Free Feng Shui Training Week 2

Welcome to the second module in your free Feng Shui online training course. Last week we started our Feng Shui journey by looking at the important part energy plays in Feng Shui. This week we will continue to look at energy flow as I help you build on your understanding of yin and yang by introducing you to a second vital component of the energy in our environment, the 5 elements. These 5 elements; wood, fire, earth, metal and water are interlinked with yin and yang and knowing how they work together to help and support positive energy flow is a key part of understanding how Feng Shui works.

 

This week we will look at the 5 elements independently of one another before moving next week to identifying how the work together.

 

By the end of this week’s module you will:

• Understand the part compass directions play in energy flow
• Know what the 5 elements are, and how they can be represented
• Be able to recognise the 5 elements in your home
• Have the knowledge to assess your own home for the 5 elements

 

As we will be building on the exercise you completed last week this second module should take you no more than 45 minutes to complete. Please read all the information on this page before completing any of the exercises.

 

I hope you enjoy the module.

 

Module 2

Many of you will recognise the yin yang symbol as displayed above. The yin yang symbol shows the never ending cycle of energy by showing yin energy as black and yang energy as white. As one half of the energy flow grows, the other diminishes, where one starts the other ends. As we have identified in the previous module, in the universe we need an equal and never ending flow of both yin energy and yang energy in order to live a harmonious and balanced life. In this module we are now going to look in more detail at how yin and yang supports the flow of energy in the different areas of our home.

 

The Chinese definition for yin is moon and for yang sun and the easiest way of identifying how these two opposite energy forces support the energy in your home is by thinking of it in terms of day and night.

 

Yang (sun) energy rises as the sun wakes and peaks its head over the horizon to welcome in a brand new day. It reaches its pinnacle when the sun is at its highest in the sky. Yang energy then starts to diminish as the sun moves down the sky before disappearing beneath the horizon. On a sunny day everything looks bright, shiny, glossy, vibrant and this is exactly the sort of effect we are trying to replicate when decorating and furnishing our home along yang principles.

 

Yin (moon) energy grows and becomes stronger as the dark curtain of night falls over the earth. It reaches its zenith when the night is at its darkest and the moon is highest. Yin energy then starts to diminish as the sun wakes and starts to make it’s journey in to the new day. On a dark night everything is still, dark, cool and quiet and this is what we are trying to replicate when decorating our home along yin principles.

 

As can be seen from the yin yang symbol yin energy starts when yang energy is strongest and yang energy starts when yin energy is strongest. By understanding this simple principle it is only a small and easy step we need to take to identify where in our home the separate influences of yin and yang are at their strongest.

 

Lets take this step by using a practical example: 

 

Exercise 1

 

• Take a piece of paper and draw a rough outline of your home. You do not need to draw any of the rooms in your home, just the rough shape of your home.

• In relation to your home, make a note of where the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. Draw a line through your home between these two points. Label the ends of the line East where the sun rises and West where it sets.

• Now find the centre point of this line and using this as the centre point for a second line draw a second line at right angles to this line. Label the ends of this line North and South. You should now have two lines comprising a cross running through the outline of your home.

• Take a compass, or anything that is circular that you can draw around and draw a circle to connect the 4 ends of the cross which are also the 4 points of the compass.

 

Broadly speaking any part of your home that falls between north and south running in a clockwise direction (covering the eastern half) is in the area of your home where yang energy is in the ascendency. This area of your home to varying degrees takes its influence from yang energy. Any part of your home that falls between south and north running in a clockwise direction (covering the western half) is in the area of your home where yin energy is in the ascendency. This area of your home to varying degrees takes it influence from yin energy.

 

You will notice that I have used the word broadly in this information. In Module 4 we will be looking at compass directions in much more detail and be dividing the areas of your home in to 8 segments of 45 degrees. For the purpose of today though it is sufficient to know that broadly speaking yang energy and yin energy influence either side of the north south line.

 

In Module 1 I stressed the importance of ensuring that you have a balance of yin and yang in each of the rooms of your house. This balance is needed if we are to have a positive and harmonious flow of energy through our home. Although it is important to create and maintain balance it is also important to understand where it is beneficial for yin and yang to be slightly stronger. In the rooms that are situated between the east and the southern most point you should strive for yang elements to slightly outnumber yin elements. In those areas of your home that are situated between the west and the northern most point you should strive to have slightly more yin influences than yang. In those areas of your home that fall in the north east or the south west sectors you should have a broad balance of yin and yang.

 

It may be useful at this point to go back to the exercise you completed last week and for each of the rooms where you assessed the balance of yin and yang make a note of whether the room is situated in an area that is influenced by yin (west, north west, north), yang (east, south east, south) or equal balance (north east, south west).

 

Now that we have deepened our understanding of yin and yang, let us turn our attention to the second component of the energy in our environment, the five elements. The five elements; wood, fire, earth, metal and water play an incredibly important part in energy flow. When thinking of the five elements it is important to remember that everything in the universe is linked, the five elements are linked to yin and yang, the push and pull of the tides on the oceans, the sun and the moon as they orbit the earth, the seasons, the ages of life, the list goes on and on.

 

Although the five elements are inextricably linked to everything in the universe, I find the easiest way to remember the five elements is in terms of the seasons and the sun and the moon. The first season of the year is spring, spring represents the start of a new year much like as the sun rises across the sky in the morning it represents the start of a new day. Spring is the season where plants start to grow as they push through the earth. Spring is represented by the element wood and is found in the east and south east segment of the yin yang symbol as yang is well in to it’s ascendency.

 

The second season of the year is summer. Summer is where the world is full of vibrancy, life and colour much like flames dancing on a fire. Summer represents heat and it’s element is fire which can be seen on the yin yang symbol at the highest point of yang, the southern most point just like when the sun is at it’s highest and strongest.

 

After summer comes autumn, the season when plants and trees give their fruit and seeds and life starts to contract. Autumn is represented by metal and on the yin yang symbol is in the west and north west where yin starts to expand as the sun makes it’s journey over the horizon.

 

The final season is winter where everything on the surface is cold and still and life is hibernating ready to start a new cycle of growth. Winter is represented by cool, still water and can be found when yin is at it’s highest in the north.

 

Finally the observant amongst you will have noticed that I have missed out one of the five elements, Earth. If you look at the yin yang symbol again you will notice that there are two areas where yin and yang are equal. Without earth yin and yang would be meaningless, there would be no point in hot and cold, summer and winter, the sun and the moon. Earth is needed to balance the two opposites and is therefore to be found in the south west as fire yang moves to metal yin and the north east where yin water moves to yang wood.

 

We now know what the five elements are, so let us now look at how we can ensure the five elements can support us in our environment.

 

Exercise 2

 

This exercise builds on the exercise you completed last week on yin and yang and is a quick way to assess your home for the five elements. At this stage we will not be looking at where they are situated in your home, just if they are there. The exercise is in two parts.

 

To complete the exercise you will need to know how the five elements can be represented in your home. The information below will help you do this.

• Wood is represented by itself, by tall, column shapes and by the colours green and blue.

• Fire is represented by itself, by triangular, pyramid shapes and by the colours red, purple and orange.

• Earth is represented by itself and anything that comes from the earth, by square, rectangular shapes and by the colours brown, beige, yellow and cream.

• Metal is represented by itself, by circular, arch shapes and by the colours silver, grey and white.

• Water is represented by itself, by wavy, free flowing shapes and by the colours black and dark blue.

 

To the exercise:

 

• Take several sheets of paper (one sheet for each of the rooms in your home).

• Now standing at the doorway to each of the rooms in your house write down the primary objects and colours in the room. This includes the major pieces of furniture and the colours of the walls, floors and furnishings

• Referring to the list above, identify the primary element that is represented in this room, or if there are two elements that are almost equal write both of these down. As an example a bedroom with predominantly white walls, a feature wall in turquoise, two white wooden bed side tables, a white wooden headboard, turquoise lamps and turquoise cushions and bedding would be primarily wood and metal because of the colour scheme and the material used in the room.

• Now that you have done this write a list of all the other objects and decoration in each room (you may find it helpful to refer back to the exercise you completed in Module 1). These objects are able to bring support to the primary objects and colours in the room.

• For each of the supporting objects and colours make a note of the major element that is represented.

• Now count up the instances each of the elements appear in your supporting objects.

 

Once you have completed the exercise you should have something like the example below:

Guest Bedroom

 

Primary Elements

Wood and Metal

 

Supporting Elements

Wood – 17

Fire – 1

Earth – 10

Metal – 6

Water – 5

 

In the example above you can see that the strongest supporting element is Wood meaning that even though the primary elements show the room is a balance between yin and yang the supporting elements give the room a yang emphasis.

 

Keep your sheets of paper safe as we will be looking at them in more detail in next week’s module.

 

Before you start the exercise a few words of caution, which will save you a huge amount of time and frustration (and I hope you have done as I asked at the beginning of this module and read through all the information before starting the exercises!).

When you are assessing the elements in each of your rooms keep in mind that you are looking at your rooms in a general sense. If you start to look at each of the objects in your home in too much detail you can get carried away and end up with a very confused jumble of elements on your sheets of paper.

 

Below are a couple of examples which will illustrate what I mean:

 

Example 1

Standing in the door of your dining room you observe that the room is dominated by a large rectangular glass topped table. You write on your sheet of paper glass topped table (water), rectangular shape (earth). This item is therefore a balance of water and earth and if it was the only item in your room would appear on your page as:

Water – 1

Earth – 1

 

Example 2

Standing in the door of your dining room you observe that the room is dominated by a large rectangular glass topped table. You write on your sheet of paper glass topped table (water), rectangular shape (earth). You then notice that the legs are made out of metal (metal), the four legs are tall and thin (wood), the metal is coloured dark grey (metal), there are free flowing scrolls on the top of each leg (water), underneath the scrolls of each leg are circular discs (metal) and each of the discs are coloured gold (earth).

 

You then look at your piece of paper and it looks something like this:

Glass topped table (water)

Rectangular shape (earth)

Legs made out of metal x4 (metal x4)

Legs tall and thin x4 (wood x4)

Legs are dark grey x4 (metal x4)

Scrolls x4 (water x4)

Discs x4 (metal x4)

Discs are gold x4 (earth x4)

 

Again assuming that this was the only item in the room your page would look like this:

Wood 4

Earth 5

Metal 12

Water 5

Adding up all of these elements you identify that the table is predominantly metal.

 

The second example shows how easy it is to get confused when assessing the elements in your home. Taken as a whole a rectangular glass topped table is certainly a balance between yin and yang (the glass representing yin and the straight lines representing yang). However if we look at the table in detail we see all the small influences that have gone in to creating the whole and which can therefore distort the true meaning. In reality, in this example, the table is a balance between yin and yang with influences (the metal and detail in the legs) that make it slightly more yin than yang, but these are details with which we do not need to concern ourselves with at this stage. For now it is enough to look at each item in our home in a general sense and make a judgement as to which is the primary and supporting elements in place in each of the rooms.

 

I hope that you have found this module useful. If you have any questions I am always happy to answer these via email, I always try and respond to everyone within 48 hours but please accept that it is not always possible for me to do this.