Discover How Feng Shui Can Transform Your Life

Feng shui are wood, earth, metal, fire and water. When these five are balanced in your home, you have a better balance in your life and a better chance to have what you want out of life. Then your home is working for you and not the otherway around. The way to use these elements is to place them in the appropriate area of the home and give intention that they work for your particular cause. As well as merely placing the associated element in the appropriate spot in the home, there are two additional ways to use elements.

These two ways are; 1) the creative cycle, and 2) the destructive cycle. In the creative cycle order, one particular element"creates" another - like water "feeding" or creating wood. In the destructive cycle order, an element can overpower another as water"dousing" or destroying fire. In the creative cycle, water feeds wood, wood fuels fire, fire makes earth, earth creates metal, and finally,metal holds water. Using this information, if you want to work on getting a better reputation, having a fireplace in the fame and reputation gua would be a great cure (fire is the element for fame and reputation), other fire cures would be red items, objects such as candles, triangularly shaped items. If it is not practical or desirable to have a fireplace or other fire symbols there, you can use the element that "feeds fire," which in this case, is wood.

Feng shui is particularly important in the bedroom as it's a room that most of us spend more time in than any other - about a third of our lives in, and to most of us, the bedroom is also a room where we can hopefully escape from work, noisy children and the stresses of everyday life. A bedroom should be a room that is conducive to a good nights sleep, relaxation and perhaps romance. A dark, untidy and unwelcoming bedroom can create feelings of lethargy and depression, especially when you are asleep but your mind is still active. Before you even enter the bedroom itself, the doorway is important in feng shui. It is good to have a door that opens at least 90 degrees, anything less than this is considered restrictive and symbolically may prevent good luck or good opportunities from entering your life.

Practitioners of feng shui also suggest a device known as a 'greeter' in your bedroom. This is the first thing you see when you enter the bedroom, the focal point of the room - it could be anything from a large painting, photograph, fireplace or striking piece of furniture. As far as the decoration of your bedroom goes, try to avoid stimulating colors like red and gold on the walls - instead, use relaxing colors such as pastel blue, green or yellow. The position of the bed itself is extremely important in creating a peaceful and uncluttered environment for your bedroom. Most people instinctively know where to place their bed, taking into account the size and shape of the room, window and door placement, other furniture, overhead lighting, etc. These decisions as to where best to place a particular thing form many of the basics of feng shui. Feng shui practitioners also claim you are in the 'command position', meaning a feeling of confidence and power if you are able to see your bedroom door when you wake in the morning. However, it is not considered good to have your feet in direct alignment with the bedroom door - the ancient chinese considered this the 'death position'. If you have an adjoining bathroom opening onto your bedroom, keep the bathroom door closed so nothing can subconsciously disturb your sleep.

Feng shui is all about living in harmony with our environment and keeping a balance in all things.