Feng Shui Basics

Feng Shui Basics

Applying feng shui basics in the home need not be that complicated. There are some ways in which this ancient practice can be used to make the home flow with positive energy or chi. Here are some of the basic feng shui practices that you need to know and can easily apply to make your home as well as your life filled with positive chi.

Light, Air and Feng Shui

In order to fill your home with good chi, you may need to have good quality air as well as lighting. In feng shui, it is believed that chi flows through with the help of air as well as natural light. Because of this, it is essential to make use of these two elements to ensure that the home flows with good chi. To allow the good energy into your home, you would need to open your windows often to let natural air into the home.

You can also use air purifying plants or an air purifier at home to make sure that the air remains clean and pure. Also try to allow as much natural light into your home to allow good chi to fill your home.

Unclutter Your Home

Clutter is a known obstacle to the flow of chi. It can have an effect on health as well as the overall energy levels and quality of life. Too much clutter can drain your energy as well as impede good energy from flowing into your home or life. Getting rid of the clutter can also help get rid of the negative load that affects your life. By clearing clutter, you are creating a harmonious environment in your home flowing with good energy.

Know Your Feng Shui Birth Element

In order to understand better how you can use feng shui to achieve a certain balance in your life and home, you might need to know your own birth element. There is a certain element that corresponds to your birth year. Knowing what element your are born with can help you decide on what is the best approach to achieve that certain balance in feng shui. You can use your feng shui birth element to introduce the different expressions of the element into your home through the use of colors and the balance of the other complementary elements in your life and home.

Know Your Kua Number

According to feng shui, each person has his or her own kua number that corresponds to one’s date of birth and gender. The kua number also tells of each person’s energy needs. In the school of feng shui called the Flying Stars, people may belong in either one of two energy groups- the East or the West. For the East Group, their kua numbers may either be 1, 3, 4 or 9.

For those on the West group, their kua numbers can either be 2,6,7 or 8. you can use your kua number to determine directions and orientation of structures such as your home or where you face when working in order to ensure good positive energy to flow through. These feng shui basics can help you start off in making your life and home flow with good chi.

Feng Shui Tips for Business

Feng Shui Tips for Business

Feng shui has not only been used for achieving harmony and balance in life and home. It can also be used to achieve success in business. Feng shui and business go together especially in the orient. And in the West, some businesses have already tried applying the practice in trying to ensure success. Here are some useful business feng shui tips that you can use.

When it comes to your store, how you design and arrange interiors as well as its exterior may affect the flow of good chi. First off, you should start by looking at your store’s facade. In order to achieve good feng shui, your store’s name, design and display should stand out. This is the result of good chi flowing into your store. The strong flow of the energy can be created by a strong and clear presence in the environment. In terms of your store, it should catch the attention of a passer by through its attractive display clean store name and good lighting.

After you have made well with your store exterior, you then need to check on your interiors. When you come inside, try to take note of what part of the room that instantly take your attention. Are you attracted to look towards the right or towards the left? The location to where you are drawn is considered to be the flow of chi inside your store. You can then make use of this idea to determine how you should make the good chi flow through your store. For this you may need to create some pathways for the energy to flow in the same way that you would want your customers to explore and see the items that you are selling.

The way you arrange your office space can also affect your business. This goes with how you place your office tables and chairs. It is good feng shui advice to always sit with a solid wall behind your back. It is not good feng shui practice to sit with your back to the window for long periods of time. In the same way, you should not be sitting with your face front on a solid wall while working.

And because light and air flow greatly affects the flow of chi in the practice of feng shui, you should also try to make good use of it in your office. Try to make sure that air has a means of going inside your office by trying to open windows. Try also to let as much natural light as possible into your office in order to create an area where good chi might flow constantly. The positioning of your office furniture should also be considered so as not to impede this flow of energy into your office surroundings.

Since most offices today exists in a sea of polluted environments. This would not be a good area for chi to flow in. Air pollution in particular must be resolved by making use of different feng shui items that may aid in clearing the air for the good energy to flow in. air purifying plants can be used in order to help clean the air inside the office.

Other feng shui items such as essential oils, crystals and water fountains can also be used to cleanse or raise the energy levels in the office.

Creating a Harmonious Feng Shui Home with Colors

Color is something that Feng Shui makes use of in attracting positive energy into our living space. When you are planning your home’s color schemes, you should pick accordingly to the kind of energy you need. This guide will assist you in choosing the best colors for you to come up with a harmonious home.

Red – This is the color of fire, which represents divine energy. It is advised to use red with caution. Red is best as the color of small decorative pieces in your living areas, rather than with huge furnishings or wall color. This color brings confidence, joy, courage and passion into your life.

Blue – Creating a feeling of serenity, blue is the color of the sea and sky. This color is best used in the east and southeast portions of your home, in the form of wall color and decorative items. Depending on the kind of energy you need, you might want to employ deep blue to promote sleep, or lighter ones to liven up the space.

Yellow – Dull spaces with little sunlight will benefit from the color yellow. This is the color of sunlight, so it evokes a feeling of warmth and cheerfulness. It also brings the fire energy, but in a much gentler way than red. However, it is said that prolonged exposure to this color causes anxiety.

Orange – This color is a brilliant choice for your living room, dining area or elsewhere where lively and playful energy is needed. Orange evokes creativity, one’s sense of purpose and bubbly conversations. This is also the color of choice for those who find red too strong.

Green – Surrounding oneself by the green color of nature is refreshing and nurturing. This color represents the wood element, evoking the healing vibrations from nature into your home. It is best for those who need growth, peace and new beginnings. Having several different shades of green in the home makes the most of the color’s effects.

Purple – Excellent for spiritual and mental healing, purple should be used in moderation. Experts do not recommend this as a wall color, especially in the east and southeast areas of your home, since it is a very strong, high vibration color. Purple is best used in a meditation space; or go for lighter tones such as lavender in adding color to your room.

Pink – The universal color of love, this color is perfect to soothe and fill the heart with love. Pink brings a very fiery energy into your life, especially when coupled with orange. However, too much of this color in one’s home makes the residents tend to live illusive lives.

Black – Although it may convey a feeling of heaviness if used in large proportions, black symbolizes career and sophistication. The color is best used indoors, in the form of furniture shades, frames, and other small decorative items. Black adds depth and definition to any home space.

White – Excellent for use anywhere in the home, especially to contrast bright colors. White soothes the mind by filling it with energy of innocence, tranquility and a bright new future. However, try to limit an all white color scheme in the east and southeast areas of your home.

Feng Shui maintains that the colors used in our living environment as something that affects us physically, emotionally and psychologically. Picking the right Feng Shui colors in your home will attract the kind of energy that will work for you best.

Profiles of Feng Shui Enthusiasts

Feng Shui enthusiasts have different niches. Different personalities and cultural backgrounds are incorporated into the Feng Shui attempts. The good thing is that you do not have to limit yourself to a certain make to be able to apply Feng Shui. However, it may do you a lot of good if you are able to find the groups of people who have the same interests as yours as far as Feng Shui is concerned.

If you are after the more rigid type of the loose application of Feng Shui, these are all possible depending on your preference, for Feng Shui is really all a matter of channeling the right energy to make the environment work to your benefit.

The best thing about Feng Shui is that it attracts a huge variety of people. You don’t even have to look too far and you will easily find a person who is into Feng Shui. And with the many challenges facing the world today, it is understandable that we seek help in various places, including Feng Shui aid. But different persons breed different motivations for applying Feng Shui, and here are some of the profiles of people who engage in Feng Shui.

The Business Tycoon

The business tycoon is completely focused in profits. He or she will be most likely to ponder positioning and orientation of his office building in relation to the directions of prosperity. He may even alter the numbers of his landline and address, if at all possible, to tailor to the lucky numbers for a given season. But more often than not, the business tycoon won’t have time to think all about these things and will be most likely to hire a Feng Shui expert to do it all under his approval.

Big-time business people who like Feng Shui can afford the most expensive form of Feng Shui help there is and actually uses the profit to leverage in more profits with proper design and good Feng Shui.

The Pad-Owning Bachelor and Bachelorette

The bachelor’s priorities include adjusting to the adult world, getting financial stability and having fun socially. Typically, they are the ones who buy Feng Shui charms, remove flowers in the bedroom to avoid unfaithfulness in relationships. Fun-loving and modern, they may find that they are heavy on electronic or metal objects and may opt to balance it with a Zen fountain or two.

The Housewife

The housewife is the one who pores through magazines and seeks out Feng Shui tips online and offline. She may also derive the techniques from other fellow housewives and friends within the neighborhood. Her common focus on Feng Shui would most likely be oriented on home and family matters. The housewife who likes Feng Shui is most likely into interior designing of home whether on an amateur or a professional level.

The Striving Employee

The striving employee who likes Feng Shui aims to make a miniature balance of earth elements in his cubicle. This may involve him or her putting a small mirror for water, a jacket to ward off the excessive metal in the corporate workplace and many others. The striving employee may also invite relaxation and peace of mind by means of a plant ornament or any lovely fixture that doubles as a Feng Shui charm and a form of esthetic display.

The Yin and Yang of Feng Shui

Is Feng Shui really friendly for all genders? While there is no question to the fact that it can invite some positive vibes into your home just by the mere art of rearranging your furniture and the orientations of your surroundings, it may actually reveal so much more about culture if one takes a good look at it.

For one thing, the Yin and Yang illustration is a very famous facet of Feng Shui. It simply states that opposites are necessary to be able to appreciate the beauty of things. You cannot appreciate the good without bad, light without darkness and so on. This theory of opposites and balance extends to the elements of the earth: water, wind, fire, wood and earth. These elements are also in balance if good Feng Shui is present.

Yin is often characterized with strength, viability and aggressiveness. More importantly, it is attributed to the masculine side of identity. On the other hand, weakness and femininity are interchangeably attributed to the Yang side, the softer side of things. Is this really a good thing? While it has been maintained that it is a world for the masculine, the main precepts of Feng Shui are actually more tailored to suit male, establishing them as the strong ones in the spectrum of life.

The Feng Shui concept is already organized in its scope. Any person you ask about Feng Shui may tell you its symbols: the bagua, the yin and yang diagram and the charms used by Feng Shui experts to cancel bad luck. However, the main concepts are not entirely original. The philosopher Heraclitus from Greece is credited for having first denoted the concept of having opposites. And consequently, psychology on colors and other visual media can also state some theories that are resonant with Feng Shui precepts.

Interestingly, there are more women drawn to the Feng Shui habit than men, who may or may not be conscious that they are actually supporting a form of belief system that establishes males as strong and females as weak. But other than the Yin –Yang concept, there is no other outward manifestation of this gender bias.

Is it really a good thing to believe in Feng Shui and apply it? The answer is relative. It depends on the person who is asking and the background under which he or she is raised. If you are born in an open-minded culture which holds less restrictions on what you can and cannot do, the applying of Feng Shui may be a non-issue. Meanwhile, if you are under a movement that opposes the main beliefs of Feng Shui, you may have to make a more substantial choice of lifestyle changes.

Feng Shui also has its own Yin and Yang to speak of. If you are really intent on ruminating on the deeper aspects of Feng Shui, you may have to dig deeper beyond what you see on promotional materials and even hate literature against Feng Shui. For the most part, Feng Shui is quite harmless in nature and it does not really explicitly cause major changes in one’s lifestyles or belief systems.

But if in case you choose to be more meticulous, you may find that analyzing beneath the layers of promotion of Feng Shui that there is more to it than just rearranging furniture.

Feng Shui Home Tips

Feng shui has been an ancient Chinese practice that has recently became popular even in the Western world. It aims to strike up a certain kind of balance in a certain environment making it more ideal for people to live in. This is the practice of feng shui that has gotten the attention of most people, particularly for use in their homes. Here are some useful feng shui home tips that you can make use of to make your home filled with that positive “chi”.

Your Doorway and Chi

First off, you can start on your doorway. Doors should always remain free and clear of clutter. With this in mind, you should try to remove any slippers or shoes that may be lying around the doorway. In feng shui, it is said that “chi” flows with the wind. With the slippers and shoes at the doorway, the “chi” would bring with it the smell coming from the slippers and shoes into your house and cause sickness.

The “chi” would then go about the home interior trying to find water where it can stay. In the absence of such bodies of water like water fountains and aquariums, the “chi” would easily be dispersed by the wind.

Of Water Tanks and Fountains

In feng shui, water is said to be a repository of the energy called “chi”. That is why it may be good to have one in the home. But positioning is also important. A water fountain or fish tank should be positioned in an area that would attract positive “chi”. But a wrong or unfavorable position would also bring in the opposite.

While good fortune awaits, wrong positioning would also bring in misfortune and bad luck. If you have noticed the latter happening to you after positioning a water fountain of fish tank at a certain area in the home, you may need to shift it to another location.

Chi in the Kitchen

In designing your kitchen at home, make sure that you do not place your refrigerator opposite of your stove. These appliances can stand for fire and water. With the two clashing, it may bring family members to experience frequent disagreements at home. This also goes the same with the stove being opposite with the wash basin or washing machine in your kitchen.

Feng Shui in the Living Room

If you recently have been experiencing considerable pressure at work, your marble table might be a factor that may be causing it, feng shui speaking. You can either try to work your way through the pressure or you can remove the marble table in your home and exchange it for a wooden one.

In the same way color may also affect some things in feng shui. For instance having a red sofa set in your living room may bring about work pressure, problems as well as obstacles.

The color red that signifies fire just doesn’t work well in some areas of the home. These are just some of the feng shui home tips that you can apply to make sure that the flow of “chi” in your home remains on the positive side.

Enhancing Your Life with Feng shui

The ancient practice of Feng shui is one of the oldest forms of geomancy in the world and can be traced back as far as 3500 years ago in ancient China. The word literally means wind and water and this practice believes in the notion that qi or vital energy can greatly influence and improve a person’s life by achieving balance and harmony in their surroundings.

To apply this practice means having to recognize the relationship between man and the environment he lives in. The key to this practice is locating the all important qi by arranging objects inside or outside of your home or even your office space so that qi continuously flows freely in the space thereby producing a positive impact in different aspects of your life. This ancient practice and belief is still being applied today and here are some methods where the art of balance and harmony can make a difference in a person’s life.

Using the Five Phases Method

The five phases method relies in the five elements or phases of fire, earth, metal, water and wood. These elements interrelate with each other through a creation cycle where fire produces earth, earth produces metal, metal produces water and water produces wood. Each element also corresponds to a particular direction where water is placed in the north, fire is the south, east is wood, west is metal and earth is the center.

The best way to apply this method is to make sure that your room or the space you live in has a balance of all these elements to produce good qi otherwise too much of a particular element might go against the other elements and produce harmful qi instead.

Using the Flying Stars Method

Probably the most difficult method to apply Feng shui is the flying star method which takes into account the date your house or office was built, a detailed floor plan and the outside environment of the place. It is similar to having a birth sign in astrology only this time it’s your property’s birth sign.

Although this method can be complex, it is the most accurate of methods and usually done by master practitioners of the craft. What this method aims to achieve is to harmonize your space by finding out the best elements to enhance it and the elements that need to be avoided.

Using the Eight Mansions Method

The most popular application of Feng shui is the eight mansions method or the Ba Zhai. This method requires you to calculate your kua number based on your birth date. This will help you determine your auspicious direction because each kua number corresponds to a particular direction.

This method aims to find out which directions are good for you and which to avoid. It also helps you find out if you are compatible with that particular area you’re living or staying in. Finding out the best direction for you and enhancing that space can help you become more productive in terms of career, relationships, health and luck.

Feng shui-Proof Your Life

Testimonies of the benefits of this ancient practice are many and its effectiveness can be traced from ancient times otherwise this practice would not have survived today. The concept is simple and everyone can benefit with some semblance of balance and harmony in their lives. It’s just a matter of recognizing the value of qi and making sure everything in your surroundings brings you peace.

Advantages of Applying Feng Shui in Your Life

Many people are fascinated with Feng Shui and with many good reasons. While others generally believe that it is just some oriental superstitious set of paradigms on interior design (but that is just part of the extensive definition for Feng Shui), the Feng Shui that we know now is actually comprised of various schools of learning and incorporates the different cultures under which it is housed.

The good thing about the different options pertaining to Feng Shui is that even the layman can actually be able to understand and apply it immediately in their homes without having to spend too much. And apart from that, there are other advantages that only Feng Shui can bring if you can actually open up your mind to try it.

Advantage Number 1: It brings balance to one’s life

Have you ever found yourself completely overburdened with clutter and unnecessarily stressed out of your wits? Chances are, you are suffering from a visual imbalance of some sort in your surroundings. Now, the best way to introduce some sense of balance is by incorporating elements that provide you with a sense of control in the outer balance of things. If you are able to get some semblance of balance even in things as menial as your furniture, you are bound to find balance in other aspects equally manageable.

Advantage Number 2: It helps you become more mindful of the little things

Mindfulness in the little things can actually be a good thing. Some of us tend to be heavily focused on the big things of life that even the minor details like home arrangement and office ergonomics no longer come to play. When these “minor” aspects of life continue to take a backseat, they tend to accumulate and produce a very stressful environment which can add up to other problems and worries of life.

Advantage Number 3: It opens up possibilities of meeting new people

Meeting new people is another bonus of being a Feng Shui enthusiast. When you are applying Feng Shui, chances are, you will be able to find another person within your social network who likes the same stuff and can even help you expand your knowledge on Feng Shui, no matter how limited it is to begin with.

Advantage Number 4: It gives a fresh perspective on things

At any given time, a fresh perspective is always welcome. This positive perspective can invite changes for the better. A new way of looking at home arrangement, for example, may actually serve to benefit you in the long run. The fresh perspective brought about by Feng Shui can actually bring about an enrichment of one’s mind.

Advantage Number 5: It invites prosperity and success

The main objective of Feng Shui is to invite all the good things to one’s life. Prosperity and success can be more easily within reach and a positive disposition may be expected if Feng Shui is practiced well.

Advantage Number 6: It has aesthetic appeal

On top of all the enumerated benefits of Feng Shui, the best would probably be its beauty. The physical appeal of a well-decorated home, interspersed with good Feng Shui techniques, is actually something that you can call a personal heritage that can transcend generations and promote beauty in all aspects, including design of the home and the office.

Harmonizing with Feng shui

feng shui
Perhaps one of the oldest forms of geomancy in the world is Feng shui which originated from China more than 3500 years ago. This ancient practice is literally translated as wind and water and is based on the belief that life can be greatly improved with the help of Qi or energy flow. This Qi can be produced by achieving balance or harmony through the use of the laws of heaven, which pertains to the study of astronomy and earth, which is associated with the study of geography.

The purpose of the application of this practice is to locate that Qi or that vital energy in your surroundings by creating balance and harmony around you. Here are some Feng shui theories that can give you a better grasp of this concept of balance and energy.

The Power of Qi

Qi is everywhere and the key is to find it. This energy is a result of interactions in the environment like the yin and yang and the five elements of water, fire, earth, metal and wood. This theory believes that the way you arrange your surroundings and position certain objects around you can affect your energy levels. It also believes that these energy levels can even influence your health, wealth, relationships and even luck. By properly organizing your environment, qi can flow through the space freely and can create a positive effect to those who live in the area.

The Union of the Yin & Yang

The yin and the yang are two opposing forces or energies that work together creating a unity of opposites. The yin is characterized as the passive energy that is associated with the characteristics of water, cold, peace and tenderness while the yang is described as the active energy like those from heat, fire, excitement and speed. In other words if yin is matter, yang is energy and neither of them can exist without the other. The key to understanding this practice is to achieving a proper balance of yin and yang in our environment.

Balance through Bagua

The bagua is a popular Feng shui instrument that is shaped like an octagon and is divided into the eight cardinal directions of North, South, East, West, North East, North West, South East and South West. The theory of the bagua is that each of these directions corresponds to a part of our life. For instance, the North portion of the bagua pertains to one’s career while the south pertains to the fame or reputation of a person. The other categories of the bagua are family, children, prosperity, relationships, wisdom, and travel.

The theory of the bagua also believes that each of the eight directions pertain to a part of our life and in order to activate the energy or improve a certain part of our life is to find the direction it corresponds to and make the qi flow into that space positively.

Finding the Harmony

Understanding and appreciating the art of Feng shui is accepting that there is an existing relationship between you and your environment. The theories of this practice present information on how a person can achieve balance and harmony with the environment which can have a great impact in particular areas of a person’s life.

Although each person has their own potentials in the area of health, wealth, relationships and luck, what this practice really teaches is how to enhance these areas for practitioners to make the most out of their lives.

Feng Shui Symbols for Prosperity and Abundance

Choosing Feng Shui symbols need not be hard. You don’t really need to stuff yourself with crystals, essential oils or other things that may not necessarily be in harmony with each other. The key to having good Feng Shui is balance, and you need to be able to have the qualities of balance to invite the good things and experience the pleasurable effects of Feng Shui in your life. There are many kinds of Feng Shui symbols, and you may have to orient yourself properly about these Feng Shui symbols before hanging any in your home.

In choosing the right Feng Shui symbol, you must have some emotional relationship to the object you are using as a Feng Shui symbol. Some of the Feng Shui symbols are meant to provide cures for bad luck. The others are meant to supplement what is already inherently there in your home or office. The mood that you want to convey must be established right from the very beginning before you shop around for Feng Shui symbols so that you will find the appropriate symbol that will fit your needs.

Crystals

There are quite a lot of crystals available for Feng Shui, and familiarizing yourself with each one of them and their functions will help you acquire what you need to be able to invite prosperity and abundance in your life. When you are using crystals, make sure that you take good care of it and wash it regularly to avoid dust or clutter from overpowering it.

Essential Oils

Some of the more relaxing oil varieties include the lavender oil, which is very good for helping you attain peace of mind in your environment. Essential oils are very conducive to providing a positive environment for your home or office. Just make sure that you use the right amount of oils so that you will not overpower your environment with too much oil. Also, for purposes of variety, have some stock of various oils so that you will be able to experience different modes of environment even by just changing the scent.

Fountains

Fountains provide serenity and the element of water in the environment. If you have a fountain that is quite unobtrusive and physically appealing, place it in such a way that it will complement metal and not overpower your fire elements. Fountains complement metal elements so make sure that you are able to position it with the metal elements in your home or office.

Bagua and other Feng Shui Tools

The right orientation for the Feng Shui bagua is also important if you are to use it in your home. The Feng Shui tools that you might need must also complement each other so that you will not find yourself in the middle of a clashed set of Feng Shui symbols. Chinese coins tied with a string are also another form of good luck charm.

Animals

Animals are also considered part of the Feng Shui symbols. Some of the attributes of the animal being used is actually assimilated by the environment according to Feng Shui experts.

The Color Factor

Color is also an important aspect of Feng Shui. The visual appeal must not only be derived on what goes with where, but it must also be grounded on the right colors you need. It all depends on the mood that you want to convey.