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Feng
Shui with Style! Working with Your Element Type
by: Stephanie
Roberts
When
you begin to study feng shui, you quickly realize
the importance of the qualities and characteristics
of the five feng shui elements: wood, fire, earth,
metal, and water. This knowledge is essential
to selecting appropriate colors, furnishings,
and accessories for your home. You can also use
your understanding of the five elements to develop
a personalized feng shui strategy, based on the
element that is reflected most strongly in your
own style of living.
Metal
energy is clean, simple, and detail-oriented.
Earth is lush, nurturing and comfortable. Water
is free-flowing, expressive, and intuitive. Wood
is ambitious, forward-thinking, and practical.
Fire is passionate, excitable, and changeable.
Each of us has a unique combination of these five
energies in our own personality, usually with
one element dominating. This is reflected in how
we decorate and use our homes. Some of us developed
a strong style preference at a very early age,
which continues to serve and suit us well. Others
go through different phases as they progress through
life. You may once have covered anything that
didn't move in chintz and ruffles, but now find
yourself appreciating the clarity of a more sparsely
decorated space - or vice versa. During an earlier
phase you may have been happy with few possessions
and a minimalist lifestyle, only to find greater
comfort now in the abundant colors and textures
of a more lavishly decorated home.
The
element that is strongest in your personality
right now will influence your current decorating
style, housekeeping habits, and your approach
to feng
shui . Your experience will
be more fun and more comfortable when you tailor
your feng shui strategies to your element style.
Let's begin by seeing which of the five descriptions
below most closely describes you:
- Neat
Freak (METAL): I hate clutter! My home is always
immaculate, with everything tidy and well-maintained,
and I am very thoughtful about what I bring
into my space.
- Pack
Rat (EARTH): I love my stuff, and can't get
rid of anything. My house is so full of clutter
that when something is broken I can't even get
to it to fix it.
- Free
Spirit (WATER): I'm too busy being me to clean
up! If something's a mess, I just toss a shawl
over it. People say my home has lots of personality,
and I am constantly redecorating and moving
things around.
- Go-Getter
(WOOD): Housekeeping? Home décor? Don't ask
me; that's what the maid and decorator are for.
I just want things functional and practical,
and I need a quiet place to come home to at
the end of a busy day.
- Whirlwind
(FIRE): Enough of the quiz already! I have a
million things to do and a short attention span-just
tell me how to feng shui my house!
Many
people are a combination of styles, so it may
be hard to choose just one answer. If you're not
sure, ask a few relatives or close friends for
feedback; if you're a true Neat Freak, you may
think your house is a mess even when it's immaculate
by other people's standards! You may also find
that you live one style, but secretly crave another.
As a dyed-in-the-wool Free Spirit, for example,
I regularly break the feng shui rules of good
housekeeping because I'm just too busy creating,
writing, and living to keep things as clean and
organized as I would like them to be. But whenever
I visit a Neat Freak's home, my soul goes "ahhhhhh."
The trick is to be aware of what type of space
you are really, truly most comfortable in. As
much as I like visiting pristine, zen-like spaces,
I know that I don't really want to live in one
-- that if I did it would soon look just as lived-in
as my current home.
Here
are some guidelines, based on the element-affinities
described above, to help you develop a personalized
feng shui strategy:
NEAT
FREAK
Your home is so neat and tidy that it may be a
little rigid, sterile, or monochromatic. You tend
to like the minimalist look, and are the most
likely type to have all-white decor. If your furniture
has been in the same position for years, look
for ways to get chi moving without making more
change than you'll feel comfortable with. Live
plants and flowers will bring natural energy and
color to your space. You may also need to add
more personal touches here and there. Find a place
to display a few favorite photographs of friends
and family members, so there are some human images
around you. Your love for clean, simple spaces
and attention to detail mean you are probably
on top of any maintenance or clutter issues, so
focus on creating a good flow of chi through your
home, counteracting any negative influences, and
activating your power spots. Your clean and tranquil
home is a wonderful environment for self-nurturing
methods such as meditation and qigong.
PACKRAT
Your biggest problem is clutter! Closets are overflowing,
you have three sets of everything, books are stacked
two deep on every shelf, you've saved every greeting
card you ever got, and all the flat surfaces in
your home are piled with stuff. You might still
be able to breathe, but your space isn't getting
any chi at all! Create some breathing room in
your home before you do anything else, or you'll
just activate all your clutter into even greater
chaos. Chances are you've been feeling a little
stuck lately, so focus on getting rid of the old
to make room for the new before you do anything
else. Once you've cleared out enough stuff to
get a good look at your house, make sure you've
got a good flow of chi through the space and address
any maintenance issues before making other feng
shui changes. Your own chi will shift a lot as
you clean out your home, so be sure to practice
some grounding and balancing techniques as you
go along.
FREE
SPIRIT
You've been feng shui-ing your space since the
day you first got your own bedroom, even if you
didn't know to call it that. You are the type
most likely to want to work on everything at once,
so be sure to define some priorities before jumping
into making changes. Your enthusiasm for creative
décor may lead you to overlook basic maintenance
issues and allow clutter to pile up. Take care
of those first, then make sure that you are applying
your individuality to your power spots rather
than scattering it randomly about the place. Of
all the types, you are boldest in your use of
color, so get out the brush and roller and have
some fun with feng shui color-theory. Make sure
that you haven't overlooked any negative influences
that should be corrected, and use your creativity
to develop your own unique feng shui enhancements.
You've probably tried a lot of different personal
renewal methods over the years, but may not have
kept up a consistent practice. Make a commitment
to pay as much attention to the inner you as you
do to your surroundings.
GO-GETTER
Your house is probably beautifully furnished and
well maintained, but you may have delegated so
many of your home-maintenance chores that you
no longer have a strong energetic attachment to
your space. Make sure you don't delegate all your
feng shui tasks, too, or they won't have much
power behind them. Find small, simple things you
can do yourself and be sure to put some of your
own energy into enhancing your key power spots.
If you arrange for someone else to take care of
other feng shui chores, it will be especially
important to perform the body-speech-mind empowerments
on each one when the work is done. Throw practicality
out the window for a moment and choose one unique
and unexpected item for your home that expresses
the inner you others so rarely see. Chances are
good you've been pushing yourself pretty hard
for a long time, so be sure to make time for balance
and renewal. A candle-lit aromatherapy bath will
help you relax so you can enjoy your beautiful
home.
WHIRLWIND
You're usually moving too fast to pay much attention
to your house, but once you get into feng shui
you'll want to get it all done in one afternoon.
Do some planning before you begin, or you'll jump
from one unnecessary embellishment to another
without getting to the important stuff before
you're distracted by the next exciting idea. You
want to start with the wind chimes and water fountains
because they look like the most fun, but if you
skip over locating your personal power spots you
won't know where to place them. And leaving the
household maintenance tasks for later could sabotage
your other efforts. You'll benefit from the discipline
of empowering your changes with a daily ritual-it's
an essential part of the process, and the thing
you're most likely to skip! Promise yourself a
massage when you're done, and splurge on a big
bouquet of flowers as a centerpiece for your home,
so you remember to stop and smell the roses from
time to time.
Copyright
© Stephanie Roberts
Contributing
Author
Stephanie
Roberts is a feng shui consultant in Maui, Hawaii,
and the author of the best-selling Fast Feng Shui:
9 Simple Principles for Transforming Your Life
by Energizing Your Home (rated 5-stars by Amazon.com
readers) from which this article is adapted.
To
find out how you can use contemporary Western
feng shui to help you achieve greater success
and happiness in your life, please visit the Fast
Feng Shui website. stephanie@fastfengshui.com
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