Feng Shui Basics
Dear Friend,
Feng shui basics can really be boiled down to the practice of five elements. They are at the core of every movement of feng shui. Just what are these element and how do you apply them in your life? That’s what this article is about. We’ll give you the cliff notes version in answering both of these questions.
What Are The Five Elements?
In short order the five elements of feng shui are: earth, metal, fire, wood, and water. That is it. Well not completely, so lets continue.
Wood is used to create fire. Water is used to grow trees hence wood, right? Okay. Metal is used to cut down wood. I think you are beginning to get the lesson here. There exists a huge circle. Everything more or less connects and feeds off of the other elements. You cannot have one without the other. In layman’s speak, people will say “no man is an island unto him or herself.” This is true! And it even applies to feng shui.
What Are Three Feng Shui Goals?
An overriding principle of feng shui is also the goal of harmony, peace, and balance. When applied to the five elements, that is why you cannot have one without the others being involved in some way, shape, fashion or form.
Just How Do The 5 Elements of Feng Shui Create Harmony?
One of the basic and foundational tenets of fang shui is that harmony and balance are the essence of life. If you have to much of one element in your life (home or office), it can be overwhelming and your productivity may suffer. Most rooms will have a dominant element.
Now some people believe they need to call in an expert to do a energy reading on their place. I believe you can do it yourself. No kidding here folks. You can search over this article and the others and take notes or just print out the articles and highlight the important parts. Next, start using what you’ve highlighted. In feng shui, it all comes back to the five elements, wood, fire, metal, earth, and water. Knowing this, you simply go from room to room. I suggest you start in your office.
Here’s why? If you’ve got unfinished projects, business, and papers all scattered around in your office that is a major energy sinkhole. You would to well to listen to those feelings and thoughts you have when you have to “in there”.
Start by de-cluttering it. Throw away as much as you can. Always keep financial papers though. The IRS may require them of you down the road. And if you don’t have them, you will be held accountable.
You see, you can apply the principle of balancing the five element of feng shui in almost every aspect of your life. Maybe you have the habit of speaking your mind and hurting peoples feelings by what you say. Then a good thing for you would be to add some calming elements to your environment. A campfire is good, but when the forest is ablaze, this is very bad.
As with most arts there are no real right and wrong answers. You have to learn how to apply the five elements and listen to your feelings. They will send of signals just as soon as you take action on the cleaning and placement ideas we’ve shared above.
Feng Shui Crystals
Dear Friend,
Feng shui crystals is a topic that is bandied about on many “New Age” forums. I’ve got a question for you today. Do you remember how you felt when you learned that there was no tooth fairy? Or how about when you learned there was no Easter Bunny? Do you remember how silly you felt for believing it in the first place.
Let’s talk about the truth as it pertains to feng shui crystals. Many people may disagree with me but if you check the history on this you’ll find that the true practice of feng shui has nothing to do with crystals.
When feng shui came to the West from China, it was a time when many New Age marketers started grabbing anything that could be labeled “spiritual” and they slapped a nice price tag on it and offered it for sale. They miss-labeled things “feng shui” and got away with selling everything from “holy water, angels, to crystals”.
In feng shui there are basic elements that are always present. Earth, fire, water, metal and wood. That’s all folks. To practice this art, you don’t need a $49.95 box of crystals sent to your every month “because the old ones are worn out.” This is just plain wrong for marketers to exploit you this way.
Feng shui is really about harmony, balance, peace and positive energy. There is no magic wand that any “Expert Reader” can wave above your head to make your life better. You’ve got to do that.
In your relationship with your children, if you are hiding the fact that their father really isn’t their father but some other man is, you’ll probably have a schism in your relationship with your children. Especially when they grow older and learn the truth.
If your money troubles are driving you mad, there are no crystals that will rain down paychecks for you unless you go out and work for them.
You should simply follow the basic principles of feng shui and learn to live in harmony, peace and balance with yourself and others. Just look around you right now. If your office or living room is a mess. If you’ve got last nights dishes still in the sink, to apply the principles of feng shui, clean up your kitchen or living room. This is really just the start of something much better if you allow it.
But crystals cannot do those things for you. You have to do those things for yourself.
Feng Shui Element
Dear Friend,
Every practice or philosophy has at its core basic tenets or principles to follow. A feng shui element can be distilled down to just five items. With every element comes a need for a reaction or counter balancing by one of the other elements. You have probably heard of Yin and Yang before right?
In this article we will share live examples that you can read and use for your own situation. It is likely that they won’t be very different from the ones shared here.
Recall now that the five elements of feng shui are water, wood, fire, metal, earth like substances, right? Okay. The wind chimes would blend in nicely depending on where it was going to be placed. For instance, if you have a living room that is a brown, tan or similar warm type of colors, you can balance that with a metal element. Wood chimes in certain living rooms may not be accepted. But the same applies if it was a four season porch or enclosed patio. Wind chimes can introduce order with a metal finish or even the wood finish for that matter.
How To Use Feng Shui Elements for Your Living Quarters?
1. If the room is bright and sunny like a breakfast nook, you know where yellow and whites predominate, then adding a wood item would offset the tone and energy in that area nicely.
2. If your kitchen is white, which typically resembles water and is a bright, clean color, it can sometimes feel a bit cold and sterile. Introducing the warmth of the wood element with wooden feng shui wind chimes can be done by having them right outside your kitchen, perhaps from a window or the back porch or balcony. Again, if the wood is a nice warm tone or has darker artwork and design to it, this can offset that cold white of the kitchen.
3. An adept that noticed a dark or warm room that included lots of plants and greenery, representing the earth element, would often have mirrors introduced to balance the energy of that room. Using mirrors in feng shui for earthy dominated rooms was a clever way to offset the earthy element.
There you have it. We’ve given you three or four clear examples of how to use feng shui element placements to counter the over powering of one element by another.
Feng Shui Gardening
Dear Friend,
Feng shui gardening is a natural outpouring of the interests that millions of people the world over have for this art. The origination of these teachings is over 3,000 BC is a testament to the enduring nature of this art and science. But how do you apply
it to your life? That and other questions we’ll answer below, so
read on.
Creating a garden based upon the concepts of feng shui is really simple. Why? Because the major principles of this form are so clear. They are namely, wood, water, fire, earth and metal. Any garden that you construct can easily conform to the majority of these elements.
This idea of a feng shui tree is something to consider for your garden. The idea here is not to just have it in your garden rather to bring those elements into your home or office.
If you have a room that is over powering or dominant in one element (color), most practitioners would strive to balance it out with one of the other elements. Let me show you an example.
The bathroom can be kept clean and bright when painted white. The challenge to this pristine look is that it will feel rather sterile and almost surgical like. So, to tone down the white, use a wood element to bring that down into harmony.
A small feng shui tree can be used to introduce browns, and greens or gold’s into an area that is to dominant like the white bathroom above. Also, in the kitchen where white is a very popular color, the effect is often the same. People that live in small apartments or condominiums will often resort to white in order to open up the room. White does a spectacular job of doing that. Unfortunately, is may feel sterile and unwelcoming, almost cold and harsh. So try to get some balance back into those rooms with earth tones.
A common gift of many people is that of the money tree. Many are told to have a feng shui tree in their homes. Has that happened to you. I mean we all want and need more money, so many embark on improving their situation with the money tree. The truth be told, this is a superstitious idea that is not grounded in logic.
You could instead use your money tree to stay true to the five elements of feng shui. Just add ribbons and a wonderful fire effect can then be added to any room. If your living room is strong in earthly tones, then add a painted brown wall or neutral tans or creams even will adjust that earthy tone.
There you have it, a good and clever way to stay true to the five elements of feng shui and make good use of your earthy elements including the “Money Tree”.
Feng Shui Gift Ideas
Dear Friend,
If you are looking for feng shui gift ideas you’ve come to the right place. In fact we will give you more than just general gift ideas. We will give you a brief lesson on the benefits and principles of this ancient Chinese art.
If you list of gift ideas is rather narrow, we will assume that you want to give a feng shui gift to someone that is familiar with the practice of this art and science. The gift ideas listed in this piece are really not difficult to find online. In fact, if you cannot find them online simply go to your nearest Chinese restaurant. Many of them are equip with gifts in their gift shops. And another offline place is the Chinese supermarket or local grocery stores.
In Asian and Chinese cultures giving gifts is a favorite pastime. The feng shui gift does not have to be expensive or costly at all. You should of course select a gift that keeps in mind the main tenets of feng shui. That is one of balance, harmony, order and peace.
You could select a mirror, something metallic, something earthy like a Bonsai plant, or even a wind chime. Candles are a big hit and so are crystals. But lets look closely at the wind chime because there are times and occasions when you don’t want to give any gift at all.
Recall now that the five elements of feng are water, wood, fire, metal, earth like substances, right? Okay. The wind chimes would blend in nicely depending on where it was going to be placed. For instance, if you have a living room that is a brown, tan or similar warm type of colors, you can balance that with a metal element. Wood chimes in certain living rooms may not be accepted. But the same applies if it was a four season porch or enclosed patio. wind chimes can introduce order with a metal finish or even the wood finish for that matter.
If the room is bright and sunny like a breakfast nook, you know where yellow and whites predominate, then adding a wood item would offset the tone and energy in that area nicely. If your kitchen is white, which typically resembles water and is a bright, clean color, it can sometimes feel a bit cold and sterile. Introducing the warmth of the wood element with wooden feng shui wind chimes can be done by having them right outside your kitchen, perhaps from a window or the back porch or balcony. Again, if the wood is a nice warm tone or has darker artwork and design to it, this can offset that cold white of the kitchen.
Remember when it comes to giving feng shui gifts they do not have to be elaborate or expensive. But they should be complementary to the five elements of this great art. This is more about peace, harmony and positive energy than anything else. It goes without saying, but if your intended gift recipient lives in an area where the noise of wind chimes would bring chagrin from the neighbors, this may not be the appropriate gift for them. That may get them into trouble with the landlord.
Feng Shui Career
Dear Friend,
Feng shui career opportunities are all around you. Some people think you have to be out in California in order to have a nice shot at this profession. It is true that Californians are very open to different ideas but lets not perpetuate the myth here. If you have a strong work ethic, entrepreneurial mindset and are willing to embrace the expanding global market place there is not limit to how far you can go.
—- Notable Quotation —-
“Nobody is a real loser, until they start blaming others.”
~ John Wooden
Legendary Basketball Coach
—- End Quotation —–
But before you take off on that new career idea it is important to be a product of what you are offering. Here’s what I mean. You see this all the time. People that are going into a health fitness center as a personal trainer have clients that look to them for advice and expertise about diet, exercise health and nutrition and they (the trainers) are note representative of the advice they want you to take.
How does this apply to you? If you are one of those people that think that feng shui is a bunch of hocus pocus, you probably should not consider offering services to others. People can tell when you don’t believe in what you are offering or saying. It will be as easy as spotting a wooden nickel.
Well don’t worry, we have some great tips and pointers for those of you that might be interested in pursuing this as a profession.
As a professional, you’ll definitely have to have a great grasp of the basics. You see, feng shui is all about mood and placement of items. Balance, energy and the use of various elements in order to achieve peace, calm, and harmony.
Mood Control With Feng Shui
Specifically, it is also about mood. In order to create the right mood a big part of that is not luck or anything like that. It comes down to your understanding of color. You can use colors to spark a certain someone to feel a special way. Think about just how true this is.
When you go to the hospital or to the doctors office have you ever noticed just how many times you see white, light airy bright colors? Even the uniforms, scrubs and shoes that hospital and doctors wear will often be bright or neutral colors.
Now, just why might that be? Because if you are in the hospital or doctors office they want the colors to not excite you or cause you resting blood pressure to increase. You can do this with colors an other tools in you feng shui tool box.
Scientific Evidence Of Feng Shui
There is all types of scientific data that supports this fact to. Biologist understand that human beings respond to colors around them. If you’ll notice even further that the colors of many taxi cabs are not dark, or bright red, why? Because the taxi cab wants to be seen, they are easily noticeable and the use of red is left for emergency vehicles, paramedics, and the fire trucks.
So, if you want to get your career off the ground think about these everyday events we’ve mentioned above. Oh here’s another one. When you take your child to the pediatric dentist, you’ll notice not dark and warm colors but again, neutral, bright, sunshine and airy areas all around. Even the personnel that work there are coached to be warm, outgoing and very friendly. Why? Because a child may have one bad experience at the dentist that will forever mar them from wanting to return to the dentist.
Revealed: Feng Shui History
Dear Friend,
Feng Shui history concerns the ancient practice and art feng shui. This is something that amount Ancient Chinese is second nature. In order to get the true practice and meaning of this practice you have to go back to China or find someone in the Western world that is untainted with much of the miss-information about the practice.
Real Feng Shui History in Ancient China
The Asian cultures have a few consistent themes that are more important then many principles taught in other cultures. Asian cultures have always emphasized the need for one to be in harmony with those around them. They also tough the importance of balance, harmony and peace. Just thinking on these concepts is enough to settle many frayed nerves.
Feng shui includes the ancient Chinese practice of how experts believed that the earth resolved around a strong nucleus of power and energy. Everything is and has energy. If you study Quantum physics or just took basic science in high school, you will be studying about energy all the down to the atom, proton, neutron and many other particles.
The experts that teach this ancient art believe that by arranging ones home, furnishings, office buildings and many more items, that there was a way to get the universal energy to work in harmony and peace with the universal force or Chi. Balance is the chief principle here. Harmony and balance must always be thought of as well.
Feng Shui Comes to the West
When feng shui history came to taught in the West, many teachers were teaching only a second hand version of the ancient art. They often were in hast to earn a fast dollar at the expense of delivering a watered down version of feng shui. This came at a time in United States history where the whole “New Age” movement began to take on a larger impact in the lives of many people. This includes the use of Crystals, star-shaped mirrors, specially colored (RED) doors and the like.
If you listen to many of these “teachers” they claim that if you practice this art, it will bring you the magic three. Do you know what the magic three are? They are Money, Love, and Health.
These three goals are really at the core of almost everything that you and I do everyday. But suffice it to say that there are no “magic bullet”. There are no “cure alls”. You still have to have goals and work toward them, and actually do something.
Feng Shui Mirrors
Dear Friend,
Feng shui mirrors are tools that have been used in the art and practice of this craft for thousands of years. Life as you know revolves around the use of various elements. In feng shui we understand that harmony, balance are peace are paramount. The use of various objects to achieve that aim is what we’ll address in this piece.
Recall that the ancient use of mirrors can be added to strike or enhance balance. We almost must consider the use of the other elements.
1. Wood
2. Fire
3. Water
4. Earth
5. Metal
Do you believe that the use of mirrors in feng shui is what the ancients practiced generations ago? There seems to be a lot of confusion when it comes to the practice of feng. When you look at how ancients were able to achieve balance, harmony and peace by strategically using all of the elements above you may wonder if you’ll be able to do the same.
Consider the five elements listed above. You’ll notice that they sort of feed off of each other. Water feeds wood, because if no water fed the trees we’d have no wood. Metal destroys wood because the saws we use to cut down trees are made of metal and steel. Finally, please notice that wood feeds fire. Can you see how each of these elements is really dependent upon the other in order for it to achieve its purpose? So, you can see the need to have balance between all of these elements in order to survive and thrive in life.
In the old days, the mirrors used in feng shui were a common way to bring in the element of metal. Since mirrors back then were made of metal to some degree. That is how the reflection action was manufactured.
An adept that noticed a dark or warm room that included lots of plants and greenery, representing the earth element, would often have mirrors introduced to balance the energy of that room. Using mirrors in feng shui for earthy dominated rooms was a clever way to offset the earthy element.
Today, when you use mirrors in feng shui, there is a difference in achieving the level of balance once achieve by the ancient experts because the mirrors of today are really not made of metal. Most are from hybrid materials that are more plastic than made of metal.
You can use mirrors to reflect light, and add warmth to space while elevating the positive energy. Many mirrors that are strategically placed are able to make rooms appear larger and more open than they really are. Some practitioners concerned with adding spice into their bedrooms will add mirrors on the ceiling to.
Mirrors are really not that expensive but it depends on where you shop for them. Whether you are looking to use Feng shui bedroom tips or just adding the mirrors for a decorative design element, they can really boost the energy and positivity of a room. As long as you counterbalance the rooms energy with the other elements available to you. And of course, you should consider altering the color scheme of the room as well as de-cluttering it a bit.
Feng Shui Course
Dear Friend,
Feng shui course of study could alert you to the possibility of making this practice a money making career. Feng shui is all about certain elements and balancing them out. If you are the type of person that enjoys working with clients or corporations, this may be a good field for you to venture into.
In order to get your credentials and be taken seriously as a practitioner of feng shui you’ll probably have to get into a course of study. If you look around in your nearest city, you’ll probably see a community college or university. They sometimes will offer courses for credit or for the experience of broadening your horizons. Either way you choose you can benefit greatly.
Before you spend dime though it would be good to read up on the subject a bit. Are you wondering if everything you read is true or not? I mean, paint your front door red in order to attract money and prosperity may seem a bunch of bunk? Or is it?
Feng Shui is all about order, harmony, peace and well placement of things in order to achieve that feeling of calm. If you
still cling to the notions that this just “cannot be true” we’ll give you a little experiment below to test your harmony IQ.
Some of the elements of feng is that of working with nature. You have wood, fire, water, metal, and the earth. You can use elements in each of these broad categories to achieve an effect. For example, if you are like the millions of office workers that work around computers under florescent lighting, you’d be well advised to add in a few live plants to your cubicle. A University of Texas study has shown that those workers that do add the plants to their office working areas are happier, and of course that leads to greater productivity, which if we carry this a little further brings in more prosperity including money.
Here is your Harmony IQ Test
It should come as no surprise to your that in your first feng shui course you will probably be instructed in the benefits of order and placement of things. This is just basic Feng 101. As an experiment, when you get home, I want you to clear out your office. You know that home office where everything including the treadmill and spare boating parts are just sitting. If you de-clutter your office, I guarantee that you will feel better about going in there. It happens all the time. You clean out the garage and notice all the space you really do have to park your car and store your lawn equipment and you know, all the other things you own.
Go ahead and try it you might like it!
You see, when you clean out your closets or your office or your garage you feel less stressed. You are able to feel a since of completion to all of those projects that were left hanging unfinished. You are able to add peace, calm, order, harmony and balance back to your life. This is really amazing if you do it.
Feng Shui Bedroom Tips
Dear Friend,
Feng shui bedroom tips is a topic than many people are searching for online and in forums all over the internet. The truth of the matter is that you just like millions of other people may have a sad love life. It can get you down if you let it. From the stress we feel in trying to advance our careers, take care of aging parents and still have sexual energy is a wonder to anyone.
—-Notable Quotable —–
Thomas Jefferson used to say that you need to be careful of who you accept advice from.
Exceptional former President of The United States of America
—-End Notable Quotable —-
Millions of people are bombarded with “SPAM” emails heralding the latest and greatest “love pill” that will give your relationship that zip it once had. But, should you really take those pills from a company you’ve never heard of? Or worse yet, from a distributor that has no “legal” address and doesn’t respond to email inquiries? I think you know better than that.
Feng shui is a process that shows much promise when it comes to improving pretty much anything in your life. From your love life to your career, you can use some aspects of this ancient art totally undetected. That is no one has to know you are using these sage and proven principle, unless you tell them. But lets just deal with the love life aspect right now.
Feng Shui Bedroom Tip #1
If you are looking to add some power, spice and vitality into your bedroom activities feng shui can do that for you.
Okay. If you do want to add some energy into your bedroom actions it is important to understand that you can have one or the other but not both.
You cannot have a comfortable and cozy atmosphere at the same time as having vitality, power and energy into the same area (the bedroom). Quite simply, the two forces are mutually exclusive. They are opposites. So, select one or the other…cozy comfy ready to relax, unwind and sleep like a log. Or are you ready for passionate, energy expending love nesting?
Feng Shui Bedroom Tip #2
With the second stage of the mini-bedroom makeover we are going to have you tidy things up a bit. Just follow these steps and you’ll be finished with tip number two.
1. Take a few deep breaths. Really strive to inspire deeply and allow yourself to release the air in a controlled fashion. Do at least four to eight deep breathes.
2. Open your eyes and while standing in the center of your bedroom, look around you. Take your time. Don’t rush this. Turn from your left to your right in a full circle. Try to see everything as it is currently placed in your bedroom.
One of the most important tenets of feng shui is energy. You’ll probably need to de-clutter your room and move out anything and everything that is pulling your energy down. If you are trying to create a romantic mood in your bedroom, this is not the place to have a bunch of children’s toys, a dusty old exercise bike upon which you’ve been hanging all those clothes that you cannot fit into any longer. You should pull those things out of there because they detract from the mood needed to have a good vibrant sex life. Add to this list dirty laundry, bills that need filing, old worn out Stilletos you will no longer where. This is very important stuff here.
If you take these steps you’ll notice just by de-cluttering your bedroom, more energy, positive life giving sexual energy will soon take the place of what was once an energy drainer. There is no way for your to feel relaxed and sexually in tune to your partner when you look over and see the over due mortgage coupon payment booklet just a few feet away.
Feng Shui Bedroom Tip #3
In our third and final tip, when you think of a warm and inviting or romantic area, you cannot help but feel the aspects of color seeping into your imagination. That is because the dark colors can remind you of the spice and energy you want to add to your life.
You may add an accented wall with a special color to give off that natural energy. For instance, Cayenne red, is a hot color. This will add the spark you need to your bedroom. To create that bedroom energy and tensions, just paint one wall or a couple of walls in your bedroom a spicy shade. This will give you and your partner a boost like nothing else.
You can also consider adding or mixing your current color schemes to include hot cocoa, warm browns for soothing effect. This of course depends upon the original goal you stated in the beginning of this piece. By thinking about these colors in advance and allowing the effects of colors on your mind and body they will translate into the mood you are trying to create.
These are just three of the many tips and tricks of using Feng Shui for more, S-E-X, love, money and well, anything else you want. You can download the rest of these tips right here.
Now go and enjoy!
