Positive Health Online

Feng Shui literally means Wind and Water – its teachings call us to live in harmony with our environment. Recognising the cycles of change in nature and our relationship with the elements helps us to do this.

As you enter your home, the qualities inside are arranged like this

The first signs of Spring are announced by the Snowdrops popping up all around, followed by the Daffodils unfolding in splendid praise of the rising sun. The animals and insects busy themselves with the burgeoning of new life and we begin to wake up from the winter mellow. We open our homes for a breath of fresh air and find the energy to spring clean – preparing our nests for the new year. The Chinese relate this time of year to the "Wood element", and their ancient writings allude to "The gentle penetration of the Wind".

According to ancient Chinese wisdom there are five elements comprising the cycles of change in nature: Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal. Each element is closely associated with particular conditions and qualities of life, and each of these elements is balanced with two complementary opposites which we call Yin and Yang. The Yin aspect of the Wood element is called "Wind" and the Yang aspect is called "Thunder" – each of these elements relates to particular qualities of life on all levels, and in the plan of our homes we can find all these qualities.

Therapists may well find medical problems associated with the Wood element become more apparent at this time of year, relating to: Eyes, liver, gall bladder, tendons and ligaments, and according to the theories of Chinese medicine, this is to be expected. For many people this is the season they like most. It gives them vitality and they feel like getting "in shape". For others, however, it is a season of depression, and the condition SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), although usually associated with Winter is also a common complaint in the Spring. An imbalance in this element of life may become apparent as excessive anger or frustration. In parallel to this a person may be too immersed in planning for the future or alternatively they may be inflexible and unable to plan ahead. These are all extreme conditions relating to unbalanced Wood energy.

As an Architect I relate Windows to this element and encourage my clients to recognise the importance of windows for bringing the qualities of springtime into their lives. In fact, one can do this any time of the year.

The eyes are associated with the element "Wood" and the eyes are the windows to the soul. In our homes the windows are the eyes. Through our windows we view the cycles of Day and Night and the passing of the year. We see the sky giving us daylight for positive health, and experience activity outside. Windows open to the world to receive the energies of the land, they affect our vision and our foresight.

This element is gentle like the wind scattering the clouds in the sky and persistent like the new shoot of a sapling first breaking ground in its desire to reach the light. The wind and the tree are both qualities associated with this element. The tree is securely grounded – rooted to the earth, but also growing, gentle and flexible in the wind. Chi Gung, Tai Chi and other Chinese energy systems encourage us to be like this.

The wind often penetrates gently through the trees rustling all the leaves and dappling the light for our enjoyment. But the wind can also be forceful: it can move the windmills to generate power and it can uproot trees that are not well connected with the earth.

Through windows you can draw energy into your visions and plans for the future, and you can clear your mind so that decisions are easier to make. You can raise yourself up from the depths of depression and bring in light that is needed for growth.

In an ideal room the sky can be seen through the windows. Privacy may be needed but take care not to block out too much skylight.

Choose objects carefully – placing only those you adore on your window sills – those that convey to you very positive messages about your life, your growth and your future.

The idea of "Gentle penetration like the wind" can guide the quality of our thoughts and our deeds; the quality of movement we bring into our homes – the quality of natural light coming through our windows and sounds, smells and colours.

"Gentle Penetration" can be taken as a two-fold process: firstly penetrating to the depths of consciousness where the hidden good must be awakened and secondly taking action that brings this goodness into the physical world to disperse the dark and dormant energies in one's home and one's life.

If there are issues that continually plague you or conditions affecting your health – Feng Shui can help. Imagine that your problems have a physical life in a particular area of your home relating to the Plan below. The area of "Wind" (Fortunate Blessings) for instance, holds the following qualities of life (an imbalance in any of these aspects could be worked on in this area of your home):

• The ability to make balanced judgements and decisions.
• The ability to plan for the future.
• New beginnings – Growth and bringing to fruition.
• Anger, Frustration, Irritability.
• Vision and foresight.
• Adaptation to changing conditions.
• The ability to persevere or alternatively Fatigue.
• Being Fortunate / Good Luck.

Now you can work with the placement of objects to disperse blockages and improve the flow of energy in these areas of your life. So for instance: a lead crystal hung in the window will project healing colours into your room, and gentle chimes and mobiles can be placed in corners to disperse the dormant energies within one's home and one's life. Fresh young plants and flowers, colours of Golden / Orange and those fresh green colours of new spring growth are very beneficial. The crystal "Citrine" placed on the window will welcome good fortune, and like many crystals it has the power to transform unhealthy energies entering the house.

At a time when my partner and I were going through a wintry period in our lives when pressures of life seemed very great and burdensome we built a very special window in our homes in the area of "Wind" otherwise known as "Fortunate Blessings". This was to mark a time of profound change in our lives, and this window continues to be a blessing in many ways. (A place of "Fortunate Blessings" exists in everyone's home, see the plan to locate yours.)

One morning in early spring at the breakfast table with our three children; Jackie (my partner) said: "Let's enter this competition on the Cornflakes packet." Not being one to enter competitions nor even to do the lottery, I was less than enthusiastic. However, Jackie and the children persisted and I looked to our window in the area of "Fortunate Blessings". This was as yet an unfinished job, a bit dismal, grey and undecorated with bare cement finishes. There was no way we could win a competition with the window looking like that. So we filled it with daffodils, cleaned it up and entered the competition. Needless to say – we won! We were able to enjoy a supersonic flight and entertainment in Paris courtesy of Tesco Cornflakes and Concorde. I am sure we wouldn't have won the lottery for £10 million that week. But this prize was enough to lift our spirits and put us on course to bring all our skills to fruition and to establish The Hiraeth School of Feng Shui Design and Healing.

The following poem was written by Jackie whilst sitting in our "Window of Fortunate Blessings":

THE DAFFODIL

Salutation in delicate splendour.
Golden trumpet smiling at the sun.
Circle in the centre – Infinity, Unity, One.
Six radiant unfurled petals catching the morning Dew
Face upturned in drunken glory to the gentle kisses of the dawn.
A sign of spring resplendent – Survival,
Growth anew.
Nodding in gentle breezes
An affirmation of hope in Yellow Hue.

By Jackie Davies