Before you decide to sell or remodel your existing home, perhaps you should consider evaluating your home and garden from the perspective of the ancient Chinese art of feng shui. Why? Well, first let me ask you something: have you ever noticed how some places—not only homes and gardens but also places of business—provide you with an almost instantaneous sense of well-being and peace when you enter them, while others have just the opposite effect, often making you feel ill-at-ease and perhaps even agitated? Have you also noticed how some individuals and businesses seem to prosper while others often encounter ill fortune and unhappiness?
The explanation for this phenomenon lies in the ancient practice of feng shui. Considered both an art and a science by the Chinese, feng shui is also a way of life that has influenced the shape of their homes, cities, and even cemeteries for centuries. Yet, the Chinese see Feng shui as an active force that is very much alive in the universe; and they believe that anyone who follows the flow of this force—“Chi”—can experience the blessings of health, happiness, and prosperity.
You can also experience these blessings, for the harmony related to a positive flow of chi can be achieved easily and, most often, inexpensively by incorporating certain elements into your home or landscape; by repositioning items or plants; and by following relatively simple guidelines when it comes to decorating your home and designing your garden.
Alignment and balance are the core and the essence of feng shui; and though feng shui was once only practiced inwardly through relaxation techniques and meditation, for the past several thousand years, it has become necessary to practice feng shui outwardly as well because of the chaos rampant in the world.
There are two principles to feng shui. The first is that our state of mind and energy affects our environment for either good or bad; the second, that our environment affects our state of mind and energy, again for good or bad. In other words, you can’t have one without the other because both are necessary—internal harmony and external harmony.
Important to feng shui is “chi,” the “cosmic breath,” which is the essence of heaven and earth, as well as time and space. It is also the force of change and transformation. Everything originates from this cosmic breath, exists through it, and ultimately returns to it in the end. And as chi is the cosmic breath, the cosmos is that which breathes life and, in Taoist science, is seen as a great dragon that symbolizes the spirit of fertility and nourishment. The dragon also represents creativity, wealth, and wisdom.
Chi has three levels: sheng chi, si chi, and sha chi. A home has sheng chi if it feels airy, bright, and welcoming, your pets are healthy, and those who dwell in the home are prosperous and happy. Such a home often overlooks a pleasant scene, such as a well-tended garden, peaceful lake, or tranquil river. On the other hand, a home has si chi if it is dilapidated and unkempt, the earth depleted of nutrients, vegetation poor, animals unhealthy, and those who live in it often ill or depressed. And, finally, a home has sha chi if those who dwell in it are often distressed, angry, tired, or nervous; the surroundings feel mysterious, even alien; the ground is stagnant; and the atmosphere feels heavy with apprehension.
What type of chi surrounds your home? In order to detect it, allow yourself to relax and breathe slowly and evenly as you clear your mind of extraneous thoughts. How do you feel? What impressions are you receiving? In what condition are your plants and animals? In what frame of mind are you and the others who inhabit the home in most often? Are you content? Peaceful? Depressed? Worried? Angry?
Your home breathes, and its breath, or chi, flows in and out through windows and doors. It also circulates up and down hallways and around the rooms. However, chi must flow unimpeded in order to impart a sense of comfort and ease to both those who live there and those who enter. If the flow of chi is hindered by misplaced furniture or clutter, the chi itself becomes hindered, thus causing the breath in you home to become stagnant and your health and affairs to suffer.
So how do you achieve balance and harmony in your home? What can you do to ensure the free-flowing, unimpeded movement of chi throughout the spaces you inhabit? Believe it or not, but it all begins at your front door.
The main doorway to your home both protects the house and provides the entranceway for malevolent spirits, so, naturally, you want to prevent those evil spirits from entering. How do you accomplish this? You accomplish it by selecting a front door that is solid, well hinged, free of rot, and in proportion to the rest of the house (not too small or too large). Also make sure to replace bulbs in outside lights as soon as they blow because failed lights are considered a bad omen; and avoid planting trees in front of the main entrance since the strong yin of the tree will prevent yang from entering the house. Finally, place two objects—sculptures or potted plants, of a weight that requires you to use both hands to pick them up—on each side of the entranceway. These objects “ground” and safeguard your home, providing it with substance.
Next, address the interior of your home; and the first step is to remove clutter from all rooms. Chi cannot circulate, let alone breathe, in a cluttered environment. With this in mind, toss out or else put in storage all those dusty old “collectibles” with which you hate to part; give all those old magazines to a senior center; purchase some shelves, put them in your closet, and stack things neatly away. Also clear all the accumulated junk out from beneath your beds.
In the living room, position furniture in an open pattern, with space between each piece, and avoid having too much furniture in any one room. Position a work of art or a standing plant as a focal point and arrange everything else around it, keeping in mind that the “power point” is diagonal to the doorway. Avoid positioning the sofa so that it faces a window but try to position the sofa, as well as any chairs, in a harmonious alignment with windows as well as doors, in order to create a sense of openness and allow smooth movement within the room—both for the inhabitants and the chi.
In the dining area, try to incorporate cheerful works of art and fresh flowers, and paint the walls a light color. In addition, try to center the table in the middle of the room, if at all possible, and have an even, not an odd, number of chairs, since even numbers represent pairs—symbolic of love—and you want your home to be filled with love.
Now, move on to the bedroom, where you should remove any mirror that is hanging directly opposite a window because it will cause the chi to become overly active. Also avoid placing a mirror where you can see your reflection when you are lying in bed since this will disturb your sleep. In fact, in the bedroom, you should limit the number of mirrors entirely because mirrors tend to activate chi, which disrupts the room’s tranquility.
Next, look at your bathroom. It is, however, quite simple to make this area “feng shui friendly.” One, place a full-length mirror on the outside of the door in order to repel negative chi. Two, if the bathroom is in the center of the house, place two mirrors so that they reflect one another, which will activate positive chi. And, three, make certain there are no leaking faucets or pipes because each drip of water signifies money actually running out of your possession.
Now, try these suggestions and see if your fortune doesn’t improve; and when it does, I am positive you will forget all about either selling or remodeling your existing home, for you will be at peace, happy, and prosperous right where you are.
