By Valerie Willis
Feng Shui-ing your living space may seem like a simple enough idea, but once you start researching this FS BS, you’ll find that it’s actually ridiculously complicated. Before you get your chi in a wad, let me simplify some Feng Shui basics for you.
The Terms:
Feng Shui: Literally means “wind and water,” referring to the flow of elements through your environment.
Chi: The illusive life force and spiritual energy that Feng Shui tries to harness. It has something to do with dragons’ breath and floats around carrying warm fuzzies wherever it goes.
Yin and Yang: The universe’s harmony. Y&Y represent the balance of opposites. Sort of like the balance between your roommate’s vile pile of laundry in the corner of your room and the Glade Plug-In you frequently replace. One cannot exist without the other.
5 Elements: The five forms of Chi energy and the building blocks of life—earth, fire, metal, wood and water. No, “heart” isn’t a real element, Captain Planet.
The Goal:
The purpose of Feng Shui is to arrange your environment so that the happy chi accumulates around you, rather than running for its life from your cluttered crap.
Three Easy Ways to Incorporate Feng Shui into Your Space
1. Put a few mirrors around—this will help bounce chi around your room. DO NOT have a mirror reflecting your bed though. When you sleep, your spirit escapes your body for a night on the town, and if it sees its own bed head, well, that’s bad.
2. Have some plants. There are all kinds of “poison arrows” that shoot off items or walls with corners, and they bring bad luck if you cross their path. However, you can absorb these crazy death rays with plants. (Whew) Bamboo is especially Feng Shui-friendly, and it’s pretty easy to keep alive. (This is essential. Dead plants have bad chi.)
3. Keep your door shut and blinds open. Chi enters through windows and exits through doors, so if you want those happy fuzzies to stay around, lock ‘em in.