|
Find
out how Feng Shui can improve your living space and boost
your home’s value, as it can do the same on your business
too!
If
you’ve ever house-hunted, you know what it’s like when you
walk into a stranger’s home and experience a feeling of uncertainty…a
subtle discomfort that is hard to articulate. Experts in the
ancient Chinese art and science of Feng Shui will tell you
why this occurs: the balance of energies in the house is out
of whack.
Feng
Shui is a 3,000-year-old concept rooted in Taoism, and proponents
believe calmness and good fortune result when the energies
or Chi that exist in every object on earth are in balance.
For many years Asians have built cities based on this approach,
and North Americans are slowly adopting the technique, says
Sharon Hay, senior Feng Shui practitioners and director of
the Canadian Schools of Feng Shui in Toronto.
Beverley
Girvan, a real estate appraiser with Kempton Appraisals in
Lunenburg-NS, says that decorating with Feng Shui definitely
has an impact on the appreciation of one’s home. By example,
Hay says that she moved some furniture around to create better
energy flow in one Barrie home that had sat on the market
for six months. “It sold the next day,” says Hay.
But
the study of energy between people and the earth isn’t just
about how objects relate to one another (e.g., placing your
furniture in just the right way). “Feng Shui is also about
timing,” says Hay. Start your renovation on the wrong side
of the house on the wrong day, she says, and you’re asking
for trouble. Here’s a primer in Feng Shui.
How
does Feng Shui work?
Mainstream science has shown that everything
on this planet is made of atoms or tiny molecules that contain
protons and neutrons, which are constantly in motion, bouncing
against one another. The vibration caused by this movement
is energy or Chi in Feng Shui. Depending on how we balance
this energy it can cause negative effects on our emotional
well-being, says Hay, though she points out there is no scientific
“proof” of the ill fortune of unbalanced Chi. We only have
the anecdotal experience to guide our decision to apply the
ancient technique, she explains.
How
can I use Feng Shui?
Renovation timing Hay says it is a good idea
to hire a Feng Shui practitioner to assess the astrological
charts and determine the best day to begin a renovation. “Usually
when I get called into to a middle of a renovation that is
rife with money problems, delays and accidents, I do an assessment
and find out they started on the wrong day.”
For
2011, Hay says that the Feng Shui community has determined
the worst place to begin tearing things apart is on the east
side of the house. “If you don’t have a choice, putting up
something metal, like a wind chime, can help counteract the
effect,” she adds. Tip: If for some reason your contractor
does not show up on the designated “right” day to begin a
renovation, start it yourself, says Hay. Even hammering out
a small piece of drywall, or unscrewing a kitchen cabinet
door will do the trick.
If
you are building a new home, make sure none of the doorways
are directly facing one another (especially the front and
back door). This creates a competing flow of energy between
rooms. “It’s better to have energy meandering between,” says
Hay.
Ground
high energy sources
The kitchen stove, a fireplace and TVs should
all be anchored against a wall (as opposed to being in a kitchen
island or in a room divider). Hay says that they contain aggressive
energy, which is only alleviated by grounding it against a
wall. (The furnace is also a source of aggressive energy,
but since it is underground it becomes a soft energy, she
adds.) “Do not keep a fireplace or TV in your bedroom. It
is a very aggressive energy and your bedroom is a quite place,”
adds Hay. “It could end up causing ripples in your relationship.”
Bathroom
Now you have a case for insisting he keep the
lid down: energy in a home exits through drains and Hay says
that the toilet is one of the biggest zappers. “You want to
accumulate a lot of positive energy in your home. And you
don’t want the goodness of the family’s energy escaping down
the toilet.”
Avoid
sharp jutting objects
There are quite a few ways to apply Feng Shui
when decorating, but one of the most important is to avoid
sharp, jutting angles that disrupt the normal flow of movement:
for example, a sharp coffee table that you have to walk around.
Lighting
You may want to try placing a lamp in a dark
corner. Hay says that light “activates” energy and helps to
get it circulating through a space. “Otherwise a lot of stale
energy can collect in dark corners. Like life, you want to
keep Chi moving,” she says. On the other hand, too much bright
light can be aggressive, she adds. Put lights on dimmers,
and ensure there are adequate window treatments on extremely
large windows, which are sources of aggressive energy.
In
many ways, the practice of Feng Shui is intuitive, concedes
Hay. If you visualize the flow of energy from all things in
your rooms, you can probably bring a little more Zen to your
own home applying a little common sense.
|
