What Is Feng Shui? How Does the Space You Live in Affect Your Life?

When people hear “Feng Shui,” the first things that usually come to mind are bamboo plants, red objects, mirrors, crystals, and those three-legged frogs placed in the corner of a home.

Sometimes it’s the question, “Will I get rich if I turn my bed this way?” 😄

But Feng Shui is a much older and far more comprehensive system than that.

Feng Shui is one of the important branches of Chinese cosmology, and at its core lies the understanding of Qi, Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. I studied and practice the Flying Stars Feng Shui.

In its simplest form, Feng Shui tries to understand how energy flows through the environment we live in, and how the space we’re in affects us.

Because we don’t live independently of our space.

Our home, our office, the room our bed is in, the desk we work at, the things we see the moment we walk through the door… all of these are part of our daily life.

So it’s not really surprising that the place we live in has an effect on us.

Feng Shui is not just decoration!

I think we should clear up this misunderstanding first.

Feng Shui isn’t just about saying, “Put a red cushion here, get some bamboo for there, place an elephant statue in your living room.”

In fact, decoration isn’t even at the core of classical Feng Shui.

A building can be thought of as a vessel of Qi, carrying the lives of the people who live inside it.

The surroundings of the building, its orientation, its shape, the position of its entrance, the layout of its rooms, and the flow of energy inside are all evaluated together.

So the question isn’t only what’s inside the home, but what kind of energy the home itself carries.

So what is Feng Shui actually for?

It can help us understand how the space we live in might affect different areas of our lives.

You might feel like the flow you want in your relationships just never comes together.

You might keep getting stuck at the same point in your career.

Money might come in, but somehow never seem to stay.

You might feel a constant sense of unease at home.

Your motivation might dip in your work environment.

And sometimes, even though nothing seems “wrong,” a person just doesn’t feel good in their home.

This is where Feng Shui lets us look at the space with a different eye.

“Is the problem only me, or is the place I live in also feeding into this?”

It asks this question.

Why are astrology and Feng Shui so powerful together?

This is exactly where I love Feng Shui the most.

Astrology tells us about time.

Feng Shui tells us about space.

In astrology, we can see that some periods are more challenging, and some are more supportive.

But if we’re going through a challenging period in life, we don’t have to just sit and wait for the sky to change.

This is where the changes we can make to our space come into play.

We can’t change time, but we can change how we move within it.

Feng Shui doesn’t always eliminate the challenging conditions life brings us.

But it can make the environment we live in more supportive of us while we cope with those conditions.

Which areas of our lives does our home affect?

In Feng Shui, the relationships between different parts and directions of a home and different areas of life can be examined.

We can look at the counterparts, within the space, of subjects like relationships, family, career, money, health, education and social circle.

For example, how a work area is positioned can support a person feeling more focused and secure.

The layout of the bedroom can affect rest and the relationship area of life.

The entrance is one of the important points where the home connects with the outside world.

So we’re talking about a much bigger system than simply, “Put this in that corner of your home.”

It can even be used when buying a home

Feng Shui doesn’t have to be used only to arrange the home we already have.

The features of a space can also be evaluated when choosing a home or an office.

Because sometimes you walk into a home and:

“I’d feel so at home here.”

you say.

You walk into another home:

“It’s beautiful, but I just didn’t warm up to it.”

These feelings, too, are worth paying attention to.

By evaluating the building’s location, surroundings, orientation, entrance structure and interior layout together, we can look at how a space might work for you.

The timing of renovations and moves matters too

Feng Shui isn’t only concerned with the question, “What do I put where?”

The timing of matters like when an important renovation begins, or moving and settling into a new space, can matter too.

Because when you make a major change in a space, you’re actually also changing the flow of energy there.

That’s why, sometimes, when the change is made matters just as much as the space itself.

Feng Shui in the workplace

Feng Shui also has a very interesting application in working life.

The layout of an office isn’t just an aesthetic matter.

Employees’ relationships with each other, managers’ work areas, meeting rooms, the entrance, the areas where clients are met, and the sections where workflow happens can all be considered together.

Sometimes employee turnover is high.

Sometimes it feels like money keeps flowing straight back out.

Sometimes new opportunities just never seem to arrive.

And sometimes the same problems keep recurring within the team.

Feng Shui doesn’t claim that the space is the sole cause of all of this.

But it can offer a different perspective for examining how the space supports or complicates these processes.

The five elements come up here again

Just as in Chinese astrology, the elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water are very important in Feng Shui too.

We evaluate which elements a space needs, which are in excess or lacking, and how these can be balanced.

But again, we don’t think of it as, “Let’s just add a bit of Water and a bit of Fire to every home, done.” 😄

Every space and every person has different needs.

That’s why the use of color, material, shape, light, plants, furniture and similar elements is also evaluated according to the overall structure of the space.

Feng Shui is not a magic wand

I especially want to say this.

Feng Shui is not a magic system that will solve every problem in our lives on its own.

We’re not placing an object in our home and expecting to win the lottery the next morning. 😄

Feng Shui’s purpose is more about making the environment we live in more balanced and supportive for us.

Because sometimes change in our lives happens more easily not just through us changing, but through our environment changing too.

And perhaps this is the most beautiful part of Feng Shui.

Astrology shows you what time is saying. Feng Shui arranges the space you live in within that time.

Sometimes, for life to change, we first need to change ourselves.

And sometimes, just the place of the bed. 😄

May you live happily in your home.

Cheers

Selin Burat