Feng Shui: Working with Energy

Feng Shui WORKING WITH ENERGY For a positive vibe in your home, look to sage, rose quartz and oranges. Samantha Wong reports
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Everything consists of energy – including objects and the space between them. This is something modern-day quantum physicists have proven and feng shui masters have known for centuries. Feng shui says you need to monitor the energy levels in your home; and you need to know how to bring in positive energy (sheng chi) and dispel negative energy (si chi).

Some people are better able to pick up on energy levels than others. They do so intuitively. But the more you work with energy, the more you start to feel it – and to know if something isn’t right. Pro tip: If you have an argument in a room, if the air in a room feels stale or heavy, or if you feel down after spending a little time in it, then you have some negative energy to shift.

GET THINGS MOVING
As a first step, take a fresh look at your home and think about the way energy flows within it. Feng shui says that positive energy flows freely like a life-giving river, negative energy is blocked and unmoving like a stagnant pond. In rooms that are cluttered and overstuffed with furniture, energy will not have the space to flow freely. So have a clear out, and rehome any items you don’t need.

Top tip: If the energy in a room still feels stuck after you’ve decluttered, move 27 things within it. This could involve totally rearranging the furniture, or simply rotating 27 objects by a few degrees, either way you’ll soon have freed up the energy in the space and created some good vibrations.

Be sure to also check that your bed, desk, and stove are in the command position. This means that when you are lying in bed, sitting at your desk, or cooking at your stove, you are facing the door without being directly in front of it. By simply shifting your position, your perspective changes and you’ll feel more supported by the energy in the room.

CLEANSE YOUR SPACE
Space clearing is a great way to release any accumulated negative energy, and you’ll want to have your own daily ritual in place. A simple way to do this is to open all the doors and windows each day – for a minimum of nine minutes between 11am and 1pm. You can also burn off negative energy with incense or essential oils – use sage or frankincense – but for many, the only real solution is to smudge with sage.

When you smudge, be sure to leave the windows open so that any negative energy can escape. And here’s another top tip: Once you have cleared a space of negative energy, you will need to replenish it with positive energy. After you’ve smudged, follow up by lighting a little incense – rose, geranium or cedar, whatever scent you find uplifting.

Beautiful sound vibrations moving through a living space can cut through negative energy and transform it, so you are ahead of the game if you play an instrument or sing like an angel. (Prerecorded music, no matter how good your sound system, is not so effective.) Metal or crystal singing bowls are especially powerful space clearers. Use them daily, starting at your front door and walking around your home in a clockwise direction.

Oranges are like gold when it comes to clearing negative energy, since their shape, colour and scent invokes bright, yang, sun energy. Just like the sun, oranges are bright and life affirming. A bowl of nine fresh oranges will ensure the energy in a room is light and bright, or you can spritz regularly with an orange essential oil mist.
You can also use plants, which represent healing and growth, to boost the energy levels in your home. Top tip: Choose plants with nurturing, rounded leaves for the interior, keeping spiky plants, like cacti, outside, where their thorns act as protective swords keeping out hostile energy.

CRYSTAL PROTECTION
Crystals have been used over the centuries for a myriad of purposes – from healing and protection to decoration. In feng shui, crystals are widely used in living spaces for the specific energy they bring, or more broadly for positivity and protection. Rose quartz is best known as a stone that invites or boosts romantic love but you can also use it to promote positive energy in your living space. Top tip: Rose quartz is best placed in pairs and you can ground its buzzy, effervescent energy with an amethyst cluster.

Black tourmaline, meanwhile, is a fiercely protective crystal that can absorb and transmute harmful energies. You can use it to ward off any incoming negativity by placing it by your front door, either indoors or out. For example, if you have potted plants in your hallway, you can place the black tourmaline stones on top of the soil or at the base of your plant pot.
Blue kyanite dispels negative energy without absorbing it, and the best way to use this stone is in conjunction with clear quartz. Create a grid of protection by placing blue kyanite in the four corners of your home, then place a clear quartz in the centre of the grid to amplify the protection.

Ancient, fossilized snail-like ammonite is another go-to if you are working with energy. Like the shell of a snail, ammonite offers protection for your home, while its spiral shape also encourages energy to flow freely. Last tip: Place ammonite in the centre of your home, so you can benefit from its grounding support.