What is Feng Shui?

Feng Shui is not a religion (which is a question that I am sometimes asked). It’s an ancient art form that suggests techniques to improve the natural flow of energy around you. The concept is that when you improve the flow of energy around you, it will positively affect your own personal energy. Feng Shui is an art based on a mix of ancient Eastern Philosophy, nature, science, and common sense.

To understand Feng Shui, we should first understand Chi: 

Chi is basically energy that affects us all- it can flow through a space smoothly, or it can move too fast, wreaking havoc, or it can move too slowly and become stagnant, in such places with a lot of clutter. When it moves smoothly at it’s optimum, it brings harmony to those it flows around.

Chi is constantly active, changing, and flowing, according to it’s environment. Just like life. The Chinese in fact, refer to it as our life force. Energy is very real- a basic component of our daily lives. It’s all around us, flowing through us. You can’t see energy, but you can certainly feel it. Think about when you’ve felt energy.

For example, when two people in a room are having a heated argument. You walk into the room, and even though they may not say anything about the argument, you can feel the tension in the air. The chi (energy) is thick and heavy. There’s even a saying for it, “That you can cut the tension with the knife.”

It’s also important to understand mankind’s relationship with nature: 

Back in our ancient days, and still in some cultures, humans were very in tune with nature, dependent on it, and very aware of how it affected us. We planned and redirected our nearly all of our activities to based on nature’s conditions.

As we became modernized, our dependence on nature decreased. We no longer needed the sun for light, because we developed artificial light. We built man-made reservoirs for water, having access to clean water even during times of severe drought. We have insulated homes with air conditioning and heaters to protect us from the elements. For example, there can be a snowstorm outside, but we could be inside, toasty and cozy, watching a movie.

Modern conveniences are amazing, but we’ve lost some of our reliance on nature, and sometimes we are out of harmony with the natural flow of chi. We still depend on nature at the core of our being, but we are surrounded by manmade buildings, manmade entertainment, and quite often surrounded by stuff that impedes a smooth flow of energy.

Just stand on the beach or in a forest and you can feel the difference where chi is unobstructed and flows smoothly. This is where Feng Shui comes in, because with specific placements, it optimizes the flow of chi in our direct man-made environments, allowing chi to flow unobstructed, just like in nature.

How Feng Shui Works:

Feng Shui uses various techniques to organize your possessions, decor, and furniture in your home, so that chi can flow smoothly around your space. Chi should meander around your furniture for optimum flow- not be blocked, and not move too fast or too slow.

For example, if you have a lot of clutter on the floor in one area, Chi starts to slow down there. The chi can become murky or stagnant, and if that is in your relationship area, it can cause problems in your relationship.

An example of chi moving too fast is when you have a long straight hallway with nothing on the walls to make chi slow down. It shoots down the hallway quickly. If this is in your career section, things might feel chaotic at work.

Basic Feng Shui principles urge you to put the five basic elements of nature (Water, Fire, Metal, Earth, and Wood) in your home based on the most harmonious area and direction. Each element can also be symbolized by color and shape. It’s important to have a good balance of each element, so understanding the creative and destructive cycles are important. If you have all of the elements co-existing together, you have more harmony.

There is a bagua to guide you in placing the correct colors and elements in the corresponding areas of your house. This bagua was created with ancient scientific and philosophy based instructions on what elements will bring the most harmony from which direction, and what area of your life they correlate to. The bagua below is a western bagua. You can use it as a guide and overlay it over each room, or your entire home (When using the bagua, the career section should be over your main entryway. This would in turn make the Relationships corner the back right section of your room or home).

Modern Science and Feng Shui:

It’s very interesting, because what quantum phycists are coming up with in recent years have been stated in Feng Shui for centuries. For example, certain colors and elements vibrate in different intensities, affecting our bodies. Psychologists have brought to light that clutter affects us cognitively. Scientists now say that certain colors will make us feel different emotions- happy, relaxed, angry. For example:

• Too much red can make you angry.
• Blue is calming; surrounding yourself with too much blue can make you sad.
• Yellow and Red can increase your appetite.
• Too much back can lead to negative emotions.

So How Can This Affect Me?

You can use Feng Shui principles to increase the daily experience and comfort in your home. You can also use the principles to increase the optimum experience and direction of your life.

Feng Shui isn’t a quick fix, or a one-time resolution for problems. But it helps you because when the energy around you is flowing smoothly and positively, you feel good, which directly impacts your own energy and life.

It’s kind of like the law of attraction. You think positive thoughts when you are in a happier place. Then you attract happier things to you. If you live in a positive and nourishing environment, you unlock more of the warmth in your heart, which spreads to those around you, who reciprocate that warmth in subtle and amazing ways.

Have fun with Feng Shui. Experiment with it, and see if it changes any aspects of your life. I’ve seen some great results with clients, and I hope you do too. It is an art, and as you refer to the basic principles, you can put your own touches in various places to make it the most beautiful to you.