Feng Shui for a Healthy Home
You may have heard of the design concept that’s been used in building construction for thousands of years, that can help you feel calm and supported in your home and daily life.
This Neolithic Chinese design concept is called Feng Shui, and it is a design system intended to harmonize the energy of one’s physical surroundings with the energy of the natural world by enhancing the flow of energy in a physical space. Good Feng Shui allows us to feel nourished, comfortable, and secure in our living environments by facilitating the flow of Chi, or life-force energy, throughout our home.
By understanding what brings energy into a space, we can amplify the energy we need to accomplish our goals and release stuck energy that may have accumulated in a space. During spring, the need to de-clutter and freshen things up is especially strong. This is because it corresponds to the wood element, which relates to growth and decisions. To have clarity in our decisions we need to have well organized, categorized, efficient, uncluttered and clean space. And we need to listen to our intuition, feeling nature and common sense when rearranging home or workplace.
Feng Shui works by balancing the Five Elements of our natural world – fire, earth, metal, water, and wood. Each of these elements are expressed with corresponding colors, scents, shapes, sounds, and attributes. Every section of a room can be divided into these 5 elements, and the ways in which each element is expressed can have an impact on the flow of Chi through those spaces.
There is a handy map, called a bagua, which shows exactly where each element is represented in relation to the entrance of any room. Once you apply the bagua map to the specific room or space that you are applying Feng Shui to, it is easy to unblock and balance the energy in that space with a variety of tools. Below is a great list of available tools, borrowed from Feng Shui for Real Life:
Orient the base of the bagua along the wall containing the main entrance to the room.
- Color adds emotional, physiological, and cultural content to our lives. We associate certain things with color, such as holidays, cultural events, and emotions. In Feng Shui, color is primarily used to represent and balance the Five Elements.
- Sound is used to connect us to others in our environment. Music is a powerful way to uplift the chi in any environment and can sooth stressful home or office situations.
- Lighting is a simple way to bring more chi into your environment, especially full-spectrum light bulbs that simulate natural light. Fireplaces are also a source of light.
- Art can enhance the chi, whether it is a painting, sculpture, or textile. The selection and placement of art depends on the area of the bagua you need to activate. Art should reflect positive images and feelings.
- Growing Things like healthy plants and flowers connect you with the natural world. They can be chosen for a specific shape and color to correspond to a particular element and area of the bagua. Silk plants can be used where light is too limited to grow healthy plants.
- Water Features such as fountains and aquariums stimulate the movement of chi in and around your home or business.
- Wind Sensitive Objects such as wind chimes, mobiles, whirligigs, banners, flags, and weather vanes attract the chi into your environment.
- Mirrors & Crystals can be used when there are structural flaws or where there is no space for any other “cure.”
One of the best things about adding Feng Shui to your home design is that it doesn’t need to cost a lot! Just a few small changes to your current room arrangements can create more harmony, health, and abundance in your home space. And if you want more guidance, please reach out to one of our Feng Shui consultants listed here.
Happy Feng Shui-ing!
With love,
Your Conscious Homes Team
Written by Noelle DeWitt Pierrat on behalf of Conscious Homes
Noelle DeWitt Pierrat is a contributing writer for the Conscious Homes blog. She teaches yoga and fitness classes in Boulder, Colorado, and pursues her creative and geeky sides by blogging and developing websites.
