Feng Shui Happiness

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese art which deals with energy flow in a building and the layout of furniture and plants. People who regulate their habitat according to Feng Shui principles find their life transformed positively as happiness and well-being establish themselves, whether in their personal life or relationships.

The art of Feng Shui is a very old one. It is based on chi, or energy flow that circulates in and around buildings. The objective of Feng Shui is to facilitate the circulation of chi in all parts of a building so that it does not stagnate and transform into negative energy and thus prevent happiness from installing itself.

Photo Rafick

One of the fundamental bases of Feng Shui is the balance between the opposite forces yin and yang. Yin is feminine and soft whereas yang is masculine and hard. Yin and yang cannot work separately. Yin represents the earth and is associated with winter, darkness, the moon, inertia, negativity, water and death . Yang represents the sky, light, the sun, life, the infinite and the cosmos and is associated with heat, luminosity, brilliance, dryness, mobility and strength .

Yin and yang depend on each other to exist. It is important to have a balance balance between yin and yang in a building for happiness and well-being to be present.

The taichi symbol (see image in introduction) illustrates the relationship between yin and yang. The circle represents unity. The dark side is yin and the white side yang. In each part you can see a small circle of the color of the opposite side. This is to say that nothing is absolutely yin or yang, that one cannot exist without the other.

As we'll see later, building design according to Feng Shui takes into consideration the relationship between yin and yang.

A house has to consist of three parts Yin and two parts yang because our house is where we regenerate and where we have to feel secure.

Yin can be strengthened by decorating softly, by comfortable furniture and cool music. The bedroom must be calm so that we recover lost energy during our sleep. A bedroom should never contain electronic appliances as these are too yang, but as you will need some yang you will use candles (you can use aromatized candles too; the essential oils they contain will help you relax as well as keep away negative energies) to bring in some positive energy in the room.

The kitchen is a yang place. Bright light and electrical equipment will bring in much of this positive energy. Avoid clutter in the kitchen and your store. This will help yang circulate freely.

You can use the Bagua by placing it on the plan of your house (or office or garden.) As we have seen above, each sector of the Bagua represents one of the eight Life Aspirations. By following the Feng Shui tips given below, you will be able to find health, prosperity, fame, love and knowledge and live happily.

First you will have to draw the layout of your room, house, apartment. Now draw two diagonal lines and place a compass on the intersection of these lines. You can now indicate the eight cardinal points on the plan (North down for both.)

Now place the Bagua on the plan, making sure the cardinal points correspond to those of the Bagua. Make a note of the sectors of your house and the corresponding Life Aspirations:

Career, Education and Knowledge, Family and Health, Wealth and Prosperity, Recognition and Fame, Marriage and Romantic Happiness, Children, Mentors and Networking.

After drawing the plan of your house and applying the Bagua to it, you can continue by drawing the plan of each room and then use the Bagua again on each of them.

Feng Shui is also based on the Five Elements which are situated in a building according to the eight directions of the compass: Fire in the South, Water in the North, Strong Wood in the East, Small Metal in the West, Strong Earth in the South-West, Strong Metal in the North West, Small Earth in the North-East and Small Wood in the South-East.

The relationships between the Five Elements, the eight compass directions and the Bagua which I'll describe below form the hardcore of the art of Feng Shui. I will help you understand how the Elements are interlinked and how they interact to create good luck and bad luck, and how you can influence their behavior.

The Ancient Chinese understood that the Elements are influenced and controlled by two cycles: the Productive Cycle and the Destructive Cycle. The Productive Cycle produces the Earth which itself produces Metal and other things, whereas the Destructive Cycle is the image of the constant process of decline in nature: Wood breaks into Earth, the Earth absorbs Water...

Each Feng Shui Element is symbolized by one or more colors as follows:


Wood: green

Fire: red

Water: black or blue

Earth: brown or yellow

Metal: white, gold or silver

When decorating your house according to Feng Shui principles you will have to use colors which are appropriate for each Element. In the East and South-East, use green; in the South red; black or blue in the North; mostly yellow in the South-West; and white or metallic colors in the North-West.

You will use the other Feng Shui colors according to the Productive Cycles. In the East and South-East, for example, which are the Wood sectors, the colors of Water can be used as Wood is produced by water. Never use white or metallic colors in these sectors because Wood is destroyed by Metal in the Destructive Cycle.

Here are colors for the other sectors:

South-West and North-East: red and all hues of red. Green to be avoided.

West and North-West: white and combinations of yellow, beige and brown. Red to be avoided.

North: white

South: green

By using the Feng Shui colors while working on the interior design of your house, you will be putting positive energy and luck on your side, and you will be one step further toward happiness in all spheres of your life.

Photo rainbow courtesy geograph.org.uk

Water is very important in the art of Feng Shui. The movement of chi is greatly influenced by the Element Water because water is constantly moving. You will use Water to enhance energy flow in and around your house and in your garden.

From the Bagua you can see that Water is associated with your career. If you have personal professional goals, place water in the North. You will also see from the Bagua that Water represents wealth. Usually placing an aquarium in the South-East of your house will make sure that the energy for Prosperity is properly enhanced.

Avoid placing water in your bedroom, and do not use it in excess anywhere.

Metal is very yang, and you will use hard and bright objects to reinforce the flow of this energy in your house. The Life Aspirations associated with Metal are Children and Mentors and Networking.

In the Children sector in the West, and in the Mentors and Networking sector in the North-West, you will help energy flow by using metal and crystal objects. You could also use a few yang objects in yin zones. As we have seen previously, it is important to have a balance balance between yin and yang in a building for happiness and well-being to be present.

Please visit our Feng Shui store to look for metal objects

Let us now consider the Element Wood. It is associated with Wealth and Prosperity and Family and Health.
In the South-West and the East, use wood to reinforce energy flow for these Life Aspirations, bearing in mind that softwood is yin and hardwood yang.

Using wood in your Fire zone will be beneficial, as wood produces fire, and using wood in association with water is also good because water produces wood.

Please visit our Feng Shui store to look for wooden objects

Taking fire into consideration is an important aspect of Feng Shui practice. The Element Fire which strongly yang is associated with the South and summer. Light, candles and the color red symbolize it.

If you would like to improve your recognition and fame, you can place bright light in the South of your house. Apart from bright light, you can also work on the interior design using red furniture, curtains and other objects. Carpets and tapestry are particularly good.

Please visit our Feng Shui store to look for fire objects

The Element Earth can help you preserve or restore balance in your life. You will choose colors which symbolize the earth. The Life Aspirations associated with Earth are Marriage and Romantic Happiness and Education and Knowledge. You will use earthenware, ceramic , crystal, granite and marble objects to reinforce these sectors with positive energy. Pots and sculptures are readily available, and those from China are very affordable.

As the Element Earth produces Metal, you can also place Earth objects in the Metal sector of your house.

Please visit our Feng Shui store to look for earth objects

1. Feng Shui and Life Aspirations: Health and Family

The Health and Family Aspiration is on the East of the Bagua and is associated with the trigram Chen and the Strong Wood.
To keep in good health, you have to place plants (or, alternatively, paintings or posters representing plants) in the East and use dark green colors.
Furthermore, make sure there is no clutter in the center of your house and in the living room. You can also use water to reinforce wood.



2. Children Aspiration

The Children Feng Shui Life Aspiration is on the West of the Bagua and is associated with the trigram Tui and the Element Metal.
If you apply Feng Shui tips in this zone of your house, you will have more chance of having children and to maintain harmony in your family, and if you already have children these tips will keep them in good health and make sure they are always in good emotional and physical health.
For your room, you can use red beddings, metallic objects, earthenware (because the Element earth produces Metal), crystals. In the West side of your living room you can use white and silver curtains.



3. Career Aspiration and Feng Shui in the Office

The Aspiration Career is on the North of the Bagua and is associated with the trigram K'an and the Element Water.
It is important to use water in this zone. Whether at home or work, you will place an aquarium with fish in it and use black and blue colors in the space where you work.
Make sure there is never any clutter in your workspace to prevent chi from being blocked and turned into negative energy.
You will also place fresh flowers in the East of this zone as well as a healthy plant in the South-East.



4. Wealth and Prosperity Aspiration

This Aspiration is on the South-East of the Bagua and is associated with the trigram Sun and Small Wood.
You will place plants in this zone, plants with leaves with rounded edges. Here also you can place a small aquarium with fish. The Ancient Chinese who developed Feng Shui recommended a mirror on a wall of the dining room, so that your wealth is multiplied by two.



5. Marriage and Romantic Happiness Aspiration

The Marriage and Romantic Happiness Aspiration is on the South-West of the Bagua and is associated with the trigram K' un and Strong Earth and the color yellow.
Feng Shui will help you keep harmony in your family or, if you are a bachelor or spinster, help you find love.
You will activate energy flow in your Marriage and Romantic Happiness sector by placing red flowers to symbolize love. You will also use crystals, paintings, posters or photos representing couples, small sculptures of couples, and objects in pairs.



6. Education and Knowledge Aspiration

The Education and Knowledge Feng Shui Life Aspiration is on the North-East of the bagua and is associated with the trigram Ken and Small Earth and the colors yellow and brown.
You will activate energy flow in the North-East zone by applying hues of red. Red symbolizes Fire which produces Earth. You will also place granite, marble or ceramic objects in this zone, as well as lamps with rounded edges, preferably with a ceramic stand.



7. Recognition and Fame Aspiration

This Feng Shui Life Aspiration is on the South of the Bagua and is associated with the trigram Li, the Element Fire and the red.
This is a very yang zone, so you will use yang objects to activate energy flow to make sure you succeed in your social and professional life.
Use red light and red objects, wood objects (Wood, as we have seen previously, produces Fire), and a painting or poster of rising sun, preferably red.
The Ancient Chinese also recommended placing a crystal object on the window in this zone to attract more yang. The crystal will bring in the seven colors of the rainbow and thus activate your chance for recognition and fame.



8. Mentor and Networking Aspiration Aspiration

Finally, the Mentor and Networking Aspiration is in the North-West and is associated with the trigram Chi'en, Strong Metal and the colors white, gold and silver.
You will reinforce energy flow in this zone by placing metal objects in it, as well as earth objects (we have seen earth produces Metal), and you will use white, gold and silver colors for the walls, furniture and furnishings.

The first thing you will have to do before implementing the Feng Shui tips is to put order in all things, so that there is absolutely no disorder in your house, garden or office. Removing all clutter will help chi circulate freely.

Get rid of all empty boxes, old papers you don't need such as empty envelopes, newspapers and magazines. If you have old clothes that you don't use, don't keep them eternally. Donate them to charity or poor people.

Don' t keep broken equipment and furniture. They contain negative energy (even in physics we sometimes speak of entropy as a measure of disorder in the universe or of the availability of the energy in a system to do work, which means that disorder is negative, with just a bit more of it the universe and life would probably not exist.) Either repair them or get rid of them.

Get rid of anything broken things you usually keep in your garage or in a corner of your garden. Make sure there is order everywhere.
Never apply Feng Shui tips before making sure your space is without clutter. Take a habit to keep your house and office free of disorder by putting order regularly in every possible corner, even under the bed where nothing should be kept.

Remember that clutter can place obstacles in your personal and professional life, and just removing it could make things better for you. When you will be acquainted with the Bagua, you will be able to use it to determine if and how clutter in a particular corner of your house, garden or office is affecting your Life Aspirations.

This lens was blessed by Squid Angels:

darcie-french on 05/13/2011
jptanabe on 09/15/2012
and mismatch on 01/25/2012
ShrilW on 01/31/2012

Thank you very much, Darcie, jptanabe, mismatch and ShirlW.

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