Feng Shui

The Ancient Art Finds a Place in Modern Homes

by Amy Groh

Photography courtesy of Savvy Solutions

Feng shui is a 3,500-year-old holistic art and science designed to support your dreams by creating space in your home, office, or yard that makes you feel good. It’s the art of living in balance and harmony with your environment.

The History of Feng Shui
While feng shui was originally used to choose favorable places in which to live or be buried after death, today, it is almost exclusively used for interior design and the organization of homes and offices.

Literally translated, “feng shui” means “wind and water.” According to a home décor article by Lowe’s Home Improvement, feng shui is a philosophy, a science and an art, the effects of which “are felt in the mind, body and spirit in ways that enhance or diminish one’s personal chi.” Chi, a word used to describe life force or energy, is the driving force behind feng shui and is said to have a considerable impact on one’s success, health, temperament, relationships and career. When in balance, the five elements of feng shui—wood, earth, metal, fire and water—aid the flow of chi.

One tool used by feng shui consultants is a map that can be applied to every space, called a bagua. Generally displayed in an octagonal shape, the sides and center of the map each represent one of nine major areas of life: health; fame and reputation; relationships and love; creativity and children; helpful people and travel; career and life path; skills, knowledge and wisdom; family and foundation; and prosperity and abundance. Each part of the bagua has a corresponding color which is helpful in decorating a home or office. For example, if one wanted to concentrate on strengthening his or her family, green would be the color of choice. If searching for love or trying to create a new relationship, shades of pink would be appropriate.

It Just Feels Good
If you’ve ever walked into a home or office “that just feels wonderful and makes you want to stay there, that’s good feng shui,” according to Victoria Michaels, life coach, feng shui consultant and president of Savvy Solutions. “If you walk in and it just feels uncomfortable and you can’t even explain why…you just don’t know, it just doesn’t feel right, that’s bad feng shui.” Experts strive to make changes to spaces which allow chi energy to flow freely throughout homes and offices. By concentrating on what a client wants to improve in his or her life, consultants like Michaels and Becky Cobb of Wellness By Becky know where to begin and what changes need to be made.

Michaels began her business as a wardrobe consultant in 1989, and later “came out of the closet,” she said, “and started organizing other aspects of the home.” Experience has taught Michaels that when people have clutter in their homes, she can walk through correlating the clutter with a bagua and understand what’s going on emotionally with the homeowners. It’s after applying the principles of feng shui that people’s lives change. “I’ve seen it time and time and time again,” Michaels said. “I’m in awe of the process, really. It amazes me.”

The experts we spoke with reported that most of their clients are looking to implement changes that would help them make more money, create new or improve existing relationships, or are concerned about their health. Michaels has had several clients who came to her looking for ways to help create new relationships after divorces. While they say they’re looking to find new relationships, oftentimes their wedding dresses from previous walks down the aisle are hanging in their closets. Michaels said she’s gotten a variety of reasons for holding onto the dresses, but believes “you can’t move on to the future if you’re still holding onto the past.” This is where life coaching comes into helping her feng shui clients.

Most of Michaels’ clients come to her by referrals from others whose lives have dramatically changed after working with her. “Their lives change and they get excited and tell their friends.”

Cobb understands that a good portion of her clients are merely curious about feng shui and aren’t willing to make major modifications to their homes. “I try to be realistic about what a person can afford to change in his or her home and what they will do to follow through on the suggestions,” she said. “I try to work with them on what they are willing to do and how to make the best of the situation.”