INTERIOR Design using Feng Shui

Whether you are moving into a new home or redecorating your existing home, using the Five Elements of Feng Shui allows you to create an interior design in harmony with both your lifestyle and the Chi Energy that is all things.

Having a good working knowledge of the Five Elements and its three cycles is a fundamental part of Feng Shui and all its differing practices.  It helps you create harmonious living and working spaces which benefits everyone.

You can incorporate the Five Elements into your entire home which is known as the Big Tai Chi or into individual rooms which is known as the Small Tai Chi.

By dividing your space, or spaces, into nine (four primary, four secondary and the centre points of the compass) you can introduce colour, light, shapes, sound and movement using each of the Five Elements in their specific areas and their enhancing areas, pictures and images can complete the design creating balance and harmony.

Direction	Element
North	WATER
South	FIRE
East	WOOD
West	METAL
Northeast	EARTH
Southeast	WOOD
Southwest	EARTH
Northwest	METAL

The centre is not specified as a ‘direction’ but it does signify the ‘Heart of the Home’ so is both an Earth element which represents stability and solid ground and an important area to positively enhance in any space for the benefit of the entire family.

Each of the Five Elements has a Yin (stillness and quiet) and a Yang (movement and noise) aspect and this is something else to consider when enhancing your living space.

Element	Yang	Yin
WATER	Flowing Water	Still or Stagnant Water
WOOD	Growing Wood	Dead Wood or Furniture
FIRE	Roaring Fire	Dying Embers
EARTH	Crystals, Stones and Pebbles, Sand	Underground Earth
METAL	Moving Metal/Metallic Sounds	Unyielding Hard Metal

In your living areas, the living and dining rooms, the elements benefit from being more Yang than Yin; in your sleeping area, the bedroom, the elements benefit from being more Yin than Yang.

Yang is created with brightness, light, sound and movement; with activity and is in harmony with lively and harmonious living – Yin is darker and quieter and allows your mind, body and spirit to be refreshed and recharged for a new day.

In the practice of Feng Shui, Water relates to a steady stream of income, of your career.  

Water should never be used to enhance in the bedroom, this is a major taboo.

Wood signifies health if it is in the East and wealth if it is in the Southeast, Water ‘feeds’ Wood and will enhance these areas, as long as it is Yang Water (moving water.)

Fire brings fame and recognition in your chosen field and this is fed by Wood.

Earth is represented in the Northeast and this is the universal study and education area.  It is also the element of the Southwest and this represents family, love and relationships.  Both of these areas are ‘created’ by Fire, by light.

The West is the area of the family and family harmony and the Northwest represents heaven and mentor luck.  These areas are the Metal areas and they are enhanced by the element of Earth.

Next time – J-Jewellery

We hope enjoy our blogs and leave any comments below or email: crystal@abundance-chi.com visit: www.abundance-chi-com LynC

GARDENS and Feng Shui

These days any outside space can be turned into an additional room; a garden room; when it is located in the private area of your home.

This makes it ideal for treating exactly the same as you would any room within your home, in terms of creating an auspicious flow of Chi Energy throughout the space, making it the perfect spot to spend time in nature.

This is especially important if you live and work in a city or large town and are not able to spend as much time in the wide open spaces as you would like.

There are two ways of calculating the location of each sector in your garden and home.

The first is using the area around the perimeter of your land (house and garden combined) and the second is splitting your front garden, your home and your rear garden into three distinct sectors.

The first solution can be used if you have direct access from the front of your property to the rear of your property.  In this case you can split the whole of your property into nine sectors.  If your home is located in the middle of your property then the chances are you will have three sectors in the front of your home, three sectors for your home itself and the remaining three sectors in your rear garden.

	Rear Garden
	Centre of Home
	Front Garden

The second solution is recommended if you are unable to reach your back garden from the front of your home.  If this is your situation then you can split the rear garden into nine distinct areas, all based around the primary and secondary points of the compass plus the centre.

	Rear Garden
	Centre of Garden
	Top of Garden
	Home

Once you decide which of the two methods to adopt, the next step is to use the compass to establish the direction your rear garden faces.  As in all calculations of Feng Shui, guesswork is not recommended because it could create negative energies in an area rather than the positive energies you are seeking to achieve.

It can be a haven of peace; a vibrant family fun area; a party area; a Garden of Eden or a water garden.

Trees, bamboo is especially auspicious in the East, plants and flowers, garden furniture, bird feeding stations, seating areas, fire pit, ambient lighting, wind chimes and other decorative items, water features or a vegetable garden; how wide is your vision?

Your choice is limited only by your imagination, the space you have available and to a degree the direction your garden faces.


Next time – H-Health

We hope enjoy our blogs and leave any comments below or email: crystal@abundance-chi.com visit: www.abundance-chi-com LynC

Exterior Feng Shui – part 2

In the first part of ‘Exterior Feng Shui’ we talked about looking for negative influences outside your home.

So if you have any of these, what should you do about it?

PROTECT first!

The way to protect your front door is by placing protective animals on either side.

These can be outside (if you have the space) or on the inside facing out.

These animals can be Chinese Fu Dogs, they are a popular protector in the East and also readily available in the west.

If you prefer alternatives, you can use dogs or lions.  Elephants with their trunks down are also protective creatures.

Whichever image you use they will only protect if they are facing outwards.  

Especially in the case of the lion, which is by nature an aggressive animal, if you have them facing inwards they will send negative energy into your home rather than protecting the outside of your home.

Poison Arrows

Coming From

Remedy

North	Place earth objects like boulders, decorative objects, a brick wall between your front door and the poison arrow
Northeast	Place lush green plants between your facing direction and poison arrow
East	Place wind chimes between your facing direction and the poison arrow (the sound of metal on metal will dissipate the negative energy)
Southeast	Place wind chimes between your facing direction and the poison arrow
South	Place a water feature between your facing direction and the poison arrow (in the case of your front door only put water directly in front of the door or to the left)
Southwest	Place lush green plants between your facing direction and poison arrow
West	Place a bright light facing out between your facing direction and the poison arrow
Northwest	Place a bright light facing out between your facing direction and the poison arrow

This is using the destructive cycle to neutralise poison arrows.  If the affliction is less serious, for example you have a poison arrow that is partially hidden by a wall or plants then the exhaustive cycle can be an alternative.

Using plants and flowers, lights, water features, wind chimes or crystals can all help deflect poison arrows away from your front door.

Shiny metallic door furniture can also deflect negative energies to avoid them influencing the energy entering your home.

While the purpose of this is to deflect negative energies away from your home, you don’t inadvertently want to bounce these back towards a neighbouring house, so things like decorative cannons or similar are inauspicious.  

These create their own poison arrow pointing at your neighbour and the purpose of Feng Shui is to be in harmony with your surroundings, not conflict.

The important thing is to create a clean, clear and welcoming area in front of your home to invite positive Chi Energy to enter.

Next time – F-Family and Feng Shui

We hope enjoy our blogs and leave any comments below or email: crystal@abundance-chi.com visit: www.abundance-chi-com LynC

Exterior Feng Shui

So how can you influence the exterior of your home or office?  How can you positively affect your surroundings?

The first thing is always to use your compass to find out the direction your home faces.

Once you know that, the next step is to look at your immediate environment.

City or Town Houses

How much space do you have outside?  Are there any poison arrows* pointing directly at your front door?

Poison arrows are:

The edge of a neighbour’s roof line

A lamp post

A single upright tree

A straight road coming directly towards your front door

A narrow gap between houses opposite that is sending negative Energy towards you

Anything that appears threatening will be sending negative Energy towards your front door

Do you have a busy road outside your home?  How fast does the traffic move?  Are you at the end of a cul-de-sac?  Do you have a busy road behind your home?  Is the house on your left lower than the house on your right?

Rural or Country Houses

Are there houses around you?  Is the land flat or undulating?  Is the back of your property higher than the front?  What is directly opposite your front door?  Is the land to the left of your home lower than the land on the right?  Do you have a river running in front of you or behind you?

These are some of the things to look for before beginning to work with what you have.

Ideal Configuration

Having given some idea of what to look for, here is the ideal configuration for a home, so you can look for positives as well as negatives.

In Landscape Feng Shui, which focuses on the exterior of a property, the ideal layout is what is known as the ‘armchair effect.’

This has the left side of your home (standing at the front door looking out) higher than the right.

The land behind your home will be higher than the land at the front.

There is an open space in front to allow positive Energy to accumulate before entering your home.

There will also be a winding river meandering in front, allowing positive Chi Energy to enter your home as it passes and high ground behind creating support.

In traditional Feng Shui this signifies, the Green Dragon on the left (East), the White Tiger on the right (West), the Black Turtle behind (North) and the Red Phoenix in front (South.)

The environment is much different now than it was when Feng Shui first evolved.

Fortunately, in harmony with the living skill it is, it now incorporates the elements in our modern world positively and effectively.

Have a look around and next time we will look at positive steps to take if the exterior of your home is less than ideal.

To the fulfillment of your dreams

LynC

www.abundance-chi.com

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