Feng Shui, which literally means “wind” and “water”, is the art and science of infusing intention into your environment – or external body – to create maximum support to help you achieve your goals and the life you want to create. When your external body (or your physical surroundings) is out of alignment, it drains your energy and makes it harder to get where you want to go.
Feng Shui has restorative powers, for when you feel good in your environment, chances are that you are ready for just about anything. This is the difference between Feng Shui that does and doesn’t support you as you live your life. Feng Shui is a tool you can use to help you get to where you want to be in your life. We live Feng Shui every day – why not get do it consciously and get the results you want?
1. Working with Feng Shui to consciously enhance your environment is the fastest way to change your life – right now.
The top three determinants of life path are 1) fate, 2) luck, 3) environment, 4) philanthropy and 5) education and experience. Note what comes in last, and that the first two are not really influence-able by anybody. The first powerful level that we really have access to in our lives to influence our future is working with the environment.
2. Feng Shui works with chi flow.
Chi flow, literally “cosmic breath”, is the way your space breathes, the way your body breathes, and the way you breathe in your space. If you’re not breathing, you’re not living.
3. Energy exchange is a basic principle of life.
There is an energy exchange between our bodies and the vibrations of energy in our surroundings – our external body. This energetic exchange can either inspire us or totally overwhelm us.
For example, if you are not comfortable in your office, it’s likely that you will not want to spend time there (much less a major part of your day), or feel that there isn’t enough time to get everything done, or that things are unstable or that you’re exhausted when you got home. In the long view, this means that you could be losing money because the energetic exchange between you and your environment is not supportive for you to operate at maximum capability.
We have all experienced this principle on some level; for example, when you have worked really hard to close the end of the year in your business, run all the errands for the holiday, made sure your home is ready for company, spend time with friends for weeks on end… only to get sick on the holiday? That is Feng Shui – the universe is compensating for the big energy push with making sure you slow down and get some rest.
4. Paying attention to the details that comprise your life (i.e., your environment) is often the first step toward getting where you want to go.
By taking into account where you are in your life right now, where you want to go and/or be in your life, the timing of your choice to change (ideally, right now), and your physical surroundings, Feng Shui helps you to assess your options, provide a framework for action and create the conscious change you want in your life.
5. Changing your life is as easy as changing your environment.
All it takes is letting your environment know your intentions (your goals) and working with natural energies to get good chi flow.
In other words, what your environment looks and feels like is a reflection of what you think about your life. The energy exchange between you and your environment can help you realize your goals and desires, or cause them to get lost in translation. By placing elements, colors and shapes in lucky, or “auspicious”, positions in our environment, you can influence your wealth, relationships, health, careers or any area of your life to change in the direction you really want in life.
6. When your environment, such as workspace, is clear, you feel free, creative and motivated.
Why? Because there is room to create, the universe has space to bring you the resources you desire to get what you want, and because you don’t have to overcome physical clutter and emotional reaction to it in order to be productive.
7. Working with the power of Feng Shui principles inherently means looking at your space / life with new eyes.
Looking at your environment with the eyes of a stranger means seeing details that we take for granted every day. Often we overlook what is right in front of us. New perspective creates many opportunities, including those from already existing resources or from having space to generate new avenues. It becomes our choice as to what we want to pursue.
8. Feng Shui is about object placement, symbolism and personal intention in your physical environment.
While some may consider Feng Shui to be interior decorating on its most superficial level, the degree of intention, awareness and conscious commitment are the keys to good personal Feng Shui. What works for your colleague may not work for you, and vice-versa; it’s all relative to what’s happening with you at this time in your space with where you want to go. In fact, when working with a practitioner, you should not disclose personal rituals, cures or adjustments, as the effects of the solution may become diluted.
9. By applying the principles of Feng Shui, consideration is given to efficiency, organization and visual orientation.
In order for your environment to support you, you must feel organized, with items you need in proper reaching distances, with colors attuned to you and appropriate chi flow. Your efficiency will be enhanced because you will know exactly where to find what you need exactly when you need it. Add aesthetic appeal, and you will have a visually pleasing system that works well for (and with) you.
10. Feng Shui doesn’t have memory.
Feng Shui doesn’t really care how you got to where you are, so the fact that you have always had a big junk drawer isn’t important. Rather, it is observing that the big junk drawer lacks organization, could be weighing you down or clogging some aspect of your life or business, or might represent unnecessary baggage in some area. It tends to be both forgiving, in not being judgmental or remembering the error of your past ways, but also unforgiving, in that it is very literal. Be careful what you ask for, as it is likely you will get it.
Your observations and gut reaction will tell you where to start with your personal Feng Shui. By re-designing your environment, you can shift the exchange of energy and get your chi moving to create the life you want. Feng Shui can help you make and create the changes you want in your life – right now.