Intro to Feng Shui Principles

I'm sure by now you have heard about Feng Shui (pronounced fung shway). But have you actually done anything with it? If you want to learn more and have wanted a simple guide to get started with some basics, read on.

David Kennedy in Feng Shui for Dummies describes this ancient Chinese practice as “…how the energy flow in your living environment is affected by the placement of things and objects within it, and how these objects interact with and influence your personal energy flow.” The idea is that you help your environment help you. Your personal energy flow affects how you think and act, which in turn affects how well your perform and succeed in your personal and professional life.

As a private school director, I wanted to offer our students and the public a space that felt welcoming, alive, and one that sustained itself. As I learned more about the practice of Feng Shui, I applied the principles to the school. There was an immediate upward shift in attitude, in student count, in finances, and in the reputation of the school. It works, and very quickly!

I see the tiny bamboo plants and mini waterfalls for sale in Big Lots discount stores. There’s now a great selection of wind chimes in Hobby Lobby. More and more stores are getting makeovers with Feng Shui touches, such as waterfalls at their entrances, bamboo screens and particular color schemes. Obviously there is something to it, and far past the physical trappings. What is this Feng Shui, and why and how does it work? This article will give you some basics, some simple things to try, and some stories of how it has worked.

Chi and Its Movement

The Chinese have known for millennia that our physical surroundings affect every aspect of our inner and outer lives. The first thing to get a grasp of, so to speak, is chi. Chi is a very real, invisible, universal energy that energizes and enlivens whatever it touches, wherever it moves. Chi can be invited in, directed, gathered and sanctified. Chi is akin to electricity, orgone, or Life Force energy, and comes in a many varieties from cosmic to personal chi. One thing to be sure of, it should never be ignored, which is exactly what most people in the West do. Chi moves in predictable ways, fortunately, and the Chinese have studied nature and mapped out how it typically will move into and through a space. Every spaces is subject to the movement of chi, from homes and businesses to your very own body. There are definite patterns to how it interacts with various elements as it encounters them, and it will follow either a constructive or destructive pattern according to what it finds in a space.

Let’s focus on external spaces first. To track and then enhance your space’s chi movement, you’ll first need to overlay on your floorplan a bagua, or three-by-three grid. Draw out your floorplan accurately, then divide the whole area up into nine equal sections according to the outermost perimeter walls. Some areas may be missing from the bagua, and some areas may have extensions. That’s OK. Those can be treated to invite a balanced flow of chi through them.

There are five natural elements to consider in Feng Shui, and each has properties and an affinity within a bagua that you can learn to work with. The invisible sixth element to consider is the Chi itself. This is all based on the observed movement of energy in Nature.

The Water element invites movement into and through the space, to enliven, to sustain, to nurture. Water feeds plants and grows trees, so the next element is Wood. Bamboo is often used in Feng Shui because of its reliance on water, how flexibly it grows, and how strong it becomes as it matures. Wood of course feeds Fire, the next element. Fire clings to its fuel, depends on it, and then reaches to expand upward, to excite. The ash from Fire builds Earth, the fourth element. Earth stabilizes, supports, and offers a healing, grounding energy. Earth naturally forms Metal channels of energy for conductance. Metal is the fifth element. Metal is the underground conduit or catalyst for Water to condense, move and flow. Metal supports the return of water to the starting point of this Creative Cycle.

There are particular colors and shapes and bagua positions that are associated with these five elements. Water is native to the front entrance of your space, the color is black, and the shape is wavy and rounded. Wood is native to the left side of your space, is associated with the shape of tall rectangles. Fire is native to the opposite of your front door, centered in the bagua, and is associated with red and triangle shapes. Earth is in the center of the bagua and relates to the yin/yang symbol and yellow. Metal is native to the right side of the space and is grey and round.

To begin working with shapes and colors and elements, first inventory your space as to the presence of these components. Do you see a lacking here and there? Do you see a predominance of certain elements? Next start re-arranging furniture and décor to their native element areas to help balance things out. You might add a bamboo windchime (Wood) to a window in the back left area, or perhaps some rounded black (Water) flower pots to the front porch by the door. There is quite a lot you can do, but the point is to start somewhere and keep investing.

As there is a constructive or creative cycle when the elements are in harmony and balanced one to the other, there is also a destructive cycle. This can happen when there are particular blockages to the natural flow of chi through the space. The energy can actually begin moving in the opposing directions, where Metal cuts Wood, Fire melts Metal, Earth dams Water, Wood breaks Earth, or Water puts out Fire. The results negatively affect our health, vitality, peace of mind, success and consciousness.

The spaces we are in charge of—our homes, our work places, our bodies—all deserve to be energized and nurtured and balanced. It is simpler than we think to engage the principles of Feng Shui and foster a creative cycle of elements and chi in our lives. By giving attention to the placement of furniture and décor in our spaces we can encourage the fluid movement of chi through the space. By giving attention to the balance of colors and elements and shapes in our environment, we can support and strengthen the natural energy in our environment, which then in turn supports us every time we enter it. Here are just a few simple things to try, again from Feng Shui for Dummies:

• Place 3 or 9 new plants in the bedroom to enliven you and add hope and cheer.
• Place an energetic fountain near your front door to invite more cash flow and connections with key people.
• Clear out any clutter near your front door, such as looming plants, old newspapers, bikes, toys—piles of stuff. This helps invite the chi in freely.
• Put books where you can see them from the front door entrance to stimulate learning.
• Position your bed in the farthest corner from the bedroom door, still able to see the doorway, to sleep calmly. Put your head facing North if at all possible to align with Earth energies.
• Keep bathroom doors and drains closed, and hang a mirror outside the bathroom on the door to keep your energies from symbolically draining out.
• Hang a pleasant-sounding metal wind chime in the right front area of your space to activate more people to help you.
• Make sure your front door is solid, with all parts in good working order, to get rid of unwanted frustrations.
• Position your desk counter-corner to or facing the door of your office to handle more opportunities more successfully.

The Grand Ultimate Principle

Putting all of these changes into effect might seem a little daunting at first, but the most important thing is to give consistent attention and intention to the placement and position of the environment. This is called the Grand Ultimate Principle. Simple mindfulness of purpose is the key to accomplishing anything worthwhile in life. Doing a little bit every day toward a goal will consistently bring you closer to the manifestation of that goal. Chi constantly moves in its quest to complete its creative cycle, so we need to cooperate with that natural tendency and move ourselves creatively, completely, consistently.

Clutter is the number one cause of stagnation and blockage of chi, closely followed by uncleanliness. Honestly address your basement, closets, kitchen, garage, and desk. Assess yourself and your style. Are you a piler? Are you a stuffer? Stuffing and piling can be signs that you simply need more accessible places to put things. It can also mean that you have allowed indecision or even laziness to rule you. You just can’t decide whether you need that thing or not, so you stack it there to deal with it later. Develop decisiveness in you and the piles start dwindling. Clear out the clutter and invite in the chi.

There are Cures for less than ideal arrangements that you may find in your space. There may be certain architectural features of your space that you just can’t move—hallways in difficult arrangements, or a missing corner of your bagua. Cures work through setting an intention for what is desired, verbalizing the intention, visualizing the desired outcome, adding a blessing or chant such as “Om mani padme hum” and storing all of this high-powered thought energy in an object that can convey and sustain this thoughtform over time. Hanging multi-faceted crystals is a common and powerful cure. Cures invoke sacredness and elevation to an area or item. Intent is the force that dramatically strengthens the impact and effectiveness of your cures.

A Word About Food Therapy

I mentioned that your body is considered a space and can be treated with Five Elements and Feng Shui principles. We want our bodies to have the five elements in balance, and in a Creative, building cycle. Each major organ corresponds with one of the elements, as do colors, shapes, and sounds. The very foods we eat support the movement and building up of chi energy in our bodies.

Dr. Fred Weaver and Sandy Weaver run the Tao Academy in Kansas City. They teach the principles of five elements within a framework of comprehensive mind and body health, acupuncture and martial arts. They teach how choose foods to eat according to the energy of the food, the seasons, their shapes and whether the foods "warm" your chi or "cool" your chi. It’s Feng Shui for your body! When the elements are in balance, the chi is balanced. When the chi is balanced, you retain vitality and strength and overall good health.

I encourage you to apply Feng Shui now and each day. It is not difficult, and it is important. It takes some effort to set up initially, but then a little effort each day—the Grand Ultimate Principle—will keep your long-term health intact, and your spaces will support you energetically. Reference Feng Shui for Dummies, by David Daniel Kennedy, a surprisingly thorough and useful guide for all the principles involved.