is Feng Shui, and How Does It Work?

Feng shui (say "fung shway"), often called the art of placement, could just as accurately be called "the art of flow." This ancient Chinese practice, literally translated as "wind" and "water," aims to maximize the beneficial movement of chi--the universal life force present in all things--through an environment.

Just as fresh air and clean water nourish our bodies, so does fresh, clean chi nourish our homes and our lives. When the flow of chi through our space is blocked, weak, or misdirected, our relationships, cash flow, creativity, health, and career can suffer. Chi wants to meander gracefully through a space, like a gentle breeze or a winding stream. When it flows too strongly, it becomes like a hurricane or flood. We are likely to feel tossed about by winds of change, unstable, prone to crises, struggling to "keep our heads above water." Where chi is blocked it becomes stale and stagnant, like a pond choked with algae and fallen leaves. We may feel tired, run down, depressed, unable to focus, hampered in our efforts to move forward in our lives.

In a corporate environment, poor feng shui can result in miscommunication between managers and employees, conflicts among team members, and lack of support for key initiatives. Individuals may be overlooked for promotions or deserved raises, suffer damage to their reputation in the company, or even lose their job. The company may have difficulty attracting or keeping key customers.

In a retail store, feng shui problems can block the flow of customers into and through the store, contribute to theft and staffing problems, and have a negative effect on the amount and size of sales.

Feng shui provides tools and guidelines for analyzing and correcting the flow of energy into and through our space. It uses the arrangement of rooms and the placement of furniture to create a smooth pathway for chi through a home, office, or retail location. Blockages and other forms of negative chi are removed or counteracted in order to welcome in opportunities and encourage progress. Colors and shapes associated with the five elements-wood, fire, earth, metal, and water-are used to create movement, balance, or protection, depending on the needs of the client. Imagery and objects such as paintings, photographs, statuary and other accessories are chosen and placed to enhance and reinforce the client's intention.

Feng Shui reminds us that everything is connected, and that our physical surroundings have a significant impact on our mind, body, and spirit. It teaches us to be mindful caretakers of our environments, so that we may be mindful caretakers of our lives.

Stephanie Roberts is a feng shui consultant in Maui, Hawaii, and the author of the best-selling "Fast Feng Shui" books (rated 5-stars by Amazon.com readers). To find out how you can use contemporary Western feng shui to help you achieve greater success and happiness in your life, please visit http://www.fastfengshui.com or subscribe to the Fast Feng Shui newsletter at mailto:subscribe@fastfengshui.com and receive free feng shui tips by email.

Feng Shui tips

The first step in applying Feng Shui to your home is orientation, using the Ba-Gua scheme as a template. To make the Ba-Gua template, cut a piece of cardboard 3x3 inches square, divide it into 9 equal parts, and label it thus:

4 Prosperity 9 Fame 2 Relationships
3 Family 5 health 7 Children
8 Knowledge 1 Career 6 Patrons

Note 1 Career, should point north. These 9 areas relate to specific aspects of your life. By applying the diagram to your home or workplace, you can establish which rooms correspond to which areas of your life. Make changes in the designated area and it will change the corresponding area of your life.
Number 1, Career, tells you about yourself, your life path and how you value yourself.
Number 2, Relationships, includes those you have with your partner, business partner, and neighbours. If there is clutter here, or if plants placed there refuse to thrive, you must work on your relationships to effect corresponding changes.
Number 3, Family, relates to your roots, ancestors, family, and the relationship you have with your parents.
Number 4, Prosperity, indicates how easy or otherwise it is for you to create, and retain wealth, both tangible, and intangible or spiritual.
Number 5, T?ai Ji, is the centre of health, and well-being. Essentially, this is the most crucial area in which to control the flow, and circulation of Qi.
Number 6, Patrons, designated as the domain of spirits, and gods, this area represents all those who offer protection, support, and help in needful times.
Number 7, Children, denotes creativity, and activity. If you?re feeling stagnant in this zone, change something to encourage the flow.
Number 8, Knowledge, refers to education, and intuition, and shows how readily you cope with change.
Number 9, Fame, represents your public standing, the way others perceive you. This depends on inner maturity, and strength of character.

Place appropriate mementos in each designated area. Remember, the overriding principle is to encourage the flow, and circulation of Qi. Avoid clutter, and mess, which prevents the flow. More importantly, it will encourage the opposite of Qi, Sha Qi, or negative energy to accumulate, bringing depression, and tiredness. Qi flows out of windows, long straight passages, and especially through doors opposite windows, so site plants, lamps, and other items of furniture to encourage Qi to circulate in your home, and delay its swift passage.

Place plants in front of all sharp edges to block them, and use mirrors to strengthen Qi or diminish Sha Qi energy. Use crack-free mirrors to maximise the flow, and reflection. Watch the flow of smoking joss or incense sticks to determine what you need to change to channel, meander or circularise the flow.

Water must be flowing, not stagnant. Place natural objects such as pieces of wood, crystals or quartz stones in openly visible parts of the room, at different levels. Plants also represent a natural source of the peaceful, relaxing effect produced by the colour green.

Use Feng Shui To Help Your Children With Learning, Health And Sleep

There is no doubt that raising children requires a lot of the life aspects that Feng Shui advocates and encourages. You need wisdom, prosperity, and definitely serenity to successfully get the little tikes to adulthood. Of course, Feng Shui and children go hand in hand as the little ones need encouragement in all of the life elements as well. It is a tremendous benefit to young minds and hearts to start out life with a healthy dose of harmony. Parents have found success with Feng Shui in aiding their children with sleeping issues, health concerns, and educational obstacles. Arranging their homes and bedrooms to reflect the ancient philosophy is a good start to a peaceful, prosperous road.

The Chinese culture places a huge emphasis on the importance of education. The way your child?s study area is laid out will make an enormous impact on how well they perform in school and types of grades they make. The child?s desk should sit facing the doorway of the room. If a child?s back is to the door, the positive energy will have a harder time reaching the little one. A good way to activate positive chi in a study environment is to place a crystal sphere in the main window of the room. While the crystal in the window is excellent, you don?t want to place the child?s seat in front of the window. This is very distracting and their schoolwork will suffer for it. Keep any sharp objects or even pictures of sharp objects out of the study area. They symbolize negative chi and your child certainly doesn?t need that while trying to learn. Implementing these Feng Shui and children educational practices can make a big difference in the wisdom life element.

Next to a child?s study space, their bedrooms are where kids spend most of their time. It is important for this area to be arranged in the Feng Shui tradition as well. Your first step should be to eliminate any clutter in the room. It?s not funny. Seriously, work with your child to arrange their things in their room without the presence of treasures and trash all over the place. The balance created in their room will improve the overall relationships within the family. Make sure you don?t overlook that handy space under the beds. If there is a lot of stuff crammed in there the positive energy can become stuck and unable to assist the child.

Where the little one?s bed is placed is important as well. The head of the bed should be placed on a solid wall. There shouldn?t be a doorway or window on the same wall. This is to stop chi from flowing out the window or door. Another useful hint is to place the bed so that a person has room to walk on either side of it. It shouldn?t be placed with the side to help with the balance of the child?s life. Once again, it is vital for good energy to have the room to effectively flow throughout the room. As far as other potential bedroom d?cor goes, you will want to keep mirrors out of the room. If the child needs to see his or herself, they can always look in the bathroom.

There are other aspects of a child?s bedroom that need to be addressed as well. In our Information Age, it is common practice for electronic devices to be all over the house. In a child?s bedroom, these devices need to be used carefully. The electromagnetic frequencies put off by electronics are harmful to sleep patterns and can increase moodiness and aggression. To limit these effects make sure any computer monitor, alarm clock, and lamp is placed three to five feet away from the child. Feng Shui and children are both natural things. These electronic inferences should be avoided whenever possible.

Other d?cor comes into play in the Feng Shui and children combination. Parents should help their kids choose the wall color in their bedrooms carefully. Bold, loud colors aren?t good for a restful environment. It may be necessary to compromise and use a muted, relaxed version of their favorite color. Younger children will benefit from images that are non violent and non-threatening. Cute animals and favorite cartoon characters are good choices. Older children should be instructed to limit the number of posters they have on their walls that depict negative images of any kind. A child of any age will feel a part of the family when they are alone with the addition of a family photo placed near their beds.

Using Feng Shui and children?s natural inclination towards relaxation and serenity is a wonderful way to give your kids a solid, balanced start in life. Remember that the use of color, furniture placement, and d?cor choices are important factors that need to be considered when arranging a child?s living space.

Candace Czarny,ASID,CFM,LEED AP, "Award Winning" Interior Designer, Feng Shui Expert & author. www.artofplacement.com is continually ranked "Top 10" in Google and Yahoo. Clients testify of dramatic results!