The Holistic Home: Feng Shui for Mind, Body, Spirit, Space

by Laura Benko

Rule the world and take control of your emotional and mental health from where you sit, stand, and sleep. Chapter by chapter, learn how to tackle it all—relationships, clutter, health, communities, inner balance, and more—by looking within your immediate environment to make direct connections in your life.

The Holistic Home is based on an original lifestyle concept focused on creating a dynamic, healthy, and thoughtful space within yourself and your home by combining three planes of action—mind, body, and spirit—that result in profound change.

The condition of the mind affects the psychology of how you dwell: subconscious influences, decorating with intention, and allowing your emotional issues and challenges to manifest in your space. The physical aspects of your design space, such as furniture positioning, design elements, sustainability, wellness, and organization, are representative of your relationship with your body. And finally, the spirit refers to all the invisible energies within you and your home—feng shui, atmosphere, and the soul of your home.

Years ago, author and holistic feng shui expert Laura Benko was diagnosed with a rare cancer. Around that time, a book serendipitously fell on her head. She took this as a much-needed sign to devote the next decade of her life to research and hundreds of transformative holistic design consultations. Her clients’ real-life, inspiring stories, along with specific actions and tips, have become the foundation for The Holistic Home.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Health, Spirituality

218 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2016

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many helpful tips in this book that I wasn't expecting; can't wait to utilize them! I love Benko's ideas because they're true to the method, yet practical and flexible for each family and life situation. I thought I was just going to be able to check this one out from the library, but it's so useful that I think I'll have to buy it!

[〰️Beth〰️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely much better than the last Feng Shui book I read. I enjoyed Benko’s writing style and her holistic approach. Some would definitely say a westernised version of Feng Shui and that is true. She is not recommending you go out and purchase Chinese “nicknacks” that clash with you aesthetic. She discusses the basic map and elements then how to begin to transform your thoughts, home and activities to create a holistic life.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this even though it was an awfully short and light read. Many from the west may have reluctance to read this for fear of internalizing pseudoscience or something of the kind. This is a mistaken view.

Feng shui is basically the science, and art, of how interior/exterior decorating produces psychological effects. Or at least practically that is a functional way to describe it. I imagine anyone who knows this much better than myself would come up with a much better more exact definition. Nevertheless, I think it is worthwhile for anyone who lives in places with things and stuff to at least look at the field of feng shui , it will serve to at least be interesting

I recommend this for anyone who obsessively searches for practical manners to control their lives, and people interested in psychology or other cultures than their own

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a copy of The Holistic Home from a Goodreads Giveaway, and it was a total score! This was totally up my alley. This wasn’t just a regular book about Feng Shui. It is about Feng Shui and so much more. In the past, I have struggled with traditional Feng Shui ideas in that they often seemed unattainable or unrealistic in my home or just don’t sit right with my essential self. Benko, however, clarifies that there are MULTIPLE traditions of Feng Shui (something I didn’t realize), and although she includes several interesting Feng Shui tips that she has had success with in her years of experience, she believes that our homes should more so be about creating a space that we love and should be a place that will help us create our best energy on a daily basis and help us to transform or thrive in all areas of our lives. She concentrates a great deal on how to attain a Mind, Body & Spirit connection in our homes and emphasizes how we must follow our intuition to make up a living space that one loves. She frequently points to the idea that everything is connected. Our homes are a reflection of our inner being and our inner being is a reflection of our home. If there is something that is going on in our career or relationships, we should take a look at our living space and make changes where they are needed or vice versa. Having been diagnosed with cancer and having initially been given a grim outlook, Benko is a testimony to how our beliefs and ways of living can literally heal us and change our health and our life.

A lot of her ideas hit home to me, in that I have already been living and practicing them, and there were quite a few new things that I learned. She talks a lot about home accents, whether they be from artwork or artifacts to actual home furnishings to help balance the home with the four elements and Yin and Yang. Benko focuses a lot of information on decluttering, organizing, spacing and how to create a sustainable and green home and eliminating toxins. I really enjoyed the information on the Feng Shui Bengua Map, in how the different spaces in our home (front, back, center, etc) represent different concepts, such as family, wealth, health and others. Since I have a home that is not arranged in traditional fashion, I love how she mentioned that we can superimpose the bagua map on a lot land, something that I would like to incorporate in my home and property. I also really enjoyed the chapter on subconscious symbolism in the home, as there are quite a few ideas from this chapter as well as others that I would like to include in my living space. For example, from reading this, I have moved my bed away from the wall (can make the person sleeping against the wall feel suffocated or stifled in the relationship)! I have also made plans to have equal nightstands placed on both sides of mine and my husband’s king-sized-bed. (Nightstands symbolically represent the equality in a relationship. They should be symmetrical and equivalent in size and shape. When one is missing, dominant, or inferior to the other, the relationship has the potential to mirror that imbalance as well.” Pg 99.) I have plans to add more color in various furnishings in my home. I plan on painting one of the rooms in my home red to orange but will keep a red accent table in it. (The color red breeds an aggressive environment, but it conjures up authority and is considered lucky. Orange is a stimulating color that promotes happiness (page 162).” Furthermore, I have committed to be better at decluttering and washing the windows in my home (the eyes of the home)!”

There are so many more goodies in this book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is trying to spruce up their living quarters, looking to change their life from the inside out, or are looking to transform their living space into one that is more lively, supportive, and purposeful.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

In all fairness, I didn't completely read the book. I read the first half and was intrigued with Ms. Benko's ideas for decluttering the mind, body and spirit and the need to stop holding on to "stuff"
(energy) that does not serve you well. I enjoyed the chapters on the Feng Shui mapping and how to incorporate the 5 elements into your home. She even describes her own personal experience using these techniques and how doing so helped in her own physical healing. The rest of the book did not interest me as much and I just skimmed through it.

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first book I've read on feng shui, and I will say that I generally enjoyed Benko's interpretation. She encourages common sense and personal taste in guiding interior decisions, and is not dogmatic. I did find the organization a bit scattered, though, and I disliked the final chapters, which read a bit like advertising for Benko's pet projects.

[Mei · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a lot of great information it it. At some points, I kept putting it down, and it was hard to get through- I think it had some passive writing style, and long sentences, and that might be why. But overall, it is a book that I will probably read again. I wish there was a half star rating, because I would rate it a 3.5 star. It just wasn't quite a 4 or 5 for me, although it was good!

[Renata Shura · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is much here that is just common sense,but I found it inspiring and began improving changes right away.

[Najla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfect for anyone who wants their home to feel more like HOME... a home that feels right, that’s uplifting and that suits their aspirations 🙏

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book in the Goodreads giveaway.
This is an interesting book. It introduces me to the concept that my home decor/arrangement reflects deeper aspects of my physical and emotional life. Some of the ideas will be hard to put to practical use (due to emotional attachment to some things I already own, my husband's preferences, financial considerations, etc.) but some of them I will try to incorporate into my decorating. I am already trying the aromatherapy suggestion and love it. I especially like the illustrative client examples that the author includes and the lovely photographs.

[Carly Grote]

Just won this in a giveaway, will update review once I receive it.

[Anna-Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book about Feng Shui that addresses some helpful topics, yet it is not the definitive book I hope to eventually discover. I read bits at a time over several weeks.