Everyone can use Feng Shui to feel connected to the natural world, but you don’t have to decorate your home like a Chinese restaurant or a Zen shrine to bring the power of Feng Shui into your life. Although many Feng Shui symbols and objects are sold on Feng Shui websites or in New Age stores, they are not necessarily helpful in practicing contemporary Feng Shui.
In the more Asian approaches to Feng Shui, displaying objects like a lucky money frog or fu dogs is supposed to bring quick money or the perfect love. While there certainly can be a preferred place to keep these objects, they are not going to have a significant effect on your life unless they have specific meaning for you. All of those so-called Feng Shui enhancements — including dragons, laughing Buddhas, red envelopes, bamboo fluids, and red streamers — are part of Chinese culture but not necessarily part of modern Feng Shui. If these objects don’t symbolize anything to you and don’t fit with your decor, they won’t help you attract what you want into your life or fix anything that is negative in your life.
However, by choosing from the following eight tools of Feng Shui, you can select objects that mean something to you and place them in the appropriate location in your home.
Color. Color adds context to our lives. We are conditioned to associate certain things with color, such as holidays, cultural events, and emotions. In Feng Shui, color is also used to represent and balance the Five Elements.
Sound. Sound, specifically music, is a powerful way to uplift the chi in any environment and to soothe stress in the home or office. Other sound makers such as wind chimes attract, or call the chi into your home or workplace.
Lighting. Lighting, especially full-spectrum light bulbs that simulate natural light, is a simple way to bring more chi into your environment. Fireplaces and candles are also a source of light. Outside, garden lighting can be used to anchor a missing bagua area.
Artwork. Art of any kind, whether it is a painting, sculpture, or textiles, can enhance the chi. The selection of art should reflect positive images and feelings. The placement of your art depends on the area of the Feng Shui bagua (or mapping chart) you want to enhance.
Living Things. Plants, flowers, and animals add active chi. Use silk if your light is too limited to grow healthy plants or when you have allergies, but avoid dried flowers because they represent stagnant, dead energy. Pets bring wonderful energy. Just be sure to keep animal cages and sleeping areas clean.
Water. Water features such as fountains, fish tanks, and waterfalls stimulate the movement of chi in and around your home or workplace. It is important to choose a sound of moving water that is appealing rather than disturbing.
Wind-Sensitive Objects. Outside of your home, wind chimes, and other movement-sensitive objects such as mobiles, whirligigs, banners, and flags can be used to attract positive chi toward your home.
Mirrors. Inside, mirrors can be used to reflect a pleasant view into a home or to symbolically move a wall and correct its shape; outside, they can be used to deflect a negative structure or unpleasant object.
Surround yourself with items from these eight tools of Feng Shui that relate to specific goals you want to achieve so you can shift the energy of your home or office in a way that matches your own style.
Start making Feng Shui changes today with the tip-a-day calendar in the new e-book from Feng Shui Master Practitioner Carol M. Olmstead. Click here to order your copy of "365 Feng Shui Secrets" from the e-book store at BellaOnline.com.
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