Bring balance to your life and home with Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese art of placement! While many of you have probably heard of Feng Shui and it’s benefits, digging through book after book of ancient Feng Shui philosophy has drained your enthusiasm and probably caused more confusion. Luckily there are many great books out there that simplify Feng Shui while maximizing the benefits.
So what is Feng Shui and how can you use it to strengthen relationships, increase income, and improve your health? Karen Kingston writes in Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui
“Feng Shui is the art of balancing and harmonizing the flow of natural energies in our surroundings to create beneficial effects in our lives.”
Feng Shui is based on the Chinese belief of ch’i (“chee”). Ch’i is believed to flow through everything including the earth, the atmosphere, and our homes and bodies. Ch’i is meant to flow gently and slowly through our homes, so when ch’i is blocked with clutter, problems arise. Much like an acupuncturist clears ch’i blockages in the body, feng shui balances and unblocks ch’i in the home.
One of Feng Shui’s fundamental concepts is that the world is comprised of five elements; fire, earth, water, wood, and metal. To create balance all of the five elements must be used and in balance with each other in the home or chosen room. To utilizing the five elements, objects are arranged in feel good placement according to color, shape, scent, image, and area of the home. Placing objects to improve certain parts of one’s life are based on the Bagua Map. Here is another great site that breaks it all down. What’s great about Feng Shui is a lot of the philosophy is just common sense and how one reacts to a given space.
So now that you have checked out some of the awesome links above and have the basics down. Here is my Feng Shui tip of the day! Expect a new tip to improve your home everyday!
IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH WITH PLANTS AND FLOWERS:
Health is directily tied to the amount of wood energy in a given space. So place living plants or silk plants (if you kill every plant you touch, like me!) in the Health/Family area of a room according to the Bagua map. If you can find plants with yellow blossoms that would be even better. You can also paint walls or use fabric and accessories that fall in the pale to medium green and blue range. Tall, narrow shapes are also perfect for this space.
Pretty soon we will all have glorious, spa-like santuaries to come home to at the end of the day. Enjoy and have fun with Feng Shui!
