We recently had the chance to connect with Inessa Freya and have shared our conversation below.
Inessa , it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Every day, I’m filled with joy simply experiencing life with my toddler. I had my first child at 47, after I’d traveled, lived, and done a lot of inner work, and come to know myself pretty well. Because of that, I feel I can truly drop in and be there for him in a way I may not have been able to when I was younger. I have a deep appreciation for my child’s uniqueness and a strong intention to hold space for him to evolve into who he’s meant to be.
I can attune to him in ways I never could in my thirties because I’ve learned to attune to myself. That self-connection allows me to enjoy him so much more fully. I feel that if I had had a child when I was younger, I might have been too wounded, too self-preoccupied, or too restless to be as present. Now, I can meet him and life with a sense of awe, softness, and joy I didn’t know was possible before.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Inessa Freylekhman, a licensed spiritual psychotherapist, feng shui Maestra, and the author of Fun Shway: A Feng Shui Guide for Young Adults — Change Your Room, Change Your Life. I help people align their inner and outer worlds so that their homes, relationships, and lives reflect who they truly are.
My approach is a blend of ancient wisdom and spiritual psychology, what I call Feng Shui from the Heart™. It’s not just about where to place your couch (though we do that too); it’s about shifting the energy from the inside out so your outer world becomes a mirror of your inner transformation.
For over two decades, I’ve had the honor of teaching and consulting at places like Capitol Records, NBC, Canyon Ranch, 1 Hotel, and Soho House. I’m also writing my next book, which explores healing generational patterns and reclaiming feminine power.
Alongside my private practice, I train people to become feng shui practitioners through my Feng Shui from the Heart™ Immersion Program. This four-month journey is designed for healers, therapists, coaches, designers, and seekers who want to bring more soul, depth, and transformation into their work and their lives. We don’t just study the bagua map or placement principles; we explore the energetic and psychological layers of space—how our homes hold our stories, our patterns, and our potential for healing.
What makes this training unique is that it’s experiential and heart-centered. Students learn to listen to energy, to interpret the symbolism of their environments, and to create spaces that reflect alignment, peace, and purpose. Many graduates have gone on to weave feng shui into their own practices—integrating it beautifully with coaching, design, astrology, or holistic healing. For me, it’s a joy and an honor to initiate students into this lineage of living from the heart and helping others do the same.
My next four-month immersion begins in January 2026. If you feel called to step into this work, to learn a language of energy that will transform not just your spaces but your entire way of seeing the world, this may be your moment.
What makes my work unique is that it isn’t about fixing, but it’s about remembering. Remembering who you are, what lights you up, and how to live from that place of joy, purpose, and wholeness.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
I think what breaks the bonds between people is often the same thing that can ultimately restore them.
When we begin to heal from our traumas, we can no longer accept or tolerate certain ways of being, especially the ones that keep us small or disconnected from ourselves. As we start to set boundaries and show up differently, it can shake the foundation of our relationships. People may push back, feel hurt, threatened, angry, or confused, because we’re no longer participating in the same unhealthy patterns we once did.
But here’s the thing: when we show up for ourselves, we’re actually teaching others how to love us and in doing so, we invite them to rise into a greater version of themselves too. Some relationships evolve and deepen from that place. Others fall away. And that’s okay.
It’s not about right or wrong, good or bad — it’s about alignment. When we’re aligned with ourselves, our homes and our connection to a higher power, it becomes easier to discern what’s truly nourishing for our hearts and what no longer is.
When you were sad or scared as a child, what helped?
As a child, I was highly sensitive. I absorbed other people’s emotions without realizing it and often felt overwhelmed, anxious, or just plain tired without knowing why. When that happened, I’d find a small, enclosed space—under a table, in a corner, or sometimes in my closet. That sense of containment helped me come back to myself. It was where I could feel my own energy again and remember what it felt like to be in my body.
I don’t hide under the table anymore, but I’ve created a sanctuary in my home that offers the same sense of safety and restoration. As a busy mom, wife, and therapist seeing more than twenty-five clients a week, it feels essential. It’s a quiet room filled with things that regulate my nervous system—my Biomat, crystals, essential oils, books, and a weighted blanket.
Looking back, I can see that as a child I was instinctively regulating my nervous system without knowing it. Today, I do it intentionally, with gratitude for that little girl who somehow already knew what she needed. What I understand now is that my early search for safe, contained spaces was also the beginning of my path as a feng shui consultant.
For me, having a sacred and supportive home isn’t just about design—it’s about creating an environment that reflects and reinforces our inner world. Our homes are living, breathing extensions of who we are. They can nurture and hold the parts of us that are still healing, offering containment and comfort when life feels overwhelming. I’ve come to see that a part of my life’s journey has been about learning how to use my surroundings as a tool to strengthen the space inside—an outer sanctuary that mirrors and supports our inner one.
This understanding is at the heart of my work. Whether I’m guiding someone through a feng shui consultation, a therapy session, or leading a student through my Feng Shui from the Heart™ Immersion Program, my intention is always the same: to help people create spaces that heal, restore, and remind them of who they truly are.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
I can answer this question because I’ve gotten it wrong so many times and I’ll probably keep getting it wrong for the rest of my life. But the difference now is that I can see it as it’s happening, and course-correct moment to moment.
For me, the biggest misunderstanding, and I think a lot of smart people share this, is the belief that our wholeness lives outside of us. From a young age, I felt a gravitational pull to make other people my higher power. Whether I learned it through movies, romance novels, or fantasy itself, I internalized the idea that someone or something outside of me could be my salvation.
I started exploring this pattern when I was about thirteen, after reading my first book on love addiction. Since then, I’ve devoted much of my life to understanding and unlearning that illusion. My work with Internal Family Systems therapy has shown me that there’s a whole multiverse within — and that the part of me still searching for completion “out there” is just one tender aspect of a much larger, wiser self.
These days, I find my way back to oneness through prayer, dream tending, and inner bonding- ways I remember that what I’ve been seeking has always been inside me.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If immortality were real, what would you build?
If immortality were real, I would build a spiritual school from pre-K through 12th grade that teaches young people to live from the inside out.
It would be a place that helps children stay connected to their true selves, or, for those who’ve forgotten, to find their way back. Because when more people on this planet live as their authentic selves, they naturally inspire others to do the same. They help heal the patterns of self-betrayal passed down through families and culture.
This school would center around creativity, imagination, art, service, and purpose. Every student would use their unique gifts to dream up and build something that contributes to humanity — something that heals.
In a way, it wouldn’t just be a school. It would be a living, breathing field of possibility. A place where souls remember who they are and learn to create from that place.
Contact Info:
- Website: illuminatedcounseling.com and fengshuifromtheheart.com
- Instagram: inessa_freya
- Facebook: Inessa Freya Lieberman
- Yelp: https://yelp.to/1xpfOtymSN
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@thefunshway?si=8lisbgSg0jOXDX5k
Image Credits
Lisa Robertson
