If you’re looking for an easy way to create harmony and balance in your life, check out these 9 Feng Shui basics and tips for beginners.
I woke up the other day to a clutter-free house, the rooms felt light and inviting.
Like an old friend welcoming me back to the land of the living.
“Gosh, it feels good in here!”, I thought. The entire home feels light, free, and inspiring.
Looking back several months ago, my home was far from welcoming, let alone inspiring.
Although I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, I was conscious of the fact that when I was home, I felt dull and depleted.
One day, I stumbled upon Marie Diamond’s video about the ancient Chinese practice called Feng Shui and aha, it finally made sense.
In this article, I’ll teach you how you can use this ancient practice to create a positive flow of energy to every area of your life including; finances, relationships, and health.
What Is Feng Shui, and What Is Its Purpose?
First, let’s look at what Feng shui is and why you should care.
Feng shui is a 5000-year-old Chinese practice of trying to create balance with life and the natural world in our interior spaces.
Recently, the practice has been popularized by Gwyneth Paltrow and Marie Kondo in her bestselling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, even Donald Trump has a Feng Shui master for his hotels.
The basic idea is that everything around you is composed of endless energy fields (chi or qi) that connect you to everything else you see, hear, smell, and touch.
From this perspective, you and the energy fields in your environment are constantly communicating with each other.
Therefore the more harmonious and balanced your home is, the more positive energy will flow in your relationships, health, and finances.
How Your Home/Workspace Influences Your Mood
To be honest, I was skeptical about this whole positive energy flowing to my finances, health, and so on thing.
However, I think when you look at it from a practical perspective it makes sense.
So if you are a skeptic as I was, take a fresh look at your home, literally enter every room take a deep breath, and take note of how it makes you feel?
All done?
Does your home make you feel uplifted? Are you excited about living there? Do you feel Inspired? Depleted? Meh?
Now imagine if your home was your partner, would you feel excited about spending time with them?
If your answer lies somewhere between depleted and meh, you may want to read on.
Clutter and the Brain
We know that it’s vital to declutter our living spaces but no one tells us why.
According to research by the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, having physical clutter within your view creates stress because the clutter also competes for your attention.
In lay-mans terms, having clutter in your home or office space makes you unproductive, distracted, and stressed.
Flow and Living or Working in a Harmonious Space
Additionally, we now know that people who produce more alpha brain waves than beta waves perform better in most areas of their lives.
They tend to be more creative, joyful, focused and calm, read at super speed, solve problems quickly, and make better decisions.
Whereas people who produce high levels of beta brain waves tend to get anxious, stressed, and depressed.
What does this have to do with Feng Shui?
According to this experiment, a room with good Feng Shui instantly produces more alpha waves whereas a dull room produces beta waves.
Living in an inspiring environment, therefore, encourages your brain to produce alpha waves (calm) whereas a dull environment creates beta waves (distracted and anxious).
With that said, there is no specific scientific basis for Feng Shui.
However, Moni Castaneda here lists some of the scientific discoveries support and explain why Feng Shui works.
Some of them include:
- Bruce Lipton, cell biologist, who has discovered that the environment has more of an effect on cells than DNA. Feng Shui is about managing your environment.
- Rupert Sheldrake and his morphic resonance studies show there is an energy field in and around every living being and these interact with each other through resonance. This validates the Feng Shui affirmation that there is chi (life force).
Let’s look at the Feng Shui basics and tips you can apply to your office or home to help you become productive, peaceful as well as attract good luck and abundance.
Feng Shui Tips to Instantly Change Your Relationships, Mood and Finances
Kill The Clutter
Clutter is not only bad for your health, but it blocks your ability to focus, create, and relax.
Therefore the best thing you can do for your home is to get rid of the clutter.
Start with that wedding dress you kept after the divorce or that pair of shoes you haven’t worn in three years.
If you need a step by step guide on how to declutter, Marie Kondo’s Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is a great start.
Use The Feng Shui Command Position
In feng shui, the command position of a room that places you in the best position to deal with whatever comes into your life.
When you are in the command position of a room, you can see the door.
For example, if your office desk is facing the wall or window, you are not in a command position in your finances.
To set up the command position in any room, place the key piece of furniture—a couch, desk, or bed—where you can see the door without being in a direct line with it.
Moreover, the command position signals to the subconscious mind that you are the commander of your energy.
Light is Powerful
In Feng shui, light is an essential aspect of achieving harmony and balance. The simple act of lighting a candle adds warmth and coziness to your space.
Additionally, keep your windows clean and cover them with curtains and blinds for privacy.
Feng Shui Crystals
Feng Shui crystals are known to bring good energy into any space.
According to Marie Diamond, one of the most sought after Feng Shui masters, the most effective, affordable, and versatile to use is clear quartz.
“It’s clearing, protecting, and strengthening energy fields and can attract love, happiness, abundance, and a deeply enchanting and optimistic inner world.”
Additionally, the transparent color works in any interior color scheme and with any decorating style.
You can get one here.
Add Fresh Flowers and Live Plants
Use fresh flower blooms, and natural plants to bring a vibrant vibe to your home.
Consequently, it’s best to avoid artificial ones.
According to Laura Benko in her book The Holistic Home: Feng Shui for Mind, Body, Spirit, Space, the best feng shui plants include:
- Aloe plant because it has a calming quality and helps scrub the air clean of toxins.
- Orchids have elegance, purity, and grace, which makes them perfect for the bedroom.
- Ponytail Palm for balance and harmony.
- Bamboo plant for it’s cheerful, exotic appearance, and rapid growth makes it perfect to attract abundance and good fortune.
The Power of a Water Fountain
The sound of running water from indoor fountains creates a calm, relaxing, and soothing atmosphere.
Simply place an energetic water fountain near the front door.
Moreover, it is traditionally believed that the flowing energy of the water symbolizes the flow of abundance coming your way.
For Your Office Space
A proper workspace should help you feel inspired, productive, and powerful, as well as enhance your creativity, discipline, and success.
The entrance, therefore, is vital to your success, and you should ensure to sit in a power position, meaning you can see the door when seated at your desk and everything else in the room.
Lastly, don’t forget to surround yourself with images and furniture that keeps you inspired and motivated.
Photos Around The House
Hang pictures of your partner, kids, and family members that are close to you rather than photos of celebrities.
Why? Because seeing photos of you and your kids or partner smiling reminds you of the positive experiences, you’ve shared hence creating good vibes at home.
All you need is a few inexpensive photo frames and a printout of that awesome family picture you took last Christmas.
Use Scent to Uplift your Home Environment
A pleasant smell has a huge impact on the mood.
I personally love to light a scented candle, however, essential oils, and incense equally keep the home fresh and cozy throughout the day.
If you liked this article of the Feng Shui basics and tips for beginners, you need to check out our free self-care Journal below.
It’s the best solution around for those who want to master their emotions and cultivate a calm mind.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave a comment below.
Cheers,
Sania.
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