are today? Does it mirror your energy from today? We're not talking about the future. And they're like, well, no, I have outgrown the desk like a long time ago. Then look at pictures, look at paintings, look at decoration, like really simple things. Because, you know, every day you don't even see them anymore. Because it's in your home, they've been there for years. It's like, I oh, I don't, I don't even see it, right? And then just changing the perspective and seeing what's not in a line, what am I keeping in my home, what's not in my in alignment with who I am today? And it's not even about Lisa thinking, oh, how what am I going to buy instead? Allow the space to be empty because from out of empty space, new opportunity grows.

Lyssia Katan 14:16

So do you encourage keeping a space empty like indefinitely or just from one moment to another instead of just replacing immediately being it clear and letting something else find its way?

Consumerism Distraction And Moving Slower

Danijela Saponjic 14:31

Um, no, it's just about to uh allowing the clarity to drop in before you go and buy something else, because this gap is very important. First, we're going to release the old self, the old identity, the old things which are which are not aligned with you in the now. And then you need this gap of time, of just time to think, who am I going to be? And then you can incorporate the future self into your home today.

Lyssia Katan 15:00

And do you think that the consumerism and materialism in today's world is causing people's energy to be maybe muted or or confused with just every everything like you know, you see a new air fryer, you see a new rug, you see a new, and immediately people are buying without really considering what kind of impact does that have?

Danijela Saponjic 15:24

It has a big impact because it never gives you time to think. And you're been, you know, when you're busy and there you're busy, and there is a new opportunity passing by, you won't see the new opportunity because you're busy, right? So it's really about slowing down, especially now. We are in the fire horse, we are also in the ninth period. So nobody's talking about this. It's a 20-year period. We um we went um into this uh fire period 2024 in February, and it's um it's a 20-year period. So in this year, we have a lot of fire, which means a lot of movement. It's very everything is moving very fast. And for this year, I believe it's so important to walk slow. And then, you know, out of the slowliness, you will be able to see what's unfolding in your life instead of reacting.

Lyssia Katan 16:20

You mentioned the fire horse. Does that well, first of all, what makes the fire horse fire, like rather than just a standard horse ear? And this is just uh Chinese astrology, correct? I just want to clarify for our listeners.

Danijela Saponjic 16:34

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the Chinese astrology is also um contact connected to like humans who are born in the year and their characteristics, that it's also an overall energy to see what is the fire year bringing to society and to the world. And the, I mean, there are so many interpretations, and I I think I don't need to go too deep into it, but I can share what I am feeling as a from Shwe Master connected to this energy. And the fire is transformation and it's the strongest element. The water and the fire are the strongest elements we have, and the fire is unapologetic. So if I always say in the fire year, in the fire um energy, if something wants to go away, the sooner you let it go, the less it will hurt. And and it's the same, fire can bring you a lot of transformation, a lot of new growth, but you need to be very cautious because fire changes directions very, very fast. And that's that's and it gets uh and fire, if you are not cautious, it's going to get you very heated, and you'll be oh, so many things, and I don't know where to look. And it will lose you. It will you will lose yourself in the time. And at the end, when you look back, you'll be like, Well, I don't know what I did last year. Too many things happened, and I did not plan them to happen like this.

Lyssia Katan 18:01

Knowing this, how can someone listening avoid that besides moving slow? Is it taking an audit of their life and what direction they want to go? Or how can they prepare for this?

Entrance Bedroom Bathroom House Walkthrough

Danijela Saponjic 18:12

I mean, for me, I would always say just be mindful of any kind of um distraction you have in your life. And sometimes it's really difficult to tackle the distractions in your everyday life. So why not start with your home? So it brings us back to decluttering again. Well, it's just it and decluttering has such a deeper meaning because it's not just about decluttering things, but it's also about decluttering thoughts, decluttering feelings, and really being just it helps you be more aware. And I believe that awareness is the key this year, definitely. Just being aware of what's happening, taking time to think. And then, of course, so this is where French Ray goes into deeper calculations, where we calculate the stars for the homes and then would give very specific remedies for this special year of the fire horse, how to run the energy for the home, but it's something very specific and individual.

Lyssia Katan 19:11

But there are a couple of things that are very standard or concepts that you can do in your entrance, your bedroom, your bathroom. I'd love to get into those and almost walk through a house and get your take on what is the stuff that's really, really critical.

Danijela Saponjic 19:25

So the entrance, I have talked about it a little bit. It's your eyes, it's your mouth. And um, so not it's not only about keeping the entrance uh clear, it's also keeping it beautiful and nice because it's your house is breathing in the air through the entrance. And you decide what kind of frequency this air or the qi, the life force energy has. So it's beautiful and inspirational. The life force energy will have the frequency of beauty and inspiration coming into your whole house. So it's it's not just keeping it clean, but it's keeping it beautiful and really connected to you and your heart. And then the second most important um space in our whole house is the bedroom. Because the bedroom um is not, I call it a palace of love, so it's very much connected to relationships, but yeah, the bedroom is the space which really impresses our subconscious mind the most. Because this is when we go to sleep, what's in our bedroom is the last thing we see while we are falling asleep, and it's the first thing we see when we open our eyes. So it it's um it really impresses our subconsciousness in a very, very deep way, which we are not even aware of. And the bedroom sometimes it's just like I'm sleeping there, it doesn't matter how it looks like, and I'm like, oh my god, yes, it does. We need to change, you know, we need to bring more awareness to the bedroom. And then, of course, um the relationship piece. Um, and it's not only the loving relationship, it's also the relationship to myself because yes, nobody's seeing you in the bedroom. You are like you in your bedroom, and the bedroom is mirroring the self-love you're giving to yourself. Um, you know, how it's cleaned or not cleaned, and how it's is it beautiful, is it cozy? So whatever. And and again, feng shui is not connected to any kind of style. You can use the lifestyle and interior design you wish for, and it's really to your own likings, how you uh how you uh arrange your bedroom or how you decorate your bedroom.

Lyssia Katan 21:35

Do you believe that a lot of relationship or intimacy issues stem out of perhaps a bedroom space, not you know being energetically aligned?

Danijela Saponjic 21:46

Yes.

Lyssia Katan 21:47

Really? Okay. Do you have examples that you had clients with that or? Many, many examples. Really?

Danijela Saponjic 21:53

Okay. Yeah, yeah. So, for example, years ago, I had a couple that she said. I don't know why, but I have a feeling there is a third person in our relationship. And she couldn't put a finger on it. So it was just assumptions. It was a feeling. So we did a consultation, and then I went into the bedroom and they had a beautiful piece of art. It was a naked woman. And it was a piece of art. And she said, I I have even I chose it, chose it. It's me, it's mine. And I love the aesthetics of this of this piece of art. But this is how the feeling she had. It wasn't inspiring her partner, you know, to look around, but it was just a third person in the space.

Lyssia Katan 22:39

Did she end up removing the piece? Oh, yes, absolutely.

Danijela Saponjic 22:43

Yes, she did. She moved it out. And and then she got, oh, you know, the moment she realized what she was feeling, it was gone. Because she knew she's not crazy because she's feeling there's some somebody in our relationship. There's that energy in our relationship. And the moment she took it away, she's like, oh no, it's I'm done.

Lyssia Katan 23:06

It's okay. It's gone. That is so cool. I mean, cool, but also we never uh very often we're not aware of these things. We're like, okay, that laundry pile, I'll get to it, or you know, those those shoes or socks, like we'll get there. But we don't realize how, or even art, right? Oh, like you said, big art.

Danijela Saponjic 23:26

Oh, it's such a it can be, you know, it can impact, it has such a big impact into our lives. So really be mindful of art. And I'm not mean, I don't say be cautious, but be mindful. Look from many different perspectives before you choose a piece to hang in your hall or your office, of course.

Lyssia Katan 23:47

It's funny you say that because I recently, like on Instagram, I saw one um Mark Zuckerberg, I think, just purchased a house in Miami. And I was looking through the pictures because I'm curious about design and architecture. And I saw that in the middle of his courtyard or supposed courtyard, there's a statue of a very famous clown that's really sad. He's like sitting and like like really upset. Looks like he's crying. I I will try to pull up the picture for our listeners, but it's it's like, and I was thinking, you're spending, who knows, $150 million on this house, and you're walking in and seeing a sad crying clown every single day. That is crazy, you know? Like you're gonna be sad and crying all the time.

Danijela Saponjic 24:31

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because we have the saying in feng shui, what you see is what you get. So even if any of the listeners are like, okay, Daniela, what can I do? Like, okay, I love the stories, I have aha moments, but what can I do? So just close your eyes and say, okay, what I see is what I get, what I see is what I get, and get into this energy. And then open your eyes, like you, you are going to you're going to look at your home for the very first time. And then just take a stroll through your home. It's okay, what I see is what I get. And then look at art. Again, look at decoration. Look at the things you're surrounding yourself with every single day, but you're looking at it very consciously. And then um, you will have so many more aha moments.

Lyssia Katan 25:13

Is it the energy of the thing itself or the energy that our subconscious is in pressing onto that thing? It's both.

Danijela Saponjic 25:21

So, you know, sometimes you can have one piece of decoration and two persons, and they would look at it differently. So it is the emotional connection sometimes, but sometimes it's just, you know, the the collective consciousness is, you know, this piece of art, like the sad cloud. It's like you can put five persons in front of it, and everybody would say, well, he looks sad.

Lyssia Katan 25:47

So in your home, it's always about you and what you are feeling. Okay. So moving past the bedroom, we have the bathroom. That's something that you also speak about. Um, and it's it's not something that we often talk about in in in modern society, right? It's not something that we like to discuss, but you have several things that you talk about, like the dirty qi and the door. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Danijela Saponjic 26:14

The bedroom, um, in full shui, it's considered to be the qi in the bedroom. Uh, sorry, in the bathroom, of course, um, is dirty because of the things we're doing there. We're washing, you know, we're letting go of things. Um, but very often people are like, oh my god, my valve corner is in the bathroom. So does it mean that all my valve is going down the train? And I said, Well, the bathroom needs to be somewhere, except you're willing to go outside and have a separate bedroom, a bathroom like it was in ancient times. So, of course, nobody's doing it in modern times. So, uh, but the bathroom is a part of our lives. So, yes, keep the door closed, but the bathroom is, and you look at my palaces, right? The bathroom is the palace of self-love because this is where we become who we really are. We are taking uh our masks off, we are getting prepared for nighttime, and in the morning, we are preparing ourselves to show up in the world. So it's like a transformation transformational area of our lives where we become who we need to be or we become who we really are. And um, this is again and always looking for the positive things in the space because in feng shui, we very often hear, oh, that's bad feng shui, that's bad. Well, there is no bad and good in feng shui. It's only it's always about the perspective, it's about the meaning behind it, and it's always the yin and the yin. If there is bad, there is always good. You just need to switch the perspective.

Kitchen Myths And Wealth Corner Basics

Lyssia Katan 27:45

So the bedroom is the palace of love. The bathroom is a palace of self-love, is that correct? Yes, self-love, self-care. And then moving onwards into the kitchen, because I've heard a lot of things about um having the bedroom above the kitchen and how that can cause fire. Can I can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Danijela Saponjic 28:06

Well, yeah, I'm I I just don't believe that having a uh toilet above the stove, this is mixing energies of food and dirty energy. Like the toilet is up like straight above the the the um stove. That's that's a problem. What what I would say where we need to think about remedies. Um, but if the b bedroom is above the kitchen, that's okay. Always go back into when Feng Shui was being studied or maybe invented. Back then, people were living in one room with the fireplace in the center, and they were sleeping and eating and playing and being in one space very often with their own animals. So very many things, many rules are like new age rules, and they don't really apply because they're not logical. So I always, that's why I'm so much about educational educating about feng shui. Don't take everything as like seriously. Think about it. Like, okay, why should a bedroom above the kitchen be bad if I'm preparing food for nourishment for myself in the kitchen? How amazing is this energy? I'm feeding myself, I'm feeding my family, we are gathering in the kitchen. Oh, I get boosebumps when I talk about it. And then the energy is spreading up in the bedroom. How great is that?

Lyssia Katan 29:41

Yeah, that's, I mean, traditionally we think fire, like, you know, fights and arguments, but what a great perspective. Like you're creating a family atmosphere by cooking food and nourishment. And what about you say you mentioned the wealth corner? Can you tell us a little bit more about that? Is it the uh far left corner when you walk in and what can be done there?

Heart Point And Personal Wealth Symbols

Danijela Saponjic 30:05

Yeah. So yeah, I I very often confuse left and right. So it is the left corner when you and uh when you walk into your home, and it can be the left corner of your office, and it can be the left corner of your home. So you have the micro and the macro uh perspective on this. And um so that the wealth corner is um is connected to the bagwa um analogy, like the nine life areas, and then um the wealth corner is one of them. And there's a lot of energy around it because the consciousness around the bagwa in in in society is very, very high. Um, but then again, I would always say if you clutter clear your space and if you have a good qi flow, and if you do this future self thing and letting go the old identity and uh like the old identity in your space, you're already activating your wealth. And then uh also activating the heart point. I very often also talk about the hard point, is it's somewhere in the center of your home and it's like our heart, and it's pumping the energy through our whole system. And this is our house has also a heart. And um, so it's usually uh people they do already have in somehow decorated the heart point with family pictures, or there is a candle or a nice painting. It's it's just intuitively, and this is um when you have a strong heart, um, then the wealth of the house is also strong because wealth is not only about money, it's about living a really good life. So this is just in just in general, putting some pieces together. And then if you want to activate the valve corner, then of course you can go on the internet and say, okay, activating valve corner from Shui, give me some examples. And you could buy coins and buddhas and so on and so on. But you can also sit and say, uh how would I express wealth in my home? Is there a symbol, a painting, uh a plant, whatever it is? How what is the expression of wealth for me? Because decorating the wealth corner is a reminder for you in your everyday life that wealth is in your space. So if you cannot connect to a Buddha statue, don't put a Buddha to remind you about the wealth because you're not connecting to the Buddha, right? You choose your own connection and your own symbol you can identify with.

Lyssia Katan 32:38

So it sounds like there's a lot of personal element to it, right? Like our personal connection. And how have you seen that in your work with different clients translated? What are some things that they've used to connect wealth or love or abundance that may not be so common?

Danijela Saponjic 32:59

Yeah, I mean, uh I learned that I needed to uh shift the perspective in my consultations when my client would tell me, well, Daniela, this voda is only here because you say it. I don't really like it, right? Or this picture is here because you say it's good for feng shui, but I don't really like it. And it's like, feng shui is all about flow. So something's something's wrong here. So I would always give my clients the idea of what's needed from the energy and tell them go out and look for something you like. And if you're not sure, ask me, and we're going to talk about it. So, for example, the heart point, this is an example. Um, the my clients, they would they would love to put family pictures there, a family wall. So, you of course you can have a painting with a heart there, or again a Buddha or another statue, but if what is more connecting to the heart and the love than a family picture? So, this might not be the right thing for everyone because not everybody has a family. So they then can go and look for sometimes there are these little sayings on postcards, or it's a painting, or maybe a plant, or they have just a candle and they're like, every morning I light the candle, and with the lighting of the candle, I like the heart of my space. Right? So really be really, really creative. There is no right and wrong. The the the thing is just you really connecting to what you are doing and feeling and bringing in the energy and the intention to what you do.

Flowing Water Without Creating Stress

Lyssia Katan 34:35

That's beautiful. There's so many different ways to uh interpret as well, which I think it's it's it's so nice because the general concepts are there, like you said, 5,000 years old concept, but we can adapt it to modern life to make it work for us. What about flowing water? That's something very very often mentioned. What's the significance of flowing water and how can we incorporate that?

Danijela Saponjic 35:02

So feng shui means um qi, wind and water. And water is one of the most important and at the same time powerful elements of feng shui. Um, so but it again, because it's so powerful, it needs to be consciously activated. So just an example like the rule is never put uh water in the south corner of your house, even if there is the valve corner. So, because I I made the mistake in the very beginning. So I was like, oh, a fountain and a valve corner, perfect. I'm going to put a fountain up, and things went south. And it was like, oh my god, is this faux shui? Oh, you know, I was just shocked. And then I went to my teacher and he said, Is your valve corner in the south area of your house? And I said, Yes. And he said, You need to take it out because the south was connected to fire and the water, and they're causing a lot of stress in your home. And I was like, Okay. So um there is with water, there is no like a strict rule. But if you want to put water up, uh then look for the southeast corner if possible. So southeast and east corner are the best areas, not corners, but areas of your space where you could put up water. And why water? It's the water is giving life, and everything comes out of water. Like uh when we go back in evolution, um uh life came to earth through water. That's the reason why, and then it's about the flow, life force energy, the flow. So the water is coming up and it's flowing in a cycle, and it's bringing you very often, fountains are like, oh, it's bringing me abundance. Feng shui is always bringing you opportunities. You are creating abundance out of the opportunities which are showing up in your life. Feng shui, you know, putting up a fountain and waiting for the sack of gold to land in your left, it's not going to work.

Lyssia Katan 37:02

But that you make such a good point because so often we hear these things and and it's it's one of those like dilutions, right? Where like mass media or mass media has has made us believe that like, okay, water brings wealth or water brings abundance. But that's such a good point you make, is we create our own abundance off of the opportunities that come our way.

Heaven Luck Human Luck Earth Luck

Danijela Saponjic 37:27

Yeah, and I would love to share just some insight. So it gives you a bigger picture. Um, in Fou Shui, we have this teaching about um earth luck, heaven's luck, and humans luck. And the heaven's luck is everything that's coming from heaven. So it's your uh it's your astrology, it's the stars you were born under, and so on. So it's the astrology of a human. Then we have humans like, and this is your doing, your being. Um, so you're take you taking action in your life. And the earth luck, and this is the feng shui piece and the most neglected piece in our society, the earth luck is our space. So that everything we create as humans and everything what we get from heaven can land and stay in our lives. So if our space is strong, then we can build amazing lives. But if the space is not strong, it's like a tree is trying to grow and the soil is not strong. The tree is going to grow to a certain point and it's going to fall over. And this is this is the meaning of feng shui and earth like and um and taking action in our in our lives and in feng shui as well.

Lyssia Katan 38:40

I think we see that in society because so often people might be looking really good or having great jobs, but their space is a mess, so they're somehow things are never really working out or things are falling apart, but they look great, right? Maybe their body physically is very fit or they have a good job on paper, but we don't think about their space.

When Beautiful Homes Still Feel Wrong

Danijela Saponjic 39:02

Yeah, and even taking it a step further, I have been in the most beautiful houses worldwide, and they were the people were not happy, they were successful, and they said something's wrong, and we believe it's the space. And you know, feng shui does not have anything to do with beauty.

Lyssia Katan 39:25

But you so you say this house is very beautiful. Was were these houses just like mid-aligned?

Danijela Saponjic 39:32

Yeah, that's there is certain structures, of course, which we are looking at when we do a consultation, and one of it is the ability to hold wealth and abundance in your space. And very often it's uh it's the back of the house that's connected to the spine, right? Which is holding us strong in our lives. And if a spine of a house is weak, and very often it is weak because there is a huge window line, there is a swimming pool, you know, it's and everything, so everything that comes into your mouth is flowing out through your house and dropping into the swimming pool, right? And this is very often the reason why people would say, well, so much is coming in, but it feels like it cannot stay in our lives. So mostly 99% I know of what the matter is. And again, it does not have to do anything with the beauty of the house, it's mostly the construction.

Lyssia Katan 40:24

And so if it's if the construction itself is done wrong, what or is not the best? How can someone living in a house where they can't change the orientation or where the doors are, how can they elevate their space to make it work for them if if moving isn't isn't feasible?

Danijela Saponjic 40:41

Yeah, and this is where feng shui comes in, and this is also where educated feng shui consultants come in because we do know what to do, and usually you need to look how to create a spine of a house. So there are, you know, you can always use um trees and plants, um, you can use stones, you can you could you could sometimes you can use also the furniture in a certain way, but again, this is something where you really need to take a deeper look and see also what's possible for this house and this client. And you're never going to build a strong spine like a wall. But I always say if we go from zero to 50%, it's a lot. We can really help this family keep their abundance or the business.

How Fast Results Show Up

Lyssia Katan 41:25

How quickly do you see when these changes are impacted, change really happens?

Danijela Saponjic 41:31

Um many things happen immediately, like within a few weeks. But then for everything to unfold, uh for all the changes to unfold, it's a process. So I also don't recommend to my clients to do everything at once, but just do step by step. So you can always level and balance the new energy, and then you go take the next step and the next step. And my uh my experience is it takes around nine months to go through the whole process.

Lyssia Katan 41:59

Does that have to do with the nine? You said the nine is a very important year and cycle. It does. Yeah, it does. If someone wanted to improve their life immediately, where and I know that's that's a big word, right? You can't improve your life like that. But what space would you recommend they first take a look at? Entrance, bedroom, heart point.

Why Clutter Is Emotionally Hard

Danijela Saponjic 42:22

And then, of course, the whole future self, like elevating the frequency of the space. So those are the four steps I would immediately of and clutter. I mean, I'm not even saying clutter clearing because it's like you need to allow uh create space for new things to drop in. So clutter clearing is the first, obviously, but then the four steps I just named.

Lyssia Katan 42:43

And clutter clearing, we we've had some neuroscientists on this podcast and they say that clutter actually increases anxiety. So it's it's funny how we're getting this research now, but this has been around for 5,000 years.

Danijela Saponjic 42:55

Yeah, it's just so fascinating. Uh, and my teachers, they were teaching about clutter more than 20 years ago. And it's still a topic, right? It's it will never go away.

Lyssia Katan 43:07

But it's okay. Why can't we get rid of clutter? Why why are we holding on to it so much?

Danijela Saponjic 43:12

Well, that's you know, we're going back to the question you had about, you know, society telling us that things are never enough, that there is always something new. And of course, it's like a seduction, it's like very seducive, like a seduction. You need this and you need that, and and then um you follow along if you're not you're like not awake and not aware, and then if you just collect things, and then there is a point where it gets too much. And the biggest difficulty about clutter clearing is not taking the things out, but making all the decisions. That's that's the hardest part in clutter clearing making decisions. That's why you need to take your time.

Lyssia Katan 43:50

Is that the emotional decisions, or what do you mean by decisions?

Danijela Saponjic 43:54

Um, it's emotional. That's like, oh, I love this thing, I don't even use it, but I Like it, or it's uh it um it reminds me of that's that's this pillar. Then we have oh, it costs so much. I cannot, I don't like it, I don't need it, but it costs so much, I cannot let it go. Then we have the pillar of I might use it someday. I maybe I will use it someday, and that's the reason why I want to keep it. And then um, as you said, clutter is clear, keep giving us a false sense of security because there is always some, there is always enough. There are always enough things around me just in case. And this is what's keeping us back. Um, and very often, clutter clearing, if you go into clutter clearing, um, you're always working with your own personal um energy of abundance and also limiting beliefs.

Lyssia Katan 44:46

So when you're clearing this clutter, there's actually a lot going on personally, right? Maybe you can't give this because it's a hand-me down from your grandmother or or something that you, like you said, paid a lot of money for. That happens very often where it was very trendy and you spent too much money on it, and now you you never really liked it. Yeah.

Danijela Saponjic 45:10

And then, you know, the thing is that people start feeling bad about it and um and then sometimes frustrated because they cannot move as fast as they would. And then somebody comes from the outside and said, Oh, you can just throw it out. It's all trash, and you're like, Oh my God, it's not trash. It's just like something I collected and I love it, and then they feel even more bad and frustrated about everything. And I always tell to my clients, be graceful, give yourself some grace. It's really hard to clutter clear. Don't give up, find your why. Why, what is the clutter keeping away from you out of your life? Find your why and always remember it. And then just take little tiny steps because every baby step is going to get you further. So I think being graceful about the whole clutter clearing thing is the key.

Maintenance Without Perfection

Lyssia Katan 46:04

That's a really good point. That's a good point that often is very overlooked, right? We we we get overwhelmed by, oh, there's so many things that I need to look at, you know, my entrance, my bedroom, my this, my that. You don't have to do it all immediately. And and you don't have to, it doesn't have to be overnight. But what about you've done a couple things and you've cleared the clutter and you've become conscious of the qi moving in your space? How do you maintain that? Because often it's it's I mean, I say with myself, right? I organize a space and then two weeks later, what happened here? You know? So how do we maintain that?

Danijela Saponjic 46:47

Yeah, you know, very often you start loving your new space and you're like, nobody's going to put anything here. I love this space, right? So um it's just, you know, um, sometimes we need to catch up with the with the change we did in our space. And then you when you okay, here here it here is a thing. When you start creating sacred space, when your space becomes sacred, you are loving it and you're you're not allowing the space to. I mean, it's that the space is not always in order and structured. That's life. And that's fine. I mean, I have four children. If you ring the bell in my home, it's not always tidied up and perfect because and we have a dog, so it's just like you know, life happens. But the thing is going back, what is your state like your status quo? And to maintain that status, that's the key. And then sometimes you're busy, things get like all over the place, but then you find the the time to go back to your status quo, and that that's it. Don't be too hard on yourself.

Core Takeaway And Listener CTA

Lyssia Katan 47:56

That's really good advice to anyone listening. So if a listener left this podcast having learned only one thing, what would you want it to be?

Danijela Saponjic 48:09

Okay, so what you see is what you get. Be aware of your space, and then don't forget that your space can hold the frequency of your future and it can support you in an amazing way, create a life you love. Uh, you just need to include it in your life.

Lyssia Katan 48:29

That's amazing. Danielle, I can speak to you for hours. I mean, I'm looking at the time. I want to be conscious of your time, but I have so many questions. But thank you so much for your wisdom and for your knowledge, for your stories. I I'm just I'm fascinated. The second I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna get off this podcast, I'm gonna start looking around my space and seeing things that I can I can move and clear. But what you do is so important, and getting it out into the world is so crucial. And I love the way you do it on social media because it's reminding people that we have control in our lives and we can we can make these changes, but so often we don't, and and the work you do is so valuable. And I I really, really appreciate it. So thank you.

Danijela Saponjic 49:15

Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm I'm I'm just very inspired by our conversation as well.

Lyssia Katan 49:22

Thank you so much for spending this time with me on Room2think. If you enjoyed this episode, feel free to follow the show, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who you think would really appreciate a more thoughtful approach to their space. You can find more Design Meets Psychology insights on social, in our community, and definitely in upcoming episodes so you can build a better life by design. Thanks again for listening. I'll see you next time.