Introduction to Feng Shui

Ever since I started my 75 Hard Challenge, I have had to read nonfictional books every day. As much as I love reading this was not a problem at all! If anything, I got excited to pursue my love for reading more than I ever had. During my challenge I’ve read about investing, organizing, Native American sweat lodges, and now I am currently reading about Feng Shui. When I started this book, I had zero knowledge about what Feng Shui was. The more I read the more I began to realize how important it is to know and understand the balancing energies that surround us. So, I dove in! I haven’t learned all the ins and outs of Feng Shui, but I will give you a little history about how it began, how it's used and what the basic three concepts are.

The History of Feng Shui

Feng Shui is an art and science created by the Chinese to understand how people are connected and affected by their surroundings. With Feng meaning “Wind” and Shui meaning “Water”, early practitioners used this discipline to locate harmonious building sites for homes and villages as well as burial sites for relatives. This practice has been used for several thousand years and is aimed to introduce positive changes in living and working environments. Space, time, physical landscape, and orientation are all assessed when seeking a balanced relationship between the five elements, Qi (Ch’i), and yin and yang. Over time Feng Shui has evolved from only detailed observation of man-made environments and nature, to considering how the earths energy is affecting places and its occupants. The essence of Feng Shui no longer depends on cultural aspects and can be mixed with other streams of knowledge to meet the requirements of people and places all over the world.

How Feng Shui is used

Feng Shui is a tool that is used to create harmony throughout ones living and working life. Nowadays we can’t choose Strong Qi areas for our home and workplaces like they did when creating the first settlements. A strong Qi area was defined by its patterns made by wind and water. Areas where wildlife dwelled, and plants grew lusciously were considered good Qi spaces. But now, we are given apartments and homes that were probably not chosen on positive Qi grounds. So, we work with what we have, to establish a balance. Feng Shui, also known as the Chinese art of placement, helps us to strategically place items around our surroundings that will enhance the Qi and create nourishment for our human bodies.

The Basic three concepts of Feng Shui (Qi, The 5 Elements, Yin and Yang)

What is Qi? Qi is energy that uses three of your five senses. You cannot taste nor see Qi. It’s the energy of the intangible. But yet, we can feel it, hear it, and even smell it. It touches us through heat waves, wind, humidity, and static. We hear it through sound waves like music, and we smell it through our odor molecules when surrounded by flowers or stinky trash. Qi is the feeling you get when in a bad situation and the feeling you get when you hold a child for the first time. It’s the energy that flows through everything living and non-living. The energy of life.

The five elements of Feng Shui consist of Wood, Fire, Water, Metal and Earth. They are the building blocks of everything physical on Earth. Feng Shui believes that human beings are made up of all five elements and are most comfortable when all of them are represented in working and living environments. Each element can be represented in multiple ways. I am going to list a few examples of each one. Wood: anything made out the actual element, plants and flowers, floral prints, pictures of gardens, the colors green and blue. Fire: Natural lighting, candles, fireplaces, pets and wildlife, art that represents fire, triangles and pyramids, the color red. Water; Pools, rivers, fountains, reflective surfaces, free form shapes, black and dark colors. Metal: All metal types, rocks and stones, sculptures and art made of metal, white and light colors, circle, and oval shapes. Earth; dirt, sand, brick, tile, ceramic, squares and rectangles, yellow and earth tones, pictures of earth landscapes.

Yin and Yang, sun and moon, black and white, positive and negative, they do not exist without one another. Yin and yang represent the balance of two opposing energies. Yin is the feminine energy that is associated with dark, cool, soft, wet, earth and moon. While Yang energy is masculine that is related to hot, bright, hard, dry, sky and sun. But complete harmony rests somewhere in the middle of these two energies. An example of this yin and yang balance is a beach setting. Imagine laying on the sand, its soft and wet from the ocean while the sun is beating on you creating heat and light. Together they act and create a relaxing peace in the human body. Our surroundings should represent both energies to truly invite the Qi that nourishes us.

Overall, I have really enjoyed learning about Feng Shui and how it is properly used to attract positive energy into my life. I hope to continue this Feng Shui journey and have another blog in the future to dive a little bit deeper into for my readers. But for now, just remember to keep balance in your surroundings by acknowledging the Qi, using your 5 elements and keeping the balance between yin and yang.