Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet [Paperback]

Norma Lehmeier-Hartie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2007

Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify & Energize Your Life, Your Home & Your Planet, by Norma Lehmeier Hartie, is an indispensable reference book for anyone who cares about their health and well being and for the future of the planet. Hartie concisely covers a wide range of subjects and includes a comprehensive listing of advisory organizations, product and service resources. Part I of the book, Banish the Ugly from Your Life, is a blueprint for green, sustainable living. Discover how to replace toxic and unsustainable products from household cleaners to food (including recipes) to furniture to personal care products with safe, eco-friendly ones. Hartie is the tough but motivational Life Coach in her approach to cleaning, removing clutter and on organizing the home or office. Part II, Bring in the Beautiful to Create a Harmonious Environment and Self, includes a chapter on Earth-based spirituality and a fascinating look at the Four Elements (Earth, Fire, Air and Water) and the Medicine Wheel. The core of Hartie s philosophy blossoms in Chapter Seven, Applying Harmonious AdjustmentsTM: Using Feng Shui and Other Techniques for Powerful Results. Unlike other Feng Shui authors, Hartie has experience as a designer and her skills are apparent in this chapter and the following two. She has combined principles of Feng Shui, the Four Elements, color, energy, Vastu, and good design principles that create a unique and eclectic approach to home decorating. Finally, Hartie provides guidance on how to manifest personal or professional desires. In Part III, Putting the Pieces Together, Hartie skillfully integrates the many subjects of the book into a unified and cohesive whole. At its cover price of $19.95, Harmonious Environment is a value alone for the comprehensive green living product suppliers in the Resources section. What makes this book so truly ambitious, however, is what lies beneath the surface. In a sense, this book is only marginal

Editorial Reviews

Review

Introduce calm in your home or office space and nurture a simple and serene life by offering creative solutions. --Body & Brain Magazine

A terrific starting point for a monthly study group...Almost every chapter has plenty of information for intensive discussion. --Anna Jedrziewski, Spirit Connection New York, New York, N.Y. for New Age Retailer

From the Back Cover

Create the home of your dreams while changing your life!

Discover how to harness your intuition and creativity while working with energy to transform your home and your life. Harmonious Environment will help you to:

• Transform your home into a sanctuary by teaching you: o Harmonious Adjustments™, a unique combination of the best principles of Feng Shui, the application of the Four Elements based on your birth date, color, Vastu, energy work and good design.

• Improve your health o Do you or the occupants of your home suffer from any of the following for no apparent reason?: • Depression • Anxiety • Fatigue • Frequent headaches o Do you or the occupants of your home have asthma or allergies? o Do you have problems sleeping? o Do you feel disorganized or have difficulty concentrating? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, you must read this book

• Reconnect with nature and help the Planet heal

• Manifest your personal or professional dreams o Find your perfect job o Become financially stable o Find your soul mate or keep your current relationship strong

• Find information on how to make your home safe for you and the planet. Norma Lehmeier Hartie is a design consultant, Harmonious Adjustment practitioner, chef, gardener and healer. She is the creator of the practice of Harmonious Adjustments™. Harmonious Environment is the most valuable book you will read. Inspiring and transformative, it will change your life, your home and your planet. Read it. Make your dreams a reality.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Lingham Press (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977963306
• ISBN-13: 978-0977963300
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 8.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Personal Health > Stress > Feng Shui

More About the Author

Award winning author, speaker, green Feng Shui staging designer and the originator of the practice Harmonious Adjustments.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

95 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Transform Your Home into a Peaceful Sanctuary, April 9, 2007

By 

Rebecca Johnson "The Rebecca Review" (Washington State) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet (Paperback)

"The energy from flowers is so bright and strong that they can be put anywhere in the home and they will enhance your life." ~ pg. 217

Norma Lehmeier Hartie is a design consultant and Harmonious Adjustment practitioner who enjoys gardening and cooking. She created the practice of Harmonious Adjustments to give her clients the chance to reconnect with nature and to manifest their personal and professional dreams. Through her book she introduces ideas for detoxing and decluttering your home environment.

If you want a happier, healthier lifestyle that is more in harmony with nature, then Norma Lehmeier Hartie's book has a world of information to make this possible. She can help you:

Remove toxic products from your home and garage
Clean and organize your home
Buy environmentally friendly cleaning products
Organize your home for more peace and harmony
Find healthy personal care products
Grow plants that help to control pollution - A list of the Fifty Best Houseplants
Find the best choices in flooring
Figure out how to recycle larger items like a refrigerator
Cook more safely and use kitchen scraps for your garden
Formulate a plan to keep your house clean
Organize every room in the house
Decorate with Confidence

Reading through the list of harmful products gives you an idea of the ingredients to avoid in cleaners and how they can affect your health. For an antibacterial spray, the author suggests water and essential oils and for cleaning silver she also suggests more natural solutions like baking soda and vinegar. Using Borax and water is less dangerous than chlorine bleach fumes and you may want to try this in your shower. You may enjoy products by Seventh Generation.

Chapter three felt a little out of my personal range of expertise, although we know that thoughts can affect our environment and life and can move our life in a positive or negative direction. This chapter deals more with spiritual practices. Chapter 6 also delves into a deeper connection with nature, personality types and elemental powers. The list of Yin and Yang is helpful to create a balance of the two in your home. An entire chapter is also dedicated to plants, gemstones and crystals.

"If you are the average American woman, you expose yourself to over two hundred synthetic chemicals that are found in the products you use as you prepare yourself for the day. These products do not simply sit on your skin; approximately sixty percent of these ingredients get absorbed into your bloodstream." ~ pg. 91

Chapter four is especially informative and essential if you are trying to be healthier and want to find organic alternatives to products filled with synthetic chemicals. Why should you avoid petroleum and talc? Why is there lead in hair dye?

The section on an Eco-Friendly Kitchen is interesting and the chapter on natural and organic foods also gives ideas on how to save time in the kitchen. A few recipes are included:

Vegetarian Pasta Primavera
Fajitas
Risotto with Scallops or Shrimp
Lemon Rice
Grilled Vegetables

An extensive list of resources and a very handy index complete this well-researched and extremely helpful book. If you enjoy Feng Shui or decorating and organizing your home, there is a lot to enjoy and you may find the information in this book can also help with fatigue, anxiety and sleeping problems.

~The Rebecca Review

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life-changing ideas, February 1, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet (Paperback)

Worried about what your family is being exposed to? Are you hoping to increase your wealth or find love this year? Trying to decide on the best color to paint your walls? If you answered "yes!" to any of these questions, then Harmonious Environment is a must read.

The goal of this book is to create positive energy both in your home and your life and to be kinder to the earth. Hertie is a design consultant, chef, gardener, and healer. She shares her professional and personal experiences with the readers, i.e., homemade earth-friendly cleaning products, tasty recipes for carnivores and vegetarians, etc. She recommends that after reading this book, you apply the process in the following order:

1. Remove toxic products from your home and garage
2. Clean, declutter, clear and organize your home
3. Buy/use environmentally friendly products
4. Learn how to use place objects (furniture, mirrors, etc.) to manifest change in your life

The relationship between people and the Earth is an important part of Harmonious Environments. To remind ourselves of this interconnection, Hertie recommends bringing the natural world into your home. Some ways to do this include displaying rocks and minerals and using houseplants as pollution busters.

Hertie uses Harmonious Adjustments (TM) that combines "the best principles of Feng Shui, the application of the Four Elements based on your birth date, color, Vastu, energy work and good design." I've read a few Feng Shui books in the past, but the author's clear instructions and enthusiasm has given me the confidence to actually try this at home.

I liked how the author reminded me to use this book as a guideline but to also trust my intuition. Do what looks and feels right for you. I also liked how the Resource section listed all the suppliers, organizations and further readings mentioned throughout the book.

Even if you aren't interested in Feng Shui, this book has valuable information about becoming an informed consumer and living a more eco-friendly life.

Armchair Interviews says read Harmonious Environment and get ready to change your life!

59 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Declutter, paint and detoxify, April 1, 2007

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet (Paperback)

Using the principles of Feng Shui, you can create a harmonious home environment with this book as a guide.

Author Lehmeier-Hartie has you choose colors, elements and design based on your birthday. If you suffer from problems feeling disorganized or headachey at home, it could be your home is not organized properly or the flow of energy is impeded.

The author extends this tranquility to finding the right job and the right mate. Whether or not it is the alignment of elements in the home, focusing on clearing clutter in your life can only have positive effects. A very pretty book.