LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Feng Shui


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The home should function as a personal retreat, a restorative place where we rejuvenate and refresh, and so if home is not feeling that way, the Five Elements can help. In Feng Shui, we use the Five Elements to balance and enrich home spaces so that the feeling of home promotes grace, ease and support. The Five Elements are the second most important and used tool in Feng Shui, besides the Bagua map (see diagram on page D4).

The Bagua includes all Five Elements - Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal - and each Bagua area is ruled by one of the Five Elements.

An environment with lots of the Metal element (white walls and metal furniture) can be brought into better balance by introducing the warmth of the Fire element using lighting, candles or spherical shapes, and an overly Wood décor with lots of green, plants and vertical artwork can be balanced by cutting back the wood with some of the Metal element.

The Earth element governs the entire 2019 Earth Pig year (through January 2020) and helps us in our homes to be happier, more grounded and at ease.

Earth has a "mothering" quality and makes you feel securely balanced, and peaceful from within so you create a better balance between nourishing self and others. Earth is the peacemaker and with a better connection to the idea of establishing healthy boundaries and an ability to say no, Earth can then do the most good in the world. Earth is represented by colors that range from yellow, orange, brown, pink, and certain blues (also a secondary Water color). Square shapes also symbolically represent the Earth element as do materials such as crystal, ceramic, brick, clay, rock, stone and shell.

From a personal health and wellness perspective bringing the Earth element into balance will support many of the health initiatives we are integrating into our personal care regimes. Many people will find in 2019 the necessary energetic support to quit smoking, improve exercise commitments, refocus on dietary choices or establish a better work-personal balance and balancing the Earth element at home is another way to create the desired results.

There are actually three Bagua areas ruled by the Earth element and they include Relationships, Health and finally, Self-Knowledge/Wisdom. We can choose any one or all three of these Bagua areas to adjust or activate in our homes. How to choose? Start with whatever area feels most out of balance. If we get quiet and notice we are feeling out of balance in our relationships, or our health is suffering or we cannot achieve consistency with our spiritual practice, we can receive the guidance to know which Bagua area needs our attention the most.

Do a personal audit of any of the Bagua areas ruled by Earth and identify which objects, furniture and art may represent Earth in your space. If you discover a predominance of clutter in any of the Earth areas, your first job is to clear the stagnant clutter. What else is each area subliminally communicating to you? Are the far right areas from the entrance doors, your relationship areas of your master bedroom and home, aligned with loving and nourishing relationships? Is the Health center of your home a long hallway or a draining bathroom? Are the near left areas of Self-Knowledge and Wisdom overly controlled by lots of Wood element plants, green décor or wall colors? Take a personal audit first of the Bagua areas governed by Earth that you would like to address and bring them into balance with the Five Elements, either adding more Earth and Fire (Fire creates Earth) or if there is too much Earth, add the Water element.

In these uncertain times, grounding ourselves at home can help create the difference between a year of wellness, happiness and quiet personal triumphs versus succumbing to the stresses of life that are always at our door. Unsure what to do? Contact a professional Feng Shui consultant who consistently applies these tenets, and who will help you immediately to better balance the Earth element in your home. When we feel supported and aligned with balance, we can accomplish almost anything regardless of what life throws our way.

May 2019 Earth Pig year continue to bless you with the grounding balance and deep, nurturing happiness in your own home.