You already know that your home should be a safe space for you and your family. It should be a space where you feel nourished, balanced and energised.
You want to walk out through your front door confident that you can handle whatever the world will fling at you. And after a long workday, you want to walk through that same door and have your space revitalise you.
Creating such a nourishing space is not by chance. As the homeowner, you need to be aware of the energy that your home styling choices are inviting into your space and, ultimately, your life: Does this energy promote or disrupt wellness of mind, body and spirit?
Enter stage left, feng shui. Feng shui is an ancient Chinese practice that seeks harmony and balance through the pieces you bring into your home; their placement, colour and energy all contribute to your chi.
Your chi is your vital life force – it’s the energy that flows through you and through everything. Feng shui is wholly metaphoric and nuanced. As you dive deep into its ancient principles, you will stumble upon piquing terms such as ‘Yin and Yang energies’, ‘The Bagua Map’, and ‘The five energy elements – wood, fire, earth, metal and water.’
Consider these five simple ways to incorporate feng shui into your home:
1. The commanding position
The commanding position in feng shui is in relation to your bed in the bedroom, your work desk in your home office and the cooker in your kitchen. The ancient practices say these pieces should be placed in a way that you can directly sight the door – your back should be backed against the main wall in the space, in readiness.
The purpose of this commanding position is what these pieces represent. Your bed represents you, your work desk represents your career and your cooker represents wealth. Placing them in a commanding position means that you are in command, you are readily positioned to receive a flow of positive energy at whichever opportunity.
2. Free flow of energy
The practices of feng shui are about allowing and enabling positive energy to flow into your space and your life. But if there are pieces that are in the way, then they will be obstacles to that flow of energy, they are interrupters.
Take a walk through your home. You should be able to walk through your front door, then freely around your living room and dining room, into the kitchen and pantry, and back out to the laundry and back door.
You go around the back yard and come through the front door again, walk down the entryway and to the bedrooms, bathrooms and back out again. (The walk will be different if you live in a flat with a balcony.) Any pieces that you encounter as you walk through your home are obstacles to your free flow of energy, they should be rightfully addressed, this is where decluttering comes in.
3. Declutter and organise your home
Clutter not only gets in the way of the free flow of energy, it also takes away your precious and finite energy. Energy that would have been expended more purposely is now squandered making sense of clutter.
An example. Think of your disorganised closet, think of how off-beat your day starts when you spend several minutes every morning rummaging for something to wear. Or rummaging through kitchen cabinets searching for the lid for your lunch container.
Get into the habit of regularly decluttering and organising your home. Hold pieces in your hands and ask yourself whether you will keep, donate or discard each piece. When you declutter your home, you are also creating space for the new energy that new experiences and new pieces bring. Organise your spaces using a personalised system that is organically in line with how your days unfold. Say, keys go in a key basket on the console table near the front door, plastic containers are stored with their lids on, according to size.
4. Pay attention to your doors and windows
In feng shui practice, doors and windows are important because they are the point through which energy comes into your home. Your front door, in particular, is the ‘mouth’ of your chi.
Doors should smoothly swing all the way open without any creaky sounds or any obstacles behind them. Check that they lock well. Keep your entryway clean and clear, this is the first point of contact into your home, after all. Add light so that it is bright and cheery. Styling it minimally, we don’t want unnecessary pieces introducing bad feng shui. What about your doormat, what do you feel when you look at it?
Windows in feng shui are how the people in the home engage with the outside world. They are the ‘eyes’ of the adults and ‘voice’ of the children.
Clean your windows regularly so you can ‘see’ and ‘hear’ clearly. Draw your curtains every morning, allow sunlight to pour into your space and energise it. sunlight also improves your mental health and well-being.
5. Bring in plants
Feng shui encourages you to bring live plants into your home because plants have a life energy that connects with your chi. They also cleanse the air and take away bad luck.
Particular plants are known to bring particular energy. Bamboo plants bring wise and peaceful energy. Philodendrons have fire elements, they add spark to a dim space. Jasmines are known to strengthen relationships.
Tall plants also heighten your space and make your ceilings seem higher. Consider placing a tall plant such as a rubber plant or a banana leaf plant in the furthest corner of your living or dining room.
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