Product Description

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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #187520 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-01
• Released on: 2007-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 300 pages

Review
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

Clearly written, cleanly organized, and enthusiastically presented, this is an unusual and eclectic addition to anyone's home improvement library. -- Fearless Reviews

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

It's a handbook for those wanting to achieve a healthier, happier lifestyle in harmony and balance with nature. -- ForeWord March 2007

Perfect blend of the practical and the magical to help us recapture the simplicity that modern society has stolen away. -- Independent Publisher Highlighted Title Winner

Techniques for promoting metaphysical harmony abound in this compassionate guide. Recommended reading for anyone seeking to revitalize their living space. -- Midwest Book Review

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.

About the Author
Norma has spent much of her life appreciating the beauty and benefits of living a more natural, conscious and harmonious life. Her deep appreciation of nature began when she was a small child growing up in a wooded area of northern Westchester, NY. She spent most of her time outdoors: playing, hiking, collecting objects and dreaming. She considered trees, animals and rocks to be her friends and her connection to them has given her an innate understanding of the importance of balance and harmony in one’s life and environment. As Norma grew older, life steered her away from her nature-based beginnings, but she never truly lost the connection. Various jobs, classes and spiritual pursuits, while seemingly disparate, have in fact given Norma a variety of skills and opportunities that she has expertly merged to create a simple and thoughtful approach to designing healthy, beautiful environments while being mindful of the impact our choices have on the earth and humanities future. Her journey to this book has taken her through a variety of environments including corporate marketing, holistic, catering business, healthcare, and the not-for profit world. She also traveled extensively during her search for a meaningful career. During this time she developed expertise in a variety of areas, but aside from her skills as a designer, Harmonious Adjustments™ practitioner, lecturer, chef, gardener and healer, Norma has inherent artistic and creative abilities, which lend an inspirational level to her work that is truly infectious. She is the creator of the practice of Harmonious Adjustments. Norma'’s dedication to creating harmonious environments has evolved out of her mindfulness of the connection of all things and of living a spiritual journey through her commitment to helping the earth. By following her guidance in creating your own harmonious environment, you too can begin a life of spiritual, mindful and harmonious living.

Customer Reviews

Transform Your Home into a Peaceful Sanctuary
"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

Life-changing ideas
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!

Declutter, paint and detoxify
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.