Unit 5. Feng Shui

How to Create Good Feng Shui in Your Home

1. Brighten Up Your Entry

In feng shui, your entry represents how energy enters your home and your life. We say the front door is the “mouth of qi.” Naturally, the entry is first place to start when you want to create good feng shui in your home.

Start with decluttering and removing any debris. A lot of objects tend to accumulate at the front door. I'm not saying it needs to be completely empty, but rather uncluttered. Make it work for you.

Next, sweep and clean up the area. The front entry (interior and exterior) is often overlooked. Wipe down the door and shake out the door mat. Take a good look around.

Then can you make this space more inviting and spacious by removing or adding anything. This creates a place for the energy that enters your home to collect and gather. 

Finally, make sure this space is well lit and bright. Add lighting or change the bulbs.

2. Clean Your Windows

Windows symbolize the eyes of the adults in the home. For children, they symbolize their voice. To create good feng shui in your home, clean your windows on a regular basis. Clear, clean windows let in more sunlight.

Sunlight naturally energizes and wakes us up. Sunlight also vibrantly renders all of the colors and objects that we see. Therefore, our homes become more expansive, vibrant, and energetic when we let in more light. Clean windows metaphorically wake us up to see the world around us with the most color, clarity, and precision.

As a bonus, use non-toxic cleaners whenever possible. One of our favorites is a simple solution of white vinegar, water, and a few drops of essential oil.

3. Give Your Doors Some Attention

In feng shui, doors represent your voice and communication. Doors are also portals in which opportunities can come into your life. This is why your doors deserve a bit of your attention.

There are two things to look out for. First, be sure that all your doors can open to at least a full 90 degrees. When there is a bunch of clutter behind a door, it can’t open all the way. This means that you’re only able to receive a portion of the opportunities life has to offer. There’s parts that you’re closing yourself off to.

Second, check that all your doors are working properly. Make sure that the hardware functions effortlessly and the hinges are not squeaking. Look to see that the door can close well and with ease. All these details affect how the energy finds its way to you. You want the flow to be as smooth as possible. 

4. Commanding Position

One of the most important principles in feng shui is the commanding position. This governs how you can position yourself in life. Be sure to apply this principle to your to the location of your bed, desk, and stove. 

The bed represents you. The desk represents your career. And the stove represents your wealth. When you are in these spaces, be sure that you can see the door without being directly in line with it. For example, when you are lying in bed, sitting at your desk, or cooking at the stove, you want to be able to see the door. Oftentimes this means you end up diagonal or "kitty-corner" from the door.

When you are in a commanding position, you are in command of your life. You are in a position to receive positive energy and the best opportunities.

5. Remove Obstacles in Your Path

Take a good look at your daily path through your home. Yep, we're asking you to literally look at the physical path you walk as you move through your home. From when you wake up and arise from bed, then to the bathroom, and so on as you head out the door. Then from when you get home, make dinner, and end back in bed.  

We become desensitized to all the blocks and physical obstacles we have in our daily path. Maybe it’s that light fixture that flickers or the door that always sticks and you have to slam closed. It’s an obstacle when you have to squeeze through a cluttered hallway. When you hopelessly peer into a closet jammed with clothes that don’t fit you anymore—all of this affects you! Like plaque in our arteries, over time these obstacles can accumulate and create problems for us.

The first step is to notice the obstacles, then adjust with kindness. Be gentle. One thing at a time.

6. Be Spacious

Clutter is often in the same sentence as feng shui, but we’d say that feng shui is less about de-cluttering and more about creating space. 

How do you make your life more spacious? Start with your home. Find a physical spot: a drawer, room, corner of the refrigerator, desk—the size doesn’t matter—and let go of what’s no longer necessary. When you let something go, you create open space to invite a new, fresh opportunity.

And don’t beat yourself up if the space gets filled up. It’s how the universe works. Life is not static or solid, there is impermanence. We can joyfully dance with the waxing and waning of our humanity. Our open spaces get filled up, then emptied, then filled again. Always be open to a fresh start. Find a new (or the same) corner to release and create some space over and over again.

7. Space Clearing

Hand in hand with being spacious is space clearing. Sometimes in feng shui, we call this a space blessing. Along with the physical space is the energetic space and both can be cleared.

There’s a few techniques that you can use. My favorites are smudging with palo santo or diffusing sweet orange essential oil. In need of a simple space clearing technique that requires no materials? Visualize bright white sunlight is filling and cleansing your entire home.

When you space clear your home, try to associate it with a positive intention. Hold an intention of what you want to cultivate and create in your life.

8. Plants Bring Life Energy

In feng shui, plants embody life energy. What does that mean? Well, living green house plants connect us to nature and bring vibrancy into our homes. Green plants are like fresh pressed organic green juice for our homes. Think freshness, health, and vitality.

The most important thing to remember is to find plants that you can care for and are appropriate for the space. For example, take your lighting conditions into consideration. If you’re new to plants, try some easy ones like the golden pothos. 

9. Offer Gratitude

Last, but not least, offer thanks to your home. Feng shui is a shamanic tradition that believes everything is alive, including our spaces! The same life energy (qi) that animates you, also flows through your home.

Your home is your shelter. Your home gives you a place to rest, nourish, celebrate, and so much more. Offering gratitude to your home is simple. Just speak to your home with a humble heart and say thank you.