Isn't Feng Shui Just About Placement?

by Pat Heydlauff

Feng Shui is thought to be three to four thousand years old, originating in Ancient China. It is based on specific principles of living in harmony with your environment and your environment being in harmony with you so your life can be balanced, abundant and joyful. Out of those simple principles grew a way of life that lead to prosperity and longevity.

Today there are at least four basic Feng Shui schools or philosophies and they don’t always agree on everything or sometimes, even where to begin other than your front door. The couple of things they do agree upon is you should strive for balance in your life and you should unclutter your world, making it more peaceful and filled with joy.

Somewhere along the way over the last few thousand years Feng Shui got tagged with the concept that it was all about placement, not an overall lifestyle. Even though placement is important because that is part of what determines the flow of energy throughout your home and your life, it is really about living a lifestyle that creates calm and peace in your life.

My simple definition of Feng Shui is the use of positive energy in your environment to bring about the results you desire such as better health, improved income, less stress, even better relationships. Feng Shui is actually a tool that you can use to improve your life and help you create the life you want.

A Four Part Plan for Living

Feng Shui is really a four part plan for creating the life you want to live with less stress and not being a victim of circumstances. It’s a way to improve your lot in life without conflicting in any way with existing religious beliefs and customs since most forms of Feng Shui do not contain a religious element. Be aware however there is a religious component to at least one of the schools being taught.

Part 1 always begins with un-cluttering your front entrance and then your home so fresh new positive energy can not only find your front door but always be welcomed inside to help you energize your life your desires and dreams. If the clutter is on the outside, life giving and life improving energy cannot enter. If the clutter is on the inside, energy gets stuck and stagnant everywhere clutter is located causing disharmony. Think of it in terms of your digestive system. If you put food (positive energy) in but it gets stuck (constipation) and can’t get out you become physically ill. If old energy stays in your house year after year and gets stuck, new ideas, new thinking and new opportunities cannot enter because the clutter is keeping them out and you from improving your life. Make un-cluttering a priority.

Part 2 is where the placement comes in. Once you’ve un-cluttered your home you look at the flow of energy throughout. In order to prevent energy from moving through too quickly you can place pieces of furniture or a rug in its way to encourage it to meander in all directions throughout your home. You also do not want to prevent energy from flowing by having dead end corners and long unlighted corridors. Most of these things can be remedied by the placement of lamps, pictures on walls and even the color the walls are painted. Placement matters but it is only one step of the plan.

Part 3 is about enhancements. This is a process by which you use things you love to focus energy onto specific areas of your life. For example, it you want to encourage more money to enter your life, place a healthy upward shooting green plant in the east area of your living room. Add to it a small wooden money pot, placing into it 7 gold coins (US silver dollars or gold dollars work just fine). There are numerous enhancements you can do throughout your home to focus energy onto a number of desires or aspirations. Sometimes enhancements can be confused with the placement of things because focusing energy on specific areas of your life needs to be done in specific locations in your home.

Part 4 is often the missing link. You need to also Feng Shui your thinking. It’s really great to have a home that is in perfect balance and provide you supportive uplifting energy but it can’t work in a vacuum. If you haven’t un-cluttered your mind and thinking from all of those negatives you’ve carried around with you for years and replace those negatives with positive thinking, you’ve only won half the battle. Take time to reflect, meditate or journal and really explore your core values and inner operating system. Find those thoughts that are no longer relevant to the future you want to create and delete them from your thinking. Aligning your inner thinking with your outer actions is the best way to create a peaceful joy filled life.

Feng Shui is so much more than just the placement of things. It truly is a lifestyle that aligns your thinking internally with your actions externally to help you realize your hopes and dreams and to create the future you are seeking.

Author's Bio
Pat Heydlauff, president of Energy Design, helps people eliminate chaos and stress at home and within oneself. As a consultant and speaker, Pat uses color, design and organization principles to transform clients' lives. Her proven methods remove clutter and disorder, while enhancing personal growth, improved relationships, prosperity, and joy. Her new book, "Feng Shui: So Easy a Child Can Do It," provides changes that lead to personal success and abundance. For information on her consulting, speaking and artwork, visit Energy-by-Design.com