Feng Shui
Feng shui is about the relationship between people and places and the effect that our living and working environments have on our well-being. At its core is an understanding that we are our homes. Our personalities, hopes and fears are expressed in everything we choose to put into the places we live and work and how we arrange them. Change one and you create a shift in the other. Our homes can also express what we have been, through photographs and mementos. But if we want to go forward, they need to express our future too.
About Feng Shui
Feng shui means ‘wind and water’ and alludes to the movement of wind across the earth shaping and sculpting the world in the form of hills, mountains and valleys. The wind is the invisible force of energy called chi (chee). This chi exists throughout the universe and it is what makes our hearts beat and creates the tidal flow of the seas.
A basic premise of Feng shui is that energy moves into a building through the front door and then will flow around the building in a predictable way. This is shown in a map, known as a bagua, divided into nine areas, each representing an aspect of life – Family, Relationships, Creativity, Career and so on. You can help create your future by identifying the various areas in your home and correctly placing objects within them.
Your first home
Buying and moving into your own place for the first time is a big step. Here’s how to get the best from your new home...
Love your home. It’s an expression of you, so treat it with respect.
Decide what you want from your home - is it a sanctuary for you and your partner; a refuge from the outside world; a social magnet to attract lost of visitors or a place from which to start your new business?
Make sure that you are not the only living thing in the place. Buy fresh flowers, invest in plants; have silk plants and pictures of nature.
Give each person in the house their own retreat, a quiet place or a play area. This could be a corner of the garden, a favourite chair or a regular time when you have a room to yourself - for example a long, hot soak in the bath.
Have a communal place where you can come together as a couple or family. The colour yellow is good for this place - in a picture, bowl or vase of flowers.
Be conscious of what your routines are and how they differ from your partner’s: develop new ones together. Arrange the house so that it will accommodate both of you. Be tolerant.
Work out your orientation with a compass. Get to know where the sun rises (in the east) and notice which part of your house faces south and therefore receives the greatest natural boost of energy during the day.
Think about what you’d like to achieve while you live there. Express your goals in pictures, symbols and objects. Be positive and creative. Put up photos of places you want to visit next to your own picture.
Fix things as they get broken otherwise they become an incredible drain on your energy. Make a list of local repair people (preferably recommended) including an emergency plumber, electrician and glazier.
Your new home
First impressions are important. Make sure that the outside is neat and tidy and have a clearly marked name and number. If the number is two digits, place these ascending from left to right or both straight to keep your future positive.
Choose a doorbell with a sound that you like and make sure it always works - it signifies your receptivity to opportunities which might come your way.
Set the boundaries for your home with a gate, a fence or a row of shrubs. The status of animals like lions offers protection, as does a bright light in your porch.
Give your house some personality, for example with a name, or change the porchlight or the shape of the front path. Put something in your window or outside that will make passers-by smile.
Get a maximum flow of energy by keeping your hallway clear of obstructions. Create an illusion of extra space by putting up pictures with depth, or mirrors. Choose shelves or tables with rounded corners. Keep your incoming mail somewhere else so that the surfaces remain uncluttered. Select a plain carpet or one with a small pattern so as not to overwhelm people when they come in.
Announce your arrival by organising a housewarming party.
Clear your clutter
A new home represents a new start. It’s a great opportunity to throw out all the old stuff you’ve accumulated but don’t need.
Clear your clutter and your life will start moving - clutter represents energy which is stuck! Having lots of clutter makes you feel tired. Clearing it releases energy and you will feel lighter in mind, body and spirit.
Clear out your clutter before implementing Feng shui cures or enhancements such as mirrors and crystals, otherwise you may double your problems rather than resolve them!
Clear out your junk room. Wherever you keep your junk, it will affect you. Let it go!
If something is broken, fix it or throw it out. Your energy levels drop when you are surrounded by things which don’t work properly.
Clear out your wardrobe. Keep just your favourite things and in future only buy items you absolutely love.
Clear clutter from corridors and behind doors. Your life will proceed more smoothly when the energy can flow unobstructed round your space.
Clear your desk! A clear desk means a clear mind, better creativity and more job satisfaction.
Bring yourself up-to-date and stay that way. Do all those jobs nagging away at the back of your mind to be done. See your energy levels soar when you write those letters and make those outstanding phone calls.
Surround yourself only with things you love or are really useful from now on.
General tips
Feng shui is about creating harmony and balance. We need to arrange our environment so we have the energy flowing smoothly around us. To do this we have to pay attention to large pieces of furniture which tend to block doorways and bookcases which become overstuffed with too many books. When the energy cannot flow, it starts to stagnate and that’s when our lives begin to feel clogged up.
Keep the energy moving by using mirrors to expand tight corners; lights to brighten dark corners; pictures of landscapes to open up narrow spaces; objects with moving parts like clocks with a third hand; fish tanks and moving water and upward growing plants.
Less is more. Put the minimum you can into a room. That does not mean everywhere has to be minimalist but the less clutter and stuff you surround yourself with the better. More space will give you more energy for new possibilities in your life. Live with things that you love.
Choose lighter, warmer colours and softer pastel shades for decoration as these will help to expand the space and make rooms feel larger. Make a distinction for each room. If you do choose the same themes throughout the whole house, then change the tones in different rooms.
For the bathroom, the bigger the mirror the better. Big mirrors encourage you to have a big stretch in the morning which is one of the fastest ways of getting your energy moving. Fun things which make you smile will expand your energy too so this is a good place for jokes, fun mobiles and cartoons.
Any obstructions or sticking doors will reflect on the degree to which you experience difficulty in your life. Keep things well oiled and shave off any awkward doors to ensure smooth opening.
Do you notice how different the house feels after a good clean? Every time we clean we are performing one of the oldest rituals in the world to purify a space and raise the level of energy. Keep your windows and mirrors clear too, so that the maximum light is reflected into your home and into your life.
Living rooms
Arrange the furniture so that people do not have their backs to the open doorway, unless there is a mirror in front of the seat with a view of the door.
Avoid sharp corners and glass top tables, especially ones without frames as these subconsciously make us feel on edge in case we walk into them. Solid tables with rounded edges will make you feel more relaxed.
Create a focal point. If you have a fireplace, accentuate it with a mirror or stunning painting. If not, create a centrepiece with a table or a focal point with a shelf and mirror. Avoid having the television set as the centre of attention.
Take care when choosing new pictures. You are going to be looking at them every day so make sure that the messages being fed back to your unconscious mind are ones that you are happy to be associated with. Avoid negative images such as storms, images moving backwards or downwards, stern-looking people, war scenes and so on.
If you have to use part of this room for your work then make sure that all traces of it are removed or covered before you use the room for relaxation. Even though you have finished your work, if you can still see the files, they will continue to stimulate your mind unnecessarily and remind you of all the things you have still to do!
Kitchen and dining areas
Digestion is smoother if you focus on the food and avoid too many distractions. So clear away any cooking utensils or general mess before you eat and keep the dining area simple.
Dining areas can sometimes feel like crossroads as they may have access doors from more than one room or be next to the kitchen or patio doors. This will be disconcerting for diners so do what you can to enclose the area and add a sense of peace.
Whenever you can, sit with your back to a solid wall when eating. Take nourishment from the occasion as well as the food by adding a sense of ritual to meal times. You can do this by taking a moment’s silence before you eat, or placing fresh flowers on the table.
Ideally there should be a working triangle arrangement between the fridge, cooker and sink. A cooker (symbolic of the energy of fire) directly opposite the sink (the energy of water) can lead to arguments in the house.
Most importantly, the kitchen arrangement should not have the cook standing with their back to the door. The element of insecurity when someone surprises the cook from behind will be transferred into the food. Position reflective surfaces, like a chrome toaster or kettle, so that you can see who is coming into the kitchen, and place windchimes over the entrance so that people coming in can be heard.
White is best in a kitchen with little splashes of colour. Yellow is a good choice as its association is with nurturing and relaxing, but is warm at the same time. Avoid red as this is too lively and active for good digestion. Research shows it can create too much fermentation in the stomach. (In Germany they use red lights to speed up the fermentation process of beer!)
Natural materials help you to relax. Wood encourages a harmonious flow of energy. Introducing baskets, wicker and cotton materials and plants will help compensate in a kitchen with a lot of shiny metallic surfaces.
Store knives in a drawer or wooden block rather than a magnetic strip as the magnetism changes the ‘charge’ of the knife which disturbs the food being cut.
Good lighting is important. Install it under units and direct spotlights to all working areas.
Bedrooms
Sleep with a solid wall behind the bedhead, not a window. This will reinforce your sense of security. Always have a headboard: it offers support. Round ones are better than square; solid ones are better than ones with holes like brass bedheads. Wood and cloth bedheads are preferable.
Make sure you have a view of the door as you lie in bed and don’t put the bed inside a built-in unit so that cupboards overhang you, this is particularly important for children. It will limit potential, and you may feel ‘blocked’ in life.
Avoid positioning your bed under a sloping ceiling as slopes tend to push the energy down. You can lift it with uplighting, plants and pictures of balloons or other images showing an upward movement.
Keep the décor well-maintained - cracks in the ceiling can lead to deterioration in health and can affect your emotional well-being. The same goes for stains and blemishes.
Wake up looking at something inspirational, it will help to lift your energy as soon as you open your eyes.
Your quality of sleep will be greatly improved if you do not sleep in the electro-magnetic fields of electrical equipment like clock radios or electric blankets.
Place mirrors so that you cannot see yourself in bed - your energy will be weakened. Definitely no mirror tiles, and if you have mirrored wardrobes which reflect you in bed, cover them while you sleep.
Avoid having anything in the bedroom that represents your work.
Avoid having pictures above your head. There is a part of you which will never relax for fear that the picture might just fall on you. Do not put ceiling lights directly over beds either.
When we sleep we discharge a lot of energy. Replace mattresses every six or seven years or sooner if you have any major changes in life, particularly a new, important relationship.
Tips for improving your love life
Blue is a calming colour for bedrooms but add touches of red, for example a cushion cover, as symbols of passion - however, don’t overdo it. Pink is the colour of love and comfort - repainting your walls this colour may well attract a new lover into your life if you are single. Choose pastels of anything rather than strong colours - orange for example, might create too much excitement!
Get rid of materials with angular patterns - curved lines stimulate harmony. Avoid creating sharp corners, rounded edges are more harmonious. Choose round or oval frames for mirrors and have as few as possible.
Stand in the bedroom doorway and check the area opposite the door and in the far right-hand corner. This corresponds to the ‘House of Marriage’, and although it is important to keep your whole room neat and tidy, if this particular area is cluttered your love life could be a mess too.
Your pictures are all symbolic, so make sure the ones you choose for your bedroom do not show solitary people or stark landscapes - go for couples or groups and softer, romantic scenes.