What is Feng Shui?-
In the Western world, we hear of things being good or bad feng shui, but most of us have no clue what that entails. Feng Shui includes so much more than making your home look aesthetically pleasing. Good feng shui is conducive to abundance, harmony, and the flow of new opportunities.
Feng Shui is about welcoming prosperity and attracting the events you want to play out in your life. It’s about balancing elements so that your life is well-balanced and not tipping the scales in one direction or another. Feng Shui is meant to positively influence your “Qi” pronounced “Chi”, which translates to your vital energy.
It may seem intimidating at first but in this post, we’ll go over the total basics while giving you some small yet effective changes you can make to reap the positive benefits of incorporating feng shui into your home.
Ancient Tradition-
Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese traditional method that encourages the adding or subtracting of certain elements in your home to welcome the changes you wish to see in your life. Certain objects and colours hold energy and by placing these objects in specific areas of the home you can create a happy, harmonious, and healthy home life.
Feng Shui translates to “wind and water” and is said to have originated from Chinese astronomy. Its current practices are believed to have formed during Neolithic China. Other elements were added during the Han, Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties.
While some may write this practice off as pseudoscience, we often don’t realize the effects that our surrounding environment has on our mental and emotional well-being. Think about it, how is your mental state when your house is a cluttered disaster versus after you’ve done a deep cleaning?
Does anyone honestly think that the former option is better? Consider our previous post about the effects of nature on our mental state. Even the creators of feng shui who lived thousands of years ago knew this to be true.
Mirror Mirror on The Wall-
In feng shui, you want to reflect what you want to attract. Take a look at where you’ve placed your mirrors and what is being shown back to you. Is it the trash can, a pile of bills, or a cluttered space? Strategically hang your mirrors to exhibit what you’d like to call more of into your life. If possible, don’t place mirrors around your bed as it can make it difficult to fully relax.
If you have closet mirrors that align with your bed consider switching them to closet doors. Mirrors should be placed with care and consideration and not thrown in random places. Reflect beautiful, happy things like plants, flowers, family portraits, or accomplishments like awards and trophies.
Elements-
Feng shui is composed of 5 different elements that you’ll aim to strike a balance between. The elements are wood, earth, metal, fire, and water. Each element correlates to an area of your life and elicits a certain vibe.
Fire= Passion, Fast Moving, Romance, Confidence
Represented by: Candles, fireplaces, red and orange colours, seductive artwork
Metal= Focus, Intelligence, Clarity
Represented by: Metal statues, white, grey, silver, gold, metallics, stainless steel, cooper
Wood= Growth, Health, Creativity
Represented by: Wooden objects, bamboo or bonsai trees, real live plants
Water= Flow, Abundance, Career
Represented by: Fountains, cool blues, dark blues, black, curved objects, pool, hot tub
Earth= Stability, Grounding, Comfort, Slow Moving
Represented by: Pottery, crystals, browns, beiges, yellows
The Bagua Map-
The bagua map can assist you on your feng shui journey. The map correlates to 9 different areas in your home and what each specific area needs. Wealth & prosperity, fame & reputation, love & relationships, family, health, creativity & children, knowledge & cultivation, career and lastly travel & helpful people.
Take an official floor plan of your home if you have one, if not, simply draw out the floor plan. Overlay the bagua map onto your floor plan to see which areas need which elements. Whatever element falls overtop of that area of your home is what you should focus on bringing into that area.
For example, your career corresponds to the water element. If that area is where your office or workspace falls then add black, navy, and dark grey colours. If your kitchen falls in line with the family sector then bring in some wood elements or gold, greens & blues. This can be represented in artwork, flower arrangements, or wooden furniture.
(BACK DOOR)
(FRONT DOOR)
Balance-
Your home should have a balance of all these elements. If you’re looking to spice up your relationship with the fire element, be careful not to go overboard as it could lead to heated arguments, jealousy, and other passionate issues.
The key word is balance. If you need grounding then adding earth elements will work fantastic unless you add too much and become unmotivated. Focus on adding the elements that you want to attract more of in your life without overdoing it.
Commanding Position-
Of crucial importance when administering feng shui in your home is to make sure you hold the commanding position. Your bed, office desk, and stove should face toward the door and preferably on a diagonal angle. When you’re not in the commanding position you are left in a vulnerable spot and can be caught off guard.
The commanding position ensures that you’re in a power position, aware and alert for anything that comes your way. Your bed should be supported by a headboard and not pushed up against a window for extra security and support.
Another thing to note is to make sure your doors can open fully without any blockages. Not everyone lives in large enough spaces to have a ton of options for where they can move their furniture. If you do have the extra space it’s recommended to make these adjustments. If you don’t have the extra space, only make the changes that are feasible for you.
Declutter-
You’re home can’t function smoothly when you have an excess of clutter. If haven’t read Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up” then it’s highly recommended you do so. You can also check out our blog post on how to spring-clean your life.
No matter how gorgeous, basic, big, or small your home is, the vibes will be brought down when you have excess clutter mucking it up. It’s not good for the aesthetic, the vibe, or your mental health. When our environment is cluttered, our mind feels cluttered.
Release what no longer serves a purpose in your home and doesn’t bring you joy. Another important component is to keep a relatively clean and tidy house. Now I know it’s next to impossible to keep a spotless house 100% of the time but that’s not what we’re aiming for here.
Spend a bit of time each day putting things in their place, picking and folding clothes up off of the floor, making your bed every morning, wiping counters down, and not leaving dirty dishes in the sink. Pick one day a week where you can do a deeper clean and then pick a separate day for laundry.
Little Things Big Impact-
You can’t do it all at once, so don’t strive for perfection but be aware that the smallest tasks can make all the difference. You’ll want to do a walk-through of your home, especially through the routes you take most often.
Make sure there’s no clutter or large objects in the way blocking the route and therefore blocking opportunities into your home. You’ll want to clear the path so that positive things have the space to make their way in.
Coupled Up-
If you’re single then the art of feng shui can potentially help introduce love into your life. Making simple tweaks is all it takes.
Let’s say in your home, your bed is pushed up against a wall with only space for one person to enter and exit. Let’s also say you only have one chair and one bedside table. What is this telling the Universe but that there’s one person that occupies the space and that’s all that there’s room for?
By adding an extra chair, loveseat, or nightstand, and leaving enough space for two people to comfortably enter and exit each side of the bed will tell the Universe that there’s enough space for two people.
Pay attention to the artwork you bring into your home. Is there a piece of art with a single person or should you bring in artwork that shows two people in love? Acting as if, is a huge component of practicing feng shui. Make your living space the change that you’d like to see in your life.
Conclusion-
Feng shui can be so beneficial for your home and your life. We know that our outside environment can greatly affect our emotions and our mental state. Having a clean, decluttered space that has a balance of all 5 of the elements: earth, fire, wood, metal, and water, can ensure that we have a balance of what those elements represent in our lives.
You can make these changes all at once or make small changes a little bit at a time, whatever works best for you. This ancient traditional Chinese practice can bring you the clarity, growth, creativity, confidence, and stability you need to take on whatever you’d like to accomplish in the world.
