Improving Your Life With Feng Shui (Or: Why I Bought Goldfish Today)
[ 10 February 2007 ]
Feng shui is pronounced “fung schway” & is a Chinese discipline practiced within the home. Used properly, it is said to increase happiness, romance & prosperity. It works on the concept of manipulating qi, which can be translated as “life force” or “energy flow”. Qi follows the wind (feng) & is halted by water (shui), so feng shui is the art of harnessing that qi in your home. Does that make sense?
The first time I tried applying the concepts of feng shui, I had read about it in a teen magazine. I drew up my room according to a bagua grid & stayed awake until the early morning re-arranging my furniture. I think my parents probably thought I was nutty, but my mother had introduced me to the joys of shuffling furniture years previously. (I would often collapse on my bed in the middle of the room, & awaken completely disoriented.)
I don’t know whether feng shui works, or whether it’s a placebo effect that makes me feel like it has value, but I’m pretty happy either way. This probably sounds mad kooky, but whenever my domicile is organised according to feng shui, I feel really good.
Here’s a brief overview of feng shui concepts, & some easy ways to implement them. Another few articles profiling various rooms in your house will surely make an appearance in the near future!
Things to remember:
Cacti plants are a bad thing to have inside! The spikes & sharp edges catch the qi & turn it bad. Get rid of them.
Try to minimise electronics in the bedroom. If you have a television near your bed, cover it (ideally with plastic) when it’s not in use. It apparently creates too much yang energy & will prevent you from sleeping.
For couples, a mirror directly opposite the bed can cause problems by encouraging a third party to join in.
Another reason for men to put the seat down after using the bathroom — if the lid is up, all the good qi will be flushed away!
Keep your desk as free of clutter as is humanly possible.
Fish & aquariums should not be kept in the kitchen, bedroom or bathroom — it is believed that if they live there, will attract material loss.
Don’t store things under your bed! When I was a kid I used to “clean up” by just sweeping everything underneath it. Following my example is a bad idea — the space beneath your bed needs to be clear to allow energy to flow freely.
If your bookcases don’t have doors, push the books forward so that the edges are in line with the front of the shelf.
Rubbish bins etc. — keep them clean & empty them when they get full. It seems like there is “no good place” to put some things. Always use common sense! Feng shui may not say where you should put your bin, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have one. Your workspace still needs to be functional.
Okay, keeping those in mind, step one is to draw up a bagua grid. You should do one for each room in your house. When I lived with my parents, I would only apply it to my bedroom but that was enough to make a difference. Another thing: if your parents are weird control freaks, best not tell them what you’re doing. Just let them think you’re re-arranging your furniture. Wink wink.
That’s how a bagua grid looks. The basic idea is that it denotes the room you’re working on. To work out which way is ‘up’, the bottom of the image (where it says “self-awareness & knowledge / career / helpful people & travel”) should be on the same wall as the entrance to the room (typically a door). My living room is a weird shape, so when I do a diagram, it looks kinda like this:
Do this for your own bedroom (or wherever is easiest to start). Write the names of the areas on top, then think about what you have in each of these areas & how it reflects on it. Some of it is obvious. Do you have a rubbish bin in your prosperity area? (I did! A sure-fire way to make sure you don’t make a lot of cash, or if you do, to waste it on crap!) Is there a huge pile of unwashed clothing in your health area, a dying plant in your relationships sector? Get rid of it!
Prosperity:
My prosperity area is where my desk is, so that’s pretty good placement. I did have a rubbish bin here (argh!) but I’ve just moved it. I have cleared my desk of as much clutter as I could. I’ve also looked at my desk as if it has its own separate bagua grid: in my top left corner, I’ve placed a big cookie jar with gravel, water & three goldfish. I hear they’re good for attracting prosperity, & as they are now in the prosperity sector OF the prosperity sector, I hope they do the trick!
Things which are good in this area are:
Money (like a change jar maybe)
Jewellery
Fountains
Anything purple, red or gold
A hanging mobile of some description will help “set things in motion”
This is also a good place to put pictures of things you intend to buy or a photo of anything that symbolises wealth to you, like an overpriced handbag, a photo of St Tropez or a close-up of Paris Hilton’s nosejob.
& of course, goldfish! Goldfish are descendents of koi which can live for 100 years! There is a lot of differing information about how many fish to have, but I like an arrangement of three.
Fame & Reputation:
I had some candles in red holders on the windowsill a little to the left of this area, but as I’ve been researching & writing this I’ve moved them so they’re in the fame/reputation section! It’s interesting the way sometimes these things are almost perfectly aligned unwittingly. Serendipity for life! This is kind of an open space for me, but I am thinking about buying a little plant to go next to the candles. It’ll have to be a resilient little thing, since there is almost constant sunlight there.
Things which are good in this area are:
Anything red, orange or purple
Candles (if you can get them in the above colours, even better! Coloured holders will do, too)
Awards, photographs, trinkets or anything that reminds you of positive events in your past
Plants
Relationships:
The relationships area in my living room is a day-bed. This sounds good, but it’s covered in books on fashion, style, beauty & design. I think this pretty much just proves that I am in a relationship with my work. The books should be moved to the knowledge area. Behind the bed is a big bag of clothing I have to give away to a charity (or something)! There’s stuff under the bed too, which isn’t a good thing typically. This apartment is very low on storage space so having the bed there has been a blessing (there’s an ironing board & a blackboard under there). I’m telling myself it’s okay because they’re flat items, so the qi can move across the top. Yup. That’s my story & I’m sticking to it.
Things which are good in this area are:
Round or oval mirrors
Anything pink
Pictures of loved ones
Anything in a pair (especially Mandarin ducks or cranes, as they mate for life)
Two fresh flowers in a vase (apparently this is good if you want a date!)
Family:
Not much in my family area. There is a tree, though, which is sprouting like mad. My relationship with my parents also happens to be getting pretty good recently. Hmm! Curiouser & curiouser! Guess I just need to take good care of it… This area can also signify “new beginnings”, so plants are definitely a good choice.
Things which are good in this area are:
Plants (I don’t think the size matters, ahem, but anything here should definitely be looked after really well)
Photographs
Family heirlooms
Health:
Like the fame/reputation area, this is pretty much a pathway. There’s nothing here. I also couldn’t find much information on what is good in the health area, so I’m not sure how to improve it. I did read that yellow is a good colour for stimulating health, so a yellow rug could be useful.
Things which are good in this area are:
Exercise machines
Anything yellow!
Children & Creativity:
I have a bookcase here which houses my magazines (each title in its own box!), some of my typewriters, camera stuff (Lomo, lenses, polaroid), old journals, bags full of clippings, etc. So I am pretty happy with this area. I have a string of fairy lights going across my living room which starts in this area — I’ve pegged pictures along it of people I admire, things I’ve created & other things I find inspiring.
Things which are good in this area are:
Art supplies
Art in general
Computer
Anything that inspires you or reminds you how creative you can be should go here if possible.
Self-Awareness & Knowledge:
More bookcases! Organised alphabetically, too. Is that lame? (When I say “alphabetical”, I mean by author name. People seem to be confused by this as a concept. Why? Anyway this is slightly off-topic, but one day I hope to organise my books by colour.) I have a globe lamp (like the one in Witch Baby!) on top of my bookcase which was placed there on a whim — a bit of research tells me that having a globe in this area will increase worldly knowledge! Right on. There’s also two comfortable chairs (often used for thinking) & a big couch, & it’s a great place for them to be. Clutter in this area is a bad thing, so if yours is messy, clear it out!
Things which are good in this area are:
Books or a bookcase
Charts of anything you might be studying
Crystals (if you believe in that sort of thing!)
Career:
In my living room, like the health & fame sectors before it, again, this is a pathway. Not much I can do here except for hang wind-chimes… & I’m not sure I want to.
Things which are good in this area are:
Mirrors
Water-related items (a fountain, a jar of flowers, fish-tank)
Images which relate to your career goals
Helpful People & Travel:
This area of my living room is actually the kitchen, but that doesn’t mean I can’t work with it. The fridge is a good place to stick pictures of places you want to go — I have a postcard of the Guggenheim museum (this one actually) which would be great there, since New York is definitely somewhere I want to visit in the next year! I’m also going to make more of an effort to keep the bench free from clutter, since that won’t help!
Things which are good in this area are:
A mirror
Photos or postcards of places you want to go
A world map
A globe
Here endeth the feng shui introduction. This is all very basic information & is about as specific as I can get online, talking to an audience whose houses I have never seen! Professional feng shui practitioners have a lot of knowledge — if you ever hire a feng shui consultant they will come to your house with a tape measure & do a really rigorous job.
The best thing about feng shui (in my experience) is that a little tends to go a long way. Even if you don’t believe in it as a concept, surely having pictures which remind you of your goals is a good thing?! A lot of it is common sense really!
If you embark on a re-organisation of your home, let me know how much of your house was already pretty close to what I’ve written about here. I think the whole thing is pretty interesting. Also let me know if it increases your health/prosperity/love life!
Extra For Experts:
Some things that will increase your prosperity
Applying feng shui to your desk (divide your desk up according to the bagua grid, a very simple concept, but quite a good article)
Super-love & cupcakes,
Gala
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I am moving in 3 weeks and this is an excellent post for me as i can re arrange my new room in a perfect way.
I will bear all this in mind whilst shopping at Ikea tomorrow :)
Hi hun! The aquarium is lovely, but quite small. Try putting something in the middle, so that your fishies can swim around, and be happier and less bored!
(Mother is a marine biologist and gives this advice to everyone).
lol… as Chinese, I don’t think I am nearly educated as you… well… I am not even sure that I believe it… anyway… great post!
Anne
I really like your blog (your sense of style is so original and cute!), but I have to say…that cookie jar is way too small for three goldfish! They really need about 10 gallons each, because they’re messy fish (they dirty the water really fast) and they get big. You don’t want to have them swimming in their own waste all the time, right? However, it’d be a perfect size for a betta fish (aka siamese fighting fish).
Eeeekk my rubbish bin is in my self awareness and knowledge area…but where do i move it to for the best???
I knew when I came back to this in the morning that there would be tips on how to improve my aquarium! They’re just in there as a temporary measure, I actually wanted them to be in a vase each but couldn’t find any I liked yesterday… Anyway, thanks for the tips!
goldfish tend to like a filtered aquarium much much better! when i was purchasing a couple with a friend, we were directed away from those bowls without filters.
Fish are totally difficult! All these NEEDS keep interrupting my AESTHETIC! Hee hee… I wish just plonking them in a bowl was enough. Oxygen weed & all that stuff is ugly! Boooo!
yes, i’m confused. is there actually a good place to put a trash can?
I don’t know for sure. I moved mine so it is on the border between prosperity/family.
Yeah, I want to know where to put a rubbish bin too!
I found this:
For example, garbage cans are good feng shui because we need them to keep our homes free from trash. However, we need to keep them clean, empty them when they get full, replace them when they’re cracked/broken.
Thanks Penny. I just edited the article a bit to echo what you said & also to point out that common sense should always prevail, & feng shui or no, your workspace still needs to be functional!
Also! My books are organised by colour, & I love it.
I saw The Goat or Who is Sylvia, which had a bookcase with the books organised by colour and came straight home and reorganised my books that way too.
According to the grid, my kitten’s litter tray is in my relationship area. This would explain a lot!! I could find a place to keep a bin, but where the hell do I put a litter tray?
I once had these cute floating candles that were goldfish shaped. So cool, but not really functional when they had been lit as they look a bit scary melting away :( wonder if they would work for feng shui?
I don’t know… I don’t think so! I think the idea with the goldfish is that they are alive & swimming around.
thats what I thought..they looked cute when unlit anyway :) I used to have goldfish when I was younger at home and I loved going to sleep listening to the bubble of the filter in the tank. Tempting to get some more! But our cat would think his xmas’s had all come at once..
Ooopsy… My bed is in my prosperity area, my computer in fame and reputation, my cash box and book shelf in relationship… But everything only fits in the room this particular way!
Haven’t commented here before, hi! And I know this is an old one. I’m not totally convinced about most aspects of Feng Shui either (it’s just fun!), but I do know that clearing your space affects your mental health.
My door, and some clutter O.O are in Self Awareness and Knowledge, my wardrobe’s in Career, my bed’s in Helpful People and Travel, I’ve got a huge stopgap chest of drawers I don’t want, with some clutter on top of it, in Family, and my recently cleared desk is in Prosperity (and I got a phone call to say I’d won €25 while I was clearing it yesterday). My bed extends into Children and Creativity (scar-y – I’m only little!), but part of Relationships is actually missing, and the rest is taken up with my old desk, covered in junk, and my bookcase, which it’s blocking (hmm….). Fame and Reputation’s got the fireplace and chimney – is this good or bad? And another crappy stopgap piece of furniture, this time a bookcase. GOD my room needs help. We’re moving soon though, so I feel like making it a nicer place to be isn’t worth it. Health should be empty, but currently has a suitcase and a lot of assorted clothing, etc. in it.
Hi Roo! Yeah, my life isn’t completely plotted out according to Feng Shui either but I find that a lot of the time, following the guidelines loosely really contributes to having a room which feels, I don’t know, comfortable I guess. Like the energy can flow freely. Cheesy, maybe, but true.
Do you know where you’re moving to? Maybe you should draw up a plan of the room with a bagua grid & then work out how you’re going to lay everything out. It can be easier to start that way, rather than having to manoeuvre everything in a tiny space!
Great site, good intro to Feng Shui, i’m still trying to figure out how to do my place. How Feng Shui work in entrance hall ways? I need to get a book on this stuff too, thanks again for the info on your site. I’m trying to find a place to put my 55Gallon salt water tank, yikes! Would it be good to place in the hall way inside the entrance?
thanks much,
Rob
Great site, good intro to Feng Shui, i’m still trying to figure out how to do my place. How Feng Shui work in entrance hall ways? I need to get a book on this stuff too, thanks again for the info on your site. I’m trying to find a place to put my 55Gallon salt water tank, yikes! Would it be good to place in the hall way inside the entrance?
thanks much,
Rob
(sorry please respond to this one)
Great article on Feng Shui 101.
Usually, they’re so difficult to understand, I get disasperated by the first 10 minutes!
But not this one!
Yay!
Great article on Feng Shui 101.
Usually, they’re so difficult to understand, I get disasperated by the first 10 minutes!
But not this one!
Yay!
so you say at the start that fish and aquariums should not be kept in the bedroom, but then u say they are good in the prosperity section of the bedroom. i so want a goldfish in my room, is it good or bad feng shui?
also! will the bagua grid always have self awareness etc, where the entrance is? i have 2 doors but only use one of them, and my room is such a weird shape eeek.
thanks galaa!xxx
what does “helpful people” mean actually?
i soo loved this post gala, the comments are fun to read too :>
this is a really good introduction! i live in a dorm with a roommate, and she gets all the relationship and creativity space but i’ve got the knowledge, career and family parts. on the wall in the career section, it turns out i’ve got a poster of the houses of parliament, which is perfect because i’m studying international relations! too bad we can’t have candles…