Feng Shui – Principles and Practice

– Photo by Ethan Banks

The ancient Chinese practice of Feng Shui or Chinese Geomancy is practiced throughout the westernised world,  the goal is to assist in harmonising your living space with nature.  Your home should connect and flow with the natural world (Tao) to obtain calmness and positive energies.  Taoism is an ancient philosophy that everything should flow with nature.

Feng Shui can be split into three principles:

Commanding Position.

Bagua (energy map) 8 areas – careers, children, family, health, helpful people, knowledge, partnership, and wealth.

5 Elements – earth, fire, metal, water, wood.

Commanding Position

The commanding position is where you place an item to optimise harmony.  There are 3 main areas within our home that relate to us directly.  

Our bed represents us.

A desk relates to our career and life path. 

The hob/oven represents nutrition and wealth.

It’s important that these items are carefully placed within the home, the same commanding rule applies to each of these 3 items.

As the average person spends 33 years of their life in bed, let’s find the optimum bed placement. Your bed should be placed furthest away from the door opening, where you can see the door, but not directly in line. This usually places the bed at a diagonal to the door.  The bed would preferably have the headrest up against a wall and there should be a minimum of 18 inches of spare room on each side, allowing space to comfortably get out of each side (if required)… balancing your yin and yang.  

Children, however,  would feel more comfortable having their bed up against a wall, this is fine.

The Bagua

The Bagua relates to the eight areas in your life and is the feng shui energy map. These 8 areas surround you, you and your health are at the center of the map… your spiritual energy.

When using Feng Shui you will need to identify an area in your life that needs to be energised or improved.  Focus on one or two areas, rather than trying to improve all 8 areas of the Bagua.  

The Bagua Map

How to Use the Westernised/Black Hat Bagua Map

• Draw a plan or if available use a floor plan of your property and add large pieces of furniture or appliances to map
• Rotate the floor plan so that the front door is at the bottom, facing down
• The above applies to apartments 
• If your front door is at the side of your property then rotate the floor plan so that the side which faces the street is at the bottom facing down 
• It’s essential that you add all living areas within the property.  If it’s within the walls of the property and a space you spend time in, then add
• Apply the Bagua map to the floor plan.  If you can obtain a transparent map, even better.  Place over the top of the floor plan and apply the map to the property
• In areas of improvement add a featured appropriate coloured wall or an object related to the area.  Plants are an ideal way to activate the Bagua
• The map can also relate to an individual room, starting at the opening door.  If multiple doors, choose the door closest to the main front door where the chi flows through more freely

Elements – wood, fire, earth, water, metal (relate to Bagua)

Considered the most powerful of all these elements is Fire. Fire colours are indicated as orange/red/yellow, direction – south, and the season – summer.  Decorate your Reputation and Fame area with these bright colours, add candles, or burn incense.  Fire’s energies are of passion, energy and creativity.  

Water brings luck, wealth, and good chi.  Increase these areas in your life by adding a small dark-coloured water feature in a southwesterly position to a room.  However, do not use pottery or earthen collector but a metal water collector as metal nourishes water, whereas earth destroys.  There are rooms where water as an element should not be used, this is the bedroom… water will bring negative energies – sorrow and worry.  A small stone water fountain is not only beautiful but the burbling is also an auditory delight, such a lovely addition to a room in which the spread of good fortune is required.

Metal – for clarity and preciseness within your helpful people/travel and children/creativity areas of your Bagua.  To enhance these areas decorate with grey or metallic colours, and use small metallic circular or spherical-shaped ornate features or metal picture frames to accentuate the appearance of metallic objects in the room.

Earth brings us stability and grounded.  To enhance the feeling of support or if anxiety levels are high, bring earthy colours into your room maybe warm yellows. 

Crystals and stones are beautiful earth elements that can immediately elevate positive vibrations when chosen correctly and have been used for centuries as powerful tools for healing, spiritual growth, and personal transformation. 

Beautiful natural pieces of furniture and ceramics or earthenware can also be wonderful additions to any property to influence stability and grounded.

Wood – for wealth and success within the Bagua map.  Use nature within the home.  Add plants, fresh flowers, and wooden materials around your home… bamboo or solid plank flooring.  Colours that will enhance your area include green, blue and brown which would lift a room as an accent wall.  Most of us could do with some wealth and success in our lives, and positively enhance success by making some small changes to create big opportunities.

Five Feng Shui Tips 

• Declutter.  By making your living spaces open and airy you are allowing natural positive flow throughout your home.

• Add Feng Shui plants to your home, eg. Aloe Vera, Peace Lily, and Money Plant. These have their individual strengths and can help influence your home positively.
• Use the Bagua map and apply the  5 elements.  Relate them to your living space, add colour to enhance your surroundings, and use shapes and elements to improve energy. 

• Keep the path to the front door clear as it is a direct connection with you and the universe.  Good chi flows from the front door throughout your property… we do not want to block any of these positive energies.

• Do not leave broken items lying around, fix them as soon as you can.  Broken items clutter and have negative energies, either recycle them or fix to avoid unnecessary negativity flowing through your home.

Feng Shui isn’t easy to understand at first, but by following these principles and living with nature we can influence our lives positively.  There is very little known about the origins of Feng Shui but traditionally the Chinese have been using it for over four thousand years in order to promote good chi… positive flow of energy throughout your home, workplace, or any area where positivity is required.  

Love Life x

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