Who does not feel the difference between their city apartment and their village home, between walking on a busy shopping street and the beach on a quiet weekday morning? This demonstrates how our surroundings have a great influence on our energy.
Based on the concept that everything in our environment has a life force or energy, or “Qi”, Feng Shui (Wind and Water) is the practice of assessing and adjusting the flow of Qi through living or work spaces to the benefit of their occupants.
Feng Shui adopts the principles of balance (yin and yang) to adjust and harness the Qi from the external environment into your home or office and to ensure that it flows smoothly through these spaces. In order for you to be happy, healthy, and successful, and enjoy overall well-being, your space should nourish and support this energy. Just like being with a happy person made your energy happy as well, the energy of your living and work space can influence things such as your mood and productivity.
Today, the study and presence of Qi is recognized by Western medical doctors when it comes to acupuncture and acupressure. This only makes sense – as humans, our lives have always been intertwined with the flow of nature and we are undeniably influenced by forces like earth’s gravity, electromagnetic fields, directional influence, and its surroundings.
In 2005, Disney recognized Feng Shui as a major part of Chinese culture and, in an effort to incorporate Asian culture into the theme park, shifted the main gate to Disneyland Hong Kong by twelve degrees in their building plans.
Feng Shui at Home and in the Office
According to the Feng Shui philosophy, Qi flows internally through you and externally through your surroundings. Depending on how this energy moves, these two energetic patterns can support harmony or disharmony, health or disease.
The practice of Feng Shui enables us to adjust and enhance the energy in our spaces we live and work in. This can be done by using various phases of Qi expressed through the five elements of Feng Shui: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water, representing the five universal forces.
To shift to energy in a home, office, or even in our body, we can use the colors, materials, shapes, placement, smell, etc. which represent these elements or bring the actual element into our space. For example, adding plants to your space to bring the creative and vital energy of the wood element into your home, or the warm and transformative Qi of the fire element through the use of candles.
So, what are some examples of how the state of a space can affect my life?
Both at home and in the office, clutter can be a distraction that interferes with your thought process and prevents you from being as effective as you can be. When your living- or workspace is clear and organized, you can spend more time focused on your tasks, without the disruption caused by unattended to clutter and chaos.
The state of your office can also affect your career. Your workspace says more about you than you may think. When someone walks past and looks at your workspace, they instantly form an opinion about you based on what your workspace looks like. The papers scattered around you may make you feel productive, but to the outsider you may look overwhelmed and incapable of taking on more projects.
Your living space and bedroom are where you start and end your day. A tidy bedroom with the bed made and free of piles of items on the floor, for example, will enhance your comfort and more peaceful sleep, while adding air-purifying plants to your space will ensure better air quality.
Whether you are aware of it or not, the state of your home and office affects your behavior – our minds cannot live completely independent from our environment; therefore, keeping spaces tidy, organized, and clean is important. Applying the principles of Feng Shui to a space can help ensure a smooth energy flow and increased happiness and productivity.
In upcoming articles, I will share practical and easy-to-take steps for good home and office Feng Shui!
Do you have any experience with Feng Shui you would like to share? Or any questions? I would love to read them in the comment section below!
