Bring Feng Shui into Your Home: The Basics
This is Part 1 of 5 Microliving posts about feng shui.
An overview: Feng shui is a Chinese frame of mind for organizing and arranging your home in such a way as to best promote the flow of chi, or positive energy. You can really take it as in-depth as you want, from following the main concepts, to bagua room layout charts, to highly accurate Chinese compasses, or luo pan. The basic principle behind feng shui is to achieve a smooth, positive harmony in every room in your home. And whether or not you believe in yin and yang, or the interdependence of the elements, or the importance of geographic poles and directions, you have to admit that feng shui’s end goal is admirable.
The entire basis of the belief in vital harmony lies within yin (black) and yang (white). Yin is the relaxing, dark, restful energy of relaxation and replenishment. Yang is the energy of movement, strength, vibrancy, and passion. Overall, you want a balance of the two halves in your home, but you want more yin energy in the bedroom, for example, and more yang energy in the home office. There are certain colors, objects, and materials associated with each of the energies, so you can actually see the two different emphases, as well as the effects a few feng shui changes can make on your room. However, you should never have only one type of energy in a room; just as you only appreciate light because you have known darkness, you can only experience one half properly in context of the other.
The other main tenet of feng shui is the idea of the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, which bring added depth and complexity to the ideal flow of chi and energy throughout your home. The elements are like tools you can wield to shape your life’s goals and ambitions. To decide which elements to place in your home and where, you use a bagua diagram. Figure out where south is in your home, and mentally align the diagram over your floor plan to determine which areas are ideal for which elements. Attention should be paid to every area on the diagram, but you can choose to focus on regions that reflect desires and problems currently happening in your own life, such as moving a water fountain to the North to promote career advancement. Additionally, some items you are going to have to decide if you need them more in one area or the other, like an object that corresponds to one area on basis of color and another on basis of element. Feng shui is not an exact science, and you will need to make the best design decision depending upon the unique priorities and problems of your own life.
For more on decorating your home feng shui style, check out Barlett Designs and World of Feng Shui.
