CindyCoverdale.com

What the heck is Feng Shui anyway?

Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese art of “placement”.

To me, Feng Shui is all about creating a balanced environment that can support you in whatever area you choose. It’s been around for so long because it works!

Our homes are a snapshot of our bodies.  Whatever is going on in your  home is simply an outward manifestation of what is going on inside of our bodies.  That is why doing Feng Shui in your home can help you shift something that is going on in your life.  It’s not really about your house… Your house is just kind of the tool to make the adjustments in a physical way so that you can be supported.

One of the great things about Feng Shui is that by implementing “cures” you are allowing yourself to become present to what you want to create in your life.  We spend a lot of our time being pretty unconscious to what’s going on around us or happening to us.  When you get to a point of realizing, “I want to change this!” you can start to work with that on a physical level by using Feng Shui to support the energy of your thought.

It’s an ongoing process so enjoy,  and know that in another day, month, year you will likely be shifting or changing in some way and may feel compelled to make more changes.  Perhaps rearrange your living room!  Go for it.  You’re likely just intuitively shifting things to support something you are moving into.  Maybe you can take a moment and get present as to what that is.  Then you can consciously work with it. We are constantly evolving and changing and that’s a good thing!

The Black Sect School of Feng Shui

I know… Black Sect sounds kind of weird.  It actually has even a longer name but this is plenty for now. Many times black is associated with darkness and white with “the light” so it can get a bad rap.  In this case the color black is about including all colors to make up the color black so it’s a pretty inclusive form of Feng Shui. There are many different schools of Feng Shui.  In many ways they are similiar, but there are also some fundamental differences between them. It’s not to say one is better than the other, but the one that works for me and that I was drawn to, is the Black Sect School of Feng Shui. It works by setting an energy map (called the bagua) to the front door of any room. There is no need for a compass, or to sleep with your feet facing one direction, you don’t have to know directions or do math, etc.  It is easy, works in any environment, and won’t require you to explain any odd looking cures to people.

The Bagua

The Bagua is an energy map that you line up with the front door of your home, room, or the entrance of your property.  The front door represents the mouth, where the energy enters a space.  Remember, the house is somewhat of a metaphor for the body. The Bagua then dictates where the following areas lie.

Career… Knowledge… Family… Wealth… Fame… Relationship… Creativity… Benefactors…  and in the center lies Health.

The Elements

In Feng Shui we are working to keep the following elements balanced with each other. They may also be used to uplift an area of the Bagua.

Water… Wood… Fire… Earth.. Metal

Certain areas of the Bagua also correspond to certain Elements, which is where the cures come in.

Career = Water

Family = Wood

Fame = Fire

Relationship = Earth

Creativity = Metal

Color

Color is often used in Feng Shui to uplift areas of the Bagua…

Career = Black or Deep Dark Blue

Knowledge = Blue or Green

Family = Green

Wealth = Green, Purple, Red, Gold and Silver

Fame = Red

Relationship = Red, Pink, White and Earthtones

Creativity = White

Benefactors = Gray

Health = Yellow

Shapes

Shapes are another way we can add in cures to uplift certain guas.

Career = Irregular shape

Family = Column

Fame = Triangle

Relationship = Square or Rectangle

Creativity = Round

It can be very simple.

So once you know how the Bagua lines up in a space you can then go about using elements, colors, and shapes to uplift, enhance or cure certain areas.  It doesn’t mean that you can’t use those colors, shapes or elements in other locations, but sometimes simply moving a fountain to an area that water is compatible with can make a bit difference.  This isn’t to say a qualified consultant isn’t ever necessary.  They can be very helpful in many ways.  Clearing spaces, being a neutral objective party, helping you to see something from a fresh perspective and more. Make sure you feel comfortable with them, and if they suggest something that really doesn’t feel right to you speak up! It is YOUR home afterall. Sometimes it takes trying something for a few days to see how you really feel about it though.  Sometimes it can be scary to take that next step, whatever it is and you may find yourself reluctant to make the change needed to support that.  That’s okay. Take your time.

An example.

Say you decide you would like to improve your relationship with your partner.  You can look at the area inyour home, office, bedroom etc. and see what’s going on in there?  Is there a bunch of clutter?  Is anything broken? Could it benefit from a little bit of attention? How do you feel in that spot?  Then you can go about improving it. Putting energy on this area will also be putting it on your actual relationship energetically. You could add in some earthtones, pink or red, square shapes,  or Earthy items to uplift the energy of that space. You really have a lot of options.  One nice thing you can do to focus and improve relationship is to add pairs of things.  Not pears!  Pairs!  By  our bathtub, which is in the relationship area of our home, we have two matching candelabras, two Lalique kitty statues and two pink rose quarts hearts.  These pairs help reinforce a relationship between two people.   We also have a square bathtub and marble (earth element) around it. It’s so easy, and it can be really fun!

I recommend if you’re interested, that you play with Feng Shui a little bit in the beginning.  Pick one thing to focus on and see what happens. Once you see that it “works’ you’ll be ready to look into other areas you’d like to improve as well. You know that feeling of cleaning out your closet and getting rid of everything that doesn’t fit anymore or that you don’t like?  It feels great!  It also allows you to breath and start fresh. It allows you to say good bye to the old you and make room for the new you.  Feng Shui can feel a lot like that.  I think it’s mostly because you’ve decided to become involved in creating your own choices instead of simply letting them happen to you.  Have fun!

A funny story…

One of my friends had just moved into her own home after going through a divorce.  She decided she was ready to date and asked me what Feng Shui she could do to help.  Well, we talked about a lot of things among them placing a photo of a single guy that she might be interested  in dating in the relationship part of her bedroom, which happened to be the relationship part of her home. So a few weeks later I was over at her house and I asked her how the dating was going and she started laughing and telling me about this “much younger” guy she was kind of seeing… When I went in her bedroom she had an Abercrombie Fitch bag in the relationship corner and that was pretty much what the guy she was dating looked like. ha ha!  That’s when we went over perhaps adding a list of qualities she would like in a partner to go with the photo.  She made some adjustments and now she’s happily in a relationship with a different man who has the qualities that were important to her.