How Feng Shui Impacts Your Life

Feng Shui (fung schway) is a system of living in harmony with your environment.  Environments that use Feng Shui look beautiful and serene. Moreover, Feng Shui can lead to better health, wealth and relationships.

In recent times, Feng Shui has grown in popularity. Corporations such as Coca-Cola, Bed, Bath & Beyond and Proctor Gamble use Feng Shui in their corporate buildings.  Many celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey, have their own personal Feng Shui consultants.

BEFORE

AFTER

What’s it All About?

Fundamentally, Feng Shui is about chi or life force energy. It’s the invisible force present in everything. Chi is energy, and when it’s blocked in your home, you may feel stuck in a rut.  In order to live a healthy and happy, it’s best to have a  flow of chi in and around your home.

Employing the basic principles of balance and flow in your environment not only creates a visually and emotionally appealing space, it allows you to feel grounded and comfortable.  It’s like acupuncture for your home, unblocking stagnate energy and revitalizing your environment.

Feng Shui is based on the principle that people lead healthier and more abundant lives when their environment is in balance.  When when you increase your enjoyment of your home, you’ll increase your enjoyment of your life!

A Few Basic Tips

Create good energy in all areas of your home.  If you are uplifted when you look at an object in your home remove it. Fill your home with things you love and uplift your spirits.  Love is a very powerful emotion and creates good energy.

• Open the windows throughout your home and let fresh air in!
• Let the sunshine in.  Don’t keep your home too dark.  This creates stagnation.  Too much darkness is like too much clutter – it weighs you down.
• Fix everything in your home that is in need of repair or is broken or chipped.
• Remove dead plants outside and keep plants inside trimmed and healthy.
• Declutter your home.  Clean out your closets. Clutter prevents the flow of energy.
• Because your bedroom is very important in supporting your health it is important to ensure that it has good Feng Shui.  Generally speaking, it’s best to place your bed along the longest wall of the room.  And don’t put your bed against a wall with a toilet directly behind it because it creates negative energy.

For Good Feng Shui take a look at these Areas in Your Home First.

The art and science of Feng Shui provides guidelines for assessing how healthy the energy (or “qi”) is in your environment.  Certain areas of your home have a bigger influence than others in determining whether or not you have good Feng Shui.  When your home has good Feng Shui, it supports your health, wealth, and relationships.  When it doesn’t, you may experience struggles or what’s commonly referred to as “bad luck.” Of course your home is the sum of its parts and every area has some impact — even small areas like the top shelf of your closet!

First – The Front Door  Why?  In Feng Shui, qi is the life force that fills your home.  All exterior doors and windows are qi mouths, allowing energy into your home.  The front door is the most important qi mouth and the direction your door faces determines the quality of qi your home receives. 

Recommendations

1. The door is best placed facing forward and not sideways.  It can easily receive qi when facing forward. A front door facing sideways is kind of like having your face on sideways  – it’s awkward and strained.
2. A winding pathway leading up to the door rather than a straight path is preferable.  Winding paths allow qi to meander to the door rather than rush toward it.  If you’ve got a long, straight path you can place potted plants or bushes alongside of it to help slow down the qi.
3. If the direction of traffic flows towards you, a fence or landscaping can prevent qi from rushing toward your front door.  When qi rushes at your door it can cause conflict in your home.
4. Keep the front porch free of debris and in good condition.

Second – The Master Bedroom Why?  When you’re sleeping, you’re less guarded and more susceptible to qi forces in the room.  For good health, it’s important to ensure that your bedroom is healthy.

Recommendations

1. Place your bed against a solid wall.  If you can’t do this because of windows, if you have a solid headboard it’ll help guard you from the energy coming in from the windows and you’ll sleep better.
2. Don’t place your bed on the same wall as a toilet or in line with a toilet.  
3. Place your bed flush against a wall rather than placing it diagonally.  If the floor plan doesn’t allow this, put a wall screen behind you to give you support.
4. Place your bed facing the bedroom door if practical.
5. If your bed is in line with a door such as the bedroom door or bathroom door, keep the door closed when you want to relax so you’re not hit with qi.
6. Avoid placing sharp corners or objects pointing toward your bed.
7. Place a nightstand on each side of your bed.  (They don’t have to match).
8. If your bed doesn’t have a footboard, place a bench at the foot of your bed. 

 

Third – The Foyer  Why?  This is generally where qi first enters your home.  The foyer sets the tone for the rest of your home. 

Recommendations

1. If your front door opens directly to a living area, create a virtual-foyer by using an area rug (consider a circular one), and a console or buffet table next to the door.   The purpose is to slow down qi from rushing into your space.
2. Avoid clutter.  It’s best not to keep your shoes by the front door but if you do, ensure that they’re tastefully organized and not in obvious view.
3. Be mindful of the artwork you see upon entering and ensure it’s something that lifts your spirits.
4. Generally, a mirror is appropriate in this area.
5. Ensure there’s abundant lighting.

Using Feng Shui To Help A Home Sell Works

Feng Shui has nothing to do with superstition, religion, or philosophy; it’s about living in harmony with your environment through balancing energy (or “qi”).  When a room is balanced and qi can flow gently, you’ll automatically feel comfortable and at ease.  The flow of qi is essential to personal comfort and well-being, and your body intuitively feels when an environment is balanced or imbalanced.

It’s simple…when a buyer feels comfortable in a home it will sell and when they don’t the home won’t sell.

If you believe that Feng Shui is New Age fad, it may surprise you to know that the eastern cultures have practiced the art of placement for centuries. And now that Feng Shui has been westernized, buyers and sellers are using Feng Shui to buy and sell real estate.

The idea behind Feng Shui is to create a harmonious environment to support the health and prosperity of the occupants by placement of objects, use of color, landscaping, and the five elements – fire, earth, metal, water, and wood. The simplest way to look at it is that if any element is out of balance or missing, we feel off-balance too.

Every object vibrates to create a unique combination of energy.  Feng Shui helps home sellers create balanced energy which will attract buyers. For example, a white front door and a semi-circular front door mat are metal elements. To help the home sell, create balance using fire and earth elements – red or orange-colored plants on either side of the door or by replacing the door mat with a red or orange rectangular- shaped mat.

The goal of getting a home sold is to create comfort and appeal so that buyers linger in the home.  The more time a buyer spends in the home, the more likely they are to buy it.  To help buyers linger, you’ve got to create coziness.  Coziness creates comfort and it is indicative of a gentle flow of energy.  Adding earth elements like rectangular area rugs, square wall art, and window treatments help create coziness. 

In long hallways qi can move too quickly if you don’t have wall art, earth wall colors, or area rugs to slow it down.  The goal is creating slow, meandering qi.  On long straight walkways outside, you can stagger potted plants to change the feel of rushing qi.

In the current real estate market, home sellers need every advantage to get their home sold quickly, but it should be noted that Feng Shui it can’t overcome setting a home sales price too high.   However, Feng Shui will absolutely help the home to feel welcoming and comfortable which will help set it apart from other homes on the market.

Simple Feng Shui

Before applying Feng Shui principles

After applying Feng Shui principles

The term “Feng Shui” may sound exotic or difficult to understand. It’s really a very practical study, but many think people dismiss it as another new-age gimmick or “wu-wu”  because of the way its been marketed here in the U.S. 

Originally from Asia, Feng Shui is simply the study of energy flow and balance.  Whether you realize it or not, you’re constantly experiencing the effects of energy.  Just like gravity, you can’t see it but you can feel it.  Every “thing” – i.e. trees, flowers, furniture, colors, and shapes emanates its own unique energy.  The arrangement of these forms in your environment creates energy that translates into positive or negative feelings in your body.  Balancing energy in your environment allows you to feel comfortable and relaxed. Unbalanced energy creates imbalances in your life and discomfort in your body.  That’s the essence of Feng Shui.

 To experience the effects of Feng Shui for yourself, you can try any of these…

• Look at either side of your desk, whichever is the most cluttered. Now, move the stuff away.  Feel different?  If there is too much clutter in a space, you can feel constricted because energy flow is constricted.
• Move your chair to the center of the room and sit down.  Now, move it against the wall and do the same.  Do you feel differently sitting with your back against the wall?  If you sit in the center of a room you will likely feel vulnerable and exposed.  A wall behind you allows you to relax and allows energy to flow towards you.
• Remove a piece of artwork from a wall, or conversely, hang one.  Can you feel the difference?  The colors and design in the art create energy.  When you remove the art, you remove energy.

The study of Feng Shui explains how and why the placement of objects creates balance, energy, and flow.  The universal principles of Yin and Yang and the five elemental energies classified as wood, water, metal, earth, and fire which are derived from Yin and Yang are the essence of Feng Shui.   Feng Shui provides us with a blueprint for quantifying energy and an explanation of why certain spaces affect us they way they do.  Feng Shui principles can explain why a friend’s house doesn’t feel comfortable or why you may need to select a certain table in a restaurant.

All the other Feng Shui enhancements you may have heard about like fountains, wind chimes, and lucky statues are simply icing on the cake.  They are fun and easy to implement.  The real study of Feng Shui however is concerned with landforms, structural forms, energy flow, and balance.   Feng Shui provides an explanation of  how the intangible to becomes tangible.  Energy is constantly flowing around us and it is the harnessing of this energy using Feng Shui principles that is the power of Feng Shui.

Feng Shui adds balance to your life.

Before

After

If you’re conscious of living in harmony with your enviroment and enjoying a healthy, balanced livestyle odds are you’ve heard of Feng Shui.  Using Feng Shui principles in your home will help you feel comfortable, relaxed, and balanced.  Feng Shui not only helps you feel great but applying the principles at your home or office will help create a balanced and comfortable space.

The ancient Chinese, originators of Feng Shui over 6,000 years ago, developed systems of arranging their homes to harness the most powerful energy flow for success in their lives. For example, such choices as location of your house, its orientation on the lot, floor plan, wall color, furniture arrangement, and accessories directly affect the energy flow of your space; thus, they will either support you or cause discomfort and stress.

When an environment has “bad Feng Shui” it makes you feel uncomfortable or uneasy. When a space has “good Feng Shui,” the environment appeals to the senses and feels comfortable, balanced and inviting.

Here are five tips for creating a healthy,  balanced home:

1. Trees and plants in the yard should be healthy and well cared for.  The front yard should be maintained in good order, clean and neat.
2. There should be a clear, clean, obvious pathway winding to the front door.
3. The right balance of natural light in a room is an important first step in creating a well-balanced and healthy room.
4. Energy should be encouraged to circulate slowly throughout the house.  Stagnant energy is not healthful.  Clutter, too much furniture, or furniture that is too large for a room will obstruct energy flow.  Energy needs clear pathways so it can meander through every room of the house.
5. Generally, less is more in accessorizing and decorating your home.

And rest assured, a space can always become more balanced using Feng Shui.

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.”

Feng Shui 101 – Let’s Start with the Front of your Home.

Energy flow to your front door is important.

Did you know that both interior and exterior features of your home affect your health, wealth, and relationships?  The lot your house is built on, the direction your front door faces, and neighboring homes and streets all have an influence on your life.  Let’s start with the front of your home, the side that’s facing the street.

Feng Shui systems are complex, but they’re also logical and practical.  In Feng Shui, it’s best to have the front door of your home facing the street rather than sideways.  The front door then is able to capture energy flow in front of your home easier than if it were turned to the side.  Feng Shui is all about good energy flow.  Think of the front of your home as being your face.  You don’t want to walk around with your head turned to one side – it’s not natural.  The same is true for a side-facing front door.

And if your front door faces the side, don’t worry, you don’t have to move, just ensure that shrubs and bushes in front of the door are short and allow energy to flow.   Don’t block the front door of your home, wherever it’s located, with large bushes, trees, and “stuff” which prevent it from receiving energy.  Think energy flow.