Feng Shui

Feng Shui elements

For energetic and emotional balance in your space, Fung Shui includes the use of the Five Elements present in nature: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.
Incorporating the Five Elements enhances motivation, creativity, stability, and abundance
Here are some Quick and Easy Tips on how you can change your space using Colour with the Five
Elements:

WOOD: Greens and aqua; live or silk plants, wooden furniture, picture frames; wooden sculptures, images of leaves, trees, forests, flowers; cotton, rayon, linen fabrics.

FIRE: Reds and oranges; fireplace, candles, lamps; images of the sun, a lit fireplace; silk fabrics.

EARTH: Yellow and earth tones; pottery, stone, ceramics, natural crystal jewellery; images of landscapes; earth tones in upholstery and art.

METAL: Bronze, copper, silver, gold; metal jewellery and picture frames or other artefacts; images containing and metal and metal sculptures; metallic fabrics.

WATER: Blacks and blues; glass, mirrors, fountains, aquariums; images of lakes, rivers, the ocean, waterfalls; shiny, see-through, and shimmering fabrics.

The Feng Shui Elements

Wood

Wood is: Intuition.
Yang - tree, Yin - flower
Sense: Vision and seeing (Odin hung from a tree to get wisdom.)
Ch’i Qualities: Trust, openness, receptive, inner guidance, progressive in thought and action, flexibility, expansion, cooperation, continual new growth.

Symbols Wooden furniture and accessories wood panelling, siding, roofing, decks, kitchen cabinets, wicker, bamboo, picture frames. Indoor & outdoor plants & flowers, (silk, plastic, dried) Art depicting landscapes, gardens, pants, flowers, carvings Floral prints, upholstery, draperies, linens, natural fibre, hemp, flax, rayon.
Shapes: Columns, tree trunk, beams, pedestals, poles, stripes.
Colours Green and blue spectrum
Excess: Over-expansive, overwhelming, Type A behaviour
Lack: Bonsai: under grown, lack of trust, sceptical, scientific, stunted growth

Fire

Fire is: Emotional
Yang - blazing fire, Yin - oil lamp.
Sense: Touch. Digestion.
Ch’i Qualities: Dynamic vitality, enthusiasm, excitement, decisiveness, assertiveness, creativity, originality, leadership, motivation, emotional balance. Ancient fire ceremonies, gathering around a hearth, Acupuncture (touch). TV is our current “fire”.

Symbols All lighting, electricity, oil, candles, sunlight, fireplaces. Things from animals: fur, leather, bone, feathers, wool. Pets & wildlife, Art depicting people, animals, fish, butterflies, sunshine, light, fire.
Shapes: Triangles, pyramids, cones, stars, diamonds.
Colours: The colour red and red spectrum, Heat, movement.
Excess: Aggression, anger, impatience, impulsive, overly ambitious. Burn out, crash and burn.
Lack: Lack of enthusiasm, lethargic, dull, cold, unmotivated. Lack-lustre, cool as a cucumber.

Earth

Earth is: Physical
Yang=planet, Yin=mother
Sense: Taste (Ancient Masters tasted the earth to see if it could produce crops)
Ch’i Qualities: Fertility, practicality, stability, sensuality, being grounded, organized.
Symbols: Adobe, brick tile, ceramics, earthenware, pottery, soil. Art depicting landscapes, deserts, fields, meadows, grids.
Shapes Square, rectangles, long, flat surfaces.
Colours: Yellow, earth tones
Excess: Overly disciplined, anal, serious, conservative.
Lack: Spacey, ungrounded, disconnected, lacking stability, shaky, barren.

Water

Water is: Spiritual
Yang - ocean, Yin - ponds, lakes
Sense: Hearing
Ch’i Qualities: Mystical, meditative, relaxed, calm, flowing, trusting the higher order, synchronistic. Water takes on the shape of its container. (like our soul which has no shape only the shape of our body) Water always seeks its lowest level.
Symbols: Streams, rivers, pools, fountains, water features. Reflective surfaces, cut crystal, mirrors, glass. Art depicting waterscapes.
Shapes: Asymmetrical, flowing, free-form, movement, natural forms.
Colours: Black, dark blue, charcoal grey, midnight blue, indigo,
Excess: No structure, passive, inconsistent, “wishy-washy”, yin.
Lack: Anxiety, inability to handle stress, need to dominate, lack of flow, disconnected to spirit, dry, combustible.

Metal

Metal is: Mental
Yang - scaffolding, Yin - gemstone
Sense: Smell (Human skeleton is metal. Epitome of strength and endurance)
Ch’i Qualities: Mental clarity, determination, concentration, perseverance, wit, brilliant even during hardship or failure. Connective, quick, networks, communicates.
Symbols: All types of metals, stainless steel, copper, silver, gold, brass, iron, aluminium, pewter. All rocks and stones, marble, granite, flagstone, concrete, all natural crystals, rocks and gemstones. Art depicting metal or stone, sculptures of metal or stone. Floral prints, upholstery, draperies, linens, natural fibre, hemp, flax, rayon.
Shapes: Circles, ovals, arches.
Colours: White and light pastels
Excess: Rigid, unable to compromise, fixed, stuck, sharp tongue, isolated.
Lack: Weak, indecisive, procrastination, dull, cloudy, foggy, unclear, indeterminate, non-specific, spineless.

Colour and Feng Shui in your home

It helps to choose the colours you plan to live with in your home with awareness of how different colours affect your emotional and physical states. Every colour has a unique vibration all of its own, and this can significantly affect how you feel in a room.
Using the chart below, you can choose a room’s colour to be in balance and harmony with the role you want a room to have in your and your family’s life.

Red: A room that is painted red will energize, inspire activity and movement, help passion, be powerful and stimulating. A red room can also be exhausting and overpowering, and stressful for those who are anxious.
Pink is less demanding. Choosing a red bedroom would not be restful, although some red can be used to enhance sensuality. A red exercise room would be energizing! In Feng Shui red means luck.

Orange: Orange rooms encourage happy, joyful, social gatherings. While an orange dining room or family room can stimulate the appetite, it is a great choice for such gathering places. Orange enhances parties, communication, positive feelings, and general good cheer.

Yellow: Yellow rooms inspire intellectual clarity, organization, clear headed articulate thinking, and happy energy. Yellow is considered a colour for the logical left side of the brain. Yellow is also very bright and somewhat energizing, so one needs to choose its placement with care. A yellow office might be intellectually beneficial, but not allow restful downtime, for example, so one might want to choose to include yellow accents instead of painting each wall yellow.

Green: Green rooms are very restful but combine with an energizing quality. Green is the colour of outdoors, calm and active at the same time. Green brings balance and harmony, healing, and rejuvenation to a room, and can be used as a calming place for people who are troubled or in need of refreshment.

Blue: Blue rooms are often chosen for bedrooms and meditation rooms because its cool energy is very calming, restful, peaceful, and spiritual. Blue helps inspire a quiet meditative quality, and colour therapy with blue has been found to reduce blood pressure. Blue is also useful to soothe you to sleep.

Purple/Indigo: Purple is very comforting, protective, spiritual, and calming. It is a rich colour which inspires faith, intuition and trust. Entire rooms painted purple could be overpowering, but a light violet could provide a very healing and calming atmosphere.

White: White rooms work anywhere combined with accent colours. White is very purifying, uplifting and cleansing, although too much white can reflect a sterile, isolating quality. White ceilings are recommended because they reflect light and brighten any room.