What Is Feng Shui?
Feng Shui (or Wind and Water) is the practice of arranging your environment so that energy or “chi” flows gently and smoothly through your home or business environment.
In this way your space just feelsgood–and supports what you want out of life-whether it’s a better career, new romance, improved health, or more income.
Feng Shui is not a meditation practice, a religion, or a New Age cult.
Not too fast or too slow—just right!
Feng Shui is based on the concept that everything in your environment has a life force or energy called “chi.”
Just as chi flows through your body, chi also flows your through living environment. When the energy flow is stagnant (think clutter and overflowing closets), moves too quickly (think long dark hallways, stairs, and straight shots through the home), or is obstructed (think walls, trees, or even cars in the wrong place), the unbalanced chi may lead to ill health, domestic strife, or financial concerns.
Feng Shui adjustments can help you make sure that the chi energy flow is just right so that everything in your environment supports your wish for good luck, good health, harmonious relationships, and prosperity.
When did Feng Shui start?
The practice of Feng Shui was developed in China over a 4,000-year period. Initially, people wanted to come up with principles that ensured their homes—and more importantly their tombs!—were placed in a location that offered shelter from winter storms, floods, and blazing heat.
As the practice of Feng Shui developed, people also started to consider architectural features, from the placement of fireplaces, windows and doors, to gardens and landscaping.
Using the Bagua
The success of these principles led to the application of Feng Shui to indoor furnishings, including everything from sofas and pictures to dishes and art objects. Practitioners of Feng Shui developed the bagua, a Feng Shui map that indicates where in the home specific enhancements are to be applied.
The bagua is placed over the floor plan of a home (or room) and shows the location of nine main areas of energy in every home: Helpful People/Travel, Children/Creativity, Relationships and Romance, Fame, Wealth, Family, and Self Development.
The Feng Shui practitioner arranges the home to bring “good luck” to these areas and to make sure the chi flows smoothly so that each area on the bagua map is nurtured and energized.
As part of arranging a home or business, traditional Chinese practitioners also include a complex mix of compass directions, birthdays of occupants, and Chinese astrology and cultural elements.
Feng Shui for the West
To make Feng Shui more accessible to Western society, the spiritual leader Grand Master Lin Yun developed a Western form of Feng Shui called the Black Hat Sect Feng Shui that has removed the complex formulas of traditional Feng Shui and the strict adherence to Chinese cultural elements.
He incorporated spiritual practices from around the world and was the first to focus on how one’s intentions can impact the physical environment and energize the nine specific areas of each home.
Grand Master Lin Yun introduced this Western form of Feng Shui to the United States in the 1970s.
Moving into the cultural mainstream
As people in the United States (and Europe) also started experiencing the benefits of arranging their homes and businesses according to Feng Shui principles, Feng Shui has moved into the cultural main stream.
Now most Americans have at least heard of Feng Shui, and many are using the practice to arrange their homes for good luck and prosperity. Even the British Royal family is rumored to use Feng Shui principles. Businesses, from Citicorp to Donald Trump’s companies, are integrating Feng Shui principles into their business practices.