There are three types of approaches people have to Feng Shui.
Many people know a few Feng Shui principles and have read some books. – However, Feng Shui consists of many layers. There are the influences of the physical features – outside and inside, the roads, bodies of water, buildings, trees and mountains. And there are the influences of existent energies, colours and shapes – causing the unique feel of a place. This varies from home to home and room to room.
If you have read some books you probably have good Feng Shui knowledge in some area, but lack a lot of other information, especially that of the unique energies that affect your home – they cannot be worked out from reading a book.
People in this situation tend to place to much importance on some minor Feng Shui principle. Let’s say the stove is in the ‘wrong’ place – you might get fixated on this but cannot do anything about it. The Feng Shui then becomes a problem and causes more stress than if you didn’t know anything.
When I first studied Feng Shui I went through a few years of this. You get afraid, feel that some bad influence is upon you, and become to some extend victim of your environment – the opposite of what Feng Shui is meant to achieve.
What I have since learnt to apply is that ‘if there is no problem we don’t need to fix it’. If you’ve been happy with your kitchen so far and then read that the stove is in the wrong place – you are better off ignoring this.
The second type of person might know that something is not quite right in their home, but they don’t want to find out about it. They have a fear about what they might find, and what could be involved in fixing it.
This then becomes an area of life you don’t want to know, but like it or not, some of your attention is occupied by it. It is like having a bad tooth and not going to the dentist.
Your home is what it is. Knowing what is going on does not make it worse! But it gives you tools to do something about it. Even if it is not going to be perfect, Feng Shui will give take out the guesswork and will give you an approach to make things better.
I find that even difficult houses can be improved. Feng Shui gives you the know-how and certainty what to do. This can generally be done with what you have in the home. Feng Shui does not mean you have to purchase anything.
The last type of person uses Feng Shui as a positive tool to improve their environment. This certainty tends to come either with a comprehensive knowledge of Feng Shui, or finding out about your home with a Feng Shui assessment.
Such knowledge puts you in the drivers seat of creating a good environment. While many people have intuitively very good Feng Shui understanding and know when something is right or not, you will find that there are situations you can’t fix intuitively. In these situations the knowledge of Feng Shui can give you answers.
A positive Feng Shui approach
A positive application of Feng Shui comes down to understanding the importance of each of the Feng Shui principles!
While I always make sure that important Feng Shui aspects are in place, I also know which smaller Feng Shui bits and pieces I can ignore – not because I don’t care, but because they are not as important and cannot be put in place while maintaining the most important ones.
I always make sure that no one is ending up sleeping in an energy that could make them sick, but I probably won’t bring up the wrong stove, unless you are designing a new kitchen.
With full Feng Shui knowledge you know which principles are not really a problem. You also know what is important and what to do to activate the best potential in a place.
That way, you become very relaxed about Feng Shui. You know that it does not get any worse by examining it, and know that you can always improve something.
PS:A good laugh – somewhat related – ‘ever woke up in someone else’s bed’!