FENG SHUI

Alba Grau

More and more people want their house to be designed and decorated on the basis of this ancient art called Feng Shui (风水), which literally means “Air-Water”. Feng Shui comes from Chinese culture, and shows the importance of the relationship between the earth and the human being, linking psychology and astrology.

Feng Shui involves an invisible energy called Qi, which can be translated as the “vital flow of energy” that influences our overall well-being. There are many versions of Feng Shui, but the most comprehensive and complex one is the Xuan Kong Fei Xing school, also known as the Flying Stars school. This school divides the house radially into eight palaces plus the center, each of which hosts a pair of stars responsible for the energy of the place. To enhance favorable energies or remedy unfavorable ones, practitioners work with the cycle of the five elements: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood.

Since the pandemic that paralyzed the world, the levels of demand for our homes have increased exponentially. Before, to achieve happiness, large, bright rooms full of details were necessary, even if they did not provide this coziness, so necessary to live happily. And now what is sought in a home is that it can achieve a balance between work and personal life, regardless of the square meters. Where a vibrant and cozy atmosphere remains and makes me feel happy.

How can I start applying classic Feng Shui?

To work with classic Feng Shui, you have to follow a series of principles, which include the proper arrangement of furniture, the selection of colors and decorative elements and more technical aspects such as the orientation of the facade and natural light. In addition, it is important to ask yourself questions about your own life, to reach a comprehensive self-assessment of your life, where classic Feng Shui can give us answers in areas such as health, relationships, and economy.

The first thing I recommend, in case you already live in the house, is that you leave it, visualize other pleasant spaces to your eyes. And then, with an open mind and eager to make space in your homes, the void of your homes. When you take out everything that you do not use, that does not serve you or that no longer has a place in your life, that is when you begin to notice the first effect of applying Feng Shui in your house, the Qi begins to move like never before.

To enhance one or another energy within the home, you will play with light, make spaces more yin or more yang, and with the ventilation of the home. Floors made of noble materials and earth colors, walls in light tones and white ceilings are recommended. Colors in bright tones are not recommended on walls, unless you know exactly what kind of energy there is in each space. The addition of touches of color is used through decoration. And never, in classic Feng Shui, the color gray is used.

As for having plants at home, these symbolize in Feng Shui the wood element, expansion, growth, emotional harmony, but you must pay special attention to their location because an excess or a poor location can unbalance the environment.

Alba Grau,  Feng Shui consultant @joyfengshui