Feng Shui 101- Ten Easy Tips

1.  An altar or meditation area is best placed in the Northeast area of a room as this is the location that corresponds to inner knowledge, reflection, and stillness.

 2.  Don’t use a lot of the colors red and gold in the bedroom.  These are yang colors and they create activity and energy.  A little is fine but too much is bad for relaxation.

 3.  Don’t place the head of your bed on wall shared with a toilet.  You’ll inevitably absorb harmful energy you while you sleep.

 4.  Cleanse the  energy in a room or in your entire home to keep the environment healthy.  Cleanse at least a couple of times a year. You can cleanse in several different ways – with wind, with bells or chimes, with fire as in smudging with incense, and misting with salt water.

 5.  If you have a bathroom adjoining your bedroom, close the door while you sleep.  Actually, it’s best to have any doors leading into your bedroom closed so that you aren’t disturbed by energy flowing at you while you sleep.

6.  If you place your bed against a window, ensure that you have a solid headboard or heavy drapes to block off the window.  Your head needs protection while you sleep.

 7.  The first rule of Feng Shui is to allow chi (energy) to circulate.  Clear clutter and clean often to allow the movement of chi in your home and in your life.

8.  Keep in mind the principles of yin and yang when decorating.  Balance light and dark colors, soft and hard surfaces, and smooth and rough textures in your choice of wall color, furniture, flooring and window treatments.

9.  Use curving paths in your garden and yard to encourage chi to flow in a naturally organic way.

10.  Keep something uplifting on your dining table.  Fresh flowers, a colorful table runner, interesting salt and pepper shakers (kept full), and/or a nice piece of pottery will uplift your spirits when you eat at the table, causing good chi.

Feng Shui is an Ancient Practice, not a New Age Gimmick

Have you ever wondered why certain rooms in your home feel more comfortable than others?  Or why rearranging a room makes it not only look, but feel differently?   Perhaps without realizing it, you’re experiencing the principles of  Feng Shui.  Feng Shui is the ancient practice of arranging the physical environment to harmonize  energy.  When your environment is balanced and harmonious, it has a positive affect on your life.

Good  Feng Shui mitigates problems and increases opportunities in your life, often creating circumstances that help you out of a negative situation.  

Correct Feng Shui can increase prosperity and allow harmonious relationships.  Conversely, incorrect Feng Shui can bring discord in relationships, as well as money problems, accidents, and chronic disease.   The widespread practice of Feng Shui in Asia is a powerful testament to its potency.  In Hong Kong, few businesses or residents risk having incorrect Feng Shui. 

A Long and Rich History

Although thought by many to be a New Age phenomenon, the art and science of Feng Shui has been around for centuries.  About 6000 years ago, the  Chinese began using principles of geomancy, or what is now called Feng Shui.  Observing the Big Dipper and the rotation of the planets, they applied their observations to the placement of ancestral grave sites.  Correct grave placement was thought to bring prosperity for the deceased’s descendants.  Soon, Chinese Emperors used Feng Shui to find the most suitable place to build a fortress.  

 

Today, Feng Shui is associated with anything from cosmetics to car design to fountains and mirrors.  It’s no wonder people see it as a New Age gimmick.

 

It’s all about Energy

Most of us have heard of qi (chi).  It’s a term simply described as energy, but it’s actually more profound.  Qi is the underlying essence of all things.   Qi has direct impact on your health, wealth, and relationships.   The goal of Feng Shui is to enhance beneficial qi in your space while keeping out detrimental qi.  At the most basic level, Qi is classified as having either Yin or Yang qualities.  Yin qi is feminine and quiet.  Yang qi is the opposite of Yin.  It’s masculine and  active.  Qi is further characterized as being a combination of five elemental energies -earth, metal, water, wood, and fire.  Balancing elements in your environment ensures a harmonious environment.  A harmonious environment helps you to relax opening the door to better health and greater ease in all areas of your life.

A traditional  Feng Shui practitioner works to balance energy in a space, similar to how an acupuncturist balances qi in your body.  The correct application of the principles of Feng Shui allows qi in your environment to nourish you.  This is the essence of Feng Shui.

Feng Shui is a Lifetime Study

The study of  Feng Shui is a lifetime study and there are hundreds of different systems of Feng Shui. The traditional approaches to Feng Shui use a compass to take directional readings of  your home and analyze the impact of geographical features such as street traffic, neighboring houses, and landscaping.  Time-Space Feng Shui measures how energy reacts in a space in a given time by using mathematical and logical system to interpret the energy patterns.  It’s through the correct analysis of outside forms and qi flow patterns in a space that energy can be balanced.

A Time-Space  Feng Shui consultant takes compass readings to measure the facing direction of your home and  prepares an energy chart of your house.  The chart shows the type of energy in the structure and which areas are out of balance.   These areas can be analyzed thoroughly and specifically addressed to improve health, career goals, relationships.   The recommendations may include opening  windows in certain locations (when weather permits), adding an elemental cure, and rearranging furniture.

Feng Shui can improve your satisfaction with your life but of course, it’s not a magical cure.  Every object and form both inside and outside of your home influences you.   Applying the traditional principles of Feng Shui can ensure an optimum environment which will support your health, wealth, relationships and over all well-being. 

Feng Shui 101 – Find the Foyer

Home with a Foyer.

No Foyer – door opens to living room.

Have you ever had the experience of walking into a house through a front door that opens directly into a living or dining room?  Did it feel unnatural or awkward to you?  Would you feel more comfortable entering a restaurant with a hostess area rather than walking directly into the dining room?     

Having a front door directly opening into a home (or restaurant) contradicts the principles of Feng Shui. Why?  Because energy (“chi”) flows into a house through the front door and it’s best not to have it rushing in,  it’s best to gather it in a foyer, then let it gently flow into the rest of the house.  When guests enter and depart, doesn’t it inherently feel better to have a foyer in which you can greet them and then send them off?   As you receive guests through the front door, you also receive chi.  Even though you can’t see chi you can feel it.  Thinking of chi as a flowing current may help you see that a gradual flow is more natural than a rushing current.

“Comfort or discomfort is an intuitive reaction to energy that feels wrong.  It is bad Feng Shui.”