Since we moved into our home, I have been decorating and upgrading our things as needed. I am always looking for ways to not only improve the look but save money too! When it came time to upgrade our door mat and and add floor mats, I wanted to incorporate Feng Shui. I wanted to welcome good luck and prosperity into our lives.
Feng Shui definition
Feng Shui is a Chinese art that uses geomancy to harmonize the energy forces in one’s living and work environment. It also helps one enhance feng shui personal relationships, wealth and health.
What is Feng Shui
Feng shui (pronounced fung schway) is the study and art of creating an environment that’s in harmony with one’s surroundings. It means “wind” (“fung”) and “water” (“shui”), but feng shui also incorporates the energies of fire, earth, metal, wood and sometimes even royal blue, which is the color of heaven. The goal is to create a space that flows with these energies in order to promote health, wealth and happiness.
What does feng shui mean?
It’s easy to think that the power of feng shui lies in the ornately carved statues of Chinese deities and creatures that sit in feng shui practitioner’s offices. But those statues, called “feng shui cures,” actually have very little to do with what feng shui is about.
Feng shui is more about color and space than anything else. Yes, feng shui does involve placement of objects in particular ways within a room or home, but the real focus of feng shui is on the flow of energy through your life and home.
There are two types of energy: positive and negative. When you’re lucky, your life is filled with positive energy. When you’re unlucky, it’s full of negative energy that keeps you down.
Positive and negative energies move through the world in a very particular way called “the flow of chi.” Chi is the name given to this invisible energy. It can be influenced by everything from the bright sun shining in through your home’s windows to the uneven floors of your office building.
How does feng shui work?
When you use feng shui in your home or place of business, you’re trying to bring positive chi and block negative chi from moving in the wrong ways. That sounds vague, but it boils down to two very basic things: clarity and openness.
Clarity is the energy that flows through a room or area clearly, without obstacles. When you walk into a room, do you have to take a second look around? Or are your eyes drawn immediately to something in particular? It’s clarity that helps us take in information with ease and reminds us of where we need to go.
When there isn’t enough clarity, we start to feel confused when we’re in a room or trying to get somewhere. Negative chi can move into this space and fill it with stress and anxiety.
Clarity is one step away from the openness that feng shui practitioners strive for in their homes and businesses. Openness is an easy energy that flows through a room or area easily. Think of an open space versus a closed one. When your space is closed, you feel trapped and anxious.
But when your space is opened up for good chi to move in, it’s the same feeling that you get from being outside on a bright day with the sun beaming down on you. It’s a place of relief and relaxation.
It can take some time to learn how to incorporate feng shui in your life, but as you practice with the things that are already around you in your home or office space, you’ll start feeling the positive effects of this ancient art form.
How Can It Help Your Life?
Feng shui focuses on three main areas: location, layout and decoration of the space. In other words, feng shui helps you set up your home, office or business in the best location with a good layout and to decorate it in a way that makes it feel like an uplifting place to spend time.
The Importance of the Bagua Map
When you look at a feng shui bagua map, you’re looking at the nine areas that are most important. These areas are related to your life and environment, so each bagua area is associated with one of these aspects of your everyday life:
- Home or Business Office: Bagua Area 4 (the Career/Wealth area)
- Living Room: Bagua Area 1 (the Prosperity/Wealth area)
- Bedroom: Bagua Area 2 (the Relationship/Love area)
- Kitchen: Bagua Area 5 (the Family/Health area)
- Washroom or Bathroom: Bagua Area 6 (the Creativity, Children and Learning area)
How to Apply the Principles of Feng Shui in Your Life
- Choose an area of your life to focus on.
- Cleanse that space with water and feng shui herbs.
- Set up the bagua map for the area you’re focusing on.
- Meditate or do something to let go of any negative energy in that area.
- Invite good chi to enter your space.
- Live in that space for a while and see how you feel.
- Add new decor to keep the good energy flowing or change the layout of your space if it isn’t working.
You may find that certain areas in your home are more important than others, so a good idea is to focus on those first. For example, if you’re looking for love or a relationship, you might want to start with the bagua area associated with relationships (area 1) and work your way around the map from there.
The point is to be consistent in your efforts and let feng shui home guide you in creating a beautiful space where positive chi can flow freely.
Feng shui is a philosophy that has been practiced for centuries with the belief that it can bring balance and harmony to your life. Its principles applied most often to home design and placement as well as business location selection. It’s also used by many people for personal reasons such as improving relationships and enhancing their health outcomes.
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