Feng Shui

Feng shui can be simply translated into wind water. The term comes from the Ba Gua, the understanding of the relationship between heaven, human, and earth. It is the knowledge of balancing the Qi in nature and how the practice of feng shui will enhance different aspects of your life regarding your health (physical and psychological), relationships, luck, money income, and many more. Some of feng shui might seem to be impossible, and others just make simple sense. Feng shui has been studied for millennia. Much of feng shui was discovered by understanding Qi, and the other discoveries are just common sense. It is being aware of our surroundings and how we are affected by it. And the simplest way to understand it, as I like to put it, is in two parts. One is to ask yourself, “how does the Qi flow the best or most natural way?” This means that the Qi should flow with the least amount of resistance, except in a few cases where it should be first diverted. One example is that the front door and the back door should not line up. If your house has this put a divider of some sort to block the direct flow for the Qi to circulate in your home first. The second is to ask yourself, “does this house or room feel funky, odd or something is not right?” By practicing Qi Gong, Tai Ji Quan, or Meditation, we start to feel and understand the rules of the universe for us to follow (follow the Dao), we can feel what is good or bad feng shui. However, sometimes, it is just common sense. For quick examples, would you think that it is a good place to build a house on a cliff, especially in an earthquake zone? Another example would be a constant draft of air blowing on you making you feel cold? These are also considered feng shui.

Traditionally, there is feng shui for the inside of your house, garden and office. Therefore we must pay attention not only to the traditional teachings of feng shui, but to add and or modernize the ancient teachings to fit our lives of today. We must be aware of our surroundings, and how they change.

As one of the rules of the Tai Chi (yin/yang diagram), everything must change. Everything from the idea of dust to dust, all the way to the earth’s magnetic poles will switch at some point. Since this basic rule of life is so essential, we must always study, and restudy the facts, the laws of nature will always change. Science has taught us to never say never, and to never say always. However there is one exception to that rule: things, whatever they maybe, in some way or form, will always change. And if we are to survive, we must be aware of the changes and intelligent to stay in balance with them. One of the most important ways to sense the changes is to practice Qi Gong!

There is a whole art of understanding feng shui. It includes the understanding of the Five Elements, the Ba Gua, the Chinese zodiac calendar, the lo pan (feng shui compass), and the combination and how they all relate to you. This can be very confusing and therefore feng shui Masters must spend a life time of study to understand. There are many rules to follow, and many exceptions to those rules, but only here and there. However one does not need to be a Master to know how to use it. There are some real basic ways to improve your life with a few simple changes in your house and office. These changes can improve your health, money situation, family relationships, and much more! Even big businesses are hiring feng shui experts to help orient their offices to improve their business. Before building, feng shui experts are consulted on the floor plans and even whole designs of buildings. The L.A. Times have regular feng shui articles in their home section, though it might be labeled as such.

Here are some basic tips for the house and office. These are some of the general rules, but everyone might have his or her own unique feng shui.

Orientation of the house

• As a rule of thumb, it is best to have the front door of the house, facing south. East and west are ok, but north should be avoided. Think about the warm sun coming into the house. I am not sure, but it might be the opposite in the southern hemisphere! If you move there, you will need to discover the correct direction on your own. Practice lots of Qi Gong and you will know!
• If your house, especially your front door or garage is at the end of a street, or at the end of a “T” or “Y” intersection, there is too much Qi rushing into your house. Think about if a truck lost its breaks. Your house is the only thing that will stop it. It would be best to have a ba gua on the outside wall to aid in changing the flow of the Qi.
• It is best to have a “mountain” behind the house. The mountain behind protects the home. However, if you have a taller building behind the house, that also works.

Front door

• The front door should not be cluttered. Free from stacks of paper, firewood or the like.
• The front door and the back door should not line up. It is said that if you have this in your house, the money will enter your front door and exit your back door meaning you will have financial problems. Put a separator at the entrance of the front door.
• Stairs should not be the first thing in the house.

Bedroom

• When you walk into the bedroom, the bed should not be the first thing you see.
• The bed should be oriented towards the north so when you wake up you are facing south. The bed oriented to the south and waking up facing north is not good. The head pointing south is the direction the dead are buried.
• Mirrors in the bedroom cause the Qi in the room to bounce all over the place, causing confusion which can disrupt your sleep. The taboo is that it will cause trouble with the marriage.
• The bedroom especially should not be cluttered.
• It is best not to have the bedroom “too busy” with too many things in it with too many pictures, paintings, etc. Although it is nice to read a little before going to sleep, the bedroom is for sleeping, not reading. It is the room where you sleep.
• It is just common sense you don’t want windows near your bed. 1. The cold draft 2. In California , we live in a earthquake zone, we definitely don’t want glass to break and hit us at night. You can simply fix the problem with a curtain.
• You should not have something above the bed. A light or something that brings a sense of something bringing pressure onto your head.

Bathroom

• The bathroom door should be closed.

Office

• The back of your chair should have a protection of a wall.
• If you have customers coming in, you should easily see them walk in.
• Confined spaces can cause even a minor sense of claustrophobia, an open space, window to the outside can make one feel more at ease. At work there is a lot of reading on paper and now more on monitors. Having plants in the room liven the room and green leaves are good to look at when your eyes are hurting.

Miscellaneous : things around the house

• Corners. They make an arrow which is piercing. This goes for small things like sitting at a table, so if you can avoid sitting at the corner of a table to corners of a house or the roof or balcony that points toward your home.
• Be conscious of accumulated mold and dust. (This is not exactly in the realm of feng shui, but certain situations of dust and mold accumulation can make us really sick.)
• Clean up clutter. It prevents the flow of qi and gives us stress.