If you haven’t found it yet, feng shui, the ancient art of energy flow, will help you find your personal Fountain of Youth as you begin your journey of consciousness through the waters of time. Your ability to flow in the world will keep you from feeling trapped, trapped in your job, trapped in clutter, trapped in attachments, and stuck with blocks of any kind.
Feng shui is about correlating person and place, the body and your home, the interior and exterior environment. In this intimate correlation, the water element regulates all aspects of flow and movement. Considering that “feng” means wind and “shui” means water, it is important to understand that both words indicate movement and both are catalysts for change. Feng shui hates anything stale, stagnant, or stagnant. Symbolic feng shui equates water with money, so cash registers at the entrances to restaurants are expected to generate healthy cash flow. Water is usually the element related to the entrances, which is where we find fountains and often escape dogs as guardians of protection.
In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the kidneys are the gateways to all other organs. They are the officials who do energetic work and protect the passage of the vital essence. They clean and purify the blood and are responsible for fluidity and lubrication. The adrenal glands, just above, are in charge of energy management, and the bladder, just below, is the storage unit that controls adaptability. These are components that are useful for comparison and offer helpful guidelines for creating healthy qi in our homes. Clearing overloaded closets and cupboards will create space for healthy flow, openness, and opportunities.
If we put on some feng shui glasses and walk through our interiors or gardens, we want to think of a harmonious flow of energy. We want to be on a smooth road like a river that winds slowly. Nothing should hinder our movement, nothing should get in the way, and we should not stumble or trip over anything or find any kind of sha qi that disturbs our vision.
In this journey through our space, we hope to find focuses that we can associate with the different sectors of the bagua and their specific life references. If we have a wall in front of us at the entrance, for example, we could symbolically expand our vision with the perspective of the vanishing point of a landscape painting, or we could find meaning in a seascape that has our ship entering, bringing wealth and prosperity. . We should have a spacious area at our entrance, something feng shui calls “the bright room”, where beneficial energy can accumulate and flow in all directions. And there should never be things behind the door that prevent it from opening fully.
As we go further into our space, we look for narrow passages where we can feel tight and our energy flow limited. Hanging a mirror would broaden our perception, reflect light and perhaps a pleasant view. If we find ourselves speeding or running forward, we could be in a hallway that is too long and too straight and therefore considered unfavorable feng shui.
In this watery quest for the fountain of youth, we might have discovered that feng shui always wants balance, and since the kidneys are governed by both yin and yang, it is imperative that neither is deficient or excessive. Knowing what to emphasize and what to minimize is crucial to honoring the role of the kidneys. They are at the base of our structure, responsible for the health of bones and marrow, and they like to be warm.
Germination, embryonic development and growth must be nurtured in a warm and fluid environment. Perhaps we will find our fountain of youth in the vital essence and the source of energy of the kidneys so that our life can be fluid, full of things, relationships, events and prosperity and not stuck in attachments and unsatisfactory results. Feng shui is a moving pattern with continual opportunities to discover its secrets as we ride the tides of the cycle of the five elements.
