Do you want to drive positive energy to your life? Then use the right colors to get good energy flowing to your direction. This is actually one of the easiest Feng Shui techniques in creating the perfect balance in life.

Excitement and Vigor

Balance the Fire element in your living room with the right colors if you want to attract excitement especially in your career and in attaining recognition in your job. To get this you must use the colors of the Fire element. It is also best to position these colors at the Northwest or Southwest area. The Fire element colors are red, orange, purple, pink, and yellow.

Sustenance and Steadiness

Protect family relationships with strong and steady colors of the Feng Shui Earth element. These are the colors that will keep your family together despite trials, nourish your family and help you provide daily sustenance, as well as protect everyone from any kind of danger. The Earth colors should be placed at the center of your home or living room, where family usually spends time together. The Feng Shui Earth colors are light yellow, beige, and all shades of brown resembling the earth and sand.

Precision and Efficiency

The colors of the Metal element bring with it the traits of being sharp, precise, and effective. The colors of this element are best to be used in the office or your workplace at home. This will attract good energy when it comes to your performance on the job. There are only two strong colors of the Feng Shui element Metal, the gray and the white.

Atmosphere of Calm, Cleanliness, and Plenty

The harmonious element of Water brings with it refreshing energy, serenity, and of being pure. Even during ancient times, water has symbolized prosperity. Additionally, there are proven therapeutic effects of water. The best and most powerful colors of the Water element are blue.

Good Health and Total Well Being

The Feng Shui element Wood will direct the energy of good health, emotional stability, and of being fit. Like Water, the element Wood also represents prosperity and abundance. So if you are looking to gain wealth it is wise to use the colors of the Wood in your house or living room. The dominant colors of the Feng Shui element Wood are brown.

Bring Positive Energy into Your Home

It is very important to direct the right energy into your home or living room so that you and your family will always be strong, united, healthy, and prosperous. You can attract this energy by applying simple Feng Shui techniques. This will guide you how to create a healthy and happy environment for your family. Like music, color nourishes and uplifts the soul. In Feng Shui, the more colors of the elements you attract the higher state of well being will you be also.

So if there aren’t any hard and fast rules of feng shui, how can one go about applying it to your life?

No Rules of Feng Shui, Just Principles

What is the difference between a rule and a principle?  Simply put, a rule is very harsh and rigid, and rarely allows someone any type of freedom for their own personal choices, judgment, or expression.  It’s also something that you must do, like it or not.  A stop sign is a rule, not a suggestion.

On the other hand, a principle is more of a guiding thought which allows for a great deal of latitude for someone to make up their own minds about things.  Principles are like a ceiling under which there is a great deal of movement.

So if someone is thinking that there are certain rules of feng shui to be followed, they need to understand that feng shui is about making things in your home and your environment work for you, and you personally.  What you appreciate and enjoy and what will bring energy and vitality to your life is not something that’s going to work for someone else.  Trying to dictate “rules of feng shui” is something that’s actually counterproductive to the entire art overall.

However, the principles of feng shui are much different.  For example, consider the use of color.  Feng shui teaches (as do many designers and decorators) that bright colors add energy and vitality to any space, and encourage you to use yellows, oranges, and shades such as these in an area of your home where you need that added energy, such as your kitchen or breakfast nook.  However, the way you apply this principle and to what degree is up to you and your own individual taste.  Imagine if the “rules of feng shui” demanded that you paint your kitchen orange, and it was your most hated color!  Many have also found that what works for them is to introduce these elements in small doses, in accent items, artwork, and so on, rather than coloring a room completely in one particular color.

Making Up Your Own Rules of Feng Shui

How you apply feng shui in your own home is going to be up to you.  Again, it needs to work for you personally.  So if you are looking to work with a feng shui expert or advisor, and he or she insists that you follow so-called rules of feng shui, be wary.  Remember, there is no such thing.

When speaking about things such as feng shui crystals, many people may be upset to learn that there really is no such thing in the true application and science of feng shui.  As this practice came to the western parts from ancient China, it began to be intermingled with New Age “hocus pocus,” which really adulterated the true art form.  Many unscrupulous individuals realized that they could slap a “feng shui” label on virtually anything and sell it to unsuspecting customers, and one popular item along these lines is the so-called feng shui crystals.  But before you start to feel hurt or betrayed the way you did when you heard about Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, let’s talk a bit about the true use and history of “feng shui crystals” and see if perhaps some logic and reasoning might help you out a bit.

The True Principles of Feng Shui

Many people don’t understand how truly simple feng shui really is.  They believe that you need a feng shui reader or expert to explain every minor detail of its application in their home or life, and from this belief sprung the sales of so many items, including those feng shui crystals.  When people believe anything that some “expert” tells them, then of course it’s easier for them to be taken advantage of.

Feng shui really is all about balance, harmony, peace, and positive energy.  There is no magic bullet or talisman that can bring these elements into your life.  For instance, if you and your spouse refuse to talk to each other or if you’re hiding a secret affair, all the crystals in the world are not going to give you a peaceful marriage.  Hang all the feng shui crystals over your bedroom mirror that you want, and there will still be disharmony and chaos in your relationship.

De-cluttering your life is an important part of feng shui, as it’s true that sometimes the negative elements in our lives have more of an effect than the positive.  Removing old and useless things that bring nothing positive to us, and that just simply drain us and make us feel guilty or depressed, can do much to usher in that positive uplifting energy that we’re looking for – more so than any feng shui crystal could do.

When Feng Shui Crystals Are Useful

Of course, some people simply like the look of crystals, whether they are by themselves or are crystal ornaments.  They do reflect light and can add a certain brightness to an otherwise dark corner or room.  If you enjoy your crystal knickknacks for this reason, or just like looking at that crystal dangling from your rearview mirror, then there’s nothing in feng shui principles that says that you must get rid of it.

Feng Shui Candles and the Five Elements

Feng shui teaches the use of five natural elements, namely, wood, earth, metal, water, and fire, and that there should always be a balance or harmony between these elements in any space or room of your home.  What is meant by that?  Simply put, you can think about how different elements either feed or destroy one another.  Wood feeds fire, but water destroys it.  Earth feeds wood, but metal destroys that.  Destruction is not something that’s taught in feng shui, but balance is.  So, if you have a room that has very strong elements of earth, such as the warm tones of your living room or bedroom, you may want to introduce some balance by bringing in the element of fire – and this is where feng shui candles come into play.  Obviously you can’t set up a bonfire in your home, and not every room has a fireplace, but candles are a small and affordable way to accomplish this.

Feng Shui Candles and Energy

Additionally, fire is an element that represents strong energy and vitality, and any room or corner of your home that needs this energy can benefit from this element.  For example, many couples who are needing to add some spice or energy to their love life are encouraged to introduce feng shui candles to the bedroom.  The fire is an encouragement to have that energy and revitalization.  Of course, you do need to exercise safety precautions and be sure to extinguish those candles before going to sleep!

Feng shui candles are a good idea when you are looking to create energy in any other room of your home, such as the family room or dining room, when you want the family to gather and be open to one another.  The fire is an encouragement for everyone to have some energy in their conversation.

Where You Shouldn’t Use Feng Shui Candles

Because fire is such a strong element, it does need to be tapered somewhat.  If you have a large fireplace in your home, you are probably already bringing in enough of this element already.  Be wary of overdoing it by lining your fireplace mantel with your feng shui candles.  Instead, keep these candles for a place in your home that’s far enough away from the fireplace that the two will not compete with one another.

And of course, you do need to exercise all cautions when using feng shui candles anywhere.  Avoid using them in your children’s rooms, or around pets who may knock them over.

By applying all these principles when considering the use of feng shui candles, you can then begin to enjoy the energy and vitality that they will bring to your home and your life.

While Chinese feng shui is no “magic bullet” that will cure any of your ailments or that will somehow cause a big bag of money to appear on your front door, there are many positive benefits one can receive when applying its principles to your life.  Let’s take a look at a few.

For one, Chinese feng shui encourages peace and harmony in the home, and along those lines, encourages people to de-clutter their environments and their lives overall.  Of course, it’s absolutely impossible to decide what exactly can and cannot be considered clutter in your home and your life; as the old saying goes, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”  However, the application of Chinese feng shui is meant to encourage positive energy and to get rid of anything that drains you of this energy, or that introduces negative feelings and energy in your life.  This is how the thought can be applied to not only your material possessions, but to your life overall.  For example, if you have a so-called “friend” that only calls you when he or she needs something, and has a tendency to be so overly emotional that you feel drained and empty when you’re done talking?  This person can be considered clutter in your life – adds nothing, and take everything.

It’s also true that the Asian cultures value hard work and applying one’s self to your family and your career.  Chinese feng shui encourages you to use your energy in these types of positive ways; by doing so, you will be only encouraging more positive energy in your life.  Think about how that might apply in your own family.  Do you use your time, your resources, and your energy to encourage strong family bonds?  Do you see your family as an investment opportunity for that energy?  If you understand and apply the principle being taught by Chinese feng shui that positive energy begets positive energy, then you won’t hesitate to work hard at making your family bonds as strong as possible.

It is true too that Chinese feng shui puts a great deal of emphasis on the use of color in one’s home and environment, however, be careful that you don’t fall for folklore and myth when it comes to this aspect of the art.  There is no real basis for thinking that a red front door is lucky or special in any way, or that certain colors will bring prosperity and wealth when used abundantly.  Colors used in rooms and areas of the home are simply meant to create certain moods; bright colors will energize you while darker colors will calm and soothe.

In these few ways, you can see how Chinese feng shui can add positive energy and vitality in your own life.

Feng Shui’s Use of Colors

When you analyze feng shui and its use of colors, you need to first of all understand how color affects your mood and your overall feeling.  Bright and lively colors do energize you; imagine trying to be upbeat or perky in an all-black room.  Doesn’t that harsh and stark color instead make you feel brought down, even depressed?  Many kitchens, on the other hand, are painted bright shades of yellow or orange; when you analyze feng shui’s encouragement of the use of these colors for this room, you realize that they are upbeat and considered clean and sanitary.

Feng Shui’s Lack of Clutter

When people really begin to analyze feng shui, they see that this art encourages the lack of clutter or excessive items in the home or any other place where you are quite frequently.  This is because clutter has been shown to make a person feel stressed and anxious.  It is like a constant reminder of things that need attending to – clothes than need mending, appliances that need fixing, laundry that needs folding, and so on.  This nagging voice in the back of one’s head does nothing to encourage positive energy.

Analyze Feng Shui for Your Own Home

How can you apply these two basic principles in your own home?  Well, you don’t need to be a decorator or an interior designer to understand color.  Take a good, honest look at each room of your home.  How do you feel when you stand in the doorway?  Are you energized, do you feel drawn into that room?  Or does the overall look and feel depress you; do you avoid this room for any particular reason?  When you analyze feng shui, you need to be able to have that overall look for your home’s rooms as well.

Also, there are no hard and fast rules about what constitutes clutter in any one area, but again, honesty is the key.  Do the things you’re holding onto add value to your life, or just depress you and bring you down?  What type of energy do you feel when you look at these things?  Don’t think that you need to keep anything “just in case.”  The negative energy that you’re introducing into your home far outweighs any supposed uses you think you might have for these things.

So if you take a few moments to analyze feng shui and its use in your own home and your own life, you will see that there are some great benefits you can derive just from these simple principles.

Why is Feng Shui an art and a science?

First off, what does art mean? This word certainly holds a lot of connotation and denotation however when talking about Feng Shui the meaning is taken from the first, the broadest, and the nearest to the Latin definition of the word “art” which is “a skill” or “a craft”. At the same time, Feng Shui is also a science as it applies the principles of harmony.

Practical Feng Shui techniques in using color

Use colors in your home that blends well together and create harmony. However, make sure that you apply these colors in appropriate places in the house like the kitchen, a place where the family is gathered most of the time. Other areas in the house should have appropriate color applications that are both pleasing to the eye and attractive to positive energy too.

Practical Feng Shui techniques for decor

Visual art like painting and sculpture are very important in making a room beautiful. Now, part of the Feng Shui is about setting the mood in a certain area therefore it is important that you choose the right images to decorate a specific room. For example, images of loneliness, sadness, and the dying are very inappropriate inside your bedroom. In fact, this type of mood is inappropriate anywhere in a room because the mood is so negative. But if you really want to put a painting or an image with this theme, you also better put up another that will counter the negative aura.

Steps in creating a Feng Shui perfect room

1. First, clear out all the clutter. Get rid of all the old stuff you stored and never use.
2. Make sure that you let the air circulate well in the rooms. Proper ventilation is important so that new air comes in and old air goes out.
3. Lastly, use proper lighting in a room where it is appropriate. Bedroom should have softer lights to promote comfort and sensuality. While a workplace needs bright lights to keep your mind and body sharp and energetic.

Remember that using Feng Shui techniques to decorate your home is all about setting the mood of happiness and harmony. This does not mean creating a Zen home however. What Feng Shui actually does is to set an environment that maximizes the potential in a room depending on its use or the activities done there.

Using Feng Shui to Attain Peace and Harmony

This is a very important aspect that a new Feng Shui practitioner should remember. That Feng Shui is not about placing furniture in certain directions nor is it about painting colors anywhere to attract wealth and prosperity. No, Feng Shui is deeper than that. You apply Feng Shui techniques because you want to have perfect balance in life. Feng Shui is all about peace and harmony by letting the energy flow freely within the room.

One reason why a home is full of conflict is all that clutter inside the house. Cleaning is good but not enough. What is important is that you clear your home of all the stored, old, and unused things you are still keeping. These are clutter that keeps negative energy in and blocks positive energy out. The negative energy accumulated inside your house affects the household’s mood, creating conflict and tension. With an unhealthy aura inside the house your body becomes susceptible to sickness. All these result to lower efficiency at work. Clearing your home of clutter is not just a Feng Shui technique to attain peace and harmony. It is actually practical science too. So don’t be lazy, start clearing your home of old garbage because a house full of stuff feels, well, stuffy.

Use Feng Shui to Set the Mood

Colors play a big part in Feng Shui but it is not about wearing a certain color during a business transaction because it is said to be your “lucky color”. Applying color in Feng Shui is much deeper than that. You see, colors are guided by the elements of Fire, Water, Air, Metal, Earth, and Wood. These colors have a big part in setting the aura of a room like Earthen colors for the bedroom to make you feel relaxed or the colors of Metal in the workplace keeps you quick and sharp, making you perform more efficiently. There are lots of other colors of the elements that you can use and when placed strategically in your house or office, it will perfectly set the mood. The trick is to have these colors blend well with each other and the rest of the décor and avoid contrast. Contrasting colors will not just cancel out the positive energy your house will absolutely become an eyesore too.

Feng Shui is a Practical Application

Do you notice that we all respond to color? We respond to the colors of the traffic light, the color of a taxi cab, the colors of love and romance, the colors of the seasons and so many more. This is Feng Shui in action. So you see,  Feng Shui is a practical art and little did you know that you have been using it in your daily activities you just haven’t maximized its full potential yet.

Getting the clutter out of your life

It is a fact that we have the tendency to accumulate old things. For one reason or another we just can’t seem to throw old stuff out. They clutter our closet, garage, attic, and every other spare room in the house. It is very basic in Feng Shui that energy should be allowed to flow freely. Clutter not only hinders and blocks the natural flow of energy but the stale, old air becomes an accumulated negative force that can’t flow out. So you can just imagine what aura your home will have with negative energy kept in while the positive energy is blocked out because of all the clutter in your house.

Therefore, get rid of the clutter. You may put up a garage sale, donate it to charity, give it away to relatives or friends who are not well off, no matter how you do it, just make sure that you clean the room where you have stored unused things for years. Let new air flow in and rejuvenate the room.

Bring color into your life

Did you know that colors make a very big impact in your life? Yes, “make” a very big impact, not just “have an impact”. Colors make an impact because it takes an active part in matters like realizing your goals, soothing your nerves, make you sensual or authoritative, as well as improve the wellbeing and ensure the safety of your family. The elements Fire, Water, Air, Metal, Earth, and Wood have colors too and you can place these colors in strategic places around the house to attract the needed energy. For example, if you want to improve efficiency in your workplace, the colors of the element Metal will work best. Avoid bright colors in the bedroom like red or bright yellow. These colors may be attractive to the eye but since these are under the element of Fire it tends to attract tension and unrest in the bedroom. The bedroom is a place where you need to relax and unwind; you should also use soothing, neutral colors of the Earth like the shades of brown.

However, be careful not to overuse the colors of the elements. You may think that more is better. That if you want more money then you should put a lot of colors of the elements Water or Wood, the symbol of richness and abundance. This is actually wrong and may produce a negative effect instead. To get the best out of Feng Shui colors, you must use it wisely too. Just remember that Feng Shui is about balance. So never overdo anything or else this may result to a negative force rather than attracting positive energy.

These things are actually incorrect assumptions about the use and application of feng shui colors, however, this doesn’t mean that there are no real principles to following when it comes to the colors in your home or office.  To really understand these, here are some simple tips to remember.

Real Feng Shui Colors Create Mood

Even scientists and biologists agree that color can and does affect your mood.  When you are surrounded by bright, cheery, energetic colors, you feel more upbeat and enthused.  When you are surrounded by darker, warmer colors, you feel more calm and relaxed.  When applying the principles of feng shui colors, you need to remember this and consider the mood you are trying to create in each room.  For instance, if you want your living room to be a place of restful relaxation, then those dark and soothing colors of warm browns, tans, shades of cocoa, and deep greens may work well, as opposed to the bright and frenetic colors of yellow and white.  However, if you have a room where you are trying to create energy, such as the kitchen or family room, then brighter colors would work well.

Real Feng Shui Colors Are Balanced

Some people make the mistake of thinking that if some is good, then more is better.  This cannot be further from the truth when talking about feng shui colors.  Bold, bright colors are good for creating energy and enthusiasm, but too much can be overpowering and make you tense and anxious.  Also, while those dark and warm colors can soothe and relax you, too much can make you feel depressed, closed in, and even smothered.  Harmony and balance are essential elements of feng shui in all its applications, and certainly this is true when applying the use of feng shui colors in your room.  Avoid using all of one shade or color family, but dress up or dress down your colors with accent items of opposing shades.  If your living room is a warm brown or cocoa, have accent pillows, afghans, and artwork that introduces the brighter shades of yellow or white.

Real Feng Shui Colors Make You Feel Positive!

Whatever your choice of colors when applying feng shui techniques, take a step back and ask yourself how that color makes you feel.  If you absolutely hate it, then it’s not for you, regardless of what some so-called “expert” tells you.  Real feng shui colors are meant to encourage positive energy, and using colors you hate will do just the opposite.

So by learning these simple truths about “real” feng shui colors, you can better understand how to apply these in your own home and place of work.