- Are
You Interested In Feng Shui?
by Kevin Lloyd
In the 1980s, many people's lives
were filled with things-cars, home, vacations, stressful jobs.
Then in the 1990s, something wonderful happened to many of those
same people. By middle of the decade, the insatiable desire for
more and more stuff began to subside. People signed up for yoga
classes, books on spirituality became best-sellers, and many
former yuppies realized they needed more meaning in their lives.
People began to analyze everything and try to improve their lifestyles
by adding a better balance.
Not surprisingly, feng shui became extremely popular around the
same time. Feng shui addresses the relationship between a person
and his or her environment, emphasizing harmony. This ancient
Chinese philosophy is said to have been around for three thousand
years. Now, the masses are more than ready for it, and it has
become a commonly used term.
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Crucial to feng shui is the concept
of ch'i. Ch'i., in Chinese culture, is an energy that's in everything
you find in an environment. If you have good feng shui, your
environment is kind of like a spring breeze—everything flows
nicely. But sometimes ch'i gets stuck or depleted. Ch'i also
enters and leaves through doors and windows (opened or closed).
So in a room with awkward corners or furniture blocking your
path, the ch'i is not good because there's no flow.
If you want to dabble in feng shui on a budget, here are a few
low-cost ideas to get you started:
· Add mirrors. Mirrors are used widely in feng shui, and
if used properly, they can help your environment immensely. Mirrors
should be usable by the tallest member of the family and reflect
at least six inches of clear space around your head.
· Clear it out. Is there a chair that people always seem
to trip over? Are there corners that are so blocked off that
they are rarely vacuumed and have layers of dust weighing them
down? Move things around so the air (and people) can circulate
effortlessly.
· Remove clutter. Clutter makes ch'i stagnate, so haul
off your piles of junk by recycling or donating items, and your
reward will be even greater.
· Get even. Don't use one candlestick or three—two
or any other even number will feel better and more balanced.
· Pitch it. If it makes you sad, get rid of it. (You know,
like that vase your cheating ex-boyfriend gave you or that bedspread
you hate but bought because it was on sale.) |
